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Cheryl drank Imperial Golden Monkey (ZP85) by Upton Tea Imports

136 tasting notes

Been testing various Upton black teas lately… mostly the blends, but thought I’d try this out this morning. The leaves look very fancy, for sure.

Added my typical T. of honey to sweeten and the first sip is amazing. Not one itty bitty sign of bitterness anywhere. I am getting a sense that there is already sweetness to this tea, and the honey is blending in nicely.

Amy oh, you were right about exploring non-blend blacks… if this one is any example, I think I might have hit my stride in my quest. This is EXCELLENT. If I really like this one, what’s next? (ponders)

Preparation

Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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3 comments

JacquelineM
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Try some Fujian teas, and explore more Chinese teas in general. I find them to be smoother, less bitter. Anything Chinese with “Golden” in title (like Golden Yunnan) you might like, too. Have fun :)

SimplyJenW
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Oh yes, Chinese black teas. I think it was Adagio’s Golden Monkey and their Fujian Baroque that got me hooked, and then I continued onto the China congou teas at Upton. Keemuns are a little smokier, Yunnans a little maltier, but both pretty smooth. If you think you might like a light rose scent, try Upton’s Rose Congou.

Cheryl
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Taking notes… thanks ladies : )

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JacquelineM
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SimplyJenW
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Cheryl
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Taking notes… thanks ladies : )

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Bio

Originally started testing teas, to replace a lifelong Coke (Coca-Cola) habit. Now I’m just amazed at all the choices. Still in beginner stage of tea education. Until I get really good at iced/cold tea, the Coke habit remains, but is down to a minimum.

My cupboard here on Steepster was ridiculous, containing each and every sample size that I have been accumulating. It now only contains non-sample size teas. Loose leaf outweighs the bagged teas, but it doesn’t look that way by the list (over 100 samples).

I started my tea journey testing flavored teas. My favorites are chai and mint flavored teas, along with Earl Grey. Also like chocolate, caramel, coconut, almond, vanilla, cinnamon, clove and some others. Most flavors are better with a nice black tea base. The mint ones seem best paired with greens. I’m branching out now to unflavored teas and it is way more overwhelming then the flavored category. Phew.

My (grown) son has decided that he wants to try to find tea that he likes too, so I’ll be passing along the ones I don’t care for to him (with instructions to then pass them on to his sister…evil plot? yes!). So I’ve removed my shopping list from Steepster and moved it to a spreadsheet (swaps are out for now). My shopping list had grown to 197! By going through each one, I was able to split that in half (since many were added in beginning, before I knew what I like/don’t like).

While not swapping, if there’s something in my cupboard that you’d like a sample of, please feel free to ask : )

Ratings (for now):
90s: Must have in personal rotation. Crave it.
80s: Makes me a happy tea drinker. Very good. Unsure of long term relationship.
70s: Like this. Will drink what I have (sample/tin/box), but unsure of whether I’d buy again.
60s: Probably a good tea for what it is. Just not to my personal liking.
50s and below: Do not like…at all. Either poor quality, yuck flavor or … (see tealog).

Old (and still current) obsessions: books, music and fragrances. Hopefully my tea collection stays much more “normal” then those. (too late)