Premium Golden Monkey Black Tea

Additional notes: Having this one again to think about ordering it for Teavivre’s sale. It’s so so good. I’m just happy this one isn’t tasting like tomato soup like other black teas have been lately. It HAS seemed to adapt that maple syrup like quality I noticed in the red dragon pearls the other day. How nice! It adds a sweetness to that dark. malty, chocolate deliciousness. I love how this one evolves: the first steep is for breakfast: sweet, malty, chocolate. The second steep is much different, almost for lunch or afternoon: a little bit brisker, tougher, bready, hints of cedar. The second steep doesn’t really have the maple or chocolate. Would I like the second steep to be like the first? Yes. But the second cup is really good too. This one will be difficult not to order.
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // 10 min after boiling // rinse // 2 min
Steep #2 // 2 min after boiling // 3 min

I just received this tea in the mail from Angel of Teavivre on Saturday. It was hard to wait until today (Monday) to take it for a spin. I saved the tea for this day for two reasons, to:

1. Make Monday something to look forward to for a change.
2. Start the new week on the right foot with a new tea.

The unbrewed tea leaves have the familiar rich leather-like aroma similar to other black teas from the Fujian Province. The leaves are black with golden tips.

I steeped the leaves, as instructed, for two minutes at 195 degrees (actually 194 degrees is the recommended temperature but my one touch tea maker is not that flexible). When the steeping process finished, a golden amber liquid was the result.

My first sip didn’t quite register with my tastebuds. It is allergy season here in the Carolinas so that might have been a contributing factor. I thought my first taste had an astringent attribute but this dissipated quickly with subsequent sips.

Even with my sixth, seventh, and eighth sips, I was not able to detect a recognizable flavor. Incredibly, I was at the beginning of my second cup when a sweet potato flavor started to penetrate my allergy-tortured tastebuds.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I contemplated that drinking tea without tastebuds would be like listening to music without ears. Fortunately, the flavor had arrived and I liked it.

The taste has a unique veggie/malt quality that is smooth and full without bitterness. The leather taste of the Fujian Province teas also accompanies the other flavors. If you like sweet potatoes, you will find this tea especially enjoyable.

In summary, after a slow and rocky start (not the fault of the tea), I found this selection to be another fine brew from the folks at Teavivre. I am looking forward to drinking it in the middle of the winter when my allergies settle down. Maybe I’ll discover new flavor dimensions that I missed today.

Sipdown, but a lovely one. As strange as it sounds, today I am getting a faint leathery note with the honeyed sweet potatotes and malt. This is one of those teas that always comes out a little bit different each time I steep it, but always makes for an enjoyable cup. TGIF!

After five days, I resteeped the leaves, and the flavor was actually better this time, less earthy, and more malty-caramel and cocoa, though not like an Assam. I tried a third steeping, and there was still some flavor, though not as good as the second steeping.

wow! every time i steep this remarkable black tea i am impressed again. this tea is so complex in its flavor profile that it’s difficult to notate as you’re being delivered from one hint to the next. strong honey, black cherry, chocolate and walnut to name a few. i can’t think of another black tea with so much flavor and yet is not overwhelmingly rich. this tea is light and delicate. thank you so much to @ashmanra for the sample that got me switched from Teavana to a better purveyor :-)

My allergies have decided to make my face look like I’ve been crying for 24 hours straight, hooray! Plus, I don’t dare put eye makeup on as usual because of all the itching and puffiness, so I just look extra tired/sad to people, haha. Ah well, hopefully it will be over soon.

Aaaanyway, the good news of the morning is this lovely tea. It’s definitely not as bold as my breakfast blend teas, but that’s actually very fitting for this morning. It has that signature malty taste that great straight black teas have, but there’s also something a bit tart(?) about it today. Oh, and now that it’s cooling down a bit, there’s some smokiness there as well. Quite an interesting combination. Sounds weird, but it’s working for me! I’m surprised that I’m not getting as much potato/honey notes as I would have expected, but it is definitely possible that my sense of taste is being thrown off by my allergies that have decided to take over my life.

Okay, so I went back to find my old tasting note about this one. I mentioned the same tartness and smokiness, but I guess it didn’t seem to hit it quite right for me last time. So I’m bumping up my rating of this one cause it’s pretty tasty today.

Ughhhh. I was so excited for this tea! Whenever I hear of teas tasting like honey I feel I have to try it, I LOVEEEE honey. When I opened the package, I felt like I was on a farm. All I was getting was hay! No fruit, no honey, just hay. I brewed it up hoping it would come out in the taste, but nope, I got mostly a black tea base with a strong hay flavour. I added some cream and stevia and it improved the taste, but I’m still getting the hay and I don’t know if I like it.

Dare I say it? Am I being too impulsive by already saying that this has become one of my favorite teas?

Eh, let’s say it. I think it’s safe. This tea was so great! It’s the first Golden Monkey I’ve tried, and I think it’s pretty safe to say I’ve found a winner. :) It had a very interesting taste. It tasted chocolately, yet it was fruity, and yet it was also had a slight tinge of pepper too. Very slight mind you, the tea is very pleasantly sweet! I practically guzzled the cup, and I have my next infusion steeping now. The shelf life on the package said 36 months. As if this’ll be around for three years. More like three days. Haha. Next time I order this, I’ll be sure to order it with a tin. This’ll be a permanent one. Very glad I was confident and ordered a good pouch rather than just a sample.

I’m feeling much more comfortable about my likes with black teas. I tend to love them either very bold and roasty, or really naturally sweet. I enjoy the nutty ones, and I’m not a huge fan of super peppery ones, nor super smokey ones as I discovered with lapsang souchong.

Edit: Second infusion, the chocolatey and fruity notes have really receded, and it’s mostly hayish now. It’s still quite flavorful, and really good! I’ll be sure to try a third infusion. :)

This is my new FAVOURITE tea. The smell is intoxicating. Strong but not overpowering and slightly fruity/malty. I brewed it as per the directions on the packaging. The liquor is quite dark(almost looks like nestea Iced tea)orangeish. The taste is incredible. So much going on compared to alot of blacks that Ive tried. I love the malty taste that I get, it reminds me of a pint of guinness for some reason. Needless to say I love it. My new morning tea. What a way to start the day…..and you cant beat the price or Teavivres service!!!!

Long, spindly thin black needle-leaves.

Yesterday I steeped a tumbler of this hot, and it was good. In between classes, though, I didn’t have enough time to heat water and wait for it to steep, so I just filled my tumbler with cold water and let the second steep cold-brew on the way to class.

It was so good! There was a beautiful honey-like sweetness that blended surprisingly well with the smoky notes! And any astringency or maltiness had faded, so it was a much softer brew.