Golden Moon Tea

Sipdown technically, although I am going to try and resteep this time. (123) When I like something enough to have two cups in a row (or two cups in a day, period), it’s something special. This time I overleafed and put some milk in—lemon in EGs isn’t my favorite, but I do like them with milk.

This one holds up to milk well—it brings out the bergamot more and blends with the lavender to make the whole cup more smooth. Very nice!

Oh my goodness! This is a naturally sweet earl grey. I was dreading bitterness, but instead the bergamot and lavender combine to form a honeylike sweetness. It’s barely perfume-y at all, instead managing to make lavender taste like a fruit. There’s also no chalky aftertaste, which can happen with EG sometimes—I’m just getting a lightly floral honey flavor. I want this in my cabinet.

Another sipdown! (125) I ran out of things to steep tea in, so I got a little creative and made this in one of my teapots. Oolongs can only benefit from spreading out, right? I definitely understand the date and chestnut claims, and I can smell the cedar strongly, but there’s also something that smells like fresh-baked bread. It’s lovely.

The taste of this is delightful. It is bready and woody like the smell suggests, and then that gives way to an almost boozy note—it’s like what I wish beer tasted like. Still bready but almost fermented. The sip ends with the date note, and it’s strong and delicious. Another one I would buy—oh, my poor wallet.

Sipdown (124). Cold-brewed this last night for about 15 hours. Sadly I’m not sure this one is ideal for it, because the leaves didn’t open up all that much. Despite that the tea flavor still got into the water.

Cold-brewed this tastes like smoke-flavored water. There’s a little bit of sweetness or even fruitiness in the aftertaste, but I’m really not wowed. I’m going to have to declare this as Not My Thing, but I won’t say that of all Lapsang Souchong until I’ve tried at least a couple more. It might be the intense burnt-pine flavor of this that’s putting me off.

By the way, I remembered what the smell reminded me of! It was a shampoo I hated a few years ago. Odd how smell can make you remember these things.

Another one I’ve never touched before! It smells like a campfire, which in my opinion is a good thing but mom didn’t know what to make of it. She even said she’s had lapsang souchong before and it wasn’t this smoky! I could swear I’ve smelled this smokiness before (maybe in a food?), but now that the tea is under my nose and the other thing isn’t I can’t place it. Oh, well.

The taste is exactly like it smells. I honestly can’t decide if that’s a good thing. Do I like this? It’s certainly unlike anything else I’ve ever had. The smoke notes linger but after a strong punch of smoke at the front of the sip it mellows into a medium-bodied black with notes that almost remind me of coffee or chocolate. It doesn’t quite make it to bitter in spite of that.

I guess I’ll have to say this is another one I’m not feeling right now. Maybe I’d like it cold-brewed?

Okay, I liked this one so much that I sipped it down. I had never made chai on the stovetop before, so I looked in the tasting notes section for this tea. Luckily teaplz shared a method (http://steepster.com/teaplz/posts/20967) that seemed relatively easy. I used honey instead of sugar because it was easier to get to in the kitchen.

This is incredible this way! I’m so impressed that I’m upping the rating. There is so much flavor in this it’s amazing. I get more of the clove and pepper in this cup, but because of the milk and sugar it’s also round and sweet. There’s an almost savory quality to the aftertaste and the whole thing is calming, warming, amazing.

My tastes seem to be okay now, so it’s back to trying Golden Moon’s samples! This one smells amazing: there are whole cardamom pods in my tiny little sample envelope! I wasn’t expecting that.

I just made this with water, but I’d like to try the next cup with milk. It’s amazing. Most chais are too spicy for me, but I barely notice the pepper in this at all. There’s a lot of cardamom and cinnamon to it, which is delicious and warming and makes it a little sweet. I don’t need to add anything to this to make it drinkable, and in fact I’m kicking myself for not trying this sooner and adding it on to my Golden Moon order. No more orders for a while means this will probably be absent from my cabinet until next fall.

This was ok. Not bad at all, especially not for a Ceylon, but not remarkable either. It is quite smooth and relatively gentle as Ceylon goes, with less of the woody drying element many have, but it doesn’t have the deep intense flavor I crave for a morning tea (it’s “too refined” for breakfast if that makes sense). I’d be more likely to appreciate it in the afternoon as a pick-me-up than first thing in the morning. It actually tastes better as it cools; I had a couple sips leftover in my second mug this morning that got nearly cold and they were actually quite tasty with a natural sweetness.

A one shot sample from Rachel’s sale a while back… in these wasteful one serving giant metallic packaging. Anyway, this is like Zen’s Vanilla Mint pu-erh but I like the pu-erh base with the mint and vanilla rather than the gunpowder and black tea. (And I love the gritty bits of vanilla in the Zen.) Though this is good too! I waited a half hour to brew the first cup because of the gunpowder, thus making the black tea lighter. But I love the vanilla mint combo. Plenty of mint and sweet creamy vanilla, just not as much vanilla as the Zen. The second cup was steeped just after boiling and didn’t seem to bitterize the gunpowder, but the black tea didn’t seem to be stronger either. I wouldn’t mind buying this one if Zen’s blend was no longer available!

Finally got everything set up at least tentatively working in the living room so I can start drinking gongfu-friendly teas (mm oolong) in the evening after dinner while watching my favorite shows or reading, yay. Involved playing the “how to rearrange the living room such that a) couches are not right next to drafty doors and windows b) couches don’t set on fire over heating old vents c) walkways between rooms aren’t blocked d) the electronics are situated such that they’re close enough to the only two outlets in the entire room, one of which by the way is only two pronged and the other which, the only three pronged/grounded one, is crazily wired such that if I run the dishwasher off in the kitchen (which I always do after dinner right when I want to drink oolong) and try using a water heater or kettle in here at the same time it shorts everything—the kicker, because now i have a water heater along with an area lamp and the TV” tetris puzzle game (fun times in midtown rentland). But anyway. It’s a little odd as it stands now but the comfy couch is a decent distance and angle away from the TV and all that, with an end table with my new water heater, a tea tray, and everything else I need to make tea (measuring spoon, timer, etc.) in a container that slides beneath. My gongfu-y and evening tea-friendly teaware (prized gaiwan, kyusu, cupping set, glass teapots with glass infusers, etc.) are all in the living room now too on the mantel, which is conveniently now right near the couch too. And my pull-out drawer of oolong and green tea is right in here as well. Yeah, that’s right: I’ve got it so that when I settle in for the evening, I don’t have to go to the kitchen for pretty much anything until it’s time to clean up and go to bed. Whee!

…that was a long intro to trying this tea, sorry. This is unlike any other oolong I’ve tried so far. The dry scent immediately made me go “whoa!” because it’s so sweet and straight up caramelized sugar. Steeped it’s not quite as intense, but it is incredibly sweet. There’s a floral lightness to it, and upon resteep a mysterious perfumed element grows strong, but there’s also that ever present toasty, nutty sugar. It was a surprise. I keep saying that this week about the teas I’m trying, eh? But it is! I would drink it again. Oh, and it takes a while to unfurl; I got 4 solid steeps of this, maybe more (I lost track).

This is my tea of choice for this evening. Thank you so much ifjuly for sending me a sample of this very popular tea.
I LOVE the coconut in this. Amazing true, natural coconut flavor. I’m not so crazy about the oolong. It’s a bit too floral for me – it is much better than the other coconut oolong she sent me – but still a little floral. It is better as it cools. This is really really good, and I understand why others adore it, for me it’s good but not perfect.

(Just for the record – I’m now down under 300, not for long – there are more teas on the way to me – but for now yay 299)

Was drinking this one last night. Hojicha reminds me of genmaicha – it’s roasty, nutty, a little green – very nice. I really like it, and this is a very good example of it. Another winner from Golden Moon courtesy of the wonderful ifjuly. Thank you so much.

Sample sipdown! (133) Smells very nice as before, sweet and mellow. Again I don’t think I’d buy it—Ceylon is a nice, smooth tea but a little boring on its own for me—but it’s a nice cup I’m having no trouble getting through. I do like how mild it is compared to other breakfast teas!

Okay, I think I’ve got the hang of my kettle. I heard a whistle and a rolling boil going on in there. So far I’m pretty happy considering my only other options are a pan on the stove (takes forever), microwave (superheats water, inconsistent, guessing on temps, etc.), and a cheap electric kettle that makes everything taste like plastic (eww). It’s also really cute and will do up to six cups of water at a time—way more than I’ll ever need considering I’m the only one in this house who drinks tea in quantity.

This one smells nice dry. It’s a very clean black tea smell. I’m partial to Ceylons, probably because they’re the first real black tea I could identify as the base of earl grey. They’re also smooth, which I appreciate. It smells nice and rich brewed, with some of the honey notes the package claims the tea has. The taste is pretty generic, honestly. It’s a nice Ceylon and if I wanted a straight one I might get it, but I’m not thrilled. Smooth and slightly bright like citrus with a zing at the end and sweet notes throughout.

ETA: Oh, looks like this one is my 100th tasting note!

I drank this tea all day at work today. ifjuly sent me a generous sample, and I spent the day with it.
I don’t have much to say about it. It was great, nice smooth blend. I really enjoyed it. Some blends are too this or too that – I found this to be really well balanced for my tastes. Really enjoyed it.
I’ve been really happy with the Golden Moon Tea samples that she sent me. This is a company that I would like to explore further, if I ever get my cupboard under control.

A sad sipdown today. This remains one of my favorite oolongs. For all the caramelized sugar flavor it’s never too sweet, surprisingly earthy, and even a little nutty, and I reach for it a lot (clearly!). I’ll probably get more once my tea collection is a little more under control, because I can’t picture my cabinet being without it for too long.

Resteep with last night’s leaves. Much more oolong taste this time around, but I’m definitely getting the caramel. It’s intense, with less roastiness than the last steep. Again I’m feeling like the first and the second steep are almost like different teas, but both are great. This tea is so interesting, and it seems different each time I drink it!

I was packaging some of this up for Jennkay (I realize it’s also in the T&C box, but I wanted to make sure it got to you!) when I realized I really wanted a cup. I’ve been avoiding oolongs since my tastes have been off, but this is probably the boldest one I have so I think it’ll be okay.

I’m really getting roasty notes this time, and not as much sugar. It’s almost like drinking a coffee-flavored tea, with maybe a slight burnt sugar aftertaste. My tastes are probably still a little off but it’s not bad.

Also, my tea count went up again. I found more teabags I had forgotten about. Darn.

Resteep with last night’s leaves. This time around it smells much more oolong-y with a light caramel note. There’s less roastiness but it still smells delicious. Again, dealing with a kettle for the first time so I hope I got this right. The leaves seem to be opening well, though, so fingers crossed!

The second steep of this is much mellower, not at all like the first steep but still very good. It’s a smooth oolong flavor, still slightly sweet from the caramel. There’s a light nuttiness to it from the oolong itself, but the burnt caramel/coffee notes I tasted yesterday are gone. Even though the two steepings are so different, they’re both delicious!

Opening the tin, this smells like crème brûlée. It happens to be one of my favorite desserts (or possibly favorite foods, period—I love custard). This is a darker oolong than I usually go for, but it smells wonderful as it steeps: coffee, caramel, some cream notes and a touch of something that smells more like a black tea. It’s slightly sharp but in a good way.

This brews up a pretty greenish gold color. The taste is incredible—I expected the added flavor to be sweet, perhaps even to the point of being too much, but it’s subtle and smooth. Because this is a dark oolong it has some roasted flavors, which means it tastes more like burnt caramel than anything else. Not what I was expecting, but it hits the spot right now.

First tea of the day. This one is darker than I remember. Maybe I let it steep longer than before? I’m starting to worry about inconsistent brewing, but considering I don’t love this one either way I guess it’s not so much of a problem. I will have to practice using my new kettle, though, which means more tea.

Brewing this cup darker means even less rose scent and flavor. It’s mostly just black tea with a slight hint of something floral, but if I wanted something like that I’d get a straight black with floral notes. I’m lowering my rating on this, because I’m too disappointed to have such a high number attached to it.

I’ve been putting this one off a little bit. I love rose anything (scented, flavored, you name it), but most rose teas are lacking for me. So far the only one I truly adore is the one I got from Harrods in July, which is basically just straight rosebuds—of course, it’s not available online and anything like it is incredibly expensive anywhere else. Sigh.

This one is better than expected. I guess my standards for rose tea are too high, but when I drink one I really want rose flavor more than black tea. Tiny petal pieces simply will not do it! Somehow this one takes the tiny petal pieces and becomes a moderately flavorful rose tea, but the black tea flavor is still stronger than the floral notes. I’m ultimately left with a “that’s all?” sort of feeling, which is not what I want from a floral tea. As a black blend it’s very good, but as a rose tea I wouldn’t reach for it.

Decided to make the rest of this sample up. I wasn’t all that impressed by it last time so I didn’t think it would be much of a loss to drink it now. Golden Moon has plenty of other teas I love.

I put honey in it this time, which I normally wouldn’t do but it’s actually good this way. It’s a very light black and has some woody and citrusy notes to it. Probably not going to be buying it, but it’s not bad at all.