Golden Monkey

Experience buying from Harney & Sons http://steepster.com/places/2779-harney-and-sons-online-millerton-new-york

Date of Purchase/Date of Steeping: Bought sample in December 2011; brewed up late-May 2012.

Appearance and Aroma of dry leaf: strong, wonderfully fruity smell (similar to a Darjeeling?) with a hint of a roasted aroma; small, beautifully curled light and dark brown leaves (similar to a quality Yunnan).

Brewing guidelines: almost 5 full TSP tea for 4 cups water; loose in my new ceramic four-cup teapot; stevia added; I used my standard Chinese red tea steeping times and temperatures, steeped five times.

Color and Aroma of tea liquor: Beautiful, clear dark-red color with a faint malty aroma.

Flavor of tea liquor: Good! Similar to an Assam—it was clearly malty—but with a definite Chinese red tea flavor profile (somewhat like a Yunnan, possibly in its sweetness?). Good flavor up through the third steeping, some on the forth, with just a hint of flavor on the fifth.

Appearance and Aroma of wet leaf: A few largish-looking stems but few broken pieces and plenty of nice buds in the wet leaf; I smelled it just after the first steeping and it had a wonderfully sweet aroma.

Value: $3 for the sample, but otherwise $22 / 3OZ. This is clearly a quality tea, but that price-tag is too steep for me (as in, expensive, that is); there are to be plenty of other teashops that carry quality Chinese red teas for a price better than $7/OZ (but maybe none with precisely this kind of flavor profile, hmm?).

Overall: I spontaneously brewed up this sample today, it being the last in the bunch I bought from H&S toward the end of last year. On a side note: having now had about ten Teas from H&S I have to say I am impressed with their offerings such that every Tea (NOT including their tizanes) I have tried has been of commendable quality. As I mentioned in Value this is clearly a quality Chinese red tea. Strangely enough in color and flavor this tea somewhat reminds me of a red ale I helped to home-brew just a few days ago; I like that. I am not willing to pay the normal price for this tea, but still, I’m glad I had a chance to experience it.

Tea of the morning….. and (SRP #49)

It has been almost a whole month since I destashed something. Schedules have been weird, as they are over Summer break, and it has just been easier to grab favorites. This is a sample I received from JacquelineM quite some time ago. (Thank you!) Now it goes out with a bang….a whole decadent pot of this tea. It is probably my favorite Golden Monkey by taste, but the frugal gal in me also pays some attention to price, and this one is pricey for my pocketbook. However, it is worth it, too. Once I cut down on the amount of general China black tea in my cupboard, I will probably buy this one. I also like that for me, it requires less sweetener than others!

Usual teapot method. Resteep coming up!

Ever since tasting Teavivre’s Golden Monkey, this kind of Fujian tea has been near the top of my list of plain blacks. I’ve been very curious about it ever since, especially from someone as trustworthy as Harney & Sons.

The scent is very fruity and complex, characteristic of this kind of blend. I’m definitely getting the aroma of sweet potato. What’s great about the flavor of this tea is that it’s fruity without being fruit flavored, and it’s so very smooth. There is no bitterness, no astringency. Just delicious, almost breadlike taste. I’m also getting light notes of honey. Truly something to savor.

A bit of a warning — this stuff doesn’t like being treated like a traditional black tea. You want to be gentle with it. Give it a shorter steep time and cooler water than you’d usually go with. Otherwise, the flavor gets pretty overwhelming and distorted.

And a bit of a random note, I made this for my stoner friend who always wants a cup when I offer, and he said “This is really good tea…” while crashing cars in Grand Theft Auto IV.

This is not much of a review as I was not able to give this my full attention today. This is mostly to say publicly how much I appreciate the kindness of Ashmanra. Your sending me this wonderful tea out of the blue came at the perfect time. The work day was so stressful I literally wanted to curl up in a little ball in a corner and just rock. Not real manly, but you can only take so many firey darts before you need to catch a break. This tea helped me hang on to what little sanity I have left.

This is really good. Beautiful to look at. Sweet and malty. Carmel and mild sweet taters. This is Bailin Gonfu meets Dian Hong golden tips, get married and have a kid… A wild child! Ashmanra in her note to me called this tea the Batman of teas. I say, to the Batcave! For more of this.

Thanks to ashmanra for a sample of this! I didn’t sleep much last night and this is really helping to perk me up in a gentle way.

I steeped it for 3 minutes in boiling water. Yum! I really like this. It’s a lighter bodied black tea with a lot of maltiness and sweetness. I’m reminded a bit of sweet potatoes and caramelized sugar. Exceptionally smooth and fine. You get a delightful aftertaste and rich mouthfeel. I would not recommend having this with any milk or sugar, it really doesn’t need it! Naturally sweet and delicious.

note: I went back for a second cup and found that I accidentally left my tea leaves still steeping in the pot – steeping this for 10 minutes, I do not recommend. ;-) But on the upside my whole kitchen smells like a molasses cookie!

Light and smooth. Pretty liquor. The dry leaves are a pretty mix of gold and black. A bit of a malty taste. Somewhat easy to oversteep perhaps. I do like this quite a bit. If it were to go on sale, I’d get more. For now, I’ll stick with a sample now and then.

Jenn was good enough to send this to me a while back. I’m finally getting to it after sorting out the tea cabinet at home. The dry leaves are golden and dark in color and smell very much like honey! This excites me a little because I love honey. But I hate having to add sweeteners to my tea. I’m finding I like my teas straight up these days. As the tea steeped I continued to get the notes of sweet coming out of the cup. This almost reminded me of a Yunnan I have a large amount of. (Again another good thing!)

The taste? Very rich and very bold! I really like it. I have to say I was planning on a nap this afternoon, but I have a feeling this tea will keep me from that. Honestly I’m ok with this, this time. I have a lot to do and a nap would just get in the way. There is the slightest hint of honey to this tea which makes it perfect when matched with the rich malty flavor I’m also getting here.

The other day, I brewed a cup of this, but forgot as I was rushing to get my kids ready for day camp. Packed them up, buckled up in the car and we took off with a huge list of to-do items that needed to be done without children… and halfway to camp, I realized I forgot my tea. So, naturally, as I’m driving, I’m neurotically thinking about all of the reviews I’ve read about this one. I’m weighing the cost of driving 15 minutes back to the house to pick it up and then another 15 minutes back to the freeway. My long list is looming on the passenger seat, and I turn back toward home.

It turns out that it was one of the best decisions of my day! (My sunglasses ended up being made with the wrong prescription; I got lost on the way to a new knitting shop, then found I’d have to hike a while to get there as the entire street was closed for construction.) But, I had finally had the chance to try Golden Monkey, and I have the lovely ashmanra to thank for this experience! (Not the forgetting, wrong prescription and getting lost and finding construction experience, but instead the tea experience.)

Golden Monkey is an appropriate name for this one. It’s a beautiful tea to look at. Dark, black tea leaves intertwined with golden, curled leaves. Like guilded curlicues found on the frames of beautiful artwork. It has a mellow scent that belies its strength. The tea itself smells lovely. Of course, I didn’t get to smell it immediately after steeping, but it still had a nice, sweet aroma to it. Upon tasting, I was surprised at the vegetal taste that I normally get with greens. It is earthy, but not in a pu-erh way. Instead, I would say it’s almost mossy. The element that really makes this tea, though, is the caramel taste that unfurls just after sipping and develops gradually on my tongue. It’s amazing! Sweet and full. This is one tea that should be taken without any additions. It’s very, very lovely and I can now see why Harney & Sons is always sold out of this one.

Thank you, ashmanra, for this wonderful tea! (Now I have to try the new crop, too, as I read your tasting note yesterday.)

Even though I rarely drink unflavored teas, the praise that this tea has gotten intrigued me, and happily JacquelineM was kind enough to send me a sample to try! The aroma of the brewed tea is so interesting… a little bit roasted, definitely honeyed notes that others describe, and yes, perhaps some caramel notes as well.

As I said, usually I’m not an unflavored tea drinker, especially when it comes to blacks. Of course, I haven’t exactly explored all the options, and this is a tea that definitely has broadened my horizons. This is a plain black tea I can drink! It’s lighter and definitely tasty with its honeyed notes and just a hint of roasted flavor. As it cools the caramel notes come out more; this is certainly the most delicious unflavored black tea I’ve ever tasted! I think I need my unflavored blacks to be fairly light; for instance, I tried Golden Snail at Harney Soho and while I liked it ok, I definitely prefer this one. Thanks so much JacquelineM for sending me a sample of your precious Golden Monkey! :D

This is yet another tea from the awesome JacquelineM! Thanks again!!

I’ve tried this sample previously, but didn’t pay enough attention to it as I took it as my work tea (it can be tough paying attention to anything when teaching 6 year olds). I am revisiting this tonight because I’ve wanted to try it and would like to know if it is worth the somewhat hefty (in my opinion) price tag that this tea carries.

While I’m sure this tea is amazing on it’s own, I am really enjoying it with a pinch of sugar and a splash of milk this evening. The first infusion had a definite malty earthiness which reminded me quite a bit of the Golden Bi Luo from Chicago Tea Garden. I was hesitant to try a second infusion because the first one was for such a long time, but I went ahead and gave it a shot.

I am glad that I tried this second infusion! The earthiness is not very noticeable now, but there is a honey sweetness that has taken over. I definitely think that my pinch of sugar has something to do with it, but I can tell there is a natural sweetness lurking below my additions. I am really loving this tea and it will be on my shopping list for sure!

Thank you so much to ASHMANRA for sending me this exquisite sample. When I got it I felt an impulse to save it for just precisely the “right” moment (but not having defined right, I did not know when I would drink it). When I read that today is the 100th birthday of Lucille Ball, I thought “golden monkey!” to myself and promptly steeped this fine tea.
Jacquelin M and others are right when they say “caramel”. It’s full, fresh, brisk, and elegant. What a delightful treat!

Steeped a nice pot of this for myself and the designer as we’re putting the finishing touches on the place. The smooth caramel flavors are slowly trickling in, getting us in the right mood to get ’er done!

2 tsp for 12 oz.

Wow, this is tasty! It tastes like a Yunnan Dian Hong to me. Smooth.

I’m not familiar with any other Golden Monkey teas, I should try some others.

Thanks to Ashmanra for this sample. I can definitely pick up the honey notes and slight malt flavor….No sugar is needed. No milk.

I have always liked Adagios Golden Monkey but perhaps this is as good or better.

This is a no doubter, I don’t see how one is complete without the Monkey in the cupboard. If I had to take only a few things with me on a trip, this would be one of them.

This is a full flavored, absolutely delicious tea. It is the tea you remember clearly and look forward to savoring. The leaves are fluffy and elegant, with golden bud strands running through the large dark leaves, best brewed around 205 degrees for around 3.75-4.00 minutes. The aroma is almost instantaneous and unmistakeable – a high entropy laden mixture of chocolate honey flavor that brews strong and dark, and tastes much like a pastry in the morning, or dessert in the evening. Despite the declarative nature of this tea, it is soft and pleasantly round in the mouth, something noticed frequently with Fujian teas. Why anyone would put a milk or sugar of any type is beyond comprehension, this is a self-drinking tea (ok, ok, to each his/her own) with a delicate sweetness and aftertaste. While not a low cost tea, this is perhaps most worth the premium price – it is truly a premium tea

Matt’s reaction can be viewed here => http://steepster.com/REDKEG/posts/60311#comments

^{Brewed in Huge Glass Teapot}

This is a long-overdue tasting note for Golden Monkey, which I purchased on my first visit to the delightful Harney tearoom in Soho.

The first couple of times I tried this one, I felt like I didn’t “get it.” I picked up on a mild sweet-potato note, but that was about it. No caramel, no richness. Then one day at the office, I brewed a big travel mug of Golden Monkey. I used a generous amount of dry leaf and the water that came out of the Keurig coffeemaker. Much better — lots more flavor, and even some of that elusive caramel, revealed itself!

My lessons from this experience: For my taste, this tea should be measured generously and brewed at about 192 degrees F, which is the water temperature produced by the Keurig machine (thank you, Google!). And let it enjoy a longish bath in the hot water.

Its been awhile since i last did a tasting note. Just getting back into this.

So i had this tea. What can i say it was very good! What a decadent cup of black tea. A beautiful cup and gorgeous dry tea. i taste caramel and its naturally mildly sweet, and little malty.

A very good cup and i will be enjoying this again!

The honey is noticeable but not overwhelming. Smooth, almost buttery flavor. I dig it.

Delicious. So many subtle flavors. My mistake was having a butter cookie with it after the first few sips – it drowned out all of the delicacy. Next time I’ll sit with just the cup of tea. I imagine this would make a nice iced tea too.