Classic Bai Lin Gong Fu Black tea of Fuding * Golden Monkey * Spring 2017

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Black Tea Leaves
Flavors
Almond, Black Pepper, Bread, Brown Sugar, Butter, Cedar, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Cream, Earth, Geranium, Lemon Zest, Malt, Mineral, Moss, Olives, Orange Zest, Peanut, Smoke, Sweet Potatoes, Walnut, Cherry, Cranberry, Dark Chocolate, Leather, Sour, Sweet, Wood
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by eastkyteaguy
Average preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 45 sec 6 g 4 oz / 119 ml

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6 Tasting Notes View all

  • “It’s time to move on to one of the teas I drank in July. I spent a lot of time with this one. I think I spent a week working my way through a 50 gram pouch of this tea, probably conducting around 5...” Read full tasting note
    94
  • “The dry leaf smells quite a bit like a Yunnan dianhong. It is sweet, malty and chocolatey. In a preheated teapot, I get some more unusual aromas like cherries, chicken nuggets and barbeque sauce....” Read full tasting note
    84
  • “tasting notes crisp apple plum fruityness, Oatstraw or grassy flavor cloudy mouthfeel – warm + round smootheness astringent like a ~80% dark chocolate. very tippy / dusty frontloaded taste, no...” Read full tasting note
  • “I’m really loving this tea. I’m having fun trying different steeping lengths. The fruit and dark chocolate flavors that I taste in this tea are really lovely and comforting. I’ve been drinking it...” Read full tasting note
    89

From Yunnan Sourcing

Bai Lin Gong Fu (aka Golden Monkey) Black Tea is made from Fuding Bai Hao “White Pekoe” varietal tea leaves. Our Premium grade is a one leaf to 1 bud semi-tippy grade. The tea leaves are picked in sets with 1 leaf and 1 bud. The processing allows for a golden-orange furry tip completmented by a dark leaf.

The brewed tea is sweet, viscous, fruity and floral. Very smooth drinking black tea with a little bit of bite, but not too much. Some people might prefer this to our pure tips Imperial Grade available here.

This tea is often referred to as “Golden Monkey” Black tea by western vendors.

Spring 2017 harvest (Late April)

About Yunnan Sourcing View company

Company description not available.

6 Tasting Notes

94
1049 tasting notes

It’s time to move on to one of the teas I drank in July. I spent a lot of time with this one. I think I spent a week working my way through a 50 gram pouch of this tea, probably conducting around 5 or 6 gongfu sessions with it. Overall, I found it to be an excellent example of a Golden Monkey black tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of malt, cinnamon, chocolate, smoke, cedar, and sweet potato. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted peanut, roasted almond, and cream that were underscored by a subtle geranium scent. The first infusion brought out aromas of brown sugar and baked bread. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of malt, cream, roasted peanut, brown sugar, and chocolate that were backed by hints of baked bread, smoke, cedar, cinnamon, roasted almond, and sweet potato. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of orange zest, earth, lemon zest, and black pepper. I also caught more clearly defined geranium scents and some subtle butter and green olive aromas. Stronger and more immediately noticeable impressions of roasted almond, cedar, smoke, and baked bread came out in the mouth along with hints of roasted walnut, geranium, black pepper, and green olive. I also detected impressions of earth, orange zest, lemon zest, minerals, butter, and moss. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, earth, cedar, roasted almond, cinnamon, smoke, malt, and cream that were underscored by hints of baked bread, butter, orange zest, green olive, sweet potato, chocolate, and brown sugar.

This was an incredibly enjoyable Fujianese black tea. I can see why each year’s release quickly finds an audience here on Steepster. This tea offered up a liquor that was not only tremendously aromatic and flavorful, but also displayed great body and texture in the mouth. I would definitely recommend this one, but if it is no longer available, or you just don’t want to spend money on an older tea, pick up some of this year’s harvest or wait until next spring.

Flavors: Almond, Almond, Black Pepper, Black Pepper, Bread, Bread, Brown Sugar, Brown Sugar, Butter, Butter, Cedar, Cedar, Chocolate, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Cinnamon, Cream, Cream, Earth, Earth, Geranium, Geranium, Lemon Zest, Lemon Zest, Malt, Malt, Mineral, Mineral, Moss, Moss, Olives, Olives, Orange Zest, Orange Zest, Peanut, Peanut, Smoke, Smoke, Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Walnut, Walnut

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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84
984 tasting notes

The dry leaf smells quite a bit like a Yunnan dianhong. It is sweet, malty and chocolatey. In a preheated teapot, I get some more unusual aromas like cherries, chicken nuggets and barbeque sauce. The wet leaf smell is relatively less pungent and display a little more of the leathery side of the spectrum.

Likewise, the taste blends malty and smoky notes. It is very well balanced with some cranberry sourness that’s very present and woodiness in the background. Later steeps also have some distinct sweet brown sugar note. There is the slightest bitterness and some lingering astringency too. Ultimately, the balanced nature is what makes me so drawn to this particular tea.

Its mouthfeel is super soft and coating. Sometimes even after swallowing I still have a sensation of the liquor in my mouth. It is not the most thick black tea, but I didn’t find it lacking in viscosity.

Even though not spectacular, this Golden Monkey is one of the very best black teas I have tried among those that don’t have the “wow factor”.

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Cherry, Cranberry, Dark Chocolate, Leather, Malt, Smoke, Sour, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 0 sec 5 g 5 OZ / 140 ML

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7 tasting notes

tasting notes

crisp apple plum fruityness, Oatstraw or grassy flavor
cloudy mouthfeel – warm + round smootheness
astringent like a ~80% dark chocolate.
very tippy / dusty
frontloaded taste, no lingering taste or developing flavors

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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89
75 tasting notes

I’m really loving this tea. I’m having fun trying different steeping lengths. The fruit and dark chocolate flavors that I taste in this tea are really lovely and comforting. I’ve been drinking it all the time and haven’t gotten tired of it yet.

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