Golden Monkey #510 from Special Teas is an interesting looking tea. The concentration of golden tips to roasted leaves is a bit higher than I expected compared to last year’s blend and immediately made me think this tea would be lighter than in the past.

The liquor brews a wonderful amber-gold with an earthy but sweet fired flavor coming out in the aroma.

On the palate I catch some chocolate or cocoa textures with a distinct astringency which is lighter than expected given last year’s brew. The fired earthy flavors are very noticeable here.

I can easily recommend this tea to fans of golden tip black teas, Chinese black teas including Keemuns and Summer season Darjeelings.

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This tea is visually interesting. The leaves between 1/16 and 1/8 inch long with the blue slivers of cornflower petals blended in is actually quite pretty. This tea brews a nice yellow-orange liquor.

The aroma from the dried leaves is of a smoother variety than that of a typical Earl Grey. It’s almost as if this blend had already been softened with milk and sugar.

Earl Grey de la Creme’s flavor is smooth but strong. You can taste the softness from the vanilla and the sweetness from the cornflower petals. Of, course the bergamot oil is ever present throughout as is custom with any Earl Grey.

Lightly bold and flavorfully striking I recommend this blend from Special Teas for fans of any Earl Grey. The vanilla and cornflower petals really add something to this classic favorite.

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This Rooibos blend is pretty sweet. No, really! It won in the 2008 World Tea Championship, so it’s prize winning! Don’t let the marketing fluff scare you though. This tea really is something you should try.

The leaves look like slender, short red pine needles mixed with yellow blossoms and lemongrass pieces. The smell is of sweet lemon cream.

The aroma once brewed is more complex. Reminding easily of lemon mirangue pie and other lemony desserts. There’s hint of marigold and of honey in the finish.

This tea is mooth to sip, but does dry the tongue. I don’t find this an every day tea, but something perfect to have in place of a dessert.

I recommend this tea for anyone who likes the sweeter side of life. Those who enjoy their teas with a little milk and sugar won’t need to add to this. I think you’ll like it as is.

Until next steep!
Enjoy!

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Here’s the final installment of this three part recap to the activities and friends from this year’s expo!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Day 3

Ouch! So much ground to cover in a single day! Seven rows and we’ve only finished four! I gues it helps I didn’t attend any educational sessions this year. This would have been a five page set instead! Maybe next year.

First stop when the doors opened? Special Teas! This group has some rather fine offerings. Then, on to Florapharm. A bright logo, good quality product and an interesting name. This German company is housed in the US near my old stomping grounds in Owings Mills, MD. They even had a real live samovar (see last photo)!

Special Teas

Special Teas

Special Teas

Special Teas

Florapharm USA

Florapharm USA's samovar

Next I hit Eco Vita who do supplements and vitamins. Not really my scene. Then was Eastrise Trading Corp. who had the banner for Foojoy, a great chinese company who I had a good rapport with last year. No, on to Rooibos, Ltd. This company obviously specializes in Rooibos related teas.

Further down the isle I hit AOI Tea which specializes in Matcha. I had a little formal ceremony sit down with a great little Japanese woman who whisked the tea up in a little bowl for me to drink. It was extremely good!

Next was Harney & Sons. Last year I was lucky enough to meet both Michael and John Harney at their booth. This year, the booth was considerably smaller and the Harney’s themselves weren’t present. I was a little disappointed.

AOI Matcha

Moving on I had the pleasure of hitting Sugimoto America again. They won an award this year for their greeting cards with a pretty sealed teabag in it based on the occasion. That was kinda neat.

Tavalon Tea was next. Their packaging is some of the more unique I think. Clear plastic that’s UV coated so you can see the tea is nice. What’s great is that unlike other UV plastic tins, these don’t just have a window in the tin to see the tea. The container is the window to see the tea.

Continuing, Stash Tea was the following stop. Most of us know Stash Tea from their tea bags sold in grocery stores and such. However, they have some great loose teas, and the new Chanakara line Cindy Harling showed me is really great, and available loose!

Oh My Gosh! PeLi Teas! The wonderful 2009 Pu’erh they had was equally pleasant in a tea bag as it was loose. Just incredible! Maeda-En was great as usual. With their Green Tea Mochi and their Iced Green Tea. Delicious!

What the heck is up with Sam Ritchey and his hair over at TeaGschwendner! That guys knows how to liven it up something real! A stop off at MarketSpice located in Pike Place in Seattle and a taste of Hojicha Gelee (which I’ll review down the road) at The Green Teaist and we close out the fifth row!

What a hectic run! But we’re only about a third of the way through our day! Will I be able to make it through the seventh row in time for closing? Follow along and we’ll see!

PeLi Teas

PeLi Teas

Maeda En

The Green Teaist

The Green Teaist

There’s a LOT going on here in the sixth row! Plenty to see. Let’s get started!

First stop? The Taiwan Tea Manufacturer’s Association. This is a conglomerated booth area made up of seven or eight Taiwanese tea companies all in one place. They’re almost independent of the expo! Too much to describe here. There’s lots of good stuff!

What’s this!?! Hawiian grown tea! I’ve known about the Hawaii projects for a while now, but it failed to register that anyone was close enough to production. Well, Liam Ball over at Na Liko Tea certainly is! The Hawaiian Oolong was spectacular. This is on top of being a first year production from plants just five years old! They really nailed it!

Tisano was next. They make cacao stuff. In this case their product is made from the outer shells of the cacao beans. This Equadoran product is pretty good actually and tastes like a hot chocolate but not as rich. The company actually helps in the picking and shipping processes for their product and gives some proceeds back to the community and growers from each sale.

Na Liko Tea from Hawaii

Na Liko Tea from Hawaii

Tisano Cacao Tea

Just across the split from Tisano… was Zealong, the New Zealand Oolong people. If you haven’t tried this stuff, seriously give it a go. I did. I’ll have a formal review up soemtime soon. Zealong has some of the best marketing this year I think, and their packaging is simply beautiful! Tulsi Organics across the walkway was another herbal beverages company. There seem to be plenty of these this year.

Time to take a peek at one of my favorite accessory makers… FORLIFE! Great looking stuff as always! Vibrant colors, unique styles. Good stuff.

On to Naivetea. I really like this brand’s identity. Clean and refined but with a slightly fancy augmentation. Always friendly, the couple who run this company are somehow calming to me. It could be the tea too, but there’s something about this fun pair from California!

Zealong New Zealand Oolong

Tulsi Organics

Naivetea

Next up? Hankook Tea who have some simple but nice packaging, and they’re representing Korean teas which are seriously under-represented in the industry. You go guys! On to Takeya USA! These guys make some really swell tea brewer jugs! Some of these are for chilled teas, and others are for hot teas. Some for large quantities and others for just a cup or two. You should check them out!

Keeping up the pace we have Shang Ri La Tea and Hancha Tea another company I remember from last year who has nice clean package design. A trip to Teas Etc. rounds out the 6th row. I mean what would the expo be without Beth and Newman Johnston!

Time for the final row already!?! The Expo can’t be over yet!?! I mean c’mon!

Takeya

Teas Etc

Teas Etc

Row seven is shorter and has less going on. I did run into Jason O. Walker from Walker Tea Review whom I met last year. If I’d been swifter maybe I’d have caught him before he was closing up. Maybe I could have even been in one of his review videos! That would have been killer!

A stop by the World Tea News booth was empty. All that was left was Torn Ranch.

I did make my way back to the International Tea Importers booth to grab a copy of the New Tea Dictionary and a photo-op with the author Mr. James Norwood Pratt.

Disappointed row 7 didn’t have more going on? Oh, fine! There was this row of new product displays. Maybe you’d like to see those, yeah? Here you go, I’ll leave you with these. I hope you enjoyed my coverage of the expo as much as I did getting to go again.

Me sniffing some Himalayan Tips

QTrade Teas & Herbs

Village Tea Mini Canisters

Tea friends Make a Toast

Tea Friends at Lotus of Siam for Dinner

ITO EN Bench Made of Recycled Tea

More Delicious Tea

David Smith Tea Blender

Wednesday is Green Tea, White Tea, Rooibos, Oolong and Tisane (Herbal) Review Day!

This lightly creamy and bitter-sweet Oolong from Special Teas is worth your try.

There’s something ornately beautiful in the tiny molded green balled up leaves which comprise this Superior Ti Kuan Yin. There are some stems, but the quality seemed good and brews to a bright yellow-green.

The aroma was sweet but pungently bitter with hints of peach and honey.

Flavor-wise this tea is vegetal with notes of spinach and fresh kale while maintaining a milky or creamy texture. This tea does have a deal of an aptitude for sedimenting though which can cause a drier and more bitter finish, even with this tea’s already notably long tail.

I would recommend this Oolong to fans of dark Japanese greens or of greener more mossy pu’erhs.

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