Tai Ping Hou Kui April 2024

Fascinating, rare, exquisite, and delicious. This handmade tea from April 2024 we acquired in a *very* small quantity. Pouch contains 2.0 oz of tea. Literally something like "Peaceful Monkey Chief", this tea, like so many teas, has a name that comes from folk tales. Some legends say this tea grew where the fabled Monkey King was laid to rest. The very few farms that produce this tea are located in the foothills of the Huangshan (Yellow Mountains) of Anhui Province. This tea's long, sharp leaves, carefully pressed to keep their shape, produce a unique golden cup that is both savory and sweet. Picked only in early April, this rare beauty is something to savor and share. This tea is plucked slightly later than the early spring teas to allow for this particular (Tuzhong Shi Da Cha) cultivar's "three leaves and a bud" to expand a bit before hand-plucking.  Hand-crafted by expert women elders who have been doing this process, most of them, for over 20-30 years. This is a light tea with dist