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“Not sure this qualifies as a Cheapster Steepster but it is affordably priced and it is a sip down. After the lemon green tea nastied up my taste buds I needed something to put me back in my tea...” Read full tasting note
“I was actually craving a white tea after the strong Nina’s Paris tea I had before it. This isn’t white, it’s green tea. But it seems like a white tea. And if I’m actually CRAVING a white tea, I...” Read full tasting note
“This was quite a fun, complex, and tasty unflavored green tea that is quite different than your standard green teas. Totally had some battles about what this tea is. Technically, it’s a green as it...” Read full tasting note
“Wow. This is a green?! I just assumed white, based on the name, appearance and taste. I’d love to see how they processed this one. Reminds me of silver needle. Light, bright, and just slightly...” Read full tasting note
Little Red Cup Tea’s organic White Monkey Tea is a terrific mountain-grown tea from western Hunan Province. Despite its name, White Monkey Tea is, in fact, a green tea — a function of processing — but when steeped, the tightly rolled leaves unfurl yielding a lovely golden brew more akin to white tea than anything else. It is made from the earliest leaves, still covered with downy white hairs for which the tea is named.
White Monkey Tea may be easily steeped to suit individual preferences — a bit less tea and cooler water produces a delicate gold tinged brew, while a little more tea and a longer brewing time will result in a much stronger beverage.
Our White Monkey tea is pure whole leaf organic Chinese tea, Fair Trade certified and utterly delicious. A handy tea to have on hand for the green tea enthusiasts and a variety that even the casual tea drinker will enjoy.
White Monkey tea should be brewed with water heated to between 170° and 185°F. We like to use filtered water, but many prefer to use spring water. The leaves, used in a cup or small tea pot, may be reused several time.
We're a family-owned Maine company dedicated to importing traditional high quality Chinese tea. Our teas are organic, Fair Trade, whole leaf, and always delicious. Little Red Cup tea is a revelation, if not a revolution.
I think i ruined my tea a bit on the second and third cup because i had water about 80°c and made a to long steep (about 5min). It turned a little bit bitter but it was still enjoyable. If i keep up with the 70°c steeps i believe the tea will hold out better because the quality of the first cup was really tasty. Still got enough sample size left to make a new go somewhere this week!
The first tea, White Monkey from Hunan Province, is neither white or a monkey, but it is delightfully fuzzy (this fuzz is called Trichomes, for the botany minded types) and very lovely to look at. White Monkey is actually a fairly delicate green tea that was picked very early in the season and in a lot of ways acts like a white tea. Full of mystery and fuzz, just the way I like my tea! The aroma of these downy leaves is sweet, like hay and fresh vegetation, like walking through an overgrown field. There is also a rich undertone of muscatel that is wonderfully mixed with the initial sweetness. A very fresh aroma that is both mellow and invigorating. It always amuses me when a tea can do that.
Once the leaves are taking a nice swim in their warm bath the aroma takes on a floral tone, a nice comparison to the initial field aroma of the leaves (the field has bloomed! Spring to Summer) it fades to a mix of muscatel and bright citrus. A pleasant little zing at the end, a wake you up from your daydreaming about fields. The liquid away from the leaves has the aroma of fresh hay, very mild and pleasantly sweet.
I love drinking fuzzy teas because it always tickles just a little bit. The taste is what is important, not the adorable fuzz, this first brew I gave a short steep and it produced a delightfully mild tea. The primary taste is vegetal, like spinach, mixed with mown hay. The aftertaste is gently sweet with a tiny, tiny hint of flowers. As the tea cools it takes on a quince flavor with a bit of tartness.
The second steep I let sit a bit longer to see what other flavors I could glean, as per recommended from the website. The aroma is much more green and takes on a real body that honestly I thought of as crunchy. Odd I know, but that was the first thing that came to mind ‘this smells crunchy.’ The taste is much more intense! The quince taste that was noticed once the tea cools is much more prominent and is accompanied by a citrusy tartness. There is a strong vegetal aftertaste that wraps up the tea nicely. As to be expected the second steep is not as fuzzy. A nicely mild tea that is one that is good for anytime drinking.
Blog post and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/09/little-red-cup-tea-co-white-monkey-tea.html
Welcome to phase 2 of Monkey Monday. This tea has a nice grassy nose. The taste is more straw than grass. I’m not a fan of veggie-flavored tea, so like this one. It has a good mouth-feel and finish.
This is a good, solid tea, but doesn’t really stand out in the crowd. I probably wouldn’t purchase.
Thanks to Little Red Cup for the sample. BTW: as someone who owned a copy of Chairman Mao’s Little red book in college, I love the company’s playful name :)
I had a bad feeling about this, as the dry leaf had no detectable aroma. Does no aroma translate to no flavor? No, it does not!
As i pulled the tea basket from the pot after brewing I caught the wonderful, albeit weaker, scent of black tea. A good sign. The tea itself was a pale root beer color, not the green color I had expected. Another good sign.
The flavor was mild, but complex, with vegetal and floral notes giving way to a soft malt then finally to a soft butteriness.
This tea is definitely not your typical green tea, but yet not a black tea either. It is, however, flavorful and attractive, even to this dedicated black tea drinker.
I used 2 tsp. per 8 oz. cup, at 185F for 3 minutes. I may use more leaf next time, just to see what will happen.
This is a tea I’d recommend.
Gene
I LOVED this tea. Little Red Cup sent me a sample of this tea and I was shocked by the subtle sweetness that lingered in my mouth afterwards. You taste the green tea but then comes this delicious slightly sweet flavor. My boyfriend, who’s not so much a tea drinker, loved this tea too! So much that he wants us to get it as soon as possible. So far thumbs up to LRC for sending me a great sampler so quickly! Diffidently shopping here!
This tea is awesome! It looks more like a white tea than a green tea. It smells slightly buttery mixed with some floral notes. Its very smooth and easy to sip on. The flavors are all very subtle, but refreshing. I enjoy drinking it in the morning, as well as at night. It tastes a little buttery, but mostly leafy (once again, I suck at flavor descriptions. I shall learn!) All in all, a great tea to drink at any point of the day. I recently ordered the Mandala double walled glass tea thermos. I plan on using this tea in it. I am not sure if it will get bitter being in the water for prolonged periods of time, but I have high hopes that it will remain delicious!
TTBCr2
This tea is a green tea that is supposed to be similar to a white. I didn’t quite get that from this tea. I thought it was definitely a green tea, although a lighter one. I didn’t get any of the subtle complexities that I normally look for in a white tea. That does’t mean this is a bad tea; it’s a very delicious tea. It is more subtle that most greens, but it has a very mild vegetable flavor, less prominent than most. I enjoyed it, for sure. I don’t know that I would order it, but it someone offered me some, I would definitely take them up on it.
I took the end of what was in the box, so it wasn’t quite a full serving for my mug, but I actually think it wasn’t significantly underleafed for the amount of water. It was actually a pretty good amount. I even got two solid infusions from it, and I’m going to try to steep it again.
