91

The first tea, White Monkey from Hunan Province, is neither white or a monkey, but it is delightfully fuzzy (this fuzz is called Trichomes, for the botany minded types) and very lovely to look at. White Monkey is actually a fairly delicate green tea that was picked very early in the season and in a lot of ways acts like a white tea. Full of mystery and fuzz, just the way I like my tea! The aroma of these downy leaves is sweet, like hay and fresh vegetation, like walking through an overgrown field. There is also a rich undertone of muscatel that is wonderfully mixed with the initial sweetness. A very fresh aroma that is both mellow and invigorating. It always amuses me when a tea can do that.

Once the leaves are taking a nice swim in their warm bath the aroma takes on a floral tone, a nice comparison to the initial field aroma of the leaves (the field has bloomed! Spring to Summer) it fades to a mix of muscatel and bright citrus. A pleasant little zing at the end, a wake you up from your daydreaming about fields. The liquid away from the leaves has the aroma of fresh hay, very mild and pleasantly sweet.

I love drinking fuzzy teas because it always tickles just a little bit. The taste is what is important, not the adorable fuzz, this first brew I gave a short steep and it produced a delightfully mild tea. The primary taste is vegetal, like spinach, mixed with mown hay. The aftertaste is gently sweet with a tiny, tiny hint of flowers. As the tea cools it takes on a quince flavor with a bit of tartness.

The second steep I let sit a bit longer to see what other flavors I could glean, as per recommended from the website. The aroma is much more green and takes on a real body that honestly I thought of as crunchy. Odd I know, but that was the first thing that came to mind ‘this smells crunchy.’ The taste is much more intense! The quince taste that was noticed once the tea cools is much more prominent and is accompanied by a citrusy tartness. There is a strong vegetal aftertaste that wraps up the tea nicely. As to be expected the second steep is not as fuzzy. A nicely mild tea that is one that is good for anytime drinking.

Blog post and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/09/little-red-cup-tea-co-white-monkey-tea.html

TEArender

White monkey sounds like silver needles yuedan, really neat overtone you described

TeaNecromancer

I can see a similarity between them, now that you mention it _

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

People who liked this

Comments

TEArender

White monkey sounds like silver needles yuedan, really neat overtone you described

TeaNecromancer

I can see a similarity between them, now that you mention it _

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I am a nerdy, obsessive, crafty, tea blogging, gaming nut. Yeah, that about sums me up! Ok, you want something more informative….

I am a Geek, hardcore fan-girl Geek. It shapes my life. I spend a large chunk of my life painting miniatures and contemplating my various army layouts. I hoard dice, get obsessed with games, and will talk about whatever fandom, game, etc that I am obsessed over until I am blue in the face. I am not just a gamer girl type Geek, I also fit in the collecting knowledge and spending way too much time reading and researching category of Geek.

But there is more to me than just being a giant nerd. I love tea, always have and have just gotten more and more obsessed as I get older. I love trying new teas and then writing lengthy descriptions about them on my blog, I love reading and researching the history and culture of tea, I love collecting tea pots and fancy tea tools.

When the weather allows it, I love to go mushroom hunting. I don’t eat them, instead I use them for photography and spore prints. I love nature and worked as a Naturalist in the Northwoods one summer, it might have been the best job ever.

I have Fibromyalgia, it sucks, but I feel people who are going to interact with me should know since I tend to vanish because of it so fair warning! I do tend to not vanish very long though. Also I have some ‘social disorders’ which basically translates to I am really awkward and bad at socializing, so forgive any lack of social graces.

I also have cats, love the ocean and all aquatic life, have teal hair, love cheese, and collect hats.

My favorite tea is definitely Oolong, but I also love Japanese greens and…ok I just love tea actually :P I am not a huge fan of lemony black teas or tart fruit teas. I also loathe hibiscus (usually)

This is my actual tea wishlist, you know that I actually update and keep track of…I tend to forget Steepster’s https://www.facebook.com/notes/amanda-wilson/tea-wishlishtshopping-list-perpetually-in-progress/10152336515414411 I use my steepster WL to keep track of teas I have had and really want more of :P

Location

Kansas City, MO

Website

http://ramblingbutterflythoug...

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer