Morning Cup is a new daily segment where I’ll post what I am drinking this morning with a quick image of my beverage and some initial thoughts. These posts are not thorough reviews, and haven’t been put through my standard review process.

A little late posting this morning.

I’ve chosen to bag-it once again in the office with a cup of Jasmine Pearls from Adagio Teas. Getting the most from the bag with my Squeezmo.

The cup is notably floral with twinges of honeyed sweetness at times. A bit of astringency lurks in the finish.

Morning Cup #7

What’s in your cup?

The dry leaves are brown and black with some stems and plenty of grapefruit pieces. The aroma the ingredients provide is tart and light but with overtones of sweetness.

The liquor brews a deep brown-amber with tinges of yellow around the outside. The aroma becomes more savory but is essentially the same as the dry profile holding on to the tart grapefruit overtones and a mild sweetness.

The flavor is smoother than expected. There is a simple bite at the tip of the tongue and some light dryness as well, but very little astringency. The tail keeps going and going with  a tart dryness remaining persistent. The grapefruit sweetness holds for the first few moments but dissipates somewhat quickly.

I would recommend this tea to any fan of Oolong, Grapefruit, fruit flavored teas and Darjeeling teas.

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The loose material came packaged in one of Adagio’s old tins. Now it will arrive in one of their splendid new pouches. Gone are the days of cracked or broken plastic lids or latches that are too loose!

The leaves in this blend appear as medium and light twisted pu’erh leaves. These are the same as Adagio’s Pu’erh Dante. However, mixed in are slivers of pumpkin and rum spice. The dry aroma provides a smooth but spiced scent on top of an earthy almost gritty base.

The liquor brews to a dark golden brown and almost reminds me of blood pudding or a fresh beef based soup stock. The aroma is much sweeter, almost malty and reminds me of a fresh CTC style Assam with a lump or two of sugar added in.

When sipping, the brew I noticed an uncharacteristic astringency. After a few tries I think I’ve nailed this down to the rum spice. The effect strengthens as the tea cools, so be sure to drink it hot. The pumpkin seems to soften the strength of this teas’ finish and the pu’erh base is clearly notable throughout. Hints of stone fruits like apricot or peach were noted as well.

While pu’erh purists will decry the suggestion, I think a little milk does this brew wonders. I’m not wont to adding milk to any tea but gave it a shot here with some positive measure of success.

I would readily suggest this tea to fans of pumpkin spice teas, including chai, as well as fans of Assam teas, breakfast teas, milk to soften and fans of Lapsang Souchong.

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The light green teas’ leaves are long needles. They’re maybe an inch and a half in length and stronger than you’d expect (if one were to try and break them… not that I did that or anything…). The dry aroma is grassy with hints of what I would call morning dew.

Brewed, the liquor comes out a light honey gold and an aroma that’s honeyed with some grassy notes and subtle floral hints. The aroma from the liquor is quite subtle though.

The flavor here is more direct. I found a grassy flavor at the start, almost akin to a Japanese Sencha but floral notes in the finish similar to a Jasmine. There’s plenty in this teas’ profile to pay attention to and to keep your palate interested.

This tea is notably astringent in the finish with a strong drying of the tongue and light drying of the palate.

I would recommend this tea to fans of Jasmine green teas, Senchas, Gunpowder greens, floral teas and white teas.

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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.

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