White Monkey

I have to say, I like “monkey” teas, and it’s nice to have a green alternative. All out now… but enjoyed the last cup!

Slightly sweet, mellow, vegetal green. I’m really trying to be healthier in general (working out regularly, kind of on a diet), so I wish I could find green teas that I love, since they’re so good for you.

End of my sample of this. It’s been my go-to green tea for the last several months, but I don’t love it.

I like this tea, but not enough to re order it.
When dried the leaves smelled like dried fruits and honey. The taste delicate, to say the least, and was clean and vegetal. It must be my water but I’m not getting any sweetness and it taste a bit stale and vaguely chlorinated.
A classic green, but nothing particularly intriguing.

I started out not really caring for this one and I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I didn’t like it hot. I’ll have to make some more up later and post another review once I can put my finger one exactly what it was I didn’t like. It’s also possible that the taste is just so different from the Dragonwell I had just finished up that it was a bit of a shock to my taste buds to go to such a sweet tasting green tea. I left it to sit on the counter for awhile and once it cooled off to room temperature the flavor was noticibly sweeter and the flavors mellowed out. By the end I really started to enjoy this tea.

I did steep this twice and iced down the second steep for later. This is another green tea which worked well iced and I actually preferred it that way. My second steep took on a melon flavor that just worked well iced.

I think this would be a great green tea for people who don’t normally care for it. This doesn’t have the grassy taste that many people seem to dislike.

I made some white monkey today and used my perfect tea maker from Teavana. It had a earthy smell during steeping, and was a fairly run-of-the-mill, mellow green tea with slightly earthy undertones until the finish which was intriguing. After every sip there was this unique flavor sensation that I’ve never come across before.

The best way I can describe it was the smell of water. It was a cool, bright brassy note after every sip that stayed on he tongue for just about a second, but it was consistent and definitely there. It was almost metalic in its brightness, but not heavy or cloying like metals. A really interesting flavor to say the least. I’ll be buying more of this one.

A mild green for a mellow afternoon. Steeped according to Adagio’s instructions.

Having White Monkey along with my toast slathered with cinnamon and honey. Good stuff, but darn if I can tell White Monkey and Xue Ya Ballad apart. :/ Short of conducting a side by side test, the two are just interchangeable in my mind. In fact, in the morning when I want my daily green, sometimes I just open both tins and level them out and see which one has more leaves, then I get two pinches from that one to balance the other out. Maybe I just want to be fair to both, I don’t know. It once occurred to me, why not just mix the two to get a Snow Monkey blend of sorts, but then the purist I never knew I had in me became horrified at the thought. Oh well. Back to alternating consumption then.:p

I’m just thankful pi luo chun is a little more remarkable. It’s probably standing there next to the tin of Genmaicha and Gyokuro, feeling relieved it has that fragrance to set it slightly apart.

Personal note: hay.

Finishing up the last of the sample. At little bit bitter this time, but I used a tea bottle with a smallish basket, so the leaves didn’t have as much room for expansion.

I enjoyed this tea! The smell reminds me of a field of freshly cut alfalfa and if I were to give that a flavor I would say it’s spot on. It doesn’t have a bold flavor and is fairly smooth on the back end (wine speakery). After a few sips I gave it a bit of agave for some sweetness, since I have that kind of tooth, but enjoyed it that much more …