Green Monkey King (Tai Ping Hou Kui)
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A competition-grade lot grown in gardens surrounded by wild orchids high in the Huang Shan Mountains in Anhui Province. At night, the orchids release their fragrance and scent the tea leaves. Two leaves and a bud are plucked, withered and hand-flattened by working the leaf in a heated, wok-like bowl and then fired over wood coals in wicker baskets. A long (1-3 inches) and wide (1/8-1/4 inch), deep-green leaf offers a clean, nuanced taste and a very distinct and lasting finish. There is no comparable tea and we have an excellent lot!
Tea Notes
It is a boat ride across a mountain lake to the farm. Leaves are harvested at day break, withered, then worked by calloused hands in a wok, shaping the leaf. By early afternoon, we taste the first leaves of the lot!
The sides of tea makers hands are deeply calloused. Working the leaf in the heated steel bowl.
The sides of tea makers hands are deeply calloused. Working the leaf in the heated steel bowl.