A Year of Work: From Spring Picking to Cakes on the Shelf

Pu'er is a farm product, and it follows the seasons. Spring means picking on the mountains, the summer rainy season makes tea-making hard, autumn brings another harvest, and in winter the trees go dormant. Here's roughly how a cake gets from fresh leaf to the shelf.

When Does Spring Picking End?

Depending on the mountain and altitude, Yunnan's spring tea season runs roughly like this:

• First spring flush (touchun): about early March to mid-April.
• Main spring: about mid-April to early May.
• Late spring: wrapping up around mid-May.

Around Menghai, picking usually starts in early March; Mengku peaks in mid-to-late March; Fengqing mostly runs from late March to early April. The higher the altitude, the later the season. When the rainy season begins in late May, spring tea season is over. For more on the seasons, see Spring Tea, Summer Tea, and Guhua Tea.

The Year at a Glance

Schedules vary by region and producer. The table shows only the usual rhythm.

How Soon Is Maocha Pressed?

Sun-dried maocha can be pressed within a few days at the earliest, but more commonly:

• Small batches and single-mountain tea: spring maocha is pressed within a few weeks to 1–2 months of drying, in time to be released the same year.
• Factory blends: maocha goes into storage first and is pressed once material from all regions has arrived and been cupped and blended, which can take several months or even until the following year.
• Deliberate resting before pressing: some factories and collectors believe that letting maocha rest so its moisture and aroma settle before pressing makes for a cleaner tea.

How Long from Wodui to Market for Ripe Tea?

1. Wodui: about 30–45 days, with some methods running longer.
2. Unpiling, drying, and sieving: several weeks.
3. Resting to clear the pile taste: a few months to 1–2 years.
4. Pressing and drying: several weeks.

So from maocha going into the pile to finished ripe tea shipping commonly takes six months to 1–2 years. The steps during and after wodui are covered in Watering and Turning and After the Pile.

When Is New Tea Released?

• Spring raw tea: the earliest small batches of first-flush tea often reach the market from late April into May; larger volumes of spring tea come out gradually in May and June.
• Autumn tea: mostly released in October and November.
• Ripe tea: there's no clear "new tea season." It ships once fermentation and resting are done, and many brands launch new products mid-year or at year-end.
• Annual releases from brand-name factories: each has its own release schedule, often timed to the start of the year or the spring tea season.

Should You Buy New Tea Right Away?

That depends on how you want to drink it:

• If you want the liveliness of new tea: buy new spring raw tea when it's released, when the floral and honey notes are at their brightest.
• If you want to store it long term: there's no rush. Buy a cake or two to taste first, and decide whether to buy more once the tea has settled a bit.
• If you're worried new tea will be too intense: young raw tea is noticeably bitter and astringent, and freshly pressed tea still carries a "water note." After a few months, the liquor often feels steadier.

Full buying advice is in Six Tips for Buying Pu'er.

What Is a Pre-Order?

A pre-order means paying or registering to buy a tea before it's made or released. There are two common kinds for pu'er:

• Spring tea pre-orders: before or during the tea season, a merchant announces which mountains and how much they'll produce that year and takes orders, shipping once the tea is pressed.
• Brand new-release pre-orders: after a factory announces a new product, it takes orders through its dealers.

The advantage of pre-ordering is securing a limited tea. The thing to watch is that the tea doesn't exist yet when you pay, so check the seller's reputation, the shipping date, and how refunds or quality mismatches are handled.

A Day in the Tea Season

On a tea mountain during picking season, the day goes roughly like this: pickers head up the mountain at dawn and carry the fresh leaves back to the processing station around midday; the leaves are spread from afternoon to evening; kill-green and rolling start after dark, often running late into the night; the next morning the clumps are broken up and the tea is spread in the sun, then gathered in at dusk. If all goes well, a batch of maocha goes from picking to dry in a little over a day. For the two or three months of the season, this cycle repeats every day.

FAQ

When does spring picking end? It generally starts in early March and ends before the rainy season in mid-to-late May, earlier or later depending on each mountain's altitude.

How soon is maocha pressed into cakes? Within a few weeks at the quickest; factory blends may wait several months or until the following year.

When is new tea released? Spring raw tea comes out from late April through June, and autumn tea mostly in October and November.

How long does ripe tea take from wodui to market? Wodui takes about 30–45 days; with drying, sieving, and resting, the total is commonly six months to 1–2 years.