Pretty satisfied with this choice. I’ve been addicted to Golden Monkey; however, (unfortunately) I was addicted to the wrong company’s. I feel that compared to Teavana’s Golden Monkey, this one has a lot more going on…more complexity, if you will.
When I drank Teavana’s, I felt satisfied…like it was a rich, smooth black tea. Rather classic, nothing special. With this one, though, I was able to draw out some of the nuances mentioned in the description.
I don’t recall picking up any fruity notes, but when I held the liquid in my mouth I did catch faint notes of chocolate. I didn’t even know that was possible! You always hear these elaborate descriptions of tea tasting like chocolate and wood and whatnot, but most of the time I could never pick up on the subtleties mentioned. But this tea was almost a musky, chocolaty, caramel. I enjoyed the cup for about the first 2/3 but then I wasn’t as fond of it. It wasn’t astringent or bitter or anything, but I started feeling that the caramel-cocoa was becoming too prominent.
After brewing it for a second time today, I was very satisfied through the entire cup. Instead of drinking it straight up, I decided to add a little Sugar In The Raw to see if the sweetness would complement the rest of the cup, and boy did it! Every last drop was delicious, and I look forward to buying some from Teavivre in the future!
