Golden Moon Tea

For the first infusion I steeped according to the suggestion on the package. 2-3 minutes, even though it seemed too much. It was over-steeped. Drinkable, but not spectacular. For the second infusion, I went according to my own instincts and steeped for just under one minute. Ahhh….now that’s much better. Now I can say I like this tea.

Dry leaves smell intensely of coconut. Brews up pale gold with the dominant roasted coconut aroma and a subtle grassy note. Has a chewy, full mouth feel with a very noticeable coconut (surprise) flavor along with a carmel sweetness and grassy undertones.A hint of bitterness at the finish. A well balanced flavored tea. Second steeping is much milder.

When I opened my sample pouch, the decadent scent of coconut immediately caught my attention. I followed the directions on the packet, but within a minute, I could smell a distinct plastic odor coming from my steeping tea. The coconut smell diminished and became more of a vanilla suggestion.

I allowed it to steep for three minutes. (The recommendation on the packet was 2-4 and as I’m relatively new to loose leaf tea, I didn’t want to overdo it.) The tea wasn’t bitter at all. It’s a beautiful light color. However, the plastic was evident in the taste as well. Not so much the sip of tea, but more in the aftertaste. I’m not certain if this is intentional and that I’m mixing up the coconut in the tea with plastic, but I’m not enjoying it as much as I had thought and hoped that I would.

This is my first experience with Pouchong. It could be something that I did, but I’m disappointed.

GM 18/31
Crisp and refreshing. The Melon taste complements the white tea very nicely. And I don’t even like melon! It’s a very subtle taste that I enjoyed a lot. Reminds of spring for some reason. Just wish it felt like spring outside.

Wow, I did not expect to like this tea, as I’m not a licorice fan, but this is different. First, all the flavors are muted and subtle. The tea is smooth, no green grassiness. The anise provides a hint of woodiness and a hint of licorice. Something is providing a bit of a sweetness. Overall, this is a good departure from my usual fare. I don’t know that I’d go order a bunch, but having an ounce or two on hand would be nice.

2nd Infusion…
This time around it’s still sweet and silky-smooth but more woodsy but in a good way. It’s smells chewier but tastes a little less chewier. YUMMO!

I received this one today from Marcus! Thanks!!!

I had to jump right in!!! First…I will say that the aroma of the dry leaves smell like a honey-buttered whole wheat bagel I often have from my local coffee shop here. YUM!

The color of the liquor after infusing is quite light for a black! WOW! It’s surprising! BUT…it’s NOT light on flavor!

I guess the honey comparison comes into play because it IS smooth like honey and it has that natural sweetness of REAL honey…not that fake stuff! I really like the smoothness of this.

There is a chewiness to this tea as well…I REALLY REALLY REALLY like that little characteristic!

I would say the Orchid/floral connection would be just as you move the sip from the front of your mouth to the back of your mouth right before it ‘goes down the trap’…so to speak! The floral notes are subtle and refreshing in a way I have never tasted before!

As this cools it seems to become juicer – I think this is an interesting touch – as well!

This tea is more complex than I was expecting and I LOVE that! Marcus wasn’t kidding when he said he’s been putting more thought and stepping up the quality and standards for Golden Moon Teas! WOW!

Another thing I noticed with this tea is that the leaves are screaming for a 2nd infusion and I am going to do just that…stay tuned…in the meantime I am LOVING this tea!!! Thanks Marcus!

Cardboard. Or maybe I’m tasting the boxes I’m using to pack up. Either way I expected a floral tone even if it is a light floral. Nothing. White teas (on my tongue) are usually so good. Why did this fail? I wish it hadn’t.

Off to try another tea!

As a birthday gift, my husband signed me up for Golden Moon’s monthly tea club. I just received my first shipment, Honey Orchid. When I opened the tin, I couldn’t believe how BLACK the tea leaves were — and how large. They even have a sheen to them. They look like they are made of black silk. It’s hard to believe this isn’t a flavored tea.

I brewed some water and steeped the tea for 4 minutes (the card said 3 min. 30 sec., but I always like to go a little longer). I’m drinking it right now. I normally put a few packets of Stevia in just about everything, but this tea needs very little sweetener. For a tea with such black leaves, it doesn’t even taste like a “black” tea to me. It’s somewhere between a black and an oolong in its flavor profile. It has an almost biscuit-like, sweet note and I’m definitely getting the floral and honey flavors as well. It’s smooth and has a sweet aftertaste. Really a lovely tea – but if you’re looking for a hearty or robust black, this isn’t it. It’s kind of delicate. I’m looking forward to the next steeping already!

GM Sample 17/31
Back at school and back into the swing of things. I liked this tea much better than the regular jasmine tea. No bitterness to the tea, and the leaves are so cute! Light yellow green colored brew and very fragrant.

Whoa~~I have been experimenting w/gong fu blacks, Shangs fermented white tea converted to black, yunnans, keemuns, Ruby Black, and Hawaiian Oolong….. This is the most delightful, naturally sweet black tea I have had yet. This is the first selection in the Golden Moon tea club and I am glad that I joined. Marcus of GM mentioned in the forum about GM’s renewed dedication to quality and I would say that he did not disappoint.

What a wonderful white tea. The melon is subtle, but present. The white base is delicious. I only had a sample, which lasted for 2 cups of this nice tea. I really wish I had more of this, as this is a tea I would like to get to know better.

An enjoyable tea. I took a recommendation from Jacqueline of drinking this iced. That changes the tea for me, and makes it tasty in my eyes. I have only have had 2 different darjeelings in my life, so I wouldn’t really know much about Darjeeling. But from the other two, I didn’t enjoy them like this one. Though each darjeeling I drank have been so radically different from the other. This tea has a nice natural sweetness, like peaches maybe?

Smells better than it tastes. Not bad, but there are so many better flavored black teas out there. Harney’s Vanilla Comoro, decaf though it is, is superior to this.

GM sample 16/31
I’m completly new to darleeling so I’m not quite sure what musquetal is. I do detect a sweet fruity taste and than a slightly bitter nutty aftertaste, almost like when I used to chew on acorns as a kid. I don’t really detect a floral taste, but I do smell it. Not one of my faves, but not a bad tea.

Smooth and wakes you up quick. If I were to have this tea again, I would need additions of milk and sugar. So that will lose points in my book. I prefer the Irish and English to this. It has a nice aftertaste.

I usually like Lapsang Souchong. But the kinds I have had before have not been nearly as smoky as this one. This one had an overwhelmingly smoky, bacon-y smell even before I brewed it. The tea smelled and tasted too smoky for me to drink more than half a cup. I wanted to like this, but I just don’t.

It was an okay tea. I don’t like gunpowder, I would of preferred a different green tea base. And the mint is strong, of course. I prefer lighter mints, with other flavors alongside it. It was refreshing iced. The gunpowderiness of it turned me off, but was good for something I wouldn’t really like!

GM Sample 15/31
Tea smells delicious. Very fragrent jasmine. Taste is a little bitter for me.

The dry leaves are gorgeous – the long twisted strands are a delight to look at.
I brewed as directed, but the tea came out light. Even too light to actually get flavor. Not more than very slightly flavored hot water. I tried for a second steep, this time much much longer. This second cup was good. It’s gentle sweetness was more like white than green. All in all a nice cuppa.

I’m walking barefoot in a damp, musty rainforest where theres not much sunlight that strikes through to the ground.

Thats the experience I had drinking this blend. It is nothing that I’ve tasted before. The liquor is fairly thick and dark. I had this with skim milk and brown sugar. Delicious. It is growing on me more and more. I’m sure this would be tasty with chocolate as well. Yum! :)

Clearing out my cupboard and came upon this forgotten GM sample. This is my first Ceylon and the Steepster consensus is this is a great one and I tend to agree. It is full, smooth, naturally sweet, malty. A solid tea for first thing in the morning: strong, nothing fancy, but delivers caffeine w/o needing sugar or milk to make it palatable. When I put in my next GM order, I will add this one to the list.

GM Sample 14/31
This tea is very light and airy. Very pale green color. This tea has a very sweet and refreshing scent to it. The hot tea wasn’t very impressive to me. However as the tea cooled down there was a nice faint grassy taste mixed with honey. Personally I prefer something a with a little more taste, but a nice change from the very complex pu-reh and lapsong I had recently.