Friday, June 10, 2011

Tea leaves and water

A tea plantation between Zhu Shan and Shan Lin Shi in early June. Elevation 900 meters. The late afternoon fog helps moisture the leaves and cool down the temperature. This helps keep the fragrances fresh and fine.

A 6 AM, in Zhu Shan, dew brings moisture to the lower elevation plantations. In most cases, farmers have added sprinklers to ensure the plants get all the water they need.

After the harvest, the tea production dries and separates the leaf from its essential component.

Water is called the "tea's mother". Brewing tea, then, can also be seen as reuniting the children with their mother!

2 comments:

Israel said...

Thanks for a beautiful evocation of the relationship between leaves and water.

TeaMasters said...

Thanks Israel,
we could even push the comparison further and say how important it is to reunite the leaves with a loving, tender and sweet mother instead of a bitter and rough step mom!