Profile : White Monkeys
Loose - White Tea
March 13, 2019
CUP CHARACTERISTICS: Excellent
new season tea flavor. The strength of the cup belies its white tea
nature. White tea is acknowledged to be very high in polyphenols.
Ingredients: White tea.
INGREDIENTS FROM: China
REGION(S): Hunan Province
SHIPPING PORT(S): Shanghai
GROWING ALTITUDES: 1500 - 4500 feet above sea level
GRADE(S): Mao Feng Monkey Tail
MANUFACTURE TYPE(S): Non fermented, Traditional process, Naturally withered and dried, Small batch crafted, Hand sorted.
ANTIOXIDANT LEVEL: High
CAFFEINE LEVEL: Low
VEGETARIAN: Yes
VEGAN: Yes
INFUSION: Very pale slight green
INFORMATION:
Many
of the specialty teas grown and produced in China are associated with
folklore and legend. 100 Monkeys, a rare White Mao Feng tea from Hunan
is no exception. In certain villages of that province, a pot of this tea
is purported to ward off evil spirits. This belief stems from a
centuries old tale that centers on an old tea grower and his wife who
worked a small plot of land high in the hills. So the story goes, the
couple was being terrorized by a renegade band of monkeys. Time and
again, they woke up to discover that the night's flush of new tea shoots
had been pulled apart by the nimble thieves. They tried everything to
stop the monkeys, from covering the crop with netting, to buying two
large dogs to scare the group away. Nothing seemed to work.
In
desperation the husband decided that he would have to travel over the
mountains to a remote cave where it was rumored that a shaman lived whom
he could ask for help. The man packed his bag and set off. Upon
reaching the cave, he explained his problem to the holy man. The holy
man told him that he should go away and come back in 3 days for the
solution to his dilemma. 3 days later the man returned and was given a
recipe for a new type of tea written on a parchment. The holy man
explained that since the monkeys always came looking for tea, if he gave
them 100 pounds of this produced tea they would depart and never
return. The grower thanked the holy man and set off for home. On the way
he studied the new recipe, which was very complex. The tea was a
variety of Mao Feng, which in English means white downy tips, ("mao"
means white down and "feng" means tips.) The production method involved
11 steps - 4 stages of frying, 3 stages of kneading, followed by 4
stages of baking - it was worth a shot. The man and his wife spent the
next week producing the new tea. Once they had 100 pounds, they left it
out in a wooden chest near their tea patch. That night as usual they
heard the monkeys descend on the farm, shrieking, and pounding the
earth. The next morning, they rushed outside to find that the chest was
empty. The monkeys had taken the tea, and as the legend goes, never
returned again.
Whether or not you believe this ancient tale there is
one thing you can be sure of - this is a spectacular Chinese tea.
Somewhat stronger than many other white teas - you don't think a light
tea would ward off evil spirits or monkeys do you? - 100 Monkeys
produces a profoundly complex cup. The leaves can be brewed a number of
times and with each infusion subtle changes to the cup can be detected.
This is truly one tea that you will wish to appreciate over and over -
whether you've got a monkey to get off your back or not!