Golden Monkey

Backlog:

Amazing! This month’s steepster select box is the best box that I’ve received from Steepster Select (and I’ve been a subscriber from the start).

This golden monkey is fabulous. Even better than fabulous. One of the very best black teas I’ve yet to taste. Definitely earning its 100 rating from me.

LOVE!

What a weekend! As some of you might have seen on the news, a good portion of Tennessee is underwater. Tennessee received more rain this last weekend than the TOTAL COMBINED precipitation for the months of May, June, and July (on average). Crazy stuff. Luckily, we did not have too much damage at our house. One bedroom window began to leak on the second day of nonstop rain…and my flowers received a thorough beating. Nothing major though, thank goodness. My office even closed its doors yesterday due to the roads being flooded…or gone. It was a nice little break filled with repairs, cleaning, TV and tea. Speaking of which…

On to the tea. I received this generous sample from SoccerMom. The leaves are quite stunning and fuzzy. The liquor is silky and finishes on a sweet note. I distinctly taste the spicy/peppery note but the malty flavor is absent. There is a slight earthy quality to the tea that I am enjoying immensely. My first cup was finished rather quickly, but the second steep cooled to room temperature. Both steeps were unique and pleasurable. I’m sure I could squeeze out a third steep, but it’s almost time to head home from the office. Yay! I might have to pick up where I left off today. This is a great tea to have on constant standby.

So after a day of Cotton Candy which have I mentioned is MARVELOUS .. I really just needed to get back to the basics..the roots…the taste of something not so sticky sweet but really top notch NUM. I hate the way that sounds because my day with Cotton Candy was delightful and I struggle to find the right way to say this without diminishing how wonderful CC was but I just needed something on the totally opposite end of the tasting spectrum. Now I will say this cuppa is also sweet – but in such a different way. Oh I am tired and only having this caffeine now because I am waiting on my 18 year old son to get here from his place for an early apportionment he has to be at in the morning in town here – he is 20 minutes away.
Long story longer huh? Anyway I guess he forgets we are not all 18 anymore and need rest! Then again if I had not had my schedule change recently I would be ready to keep rockin at this hour. ANYWAYYYYYY …
this tea is so delightful….creamy….milky….sweet….brothy….malty….most keywords have been spoken for in other reviews. A hint of honey and maybe chocolate? Maybe. So tired….but this is just what I needed to keep rollin until the “young adult” gets here.
Thanks Steepster Select for including this gem in your monthly package!

So naturally sweet and caramelicious! The first steep was a darker, chewy caramel, and this second one is sweeter and yes, milky – in that coating in your mouth sort of way. I used 200 degree water and a 4 minute first steep time – thinking about maybe trying boiling and 5 minutes next time to see if I get more or less caramel. I didn’t get any pepper and am wondering if it’s my slightly cooler than boiling temp and shortish steep time, too. I think I was a little too conservative!! My third steep is a little weak, but still enjoyable.

I’m glad to add another amazing-with-nary-an-additive black tea to my at-work arsenal, and look forward to playing with the steep time and water temp a bit!

I finally get to try this infamous tea that many have been raving about here on Steepster (And Across the Globe) as it IS an award-winner! This cup is possible because of SoccerMom…thanks Chick-a-dee!!!

The smell of it somewhat reminds me of Adagio’s Yunnan Jig…which I am a fan of. The coloring is a fairly dark brown. Oddly enough…I’m getting an after-smell of ‘french fries’ and TRUST ME…that’s NOT a bad thing! :)

The taste is very pure. Semi-bold but even. It’s a little malty. This is very, very good.

As I continue to sip this gem…I realize…this is one of those teas I have been searching for lately…craving…even!!!!

I just want to chew it…
nom, nom, nom…

Thank you LiberTEAS for this wonderful sample!

There is not much to add to the many others that have commented on this great tea. Plain and simple, it is a very delicious and delightful tea!

This tea is very smooth, even if you decide to steep it a couple extra minutes (of which I tried and found no strong bitterness; only a continued satisfying richness).

One finding however: It seems that a shorter steeping (2mins or less) produces an Assam-like flavored liquid – so I personally recommend steeping 4mins+.

Smooth like honey. No astringency. I have been coming back to this one and love to have a cup late at night. Im lucky caffeine does not bother me because this and the Laoshan black tea my night time blacks. I’m careful not to over brew it, I only do it for a minute and its perfect. I get about 6 good steeps out of it.

Sample package label:
“USDA Organic
*Heat water to boil
*use 1 level teaspoon of leaves per 8 oz.
*pour water over leaves, brew 4-5 mins.
Ingredients: Organic Chinese Black Tea (Golden Monkey)”

6-oz water with total dissolved solids (TDS) of 18 ppm, boiled, allowed to cool to ~200*F
(After yesterday’s experience with Nilgiri tea from Teas Etc., and given the cost of this tea ($81./lb.), I didn’t want to risk using this sample to find out that 8 oz. of water is too much.)

1 level Tevanna teaspoon, without sweeteners, milk, or cream.
This tea has a wonderful fragrance that reminds me of fine pipe tobacco.
Amber hue
3-min Infusion Initial Impression: The taste is light-bodied and creamy smooth. It’s not at all bitter or astringent. (I then let it steep for an additional minute.)
4-min: It’s a creamy smooth medium-bodied tea with a caramel-like natural sweet flavor and a finish that leaves you with a wonderful full mouth feel that lingers long on the tongue. (I’m glad I chose to use only 6 oz. of water.)

2nd Infusion: 212*F, allowed to cool briefly until steaming hot
5-min: It’s a creamy smooth medium-bodied tea with a caramel-like natural sweet flavor and a finish that leaves you with a wonderful full mouth feel that lingers long on the tongue. – Yes, the 2nd steep was as good as the first!

3rd Infusion: 212*F, allowed to cool briefly until steaming hot
5-min: Noticeably lighter but still enjoyable. (I then let it steep for an additional minute.)
6-min: Somewhat light, but still enjoyable.

Impression: This is my first Golden Monkey black tea and a wonderful first-impression and one that should not be missed! – Excellent!

Thanks to Teas Etc. for providing this free sample.
http://www.teasetc.com/details.asp?prodid=0140

Not all Golden Monkeys are created equal.

As much as I dog on Teavana’s — the price alone begs for minor mocking, even if you’re not snooty enough to sniff at the association to the store (really I think the eyeroll factor with Teavana, for me, comes from their desperate desire to portray tea as a magic bullet cure for zapping cake-fat off of our tushes or as an ambitious panacea for the unrealistic curing of any number of other ills) — I enjoyed it. (Woo! There’s a run-on sentence for you!) I said in my tasting note for it that I wouldn’t buy it again, and I haven’t, but I considered it more than once. It was the single bake-y-est tea I’ve ever had, and once I figured out that short steep times were its friend, I found it utterly craving-worthy, if only for the aroma alone. I preferred it to almost every other Golden Monkey that I’ve had since then, by a slim margin.

This tea is another outstanding Golden Monkey, but for different reasons. It has some of that bake-y quality to it — I find it very alluring; my palate interprets this in the same way that it does bread — but pairs it together with a profile that is irresistibly Yunnan. I have been plunging my nose into my cup in search of the proper analogy for the sweetness there, and coming up short. Sweet potato is not adequate, this time, nor is raisin. Perhaps if the two got together and produced delicious, delicious love-children? Who were actually made of bread?

The tea has a very thick feeling both in the mouth and after you swallow. I’ve found in the past that Golden Monkey is easy to screw up; steep it just 30 seconds too long, and something about it takes a turn for the strangely sour or the unbearably bitter. I think the lesser amount of malt in this (vs. the Teavana stuff I’ve been comparing it to) makes it a far more forgiving cup with a delectable, umami-savory quality.

Steep two was every bit as good, and the goodness sticks around long after the cup is cold. Steep 3 is incoming, and then I really ought to stop brewing black tea for the day, lest the top of my skull pop completely off. Whoo!

Definitely going to have to pick up some of this for my very own. Thanks Auggy!

Edit: What remains in my cup (there isn’t more than a hair of tea) smells, cooled down to utterly cold, distinctly of brown sugar and nothing else.

This is so tasty. Bold, smooth, thick, sort of malty but not, sort of hay-y but not. It makes me think of a having a nice cup of coffee to wake up with but without the acidity or bitterness. I really didn’t take many notes at all on this tea because I was too busy drinking it. My 12 oz went fast!

I really didn’t plan on being impressed by Teas Etc but I have several ‘must haves’ that I’ll be ordering soon – and this is one of them.

ETA: The second steep (5 minutes) taste like I’ve put milk in it! That deserves a little ratings bump.

I just want to start this off by saying I never win anything. If there is a raffle or a contest or even eeny meeny miney moe, I will lose. So the fact that I won this tea in the steepster select monthly prize makes me think there was divine intervention in me receiving this tea. I even began my steepster account that same month! Anyway, I’ve had a lot of golden monkey tea but I’ve never had one that has had such a lovely blend of spiciness and maltiness. Its got this great creaminess that kinda fills your whole mouth, it borders on being a dessert tea without the sweetness. Very nice.

The dry leaves of this tea are very beautiful, and have a fuzzy,soft look to them and are yellow golden color. This color changes to a reddish brown hue after being steeped. The liquor is smooth and has a medium mouth feel, right in between thin and thick. This tea’s liquor was quite spicy, reminiscent of black pepper and a tiny bit of cocoa

Want to read a more thorough review see my blog! :) http://wp.me/pQxcK-3p

This was my morning cup on my way to work. I really enjoyed lingering with this tea during my (hour ugh,) commute. Many of the previous tasters have already gone over this in great detail. The leaves of this tea are fluffy and beautiful! The mouth feel is soft. The flavors are all muted but slightly sweet. A REAL WINNER! I gave this tea 100!!!

On to the tea. I received this generous sample from SoccerMom. The leaves are quite stunning and fuzzy. The liquor is silky and finishes on a sweet note. I distinctly taste the spicy/peppery note but the malty flavor is absent. There is a slight earthy quality to the tea that I am enjoying immensely. My first cup was finished rather quickly, but the second steep cooled to room temperature. Both steeps were unique and pleasurable. I’m sure I could squeeze out a third steep, but it’s almost time to head home from the office. Yay! I might have to pick up where I left off today. This is a great tea to have on constant standby.

Thanks to SoccerMom for this sample. This one is just OK to me. Comparing Adagio’s Golden Monkey w/this one, it seems that the Teas Etc. just does not have the bold flavor as Adagio’s version…..

Look, I know there’s lot’s of crazy insane reviews on this one, but, I’m just not feeling it. Maybe it’s an off night for me, but this tea is average at best on my palate. No lingering tail notes. Nothing really upfront to blow you away. It sure is beautiful, but, even the dry leaf doesn’t look as appealing as what I had hoped for given the reviews on this board.

This is Teas Etc’s newest batch of Golden Monkey, not the tea that came in second place in the World Tea Championship. To be honest, I like this new batch better. It is spicier and more intense. The floral notes seem to mesh better with spice than with the more intense cocoa notes of the last batch. Extraordinary. Yum.

Now this is a very nice tea. It has a copper red hue and smells very earthy. It has a sweet finish and is smooth with no bitterness at all. This tea actually has a caramel character which I have never tasted before. This is not a brisk robust breakfast tea. This is a tea to sit and linger over. Overall, one of the best teas I have ever drank. I followed directions on the packet for my first cup, but I intend to experiment a little with regards to temp and steep time in the future.

Thank you Rumpus Parable for this delcious sample!!!
This tea was amazing, simply amazing. I think it is the best black tea that I’ve ever had. I love how strong the flavors are, especially the hints of carmel. Yumm!!!

As a long time fan of Adagio’s golden monkey, I thought I’d try this version. It was decent, but didn’t quite pack the punch that I was anticipating. Next time, I will try to make it a bit stronger.

Weird… I just uploaded this to my website today!! Synchronistic thought processes scare me!

This is so nice and smooth! I usually turn away from drinking many black teas because I usually find the flavor combination of floral and spicy to be a bit too much for my palate.

The cool thing about this tea, which might give me the desire to try other blacks, is that it has another flavor profile that helps to smooth out the over all taste. I really starting to notice this great nutty flavor coming from the tea as it began to cool down.The nuttiness brings both the floral and the spicy completely into check rounds out all of the pointer edges of this tea. I think i like this one best iced.

While it remains hot this is still pleasant and I can drink it comfortably with no milk or sugar. The spice and floral flavors do play nice together even if they can be strong. They are never “put down that cup” strong, but as a fan of oolongs and greens some times I feel black tea flavors are just a bit strong in general. So the fact I didn’t feel the need to put anything in this tea says something.