Uniquity

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Uniquity drank Golden Snail by Harney & Sons

This evening, we’re sampling the beautiful golden snail, thanks again to SimplyJenW. The beau prepared this one, so it has double the leaf I would have used for our cups…accordingly, I anticipate a pretty serious cup of tea. The leaves don’t seem to have fully unfurled in the first infusion…I know black teas aren’t really meant to be re-steeped, but I do it pretty regularly and I find that Harney teas stand up to it really well. I’m fairly certain this will be another one that can take a couple goes.

The liquor is a deep brown with reddish tinge and has a wonderful chocolate aroma, much like the bakers chocolate my Mum uses for some of my favourite chocolate dipped cookies. Now I really want some of those cookies, I bet they’d be AMAZING with this tea…

First sips are strong chocolate flavour, rich dark bakers chocolate. At the same time though, it’s definitely tea. I really like it…odd since I always thought I hated the flavour of chocolate in tea. This is a good mix of a good black tea and my grandmother’s beloved cocoa. I don’t get a sweet chocolate taste at all, but at the same time there is a lingering sweetness in my mouth. This only confirms and continues my general adoration for black teas…Especially bold ones.

Question for you steepsterites: How does this compare to Upton Tea’s Golden Monkey? The beau and I are really interested in putting that one in our imminent order, but I don’t really know what to anticipate, and since it is one of the pricier ones in my very large order, I’m a little hesitant. I understand that Upton’s Golden Monkey isn’t really meant to be so cocoa as this, and that’s great by me, but I have it in my head that the Golden creatures must be at least a little similar.. : )

2011-06-04 19:01:39 -0400

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2 min 15 sec

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SimplyJenW 2011-06-04 20:10:29 -0400

This one is more complex and toasty than Golden Monkey in general. Upton’s Golden Monkey is lighter and smoother than this. The cocoa notes in GM are sweeter rather than dark cocoa notes.

Uniquity 2011-06-05 09:04:58 -0400

Second pot yielded an equally robust and cocoa flavoured tea. I drank the last bit cold this morning and was impressed at the flavour cold as well. Definitey will be trying a third pot later on. Impressive tea!

@SimplyJenW, thanks for the comparison! I think we might go for the Golden Monkey, since this isn’t available at the moment anyway and the Monkey sounds really good as well! : )

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Bio

I am a lover of many things, but my prized possessions include my records, tea and books (not necessarily in that order!) I embrace local food and good cooking as much as I can, and place great value on time with family and enjoying the bounty of nature. While I live in a city at the moment, my heart lies in the country and I am to be married there this May under my grandmother’s apple trees.

I am drawn toward good Chinese blacks, enjoy some herbals and the odd roasted oolong. Greens and whites can make me nauseous, but I will have flavoured ones on occasion. While I don’t yet enjoy puerh, I desperately want to. Chamomile and coconut are the devil though, I wish they didn’t exist. Mint has been a particular favourite of mine since childhood, and I enjoy both flavoured and pure teas pretty equally. If it’s well crafted and delicious, I’m there!

As for ratings, I try to only log teas once or twice because I drink a lot of the same ones repeatedly. My rating is based on my perception of the tea at first tasting and is adjusted if anything notable occurs in subsequent cups. For some reason, I don’t really like to rate things below 60 even if I don’t like them, but I’m TRYING to use more of the scale, rather than just the top half.

86 – 100: WOW. I need this tea on hand at home, work and with every relative or friend I tend to visit.
76 – 85: This is a solid tea. I enjoy it, and would recommend it to others.
61 – 75: Just okay. I can drink it, but I don’t necessarily want to. Will try again if I have to, but life is too short to waste on average tea.
41 – 60: Bleh. Might finish it, but it’s not to my taste OR just doesn’t impress me at all.
0 – 40: No thank you, please. Take it away and don’t make me finish the cup.