Finally, A Great Golden Monkey

I've never been very taken with Golden Monkey Tea.  For me, it usually fell into the category of okay.  However, I have just had some from Teas Etc. that is absolutely top notch. 

The dry tea has a deep tobacco/wine barrel aroma.  The leaves are quite twisted, with many buds among the green/brown/gold twists.  The suggested time of infusion was 4 minutes.

The liqueur was a much, much paler golden amber than I anticipated and smelt of very fresh tea and milky chocolate.  It tasted of warm earthy chocolate with big hints of warmed flowers and apricots.  I added some milk to it and it then became somewhat sweet.  As it cooled, it's sweet and fruity nature came more to the fore.  A wonderful cup of tea.

I put some in the fridge and this is for sure going in the summer repetoire of ice teas.  It is sweet and fruity with a sturdy very subtle earthiness that will be much appreciated.

At the moment, however, we are dealing with snow!  Yeah, April 23, snow.  I guess since we had Spring in January, we'll have winter now.  Phooey.  Of course, I just potted up all my seedlings, ready to begin the in and out trek of mid-spring.

A large Swiss bell, from  Darstetten, my ancestral home.  I believe it was won in a singing competition by a choir from Darstetten.  The village crest is the red patch near the top of the belt.