One of my favorite black teas is Golden Monkey. This is not Golden Monkey but I quite enjoyed it. It is not a superb, knock your socks off tea, but I didn’t get any bitterness or astringency from it. In fact, I found it very smooth.
I made a pot of it, heated the water to 200 F and steeped the tea for about 4 minutes. I used my homemade tea cozy to keep the pot warm, and it worked really well. The tea was still warm 60 minutes later when I poured my 4th cup. Instead of using a large mug I used my new tea cup from Hong Kong. It is truly lovely. The maker is Tenmokus. They have a wide variety of Asian styled cups with no handle, in different shapes, different glazes, and different price ranges. Most hold between 110 and 140 ml. I had always considered that to be far too small to hold enough tea, but I have now discovered that is the right amount. The cup doesn’t get cold before I finish it, and with a pot of tea I can refill my cup frequently. It was a lovely tea experience tonight. If you’d like to see what the cup looks like I put a link to it on my Instagram account. The makers can be found here: www.Tenmokus.com
