We want the tips, the whole tips, and nothing but the tips. Why? Because tea tips are the sweetest and most prized part of the tea leaf. And Golden Monkey is made with almost all golden tea tips. This gives you a light-bodied black tea that is full of sweetness with hints of semi-sweet chocolate. Out of all the true black teas, this is the most refined and complex. So much so that it was the tea of choice when China’s President Hu Jintao visited the White House in 2011. Ingredients Organic Black Tea description tab Golden Monkey tea is grown in the coastal region of China’s Fujian Province. This area is known for producing white teas, specifically Silver Needles. In the 1990’s, tea sales were low so clever farmers decided to turn their prized Silver Needles into a black tea. Having experience growing Silver Needles, the tea farmers knew that the tips were the sweetest part of the tea leaf. The reason is because, over the winter, the tea plants store all of their nutrients. When spring finally arrives, all of the nutrients are pushed out in the first tea tips, which are then plucked and oxidized to create a beautiful, golden-colored tea. This particular crop is grown at the base of the Wuxi Mountains in Northern Fujian. Plucked in the spring’s early first flush, it is then oxidized to give a full, complex flavor.
