Golden Monkey

Waaaooow. So so tasty!! I’ve been craving a Chinese black tea for awhile and I guess this hit the mark.
Cocoa was really at the forefront here. It wasn’t grating at all, the way I found it last time.
I have maybe two more steeps of this left. Looks like I have a sipdown on the way!!
If only I hadn’t been given a few tea samples for my cupboard today to replace it ;P

This is the second Golden Monkey I’ve ever tried. I think – as a result – I might be going through a Chinese “red tea” phase. Or rather, gold tea. Golden Yunnans and Golden Monkey have overtaken all other black teas in my mind; save for Darjeelings. This Golden Monkey is no exception – sweet, nectary, mildly muscatel, light, yet revitalizing. And the best part? REALLY quick to brew. This could almost give Yunnan Golden Needles a run for their money. Almost.

Full Review: http://www.teaviews.com/2011/01/06/review-tao-tea-leaf-golden-monkey-2/

The first time I drank this tea, which was also the first time drinking Golden Monkey, it didn’t hit the right spot mostly due to its fairly light body. Today however, its smooth and delicate nature was exactly what I needed. The tea has a light, but pleasant smell. Dry leaves have a bit of a leather aroma with hints of tobacco, while the wet leaves are more malty. The taste is nutty, moderately sweet and quite woody in the finish. In the aftertaste I also get some chocolate notes emerging.

I definitely wouldn’t make this my default choice as far as hong cha goes, but once in a while it can be nice.

Though it’s a very popular type of tea, this is the first Golden Monkey I’ve tried. I was put off by the profile, which I recall emphasizes malt, leather, tobacco, and other burly flavours. However, I picked up a pouch of this from Tao Tea Leaf in their Christmas 2015 sale, and am just getting around to it. I steeped 5 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, and 240 seconds.

The first couple steeps are a surprise, offering notes of milk chocolate, brown sugar, caramel, mild sweet potato, roasted almond, and wood. Combined with the fact that it has almost no astringency, this makes for a tasty brew! Malt starts to emerge in the third steep, but it doesn’t overpower the chocolate and other flavours. I do get hints of earth and leather in the last few steeps, but the chocolate doesn’t disappear.

Either this Golden Monkey is atypical, or my impressions of the type were way off. Though not the most complex tea in the world, its smoothness and chocolatey sweetness made me enjoy it much more than I thought I would. One tiny drawback is that the thin, wiry leaves fit perfectly through the holes in my gongfu teapot, regularly ending up in my cup. Still, this Golden Monkey was well worth holding onto.

I decided to make this in the gaiwan with short steeps. Smooth. Tried with and without milk. The milk did not add/improve n an way as it would with an Assam or other black tea. This tea is nice as is.

Delicious tea, particularly if you’re fond of naturally chocolatey blacks. Smooth, full-flavored, good body.

I drank this over the past week along with Golden Monkeys by Teavivre and Harney. This is the one I enjoyed most. The other two have a perfumery note that reminds me of bergamot, though different. That note distracts from their otherwise very nice flavor. While that note is apparently a feature of Golden Monkey, in the Tao rendition it is very much in the background so that it does not stand out, but blends in nicely.

Another one from my Tao Tea Leaf order!!
Was kinda expecting this one to be chocolate-y because the last Golden Monkey tea I tried was really chocolate-y. While I like chocolate notes in black teas, it’s really not my favorite. So I am really glad that this one surprised me!!
The main flavor was sweet potatoes which is one of my FAVORITE flavors in black teas! Wasn’t super sweet, but still was pretty spot on. There was some notes of malt here and there to make it taste more bold.
Ahh! I am going to really enjoy this one! :D It’s a great tea that everyone that orders from Tao Tea Leaf should try! :D

This is definitely tasty. Sweet, moderate to strong malt, smooth even after a looooong steep time. No mineral notes showing up at the longer times. I am glad to have gotten in on Marzipan’s group order with Tao. Also glad to find that while I like this one, I don’t have to replace it as I have other GMs I like that don’t involve Canadian shipping. :)

Second infusion report: The sweetness is definitely more muted, but still no denying that intense maltiness in the flavour. Astringency is more pronounced this round, thats the downside of it. I couldn’t stop smelling the tea and the leaves though…reminds me of malt chocolate drinks like Horlicks.

Leaf- Whole, and a very pretty gold hue
Aroma- Cocoa, Honey Scent (brewed)- Sweet Potatoes
Liquor- Dark amber
Taste- Smooth, Sweet, Honey and Yam flavours