Organic tea is produced without the input of chemical fertilizers or pesticides and herbicides. Unfortunately, the yield per acre is lower and quite often quality can suffer compared to when fertilizers and others inputs are utilized. Nevertheless, with good manufacturing techniques, the cup characteristics can be maintained at a very high level - such is the case with this tea. This tea is a top quality Green Tea (“Pearl River” signifies very important, master quality, cleanliness and good health). This superior quality Pearl River is exceptionally well graded with an even, curly leaf. Interestingly only the best leaves are able to achieve this particular curl and to sort these leaves from the rest of the leaf production the estate must sort by hand! This literally means that the tea is spread out on a table and the leaves are picked out - one by one! The best tea is made during March and April when the tea bush re-emerges from its winter dormancy and expends all its “spring‟ energy into growing the new shoots. The estate employs fine plucking techniques, which is to say that only the top two leaves and the new bud is taken. Further, the plucking only takes place in the pre-dawn, when the leaf is covered with a misty dew, which improves the taste and imparts a fullness to the tea character.

The quality of the water and its effects on tea are legendary. Lu Yu, the father of Chinese tea (Cha’Chng or Book of Tea written in 780 AD), stated that water was of utmost importance. On a trip on the Yangtze River as a guest of a dignitary, Lu Yu asked have tea made with water drawn from the center of the river which was the cleanest and tastiest. After taking a sip Lu Yu said in disgust that the water was from the riverbank. The man responsible denied this, upon which Lu Yu retasted the tea and declared that perhaps the man was correct but the water was inferior. The man then acknowledged that after he had drawn the water from the center of the river, some had spilled on the return trip to shore and the jar was topped up with water from midstream. Just before the dignitary had the man put to death for such great embarrassment, the man declared “Master Lu. You are clearly immortal”