China Panyang Wu-Yi Golden Monkey (ZP76)

SIPDOWN! yes that’s right…until i have to leave we’re going to see a bunch of these lol I planned out all my teas last night so that i can get to 190 or explode trying haha

Dropping the rating on this one a little since the last time i drank this as there’s an astringency here that i don’t like that much especially when comparing it to the other black im also drinking (just for you whatshesaid)
I really like the aroma of this tea and the initial sips, but then there’s a taste in the back end that isn’t all that wonderful and ruins the sip for me.

I have to say though, that this is why i love upton samples. They’re great value since even me and my giant cups can get 2-3 cups out of them and while the packages aren’t resealable, they keep the smells out very well with just a bit of tape to hold them closed. While i don’t love most of their flavoured teas (the tisanes are ok) i really like that i can try out a HUGE list of straight teas. I also love that they put the packaging date on the lable AND if you’re doing a shared order you can add the names to the labels so that when they arrive you just put the teas away according to the name on the label :)

Tea of the morning…..

I love that Upton labels tea, including samples with the date you ordered them. I must have been shuffling this sample around in my stash since last June. It fared better than most as I gave a ton of unopened samples to my knitting friends since the kidney stone last fall. This one definitely held interest for me to keep it around that long. Unfortunately, Upton no longer has it in stock, but that does not mean I cannot enjoy this while I have it.

Leaves are pretty short like a BOP. There are a few golden tips, hence the name. It must just be a lower grade of golden monkey. Right now, I am just kind of sad I did not try this sooner, because I know I would have bought some. It is very good. Smooth, malty, cocoa noted. Yum!

I love it when Upton gets interesting black teas in. I have about 4 more samples to try from my last order and they include a black monkey, a black tie guan yin, and another snail tea. Bliss for a China black tea drinker.

Usual teapot method.

Tea of the afternoon here and another small sample from Upton.

I wasn’t sure about their suggested steeping parameters since 4-5 minutes seems like a long time for a Chinese tea. I settled on 2 minutes for mine and this seems to have been a good choice. This is a little darker than some Golden Monkeys I’ve had in the past. It has some gentle malt and cocoa notes along with a bit of winey-ness but there’s not bitterness or astringency anywhere, just a nice flavorful cup! My favorite Golden Monkey is Red Blossom’s version but this is good too. I decided to steep the leaves for a 2nd time at 4 minutes and that was good as well. Equally good neat or with a splash of soymilk.