Golden Monkey Champagne

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – January 2024 Tea #1 – January 1 – Happy New Year
First sipdown of the year!  I would say this isn’t the particular Golden Monkey I would want to drink all year, but I definitely wouldn’t mind drinking some sort of Golden Monkey all year.  This almost tastes more like Keemun to me.  I love that the description says there were only 70 of these teas made back in Frank’s day.  I may have gotten 2, 3, or 4 of those 70 samples made in grab bags when the end of Frank’s era inspired a sale.  Still have one sample left (which I just realized still has a fortune in it…)
2024 sipdowns:  1

not my cup of tea TTB

Also not my cup of tea either. Eh… I don’t know… this tea just seems very heavy on the palate. It might be the champagne flavoring, but whatever it is, it’s not something I like. Dump the cup.

Not My Cup Of Tea #4

I’m not sure if I understeeped this or if its just not that strong of a tea but I’m really not getting too much flavor out of this tea and I’m definitely not getting any champagne notes! There is a slight touch of chocolate or cocoa and a hint of woodiness or earthiness which is nice, I just wish it was a little stronger… Not going to rate as I’m pretty sure the lack of flavor was human error only my behalf…

I love the natural rich, cocoa flavour this tea has. I’m not sure if I can taste much in the way of champagne, though there might be hints of it if I look hard hard enough.

The ‘fortune’ is a really cute idea, IMO. Mine says “This year: there is a possibiliTEA you will in realiTEA develop insaniTEA from stupid tea puns.”

I love golden monkey tea so I thought I’d like this one too. I do! It has that warm, malty, hints of chocolate, and spice thing going on. It has a sweetness to it that might be the champagne flavor but I feel it gets a bit lost in the base (not complaining). It’s smooth and makes a really relaxing cup. I really liked this blend :) And the tea fortune was an awesome idea! I got: “This year you will teach someone not to use the microwave for making bagged tea.” (or something like that,,,) YES! CHALLANGE ACCEPTED. I hate when people do that.

I enjoyed drinking this- it is hearty and a bit sweet, but to me lacks the sparkling quality of champagne. I think it would have been more present in a lighter base tea but I enjoyed this nonetheless.

I really like this tea!

I tend to compare my black teas to something like my Twinings Irish Breakfast, or an English breakfast tea. This isn’t anything like those teas. It is very smooth and mild. I love those websites that tell you the tea has notes of this or that…I must have an unsophisticated palate because I don’t taste any of that. I can tell you that it tastes sweet (and yes, I do sweeten my teas because I like them that way, and I might as well drink them how I like them, eh?). I don’t know what the flavor is that was added (there are organic flavors in here, but I couldn’t tell you which ones).