Guess what

[RBA50]

That's so they only pick the best leaves, right size, color, etc. This results in the highest quality teas. Mechanically harvested tea is used for real low grade teas.

 

[KYDan]

Not according to these guys, it's just a more efficient method when you don't have $1 a day labor. Most of their process is mechanized and efficient. The tour included their entire process.

 

[two_bit_score]

Pea picker.

 

[RBA50]

Are they selling tea bags or packages of loose tea leaves? Either way, they are not getting the best quality from their tea plants. Asian tea masters tell their pickers what to look for each morning depending on the type of tea they are producing that day. What size, color, etc of leaf to pick. High quality tea is made from hand selected leaves, tea bags made to be plopped in nuked water are from the leaves that don't make the grade for the good stuff.

 

[stuckmotor]

You are pretty close, but that is not what it is used for. A little hint for everyone one is, it is custom fabricated from a harvester and a tobacco sprayer.

They have tobacco harvesters now? I must be getting old.

 

[KYDan]

? I have no idea, I don't drink tea. I simply was interested in the unique equipment they had fabricated and was sharing it with the forum. The harvester was created from a harvester and a tobacco sprayer, not a tobacco harvester.