I was really intrigued and impressed by this tea. It's the first Golden Monkey I've sampled, and it's set the bar pretty high for future sampling.

Dry leaf is very aromatic, and smells strongly and distinctly of whole grain rye and caraway. Slightly suggestive of Yunnan Gold teas, which have a similar appearance, but distinct in aroma.

Upon brewing, produces a very dark cup, with a rich, dark reddish-brown hue.

Intensely aromatic, and aroma is very complex: the distinct grainy quality, which definitely resembles rye, is the dominant aroma, but there are also strong fruity and vegetal tones, and a suggestion of caraway. Very fresh smelling.

Subdued flavor. This is primarily an aromatic tea, yet there is a mild flavor that is very pleasing: not much bitterness.

The first cup was the most flavorful, but I was able to produce a relatively pleasant second cup which had cocoa-like tones in the aroma that were absent in the first cup. I found that making a single cup with a long steeping produced a very rich-tasting cup that had a strong cocoa-like quality, and was still very smooth. Surprisingly, I was able to brew a third cup; it was quite mild but still very pleasant.

I thought this tea offers great value, given how it was good for making multiple infusions. It is slightly pricier than a mid-grade black tea, but this is really an exceptional tea. My only negative comment is that I actually prefer black teas that have a bit more kick than this--at times it was almost too smooth for me, but I think many people would like this tea's smoothness.

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