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I had to buy samples of the 2015 harvest of Teavivre’s Golden Monkey! This tastes similar to me as other havests. If you love this Golden Monkey, you can be thrilled that this harvest hasn’t changed much. Not quite as dark chocolate as I would wish my favorite Golden Monkey to be, but milk chocolate. There are also hints of a flavor like keemun, slightly smoky, malty and dark. The dry leaves look the same: dark and twisty with hints of gold. The brew also has the color of milk chocolate. Both steeps had the exact same flavor.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for mug // 15 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep
Harvest: 2015

Yesterday I tried the Premium jasmine pearls. Today, on an even hotter day (maybe the hottest of the year so far), I’m trying the Superfine. Honestly, I can’t really tell much of a difference. The scent, appearance, steeped leaves are the same. The color of the brew is slightly a darker mellow yellow here than the Premium. Maybe I’m too much of a jasmine pearl amateur to know the difference. There MIGHT be a slightly more silky quality and slightly sweeter flavor over the Premium, but I might just be trying to find something that is different. But the flavor is gorgeous as usual, perfect for this hot day. A third steep also had quite a lot of flavor. I’ve adored all of the jasmine teas I’ve tried from Teavivre. The jasmine couldn’t be any better on any of the jasmine blends. Choosing one to buy is quite a problem, as I wouldn’t mind stocking up on all of them. That was why I wanted to try all of the jasmine teas though – I knew I definitely wanted to stock up on at least one of them! Any of these would satisfy any jasmine fan.
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon for mug // 25 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 22 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Harvest: 2014

Thanks so much for swapping, NayLynn! This might be the 52Teas blend I wanted to try the most. FRANKENBERRY!! It’s kind of exactly what I thought it would be like. Hints of strawberry and marshmallow root with the cardboard black tea base strengthening the cardboard flavor or cereal. Haha. So it’s perfect. I can tell there is a touch of the malt flavor that is mentioned in the description too. The black tea looks very light though. Both steeps tasted pretty much the same. This met my expectations and it’s Frankenberry cereal so it’s fun. You could almost pretend the Black Silk Chocolate Milk blend is the Count Chocula and I already know and love the Booberry… it was the best for iced tea that I remember from a couple years ago.
Steep #1 // 1 tsp // few minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep

I adore jasmine teas on hot summer days. It’s perfect! This tea features some lovely scented little bundles of light green and white leaves. I’m reminded of the white of the leaves when I see the color of the brew – a pale color I would consider more like a white tea. So much flavor is here! Yes, it’s mostly the endless jasmine but it pairs so well with the green tea. So refreshing and summery. Peeking into the brew basket, the leaves were hardly out of their bundle shapes, but the second steep was much more unraveled. Both steeps tasted exactly the same. The green tea is much lighter in flavor than the other green jasmine teas from Teavivre (though I will be trying the Superfine pearls tomorrow.) So these pearls almost taste like just jasmine petals without the green tea. The other two green teas have just hints of green tea flavor with all that jasmine. Though I didn’t steep these pearls with Teavivre’s parameters, I think all steeps tasted perfect to me! (I had a third steep that was also delicious.)
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon for mug (about half a 7 gram sample) // 25 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 22 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Harvest: 2014

Awesome to see this one in MissB’s sale box! Thank you so much! Coffee, hazelnut, chocolate, coconut, almonds. I love those teas with coffee beans in them. Davidstea has a couple. Bluebird has one. They’re all good. The brew of this one ends up being a dark red, not super dark like those others (of course, that’s the tea and not the coffee beans). The base kind of reminds me of Butiki’s Premium Taiwanese Assam but the leaves don’t look the same. It’s hard to tell under all these flavors though. It tastes like coffee, malty, nutty. Yum. But I love the super darkness of those other blends. The pu-erh or the black tea that looks like coffee seem to suit these flavors but this is certainly a good cup. I don’t think coconut needed to be here though since I’m worried it will eventually ruin the blend. Not yet though!
Steep #1 // heaping tsp // few minutes after boiling // 3 minutes
Steep #2 // couple min a.b. // 4 min

It’s disappointing to say that this just tastes like honeybush. Though it should be the most chocolately of chocolateness: brownie batter! There were even two GIANT chocolate chips in my infuser and still not much chocolate flavor. But with cocoa nibs and additional flavor, there really should have been more chocolate! Of course, if there had been cocoa SHELLS in the blend I think all three of the other ingredients wouldn’t have even been necessary. The second steep was even less chocolate. Such a shame!
Steep #1 // 1 heaping tsp // few minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // few min a.b. // few minute steep

I had to try all of the jasmine teas from Teavivre! They have a new harvest of this one now. So much jasmine in both the fragrance and flavor here! The green tea seems to be many shades of green. The steeping instructions seemed to suggest too hot of a temperature, so I went a lot cooler. The flavor is great as is typical of all Teavivre’s jasmine teas. There is so much jasmine I can hardly taste the green tea. Definitely a nice burst of sweet jasmine for a jasmine fan! Very strong! This seems similar to me to the Jasmine Bi Luo Chun. I probably couldn’t tell the difference in a taste test. I think I used the correct amount of leaves for my tastes. I love the Jasmine white tea the best and I’ll be trying the Jasmine Pearls soon.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 tsps. for a mug (about half a 7gram sample) // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute
Harvest:2014

This was the perfect choice yesterday, on a rainy day! I was hoping I could figure out if this rose blend has the base of another of Teavivre’s Yun Nan Dian Hongs but it is so hard to tell! The dry leaves don’t seem like any of the other Yun Nan Dian Hongs and the flavor doesn’t seem like the others that I’ve tried but the flavor is GOOD. First of all, I didn’t see much rose in my sample and it doesn’t seem infused with any rose otherwise. So the rose isn’t there at all. But I am perfectly happy with this as a Yun Nan Dian Hong. It is NOT really chocolate to me at all. The flavor seems like three different teas: the lightness and sweetness of a Yunnan, the lovely flavor qualities of a great Keemun, and the slight smokiness and other characteristics of a Zheng Shan Ziao Zhong (and the leaves look like the one Teavivre offers too.) Otherwise the flavor is malty sweet potatoes. It’s an awesome black tea combo that hits many black tea cravings. I think I steeped the first cup perfectly. I want to drink 10 mugs full of this today.
Steep #1 // half a 7 gram sample (about 2 tsps. for a mug) // 14 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // few minutes after boiling // 3-4 minutes steep
Harvest: 2015

Thanks again for the awesome sale, MissB! This is one I’ve been dying to try! Anything melon! But this HAS to be the highest rated green rooibos! The color of the cup still looks like red rooibos though. The flavor couldn’t be better — it’s like drinking a cup of melon juice. Amazing. It might have a completely syrupy texture if not for the slight woodiness texture from the rooibos. I’m used to seeing melon flavored teas have a white base. I think I like a nice melon white tea slightly better as a base… maybe because I like white tea better or it pairs better with melon, but this one is pretty darn good especially as a no caffeine late night option when I’m craving melon! And MissB sent over quite a few teaspoons. :D

I’m glad the paper fortune I almost forgot about didn’t end up in the infuser! First of all, this black tea isn’t really a “golden” monkey, as the leaves are completely black. Sorry, the yellow flower petals aren’t tricking me. :D I thought all golden monkey teas were at least somewhat golden, hence the golden monkey. I was getting plenty of champagne flavor with each steep though. Maybe not the best champagne flavor from a tea I’ve tried, but good! The golden monkey also isn’t the best I’ve had but with a chocolate flavor, it might have been a little weird with champagne. This one didn’t have chocolate flavor. I can’t really explain WHAT the flavor is but it is better than the old 52Teas black tea flavor.
Steep #1 // 1 heaping tsp // 15 minute after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // few minutes after boiling // 3-4 min