Golden Monkey (Adagio Teas)

The process to turn the Camelia Sinensis plant leaves from green to black is called Oxidation. This same process helps turn the soft downy buds from white to gold. Teas which have these golden buds have the name “Golden”. Monkey refers to an old tale where tea sellers would indicate a tea was “Monkey Picked” if it was rarer than most. Thus, we have Golden Monkey from Adagio Teas.

While Golden Monkey has a number of unique and interesting fables regarding its origins, the one portrayed above is the one I personally find most believable. Adagio has a separate fable they present on their site.

The leaves appear as a soft brown-black with tippy golden strands mixed in. The golden buds clearly shed some of their downy in the canister as the powder can be easily seen on the edges.

The aroma from the dry leaves is lightly heated. Some light reminiscence of toast is soemthing I noticed. Perhaps you will too.

The liquor steeps to a beautiful dark honey gold and provides a light malty aroma when brewed. Somehow similar to some of my favorite Assams but produced in a completely different fashion.

This Golden Monkey is light, cruising over the tongue rather effortlessly. However, in its stead there’s a notable astringent pucker and a slight drying of the palate. There’s a seductive bite in the finish leaving you wanting to take another sip.

I recommend this tea highly and would suggest it for anyone who enjoys lighter Chinese black teas such as Keemuns, Sri Lankan (Ceylon) black teas and Darjeelings.

Fans of Assams, CTC style Kenyan, Ugandan, Tanzanian and Zimbabwean African teas will find this tea a bit week, but should enjoy the flavor profile.