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Golden Monkey from Teavana
80

So, this is getting a major bump, but not because it’s a tremendously amazing black tea, or anything. It’s getting a bump because the last time I rated it I was recovering from having my wisdom teeth out, and definitely must have oversteeped it. I’m not getting the intense sour bitterness I’d been having during that attempt. Strangely, though, in brewing this cup with actual parameters, I’ve lost the raisin/prune sweetness typical to many blacks. Instead, that has been replaced by …

Hmm. I suppose it’s malt, but…it’s the most bake-y malt I’ve ever smelled or tasted. It reminds me of the smell and taste of the floured underside of a loaf of bread. And it’s a pretty good cup of black tea, at least when brewed for a fairly short steep time, but it’s getting a rating cut because it’s pretty darn (every time I type that word I snicker. I snicker way more when I goody-two-shoes cuss than when I let loose with an inventive blue-streak. Not-cursing is the new cursing) expensive — almost 20 bucks for 2oz. For that price there are teas that provide equal amounts of satisfaction for a great deal less per cup, and which have a hope in heck (snicker) of being resteeped without turning into a bitter mess. So…I will finish my bag of this, but I probably won’t rebuy.

People who liked this

Angrboda
theyhaveways
chrine
fcmonroe
Ricky
LENA

Comments

Erin
Erin 2010-03-06 17:20:53 -0500

Have you tried Adagio’s Golden Monkey? It’s really great and more affordable, plus they offer sample sizes. I highly recommend it!

sophistre
sophistre 2010-03-06 18:51:50 -0500

I have! I dug it. It was the big reason I went for trying this one on a whim. I like Adagio’s Golden Spring even more than the Golden Monkey…I ordered a big bag of the Spring, and it’s usually my ‘default’ black tea, alongside GM’s Sinharaja.

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Profile

Bio

Ohhh, I dunno. I like tea but I’m kind of a tea newbie. At this point I can say with authority that I may never be anything else, no matter how many teas I try…there is always something new out there.

I write a lot.

I also play way too many video games.


Ratings! (Bout time, wot?) This is a new arrangement, so…subject to change!

1-10: Not potable. First-sip disasters.

11-30: Intensely unpleasant…won’t catch me finishing the cup.

31-50: I really don’t like it…but maybe somebody else out there would.

51-70: Drinkable, but probably not the first thing I’m going to reach for.

71-90: Pretty good tea, and stuff that there’s a good chance I’ll have on-hand. Will do in a pinch at the low end, all the way up to regular visitors to my infuser on the high end.

91-100: Teas I really do not want to be without.

Location

Boston/Cambridge

Website

http://sophistre.tumblr.com/

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