Golden Monkey

Dont understand some of the negative reviews on this one as far as my cup goes it was rather tasty. Of course there are better teas and this was a pricey oz, but I still find it enjoyably smooth and complex.

Ost was nice enough to share this. I really did drink this some time ago. I just now ran across my tasting note that I jotted down while at work! :)

I may have oversteeped but this isn’t going to be my thing. I like my GM smooth and sweet. This was very harsh with a smoky smell and an ashy taste. Glad to have tried it but it’s another Teavana that I don’t need to worry about getting any of!

Not a fan. I tried long steeps, short steeps, lots of leaf, little leaf, but no. I do not like this tea. I don’t like the flavor.

I had planned to bring some tea home with me for the holidays (I have a whole 2 weeks to spend with my parents, which is lovely) and then I completely forgot. So while in Thunder Bay on the way home I picked up a couple of sampler tins from the International House of Tea – the Black Tea Sampler, and the Premium Tea Sampler. They were okay, but all the black teas in the sampler are Indian, and I find I’ve been craving a good malty Chinese black tea recently. We don’t have a lot of options for loose leaf tea in this area, so while out running some errands with my mom today I decided to brave the Teavana in the mall to see if they might have anything. I ordered a cup of the Golden Monkey to try it out – I didn’t see how much tea she put in, or what the water temperature was, but she steeped it for 3min.

It wasn’t bad, though it definitely wasn’t anywhere near the best I’ve tried of this type of tea. It was malty, with a bit of sweet potato. The girl in the store claimed it has chocolate notes, but I didn’t get any of that at all. There was a bit of bitterness that I didn’t like – I wonder if it would have been better steeped at a slightly lower temperature. The 16oz cup turned out to be a little over $5, which I felt was crazy, and I definitely wasn’t about to pay $16 for 50g of it, which is the smallest quantity they’d sell me. I guess I’ll just have to wait… I ordered some tea from Tealux’s Boxing Day sale for my parents, so hopefully it arrives soon. :)

First tasting note, so thank you for your understanding if I do something wrong? LOL I don’t know. Anyway I bought this a long time ago because it smelled really good and was recommended by the Teavana staff, but am just now getting to it. First I tried it with a little bit of milk and sweetener; my friends said I might like it better that way beause I am new to tea. But the cup I’m having now is just plain and I like it better this way. So far so good, I think. Am looking forward to see how it tastes with another steep! And this time I won’t accidentally oversteep it (meant to do only 2:30 but ended up at about 3:00).

Got like an ounce of this in a super generous swap with Stephen Cook!
I’ve been eager to try this ever since they released it, but it’s wayyy too expensive for me and there’s no way I am spending like 30 bucks for 2oz of tea. 0_0
So I’m really glad I got to try this finally! :D
Actually, last Tuesday while I was at the mall I stopped by our Teavana and tried a sample of this one. It was bitter and earthy. Really not my thing. Also kinda weird since Teavana has the reputation to sweeten the crap out of their teas-haha! Apparently ours breaks that stereotype. xD
After that sample I wasn’t sure I’d like it at home.
But it was so different at home!
It’s a little earthy, but it’s really strong and malty. One of those teas that will really wake you up. xD This is definitely not the best Golden Monkey I’ve ever had, but it’s pretty decent. Not worth the price, and definitely better at home than in the store.
I’ll enjoy the rest of this though! Happy to finally try it! :D

Sampled this in store today and I was pretty impressed. This is different from any other black I’ve tried. I’m not sure about the price – I may need to track down a similar tea from another company, but it did grab me.

My first Teavana tea of the day that wasn’t a disappointment…this one was a decidedly mellow, reasonably balanced black that lacks the salty notes I’ve had issues with in others. It lingers in the mouth, leaving behind an almost honeyed aftertaste and a soft sensation that makes it a decidedly pleasant cup to have on hand while watching tv or working online.

I’m still not likely to run out and buy this one – because it’s still Teavana, y’know – but it won’t be a problem for me to drink what’s left in the bag.

This is a luscious and luxurious cup of tea with pleasantly pronounced chocolate and juicy apricot flavors. No bitterness or astringency whatsoever – Smooth as silk to the last sip. Golden Monkey is a tea that is to be savored – The perfect tea for a long, lazy Sunday. I will always have some in my pantry.

I needed a quick cuppa before heading out for lunch, so I grabbed this tea. To it’s credit, this tea seems to be pretty hard to mess up. And by mess up I mean get overly bitter and astringent or, on the other side of the spectrum, completely flavorless. It did seem a tad weak today, but I wasn’t being too careful about steeping parameters. I was getting mostly baked bread/honey notes with some weaker malt flavor. All in all, a pretty good tea.