donkeyteaarrrraugh Send Message

Following suit with my fellow steepers, I too will raise a cup of Harney & Sons in honor of Mr. Harney. Harney created my favorite breakfast blend, Malachi McCormick, which since I first tasted it, has fended off many challengers to remain my favorite “workaday” cup of tea. Thank you, Mr. Harney. You’ve left us with many gifts that can be treasured every day…..

This is my first “2nd flush” tea since really beginning to explore teas this year. I’ve been on a Chinese blacks bender, and in the last few days have decided to return to my first love, the Assams. I am pleased to report that the difference between a 1st flush and a 2nd flush is no longer a mystery to me! Cafe Moto’s Assam Fancy 2nd Flush is a great tea to compare/contrast with first flush Assams. All of the trademark Assam notes are present…the wonderful maltiness, the cocoa base note….but there is a smoothness and depth to this tea that was never present in the “regular” assams I’ve sampled in the past. This tea also has a lovely mouthfeel that is whole but not too weighty. Overall, this is a great, honest Assam with the smoothness and maltiness that I adore. 2nd flush, you’ve made me a fan!

I’ve been immersing myself in Yunnans lately, trying to learn about their differences and commonalities, but my allergied-out taste-buds have been yearning for something STRONGER so they can really TASTE something. I reached into the tea cabinet and my hand went directly to this tea. Sigh……….. thank you taste buds. This is just what I needed! I adore good malt and baked bread notes, and this tea has both….along with some chocolate, sweet potato, a touch of raisin and we wee bit of stone fruit (that I find comes out best when having nilla wafers with this tea) Dinjoye Estate Assam has a nice intricate flavor profile without being too complicated. Assam, absence has made my heart grow fonder. I have missed you.

Opening the sample…the smell that hit my nose was absolutely gorgeous. It smelled luxurious. Really luxurious. Even my husband, who has the most useless nose ever (love you honey!) smelled it and said “Wow! Smells like chocolate! THAT one I can smell!” The leaves and liquid carried a strong yam smell, and also a bit of smokiness that surprised me. For some reason I wasn’t expecting a smoky note from Golden Monkey. Maybe because I didn’t think monkey’s smoked.( insert rolling eyes here. sorry.) The liquid was a beautiful golden amber color….and then it was in my cup…and then it was half gone… this is incredibly smooth. A touch of malt, yams, the cocoa my husband so proudly detected, a touch of smoky tobacco… it’s all there, but combined in a different way than the Yunnan’s I’ve had before. It has a “more adult” flavor….like a wine you’d serve at special occasions that paired nicely with the meal you were serving. I think there is a touch of astringency here, but it is just enough to keep the flavor profile from sitting on the bottom….it adds a bit of buoyancy to the taste of this tea, without drying your mouth out. Lovely.
Now that I’ve finished my 2nd cup, I can wholeheartedly state that TeaVivre’s Golden Monkey is a lovely and luxurious tea that is deep with flavor and complexity….. wonderful.
Here is a link to the photo: https://twitter.com/squeediebeebert/status/478216252457254912

I finally ordered from Adagio. I see I should have done this sooner, but not for the reasons you’re thinking. You see, thanks to Steepster, Lupicia might have brought me to this board, but I went straight to Butiki, Andrews & Dunham, Verdant and TeaVivre after that. I kinda went straight in with the big guns, and now I have Adagio. Hmmmm…..

Now, don’t get me wrong, this tea isn’t bad. It has a very light mouthfeel….I steeped for 5 minutes, but it could have gone longer. The oak/cannabis/mineral(?)/light malt top note is balanced well with the chocolate bottom note….but it isn’t a stunner. This tea is a good intro to “boutique teas” if a friend comes over and you want to share your passion, but don’t want to give them something over the top (like Laoshan Black or Congou Keemun). I wouldn’t turn it down, but I wouldn’t buy more, knowing what’s out there in big world of teas these days. Photo here: https://twitter.com/squeediebeebert/status/477864371922948096

Post script: Even as it cools, it tastes nice. And that’s how I’d describe this tea….nice.

I now officially have reviews of this tea from Royal Teas of Kenya under 3 different companies’ names…. as it is no longer available from the last 2 companies that I purchased it from, I was relieved to find it available from Stylin’ Teas. I adore this CTC. It is bready, malty wonderfulness with very little astringency, which as I’m finding, is not common for Kenyan teas. If you’ve written Kenya teas off because of their astringency, try this tea. This, to me, is the perfect smooth cup of breakfast tea to go with just about anything. WARNING: Only steep this for 1 1/2 minutes or you’ll end up with hair on your chest. Seriously, you might have to buy a No-No.

There is something different about this tea…(I’m going straight in on this review, bypassing the leaves and smell, because I’m pondering live while I write this)… yes, very yam-skin (more earthy than just yam), yes some chocolate….but behind the honey smoothness of this tea is a different note that I haven’t associated with Yunnan before….there is a wonderful note of ground nuts that is settling in-between the other typically Yunan notes that makes this different than the others I’ve tried. Nuts. It’s definitely a middle note that brings that wholeness of this smooth tea together. Nuts. This tea has no astringency, which suits me on this warm morning with an empty tummy. Nuts. Or am I just…. nah, that’s too easy. Highly recommended.

Ps: because I went speeding past the leaf review, Here is a photo: http://instagram.com/p/o_br7UAnKB/

My true tea ritual happens on the weekend. Deciding is always the hard part. I chose this Bailin Gongfu today as I reviewed it not long ago and wanted to see if it was as wonderful as I remembered it being. Yup. 2 heaping teaspoons in 16 oz of water, 3 minutes, water 185 degrees. Deep flavor profile filled with baked bread, cocoa, malt, yams, and a touch of caramel. the taste that lingers after the cup is finished is lovely…a floral note stays on the tongue like an unexpected gift to savor after you’ve left your teatime behind. Still recommended!

I open the tea cupboard each evening and try to choose what I’m going to take to work with me the next day. Sometimes I choose well, sometimes I’m digging through my haphazard stash of tea at work because I guessed wrong the night before. Last night, the tiger wanted to go to work with me to help me through my Friday, and here he is. I’ve written notes about this tea before, how it is simply a delicious assam. The key word is simply. Simple. There is a beauty in a tea with just a few notes (in this case cocoa, malt and raisin) when it is balanced just right. And this tea is. My tea ritual at work is different than that at home. At home life is simpler, so a more complex tea is welcome. At work, however, it is not simple. It is, at times, absurdly complex, so a good simple flavor profile is often exactly what I’m looking for. I think I’m going to leave this tin at work. :)

I am gutted that this tea is not currently available from Butiki or any of the other folks who carried it. Most folks probably demoted it in their heads just by seeing the letters CTC in the description, but that was a mistake….a beeeeeeeeeeg mistake. If you are a black tea drinker, one who doesn’t shy away from a hearty mouthful of tea (with or without milk) in the morning, find someone with a stash of this tea that isn’t crazy about it and ask for it in a swap. There are chocolate bottom notes, gorgeous baked bread middle notes and a lovely fruity top note that is combined with very little astringency, to make a “just complex enough” breakfast cup that is smooth and more than satisfying. It will make you make the “mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…..” noise when you take a mouthful… and I live for that!!

OOh! Steep time is 2 minutes on this. Don’t oversteep. If you do, you’ll think I’m a liar with very bad tastebuds.