In certain villages, a pot of this tea is said to ward off evil spirits. This belief stems from a centuries-old tale that centers on an old tea grower and his wife who worked a small plot of land high in the hills. As the story goes, the couple was being terrorized by a renegade band of monkeys. Time and again, they woke up to discover that the night’s new tea shoots had been pulled apart by the nimble thieves. They tried everything to stop the monkeys, from covering the crop with netting, to buying two large dogs to scare the group away. Nothing seemed to work. In desperation the husband decided he would travel over the mountains to a remote cave where it was rumored a shaman lived and ask for his help. The man packed his bag and set off. Upon reaching the cave, he explained his problem to the holy man. The holy man told him that he should go away and come back in 3 days for the solution to his dilemma. 3 days later the man returned and was given a recipe for a new type of tea written on a parchment. The holy man explained that since the monkeys always came looking for tea, if he gave them 100 pounds of this produced tea they would depart and never return. It was worth a try. The man and his wife spent the next week producing the new tea. Once they had 100 pounds, they left it out in a wooden chest. That night as usual they heard the monkeys descend on the farm, shrieking, and pounding the earth. The next morning, they rushed outside to find that the chest was empty. The monkeys had taken the tea, and as the legend goes, never returned again. 100 Monkeys tea is somewhat stronger than many other white teas. The leaves can be brewed a number of times and with each infusion subtle changes to the cup can be detected.