Tag: Teavana

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Teavana’s Golden Monkey

Golden Monkey by Teavana
Black Tea / Straight
$19.98 for 2oz

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First Impressions

Golden Monkey is a black tea from Teavana, and one of my Starbucks Rewards choices. The dry leaf has wiry leaves, twisted together, with golden/yellow tips. Inhaling the scent from the dry leaf is a sweet honey, floral aroma. It’s quite inviting. I like the look of this tea leaves with the golden tips. The ingredients is made up of black tea. It’s nice to see a straight tea option, and the name makes me smile.

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Preparation

Teavana recommends steeping Golden Monkey in 205°F (96°C) water for 3 minutes. I steeped this tea initially for 3 minutes.

First Taste

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Golden Monkey has a malty aroma to it when it steeps. On first sip, the first thing I notice is the very malty taste to it. There’s no bitterness to the tea when it’s steeped for 3 minutes. The honey smell to the dry leaf is present in the steeped tea, there’s a very light honeyed sweetness to the tea that is enjoyable. The floral notes I first smelled from the dry leaf isn’t present in the taste though, which is a bit disappointing. Oddly enough, I found that Golden Monkey has a bit of a sour aftertaste that lingers on the tongue. While the tea itself is fairly pleasant, the sour aftertaste is not. I steeped a fresh cup of Golden Monkey at a shorter steeping time to see if the sour aftertaste would disappear.

I steeped the tea at 2 minutes and the sour aftertaste is not present. I steeped it for 2 minutes and 30 seconds and the sour aftertaste is present. I would recommend steeping it for just 2 minutes initially to avoid the aftertaste.

A Second Cup?

Golden Monkey resteeps fairly well. I did it once and the taste remains fairly close to the first steep. If you opted to steep it at the recommended time (3 minutes), I’m sorry to report that the lingering sourness is still present on the second steep.

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My Overall Impression

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I thought that Teavana’s Golden Monkey was just okay. Golden Monkey is a decent black tea, I quite like the honey malty flavours of it. However, the recommended steeping time of 3 minutes is far too long and the sour taste leaves me not overly ecstatic about this tea. It’s a decent straight black tea, that has a great taste as long as you don’t steep it for the recommended length of time. Because of that (and honestly, the price – there are less expensive straight black teas out there!), I had to give it a lower score.

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Teavana’s Tung Ting Oolong

Tung Ting Oolong by Teavana
Oolong Tea / Straight
$19.98 for 2oz

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First Impressions

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I was at Teavana last month and I had some Starbucks rewards to use up so of course I went and opted for 1oz of tea rather than getting a free drink at Starbucks. I got Tung Ting Oolong (as well as Golden Monkey, a black tea, which will have a review coming up soon!) as one of my rewards. It has this subtle vegetal smell, with a light buttery quality to the aroma that the tea has. Tung Ting oolong has a nice lightness to the dry leaf smell which I’ve come to appreciate in oolongs.

The ingredient list for Tung Ting Oolong is simply oolong tea, it’s a straight tea that Teavana has not added anything extra to.

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Preparation

Teavana recommends steeping Tung Ting Oolong for 3 minutes in 195°F (90°C). I steeped Tung Ting Oolong for the recommended three minutes.

First Taste

Tung Ting Oolong steeps to a pale yellow, and has a beautiful subtle flavour. There’s a milky creaminess to the tea that reminds me a bit of the creaminess that butter has. There is a light sweetness that lingers on the tongue at the end of each sip, and the floral notes in this tea are quite welcome. At the recommended temperature and steeping times, I’ve noted no bitterness or astringency in the tea. I do appreciate it when the recommendations lends to a good cup of tea.

With the recommended three minutes, I noted that not all of the tea leaves had fully unfurled. Because the first steep was delicious, I was very curious about how it would do for one more steep.

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A Second Cup?

Whenever I resteep tea leaves, I generally add another 30 seconds per steep, this is what I did with Tung Ting Oolong as well since I am not steeping it gong fu style. Steeping Tung Ting Oolong for a second time resulted in a brighter, deeper golden yellow tea. The flavour is more buttery and creamy for the second steep. I find that the second steep is more flavourful than the first, what a tasty cup of tea! I steeped this tea for a total of seven steeps, the flavour of Tung Ting Oolong for the sixth steep was waning and watery compared to the first five.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Teavana’s Tung Ting Oolong. I’ve definitely become a fan of oolongs since I began the journey of chronicling my tea tasting adventures here on One More Steep. While Tung Ting Oolong may be expensive compared to other teas, especially $20 for 2 oz, I think it has value because of the ability of tea to be resteeped over and over again. Because of that, it is a fantastic tea to have when you’re at home and able easy access to a kettle so you can resteep it over and over again.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Teavana’s Silver Needle

Silver Needle by Teavana
White Tea / Straight
$17.98 for 2oz

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First Impressions

This was a Starbucks/Teavana reward that my sister picked up at Teavana. Unfortunately, she had asked for a different silver needle tea and wasn’t aware that they had given her a different one until she had gotten home – disappointing, to say the least.

Silver Needle is a straight white tea, it has a very light floral scent to it that is quite subtle. It has some grassy qualities in the dry leaf – you can definitely tell by looking at the tea leaves why the tea is referred to as ‘silver needle’. The pale silver-white down on the tea leaves is soft to the touch, and the leaves are a decent size.

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Preparation

Teavana recommends steeping Silver Needle in 175°F (79°C) water for 4-5 minutes.

First Taste

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Silver Needle is an amazingly pale tea, it steeps with a light yellow colour after about 4 minutes of steeping time. The aroma is much like the dry tea – grassy, a little bit of floral notes. The taste is very subtle, but it tastes just like it smells. The mark of a true straight tea, it’s quite nice to have a tea that tastes the way it smells. There’s a lightness to this tea that is enjoyable. While the taste doesn’t bowl you over, it’s still quite good and it’s one of those teas better suited for a mellow or lazy day.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Silver Needle several times. The Teavana website states that it can be steeped for 3 to 5 times. I steeped it for a total of 5 times – adding an extra 30 seconds for each steep. It still has this amazing lightness that I enjoy, the flavour remains subtle but present the entire time. The colour of the tea gets a little bit darker with each subsequent steep – it turns into a golden yellow.

My Overall Impression

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I loved Teavana’s Silver Needle. The tea itself was good – the smell of the dry leaf matches the steeped tea, the taste doesn’t disappoint. There’s a lightness to the tea that is enjoyable, and steeping to the recommended time results in a tasty cup of tea. It really is the type of tea that you need to be able to sit down and enjoy, not rush through. I am disappointed with Teavana’s customer service, given that my sister had asked for a different silver needle tea to use her Starbucks/Teavana reward on and was given this one instead.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.