Premium Golden Monkey Black Tea

The Leaf: Very thin, needle like, with half being dark black and the other being golden and feathery. The scent is very strong with notes of malt, honey, cocoa, and dry wood.

The Brew: The liquor is a golden brown, clear but with lots of leaf fuzz floating about. The aroma is similar to the leaf but lighter with a slightly more sweet malty tone. The flavor is medium in strength, not too light, but also not overpowering. There is no bitterness and the mouthfeel is very soft. A slight aftertaste lingers for a short time. The flavor is in line with the aroma but with a slight smokiness incorporated as well.

I drink all of my teas cold.

Backlog:

I love Fujian Black teas, so I was excited to try this Golden Monkey from Teavivre … I am always so impressed with the teas that I try from them. It has a rich, caramel-y taste with notes of cacao.

A very smooth tea from start to finish with a crisp, dry astringency toward the tail. Sweet, notes of earth, leather, fruit (apricot, raisins), caramel, chocolate, and notes of molasses. YUM!

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/23/golden-monkey-black-tea-from-teavivre/

Tonight was magical. A warm sunny spring day with no wind. A mid-western cyclist dream. A “hilly” ride, with the smell of freshly cut grass and lots of flowering trees. Wind and sunshine on my face! Yep, I was already in heaven and then I had some of this tea. Now, I am sitting here with everyone in bed enjoying a quite house and a warm cup of tea. Can I hit repeat on this day?

This tea is smooth and hearty. I get sweet potato with a bit of what I like to say is a “meaty” finish. There is no astringency. The last part of the sip also has a hint of sweet. This is delicious. I received this tea from ashleyelizabeth in a swap. I was intrigued to try this because I started my loose leaf tea habit with the Teavana’s version of Golden Monkey. I will have to try them side by side. I am curious to see how my perception of that tea has changed. Thank you ashleyelizabeth for passing this along!

Drinking this at work tonight. It’s good, it’s a nice black tea, but there are other Teavivre teas that I like better.
This one just seems a little too – fruity? sweet? something? for me. There is chocolate, there is malt, but there is also a little bitter ? (i don’t think bitter is the right word, but I’m not coming up with anything better).
It’s good, it’s nice, but not something I would restock.

1st pot: Somewhat bitter, dark orange liquor. Brewed in the “Chinese Gongfu Way” described on the tea’s website (rinse & discard water, 10s, 20s) in a porcelain teapot.

2nd pot: Brewed in the same way, but it came out tasting like chocolate, more than leather. Maybe the water was a few degrees cooler? This second pot completely changed my mind about this tea’s potential, if you are willing to experiment with brewing.

I received this in a swap from ashleyelizabeth. Thanks!

This was a really nice black tea. Casey thought it was excellent. I have more mixed feelings about it. I would have liked this more without the smoky note, or if it had a more robust body. I’m not sure if I would order a bigger quantity of this, but I’m glad I have more to try it again.

Thanks to boychik for the sample! I first steeped it western style, 4 grams to 8 oz of 195F water at 1/2/3/4/5 minutes. Aromas of honey, spearmint, cinnamon, and grapes emerged over the various steeps. The cup was creamy, malty, quite tasty! The honey notes were more prominent in retronasal exhale than upon the tongue, but still very nice. The mild sweet potato aspect was most noticeable in the aftertaste, and a citrus note and pleasant bitterness emerged in the cooling cup. Later steeps had a hint of spice in the aftertaste. Overall a very nice cup.

Next I tried the remainder of the sample Gong Fu style just to see what that did (7 grams to 130 ml of 195F water in short 3 to 4 second steeps). Many of the same notes emerged one or two at a time over the various steeps, with sweetness in the early ones and the spice aspect emerging in the middle steeps. Although a decent cup prepared this way, the tea was more enjoyable when brewed western style.

“What’s in your cup?”
This morning, courtesy of Angel Chen & TeaVivre, I brewed Golden Monkey Black Tea Western style: 7g / 8 oz / 194*F / rinse, 1, 2, 3 min. without sweeteners, milk, or cream. (This sample packet contained 6.8 g.)

Leaf: Fine dark brown, tan, and golden twisted 2 cm long or less
Fragrance: Notes of hay & fine pipe tobacco
Liquor: Beautiful brilliant clear copper
Aroma: Sweet potatoes
Flavor: Sweet potatoes

1 min.: Oh my gosh! YUM! TeaVivre’s Golden Monkey is so rich and so velvety smooth! It has strong notes of sweet potatoes and provides a velvety sensation that gradually develops into a buttery flavor, which persists long on the tongue. I’m in love with this superb tea in just the first cup! Happy Dance!

2 min.:
Liquor: Beautiful brilliant clear darker copper
Aroma: Sweet potatoes with notes of Keemun
Flavor: Sweet potatoes & butter with a fuller-body! Some black teas I’ve tasted are lucky to maintain the same body on the 2nd cup. Many have a little less or significantly less body, but typically not MORE! The buttery sensation continues to intensify.
When is the next major TeaVivre Sale??? I am there now waiting in line …. waiting!

3-min.: A little less body.
4-min.: Liquor: Very dark clear copper. Nearly as full-bodied as the 2nd steep and still velvety smooth & rich.

Impression: This buttery, sweet potato-flavored tea should not to be missed! Highly recommended and a definite favorite!

Thanks to Angel Chen and TeaVivre for their gracious sample of this superb tea!

Method:
RO water re-mineralized with an Aptera filter http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/39532-puregen-aptera-alkamag-water-filter
http://steepster.com/teaware/teavana/39311-perfect-tea-spoon
http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/37731-my-weigh-durascale-d2-660-digital-scale
Brewed western-style conveniently in a tea mug with a brew basket http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/29177-finum-brewing-basket.
http://steepster.com/teas/davidstea/36677-thermometer-and-timer

Similar to Teavivre’s Yunnan Dian Hong Golden Tip. Bolder and has a slight earthy taste. Not as sweet, but it is still noticeably sweet and smooth.

I get this sample thanks to the lovely Dexter3657

This is my first Tea Vivre and first Golden Monkey I think.
After 2 minutes steeping I already get a very dark beverage. It is very malty without being strong.
I detect very nice notes of sweet patatoes, the most proeminent to me, and, behind cocoa notes, tasting more like cocoa powder.

Sadly I don’t get the honey notes promised and this is one of my favourite notes in plain black teas along with mature fruit notes.
This is a pleasant cup of tea, really but probably not my first choice for a black tea cup in the morning.
I can perfectly understand why it is so high rated here oon Steepster, it is just not among my favourites.