Bluegreen Send Message

I really like the Premium Golden Monkey tea and this, the regular version of the Golden Monkey has pretty strong review on Steepster, so I my expectations were high.

Meh – a surprised but emphatic meh. This tea simply lacks the balance and refinement of its premium counterpart in taste. The golden buds seem to be completely lost and underwhelming, while the black tea part assaults you with harshness and unrefined boldness. The smell is meh as well. Given that the price of the premium version is only $3 higher per 100 grams I see no reasons whatsoever to buy the regular Golden Monkey from Teavivre.

I even stopped after only two gaiwan infusions and had no desire to continue and finish the tasting, which is very unusual for me. Luckily, it was a free sample that came with my order and I don’t have to force myself to invent a mood that would call for this tea in order to finish the remaining 45- 95 grams. That’s why I never buy a tea I have not previously tried in any quantity but a sample regardless of dazzling reviews and beguiling discounts.

I drink a lot of tea throughout the day. In the morning, afternoon and before going to bed. At home, at work, in the car, on the train. With food and without, paying attention to each sip and waft and mindlessly sipping while absorbed in something else.

And I prefer pricier Chinese teas, which inevitably creates a financial problem. So, I devised aclever plan: drink expensive teas only on occasions when I can give them my full and undivided attention (practically meditate over their fragrance, taste and feel) while at any other time be content with consuming pleasant, interesting but less complex and certainly less expensive kinds. Incidentally, doing that would free up some money to buy even more expensive tea for special sessions…well, maybe this plan is not so clever after all but whatever.

As a result, I stocked my cupboard with a lot of teas from Harney and Sons: they are of decent quality but really inexpensive – plus H&S have the unlimited US free shipping and there is always some kind of a coupon floating around .

Their Panyang Congou falls firmly in my targeted category of cheap and pleasant teas. There is not much of a fragrance in both dry and wet leaves (some hay and apricot) although the leaves look quite reassuring: large, unbroken, with quite a bit of golden tips.

The taste is clear and pleasant if not very complex: smooth malt, hay, floral sweetness, and some roast. The first impression is reminiscent of Mao Feng Keemuns – only without their requisite bite. It is important to steep it for shorter periods of time as its flavor easily becomes generic and unbalanced with oversteeping. In the subsequent infusions the nuttiness appears and takes the front stage.

So, in short, this tea gave me exactly what I looked for – a smooth, pleasant and inexpensive Chinese red for mindless sipping while doing something else. Good stuff.

Now, this is a great tea in almost every aspect. It looks stunning, with the long wiry leaves and golden tips. The dry leaves have a complex fragrance: flowers, honey, pepper, peach, apricot. And it tastes great too, with honeyed sweetness, flowers and something that I can describe only as dust of centuries. The dust that accumulates on old books that assumes the smell of the past, of the things that happened long, long time ago before your time.

It is just a perfect evocative tea for a special kind of mood: remembrance, contemplation, introspection. Everybody needs it once in a while.

I am not a big fan of Assams at all. But I am trying to keep an open mind and be ready to be surprised and converted. Not by this tea, though. It has a very nice dry leaf appearance: large leafs, some gold in color. Smells of sweetness, vanilla, berry and spices, i.e. good. But the taste is quite predictable and uninspiring. A lot of bite and bitterness, a typical middle-of-the road Assam. Kind a forgettable tea, to be honest.

I had that tea for a while and every time when I was drinking I really liked it. Which is a bit strange, since 1). most of Upton’s Keemuns are decidedly not very good and 2). this particular Keemun does not conform with the requirements of the breed at all.

This tea has none of typical for Keemuns bite and the taste of cherries. Instead there is malt, malt, malt anda bit of smoke and roast, both in the aroma and flavor. That’s it it is not complex at all. But somehow it is really charming and attractive in its simplicity. I like it a lot, especially sipping it from a travel mug on long car or train rides. Every little sip delivers the same strong maltiness and roast like a clockwork. This tea is also incredibly forgiving to the water temperature and steeping time.

China Keemun Mao Feng is like a very good and experienced role player on a team: it cannot do many things and wow the crowds but a few things that it can – it does them very well and reliably. And every tea cupboard needs not only stars but also trusted role players.

While going through Keemuns from Teavivre I noticed that they were falling into two categories: aromatic with complex taste (Keemun Imperial Black Tea, Keemun Aromatic Snail Black Tea) and the strong Keemuns with the bite (Keemun Black Tea – Grade 2, Premium Keemun Hao Ya Black Tea). Finally, there is one Keemun that combines both of those desirable qualities, the Mao Feng.

It has a nice “expensive Keemun aroma” – plums, cherry, berry, spices. The tea color is interesting: not a usual red but red with some brownish notes. Finally, the taste is complex and reflects the smell well but this tea also has that strong breakfast-time kick. It can wake you up but with elegance and style. I like that.

It is still not my favorite Teavivre Keemun – I like the complexity of Imperial Keemun more – but this tea is probably better fits the expectations of what a good Keemun should be. Will order again.

OK, that was an interesting tea. I mean, it looks interesting: nice little snails. Not much of an aroma though, and the taste is very mild and smooth. Some cherry, young green wood and bird-cherry. The flavor is quite distinct and it really…non-Keemunish. It also lingers nicely.

So, I don’t know. It was a sample and this tea really calls for being tried several times before a valid opinion can be formed. It certainly not a bold breakfast tea, but it also is not a tea for slow attentive sipping – the taste is not that complex. It is probably a drink for a special mood, and I do not know how often I will be in a mood for bird cherry or cherry.

It is not a great raw pu-erh but not a bad one either. Does not easily turn bitter, pleasantly floral and coppery sour. It takes well to mindless sipping. After the 4th infusion in a gaiwan the tea is somewhat losing the appeal of the first ones and the subsequent steepings are kind of forgettable.

I am sitting at work and drink this tea from a big teapot and I like it a lot. It smells like heaven and has a beguiling taste. Thats it, if you like roses. Luckily I do. The base is of a good quality, the taste is not awfully complex but present and STRONG. As a bonus, it resteeps well.

Looks like an ideal tea mindlessly sipping while typing something. there is no need to concentrate on the multiple elusive notes of fragrance and taste, instead it THERE – loud and clear. Oh, and it is quite forgiving with the temperature and steeping time.

I will certainly add it in my rotation.

Update: 100 grams later and I still like it but cooled off a bit: the taste is a bit one-dimensional and one needs to be very precise about the steeping time to hit the sweet spot to balance rose and tea flavors otherwise roses tend to overpower everything.

This is my fourth Keemun from Teavivre and, unfortunately, the first disappointment. The dry leaf has almost no fragrance sans for a faint general Keemunish smell. Which is quite ironic since it is called Superfine Keemun Fragrant. After a brief steep in a gaiwan with the recommended temperature (185C) it brew a smooth but really unexciting cup with some notes of baked bread, malt and berries. After I steeped the second infusion more aggressively, with boiling water, the bitterness took the front stage. Not good.

All in all, if you keep the temperature low you get a smooth cup of some stereotypical Keemun without much fragrance. So far all other Keemuns I tried from Teavivre have much more appeal and character (the second grade Keemun, Imperial , and Hao Ya). Given that I see no reason to buy this forgettable Keemun again, especially given its relatively high price compared to its siblings.