Is the price of tea before Ming Dynasty expensive? how much is it per jin? Where can I buy authentic Mingqian tea?

Traditionally, it is generally believed that Japanese green tea picking Hachijyuhachi Ya (88 Night) should be the best quality. The "eight public and eight public housing estates", known as the "88th Night", usually land in the first week of May. The Japanese used to say that if we drink the tea picked on this day, we can live longer. In Shizuoka Prefecture, the tea-picking season begins in mid-April. If the tea is picked earlier, its market value will increase, so that a higher price can be sold. However, the myth that Hachiko is the best tea is not entirely true.

Early plucking does not guarantee better quality.

In Japan, tea gardens near the Pacific Ocean, low elevations or southern latitudes come earlier in spring. Due to the warming climate, tea trees in these areas are growing faster, and tea can be picked in April. On the contrary, some tea gardens, including those in high mountains and high latitudes, tea gardens with organic or natural farming methods, and tea gardens made up of old tea trees. Tea trees grow slowly and the tea-picking season begins later. For the above-mentioned tea gardens, it is impossible to pick tea in the first week of May. Their picking season doesn't begin until June. But do you really think that the poor quality of these mountain teas is only because they are picked in June? In fact, we think that the relationship between tea picking date and tea quality is a very subjective problem.

In Japan, tea is usually picked twice in spring. A few weeks after the first harvest, the young leaves of the young trees grow again, and the tea can be picked again in May or June. Needless to say, the quality of the second tea picking is very different from that of the first tea picking in spring.

In Nagano, the first tea picking usually begins in June.

In my hometown Nagano, I planted my own tea tree at home. The winter in Nagano is cold and long, so spring usually comes very late. In addition, I do not prune or fertilize tea trees, and the growth rate of my tea trees is below average. At the moment, only small tea buds can be seen. I can start picking tea in June.

Picking is very late in Uji area.

The time of picking tea in Wuji area is also very late. Although it is the first week of June, many teas in Wuji are not ready yet.