Tag: Wize Monkey

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Wize Monkey’s Sunset Chai

Sunset Chai by Wize Monkey
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$14.99 for 100g

First Impressions

Another 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival purchase! I was super pleased to see the fellows behind Wize Monkey at the festival this year, it’s always lovely to see familiar faces. I picked up a tin of Sunset Chai because it smelled amazing – it basically smells like ginger ale and I thought that was pretty cool, so I picked up a tin of this blended coffee leaf tea.

Sunset Chai consists of coffee leaves, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, black pepper, and natural ginger & cinnamon flavours. The ginger is honestly the strongest aroma in the blend, followed by the cardamom and cloves. It smells like ginger ale and I’m all for it.

Preparation

Wize Monkey recommends steeping Sunset Chai at 95°C (200°F) water for a minimum of 5 minutes. I did an initial steep of 6 minutes.

First Taste

Sunset Chai steps to a slightly cloudy orange. It smells like ginger, cardamom and cloves. I can also smell the coffee leaf base – it’s difficult for me to describe because I feel like it has an aroma all its own – it has some malty notes to it. The flavour reminds me of a gentle masala chai. There’s the lovely spice notes – ginger, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon – but doesn’t have that punch of caffeine behind it like in a black tea. Coffee leaf does have caffeine, but not as much as tea or coffee does. It’s quite pleasant – the coffee leaf base adds a little bit of roasted notes and a malty flavour. There is no astringency or bitterness, which makes it even more pleasant.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Sunset Chai. I found that the ginger and cardamom wasn’t as strong as I would have picked, and those were the flavours that I enjoyed the most in the initial steep. I’d recommend a longer initial steep to get all the flavour out and leave it at that.

My Overall Impression

I liked Wize Monkey’s Sunset Chai. I found the flavours of this coffee leaf tisane to be quite pleasant – I definitely appreciated the bright ginger aroma in the dry leaf, and the pleasantness of the spice flavours in the steeped tea. It makes for a nice alternative to the traditional masala chai, because it’s lower in caffeine and just has that more gentle way about it – it’d make for a nice option to get those warming spices in your cup when you’re closer to bedtime or not wanting to drink as much caffeine.

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Wize Monkey’s Minty Marvel

Minty Marvel by Wize Monkey
Herbal Tisane / Flavoured
$11.99 for 50g

Wize Monkey has provided me with Minty Marvel for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

If you’ve been reading One More Steep for a while (and I hope you have!), you know I reviewed Wize Monkey’s Minty Marvel back in May of this year. And no, I’m not reviewing the exact same product – Wize Monkey had an updated blend for their Minty Marvel flavour so of course I had to give it a try! They kindly sent me a 50g resealable bag of Minty Marvel in loose leaf format.

When I first opened the bag, the one thing I did notice is the incredibly strong and bright mint aroma. The ingredients in Minty Marvel are: arabica leaves, peppermint leaves, and natural mint flavouring.

Preparation

Wize Monkey recommends steeping Minty Marvel at 95°C (200°F) for 4 minutes. I followed the steeping recommendations for the initial steep of Minty Marvel.

First Taste

Minty Marvel steeps to this beautiful golden orange. The aroma from the dry leaf is primarily that of the coffee leaf base and the pleasant aroma of the peppermint. On first taste, I can definitely pick out the mint. It has a nice cooling quality to it, that is pleasant and refreshing. I find that the mint is quite strong in comparison to the coffee leaf base, which isn’t disconcerting considering that’s what I wanted in the original Minty Marvel recipe. I found it to be a nice cup of tea to drink.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Minty Marvel for 7 minutes, and found that the flavour was still quite minty. It wasn’t as strong as the initial steep, but I could definitely taste the mint and the tea had a nice cooling quality to it still.

My Overall Impression

I loved Wize Monkey’s Minty Marvel. I’m so glad that Wize Monkey changed up their recipe a bit for Minty Marvel because the added peppermint leaf was such a great idea – it made the coffee leaf tea significantly more minty in the initial steep and in the resteep as well. I also had a cup of this that I drank iced, and found that it made for a refreshing cup of iced tea, so I’d give that a try as well! Having Minty Marvel iced certain amplified the cooling properties of the mint.

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Wize Monkey’s Mango Party

Mango Party by Wize Monkey
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$10.49 for 35g (15 sachets)

Wize Monkey has provided me with Mango Party for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Wize Monkey’s Mango Party came to me in sachet form, as did the rest of their collection. This is actually the last of the coffee leaf teas that Wize Monkey sent me to review – hopefully there will be more flavours being released soon! I was really excited about trying Mango Party because I love tropical fruit and enjoy eating fresh mango – yum.

Mango Party consists of arabica leaves and natural mango flavour. The dry leaf has a very strong mango aroma to it, I can’t smell the arabica coffee leaf base at all although I can certainly see it. I’m not sure where Wize Monkey sourced their natural flavouring from, but it smells amazing I’m really surprised to not find dried mango pieces in Mango Party.

Preparation

Wize Monkey recommends steeping Mango Party in 95°C (203°F) water for as long as you’d like. I did an initial steep of Mango Party for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Mango Party steeps to a deep orange colour. The aroma of Mango Party is still reminding me of mangoes, which is probably a good thing given the name of this coffee leaf tea. The flavour isn’t as mango-full as I would have expected, especially given the aroma. I can taste the coffee leaf base – there’s a nice earthiness to it, some sweetness from the mango, and a touch of mango flavour at the end of each sip. The tisane as a whole has a nice smoothness to it, no bitterness or astringency – something I’ve come to learn that won’t occur with Wize Monkey’s coffee leaf blends.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Mango Party for seven minutes and found that the resulting cup was primarily that of the coffee leaf base with little mango flavouring throughout. I would say that if you like the coffee leaf base, go ahead with your multiple resteeps.

My Overall Impression

I liked Wize Monkey’s Mango Party. First off, I just want to say that the aroma of the dry leaf is amazing. I just wish that the mango flavour stayed stronger through the steeping process, because a lot of it is present in the aroma but not in the flavour. What I did taste was delicious, and I just wish that there was more of it in the steeped coffee leaf tea. I think either more mango flavouring is needed, or the addition of mango pieces, to really infuse the mango flavouring throughout.

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