BlackCaffeinatedSingle Origin · China

Golden Monkey

A golden-tipped black tea from northern Fujian

4.8 · 325 reviews
A scenic landscape of lush green tea plantations in neat rows, surrounded by misty mountains under a cloudy sky, with a small white building visible in the distance.

Golden Monkey

Close-up of Golden Monkey tea leaves with a cup of brewed tea, showcasing rich colors and textures.
Black tea packaging featuring "Golden Monkey" by Harney & Sons, with a gold and black design.
Black tea tin labeled "Golden Monkey" by Harney & Sons, featuring elegant design and gold accents.
Harney & Sons Golden Monkey tea packet, featuring a blue design with gold accents and tear tab.

Golden Monkey

$ 24.00
Select Packaging Type:Loose
Select Unit:3 oz. Tin
Quantity:

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Description
Golden Monkey tea comes from the north in China's Fujian province. It features large black tea leaves interspersed with golden tips. It produces a lightly sweet and 'round' cup of tea with a nice level of complexity. You'll enjoy the hints of apricot, nuts, and rose.

Mike's Rating
2 Briskness
3 Body
3 Aroma
 Details: This is a fairly recently developed tea from the north of Fujian. Mike found it when visiting a few factories outside of Panyang and Fuan. In a short time, it has attracted a loyal, almost cult-like following. People love the flavors of Golden Monkey, as well as the name.
 Dry Leaves: Golden tips with long, slender black leaves from the Da Bai (Big White) cultivar.
 Liquor: Pecan brown.
 Aroma: Lightly sweet, with hints of apricot and nut, with hints of rose. Maybe even some cocoa notes.
 Flavors: A blend of cooked stone fruit, such as baked apricots, and the dry but slight sugariness of semisweet chocolate. A mellow, nutty finish of roasted pecans.
 Caffeine Level: Caffeinated
 Body: Medium-bodied
 Brewing Time: 4 to 5 minutes
 Brewing Temp: 212º

Ingredients
Black tea.

Packaging Types

Loose Tea: Bulk whole or broken leaves

Tea Bags: Finely cut tea in paper bags

Sachets: Whole-leaf tea in mesh bags

Tea Pods: Single-serve pods for Keurig® brewers

Iced Tea Pouches: Large bags for batches of iced tea

Packaging Types

Loose Tea: Bulk whole or broken leaves

Tea Bags: Finely cut tea in paper bags

Sachets: Whole-leaf tea in mesh bags

Tea Pods: Single-serve pods for Keurig® brewers

Iced Tea Pouches: Large bags for batches of iced tea

Where it grows

Panyang and Fuan, in northern Fujian

Golden Monkey comes from the north of Fujian, around the towns of Panyang, Zhenghe, and Fuan, a corner of China that has made fine black tea for generations. It is picked for its golden tips, the small downy buds that give the cup its lightly sweet, round character, all from the Da Bai (Big White) cultivar. That is the whole appeal of a tea like this. The warm apricot-and-nut flavor and the pecan-brown liquor come from those tips and the care in the making, not from anything added.
  • RegionFuan, Fujian, China
  • CultivarDa Bai (Big White)
Map of Fuan, Fujian, China
Fuan, Fujian, China

From our tasting table

We choose the cup

Every single-origin tea we list is chosen the same way, at our tasting table. Golden Monkey came to us the way the best ones do: Mike found it decades ago, tasting through small factories outside Panyang and Fuan, and it earned its place on flavor alone. We are not the grower, and we will not pretend to be. What we bring is judgment, four decades of knowing a fine black tea when it crosses the table, and the patience to keep chasing the lot that lives up to the name.
Mike first found this tea in the north of Fujian, tasting through a handful of small factories outside Panyang and Fuan. It was newly made then, and it has since earned an almost cult following, for the flavor and, honestly, for the name. Each year we go back to the cup that deserves to carry it.
At the Harney & Sons tasting table, Millerton

At a glance

TypeBlack
Caffeine ContentCaffeinated
FlavorsA blend of cooked stone fruit, such as baked apricots, and the dry but slight sugariness of semisweet chocolate. A mellow, nutty finish of roasted pecans.

Mike Harney's Ratings

Aroma
Body
Briskness

This is a fairly recently developed tea from the north of Fujian. Mike found it when visiting a few factories outside of Panyang and Fuan. In a short time, it has attracted a loyal, almost cult-like following. People love the flavors of Golden Monkey, as well as the name.

This season's lot

The same name, chosen fresh

Golden Monkey is a name and a style, not a single garden. Northern Fujian makes many, and they are not all alike. So each year we taste what the region offers and carry the lot that earns the name: the golden tips, the round apricot-and-nut cup, the pecan-brown color. The name on the tin stays the same. Our job is to make sure the tea inside still deserves it. We also offer a Flight of the Golden Monkeys, a sampler from the region's various producing towns, so you can taste across it and celebrate each grower.

How to Enjoy It

Golden Monkey is lightly sweet and round, with more going on than that first gentle sip lets on. Here is how we make it when we want it at its best.

Water

Start with fresh spring or filtered water. The apricot and rose notes are subtle enough that whatever is in the tap will show up in the cup.

Hot

With its black tea base, you'll want to use boiling water (212ºF).Steep 5 minutes so the apricot, nuts, and rose have room to come forward.

  • 1 teaspoon loose (2.5 g) per 8 oz cup

Iced

Brew it double strength, twice the tea for the same water, then pour straight over a tall glass of ice. Its sweetness carries as it dilutes instead of thinning out.

What Customers Say

4.8 out of 5 · 325 reviews

smooth, malty sweetnesshoney, apricot, and nutty notesmorning cup ritualafternoon and any-hour treat
It has a honeyed, almost grassy or straw-like flavor.
— Derrick F.
Rich with a bit of cream.
— GRALING
Taste is seductively smooth and natural.
— ERIC P.

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