Golden Moon Tea

Super light, super fresh tasting! (Even for an old sample like mine is!) I think I may have oversteeped it a little, I got distracted by something shiny. But it was still clean and fresh tasting, a hint of greenness, a hint of sweet. Really nice!

This was great! Smells and tastes like coconut cookies! Tasty hot and iced!

Not bad, light tasting, even though the tea turned out darker than I was expecting. I want a stronger melon taste I think. Not as strong as Asian candy, but stronger than what it was.

Another one from Rachel’s sale! Thanks! I’m not sure if Golden Moon just likes putting crumbs in their sample bags or if this was just crushed, but this was mostly just oolong dust with a few actual bundles of oolong. Nothing I would pay $1 for from their site, that’s for sure! Luckily the flavor was enjoyable. I had two nice steeps and the flavor was even better in the second cup. A bit vegetal and floral. The color of the cup was light bright green. Not really much else to say, just a standard decent oolong. It probably would have been better if it wasn’t dust though.

How can a tea be so delicate and so robust at the same time? Gorgeous deep molasses flavor that tastes rich steep after steep. I’m on number 4 right now and it’s so incredibly flavorful! At the same time, it’s so smooth and … not tannic or astringent. A dark sweetness is the overwhelming flavor.

So, so impressed. I think this is my favorite tea so far from the Golden Moon insiders tea club!

This one was sent my way by Stephanie :)

This one seems quite similar to Coconut Oolong from David’s. Though I generally prefer darker oolongs, so perhaps someone with more of a palate for green oolongs would say differently. It’s green oolong-y, it’s coconutty. Overall a tasty tea.

I’ve been researching fisheries and bycatch all day, and I’m almost overwhelmed with the data I’ve found.

Thanks Stephanie :)

This one is almost identical to David’s Coconut Oolong. Yum. I’d really have to have them side-by-side to decipher any difference. For now I’ll just enjoy this lovely cup of tea.

I enjoyed three steeps of this. How lovely.

Also, I’m trying to swap out everything I’m not loving. Feel free to check out my swap posts and stuff in my cupboard if anyone’s interested. Thanks!

Thanks, Stephanie for this sample! This is pretty great! It’s a lot like DavidsTea’s coconut oolong, but I think it’s more balanced in flavor and smoother. DavidsTea’s version seemed rougher around the edges, and the coconut in the first infusion was pretty overwhelming. I think I’ll be checking out Golden Moon Tea sometime!

One of my new traditions is getting a First Flush Darjeeling each spring. This year, I didn’t even have to go searching for one, as my Golden Moon Insider’s Tea Club selection was this lovely!

The amber color on this brewed tea is gorgeous. It has a much less green and more muscatel (and sweet!) flavor than most of the other FF Darjeelings I’ve tasted, yet it definitely doesn’t taste like a 2nd flush. Interesting! I’ve been contentedly sipping it all day. A little pleasantly astringent which is especially welcome after my giant burrito :)

The Insider Tea Club does it again :) Wonderful, special selection!

That’s an awesome tea

This is my first experience with melon flavored tea and I’m not a huge fan. I think it is my taste preferences rather than the tea which is quite smooth. I’m going to ice it next before giving it a rating.

I drank this in the midst of kid tantrum- chaos. I barely tasted (or barely remember it). I’ll rate it when I try it again.

This definately has a distinct somewhat vegetal honey smell which is pleasant. It is a light black tea with a subtle honey flavor to it. I am not sure that I brewed it with hot enough water so I don’t think all the flavors came out fully. I am going to try this one again before I give it a rating.

My insider tea club selection came yesterday! Woohoo! I was so, so, so, so, so pleased to see that it was an Oriental Beauty Oolong! I had a very fine one at Radiance Tea House in NYC and it has loomed so large in my imagination that I have never purchased another, in fear of it not living up to The Oriental Beauty In My Mind. I’ve been craving one, though, as I read some of your tasting notes.

This one is glorious. Sweet, sweet, sweet but not light. Or roasty. Or dark. Peaches and honey and tea, I’d say. Like many oolongs in my experience, I’m loving the second steep better than the first. The little card that came with it says 6 steeps are possible, and I’d like to see if I can take GM up on that!

I also remembered that the Oriental Beauty I had at Radiance had the two leaves and a bud attached in many of the leaves. I went digging around in my leaves and WOW – SO many attached leaves and buds!

I even took a photo when I experienced it in 2010: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackiemania/4410474721/in/set-72157623565672780

My brew basket is full of these!

I’ve included some in my selections for Tea Sipper’s Traveling Tea Box, so some of you lucky ducks will get to try it, too!

I’m ruined for life! This tea is so glorious. Candy. Melon. Candy. I am a hummingbird and this is my nectar! ;) Rumor has it that Tea Sipper’s Traveling Tea Box is coming my way next. I’m going to put a little of this magic in so someone can experience turning into a little hummingbird, too.

I am looking forward to steep after steep after steep today!

Oh my goodness gracious me! I have never, ever tasted a Tie Guan Yin like this! It is INTENSELY sweet. I mean, candy sweet. Cantaloupe candy. The little card I got with it says lilacs dipped in honey, but I am sticking with cantaloupe candy since I have never tasted a lilac. I am sincerely astonished how fantastic this is.

I steeped it kinda crazy, too: 1 perfect teaspoon, about a minute, 8 oz water. Increasing a minute each steep. I’m on my third right now and it’s still SO sweet. Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow.

I still have a little of this left from the TTB ‘A’. I thought I had drank it all up, but last night while I was re-organizing my stash, I came across it. There is enough for at least one more cup, maybe 2!
Nicely bold, bright, & fruity!

I decided to do a little nice thing for myself and join the Insider Tea Club at Golden Moon Tea. You get a delivery each month of a rare, not usually imported to the USA tea. It’s a surprise (fun!) and I also thought it would expand my horizons a bit — left to my own devices I tend to choose black, black, and more black tea, and the previous selections for the club were of a great variety.

This may have been the best decision I made in 2013! I am drinking the second selection today (the first is a beautiful looking Tie Guan Yin that I’m saving for slightly warmer weather) and it is astonishingly good. Pale greenish yellow. Slightly floral. Gorgeously present mouthfeel. Buttery. nutty. I’m brewing it Western style and am on the second steep — rumor has it that it is wonderful through steep 12 Western Style (through steep 20 gong fu!) so I have quite a day ahead of me! Next time I’ll try it gong fu and bring in a glass cup because the color is truly something to behold.

I also must give kudos for the packaging (screw top tin), informational postcard with brewing instructions, and just general all around attention to detail. My little $20 a month spurge is making me feel like a millionaire! An INSIDER millionaire! ;)

Sample. Had with a touch of half&half and honey. Didn’t wow me, but is fine as far as plain black teas go.

Sample. It was fine, but didn’t wow me.

sample. thought it was fine, but didn’t adore. i’m not a huge fan of straight up black teas though.

200th Tasting Note!!

Thanks to Alphakitty for the swap, I can break out of my DAVIDsTEA rut! Don’t get me wrong, I do own other teas besides ones by DT, it’s just that all the other places are a little trickier to get to and DAVIDsTEA is a mere 15-minute bus ride away.

I digress though, so on to this tea… which to my gluten-deprived (AKA intolerant) taste-buds highly resembles a brewed loaf of bread. Hmmmm, odd indeed. I do get a little of the melon at the end of the sip, but mostly all I can smell and taste at this moment is liquified baking bread. To solve this I simply plug my nose while drinking and it transforms into the delicate, melon-laced white tea I was expecting… to which my husband says, “You look ridiculous.” To which I say, there are certain baked goods that do well in tea form—cake, pie, cinnamon buns—and bread is not one of them.

SO… I know this was a sample sent to me from someone, but for the life of me I cannot remember who. Thanks to the my mystery tea giver! See, after looking at all the ho hum reviews, and my shady history with the ‘nilla, I kept putting it off.
Funny thing is, I quite like it! now I regret not indulging sooner. I must be the only one here that would actually go for a return cuppa.
It reminds me of vanilla cake. Maybe even the birthday cake from DT, but less sweet and obviously, with a different base.
Very smooth, creamy, and light (two and a half min infusion). Great with or without milk!
One thing I don’t like though, is the excessive astringency. Normally I don’t mind, but in this case it interferes with the vanilla. And since this is the only time I’ve EVER found myself liking vanilla tea, well I’d like to draw it out as long as possible :P
Rating: 86