What is Monkey Picked Oolong Tea?
Monkey picked Oolong tea’s name has aroused curiosity in many tea drinkers. Well, the story behind this name will not disappoint the tea fanatics who long to hear and discover what the name is all about.
The tea draws back an interesting legend since it was first picked from the mountains of Buddhist monks. According to the story, a monkey saw his Buddhist monk picking numerous tea leaves. Since the picking was done every single day, the monkey began to imitate his master. On his own, the monkey would climb their tea plants and pluck leaves. The monkey’s collected leaves were brewed and came out with a unique, but tasteful flavor.
The Buddhist monk assumed immediately that the unique flavor was due to the fact that the monkey, and not him, was the one who picked out the leaves. This exceptional monkey training was brought to a higher level when the monk started to bring his monkey to the tea mountains in the province of Fujian and allowed it to pick tea leaves in behalf of him. Soon enough, this practice was imitated by others.
While this story sounded pleasant and plausible, the legend has become a highly debatable topic by many. Although the monkey picking tea leaves practice died many years ago, a tiny Chinese village tried to preserve the tradition and continue to practice this until today. The villagers assert proudly that training and allowing monkeys to pick tea leaves does no harm to the animal.
Today, tea leaves picking is achieved mainly by trained farmers. They pluck the leaves carefully, specifically the youngest and top most two leaves and the bud during fall and spring. The leaves are plucked from a rare tea plant they have named Mammalia. In the recent years, the phrase “monkey picked Oolong” is synonymous to “Oolong tea of the highest grade”. There are Chinese villages that call the plant as Ti Kuan Yin or Tieguanyin characterized mainly by dark and light green shades- the main indicators of partial fermentation.
The best flavor can be experienced when Oolong is brewed through the Gongfu method. Brewing in this technique is done for five (5) minutes under moderate temperature. The initial brew, preferably, is short because its purpose is supposedly for rinsing. The output must be discarded and the tea leaves brewed once again.
Oolong tea’s pellets unfurl to produce a light gold liquor. It’s even-sized and unbroken leaves gracefully open up to provide you the most pleasing and delicious Oolong tea. It could be infused many times with each infusion offering a unique flavor and taste.
Along with its unique taste, the tea possesses healthy components also. The tea’s dry astringency keeps the brain active and fresh as well as tones the teeth. This is a healthy complement to oily and fatty foods because this can slow down the absorption of fatty contents from this kind of meals. It, on the other hand, boosts up a person’s metabolic rate; thus, can burn fat in a faster manner.
Oolong tea, further, is an excellent dietary supplement which can provide healthier skin cells. Its antioxidant components can hydrate the skin and prevent wrinkles and fine lines from appearing. While this does contain a minute amount of caffeine, this can still soothe and relax muscles.