Year of the Monkey 2016 Spring Yiwu Raw Puer

This Yiwu raw puer is one of our two Year of the Monkey puers. The material for this tea comes from a recently transitioned fang yang (literally meaning “left to grow”) garden that receives minimal human interference, to the extent that all weeding is done once a year by hand (taking up to one month) and is harvested only in the Spring. The tea itself has an initial and surprising honey-like sweetness at the front, which yields to some slight roughness and unique lasting aroma. With good cha qi/tea energy and a solid mineral fragrance that lingers, this is a strong candidate for storage. Typical of Yiwu teas, this one is on the softer side of things for now, but still maintains a solid backbone with plenty to offer. This also makes it a very drinkable young raw puer, and well suited for beginners and experienced drinkers alike. Don’t be fooled though, Yiwu teas tend to age well, even if they seem lighter in their early years. In honour of it being Year of the Monkey here in China, we’re extremely happy to be able to feature the artwork of Kelly Puissegur for this wrapper. We feel this monkey appropriately reflects this tea’s character – pensive and brooding. That and we just really love Kelly’s work, which we think you should check out here . It is worth noting that this tea is free of any smokey taste . Click here for more information about this tea and brewing instructions. $0.10/gram The Monkey has officially left the building. For the exact same tea from 2017, check out our Year of the Rooster Yiwu .