Golden Moon Tea

Side by side comparison time! Note: this is cross-posted with http://steepster.com/cvasilevski/posts/302700

I bought this tea because I got a coupon code from GM for free shipping, and since I’m in Canada, decided to go for it. I’ve had a last smidgen of Golden Moon’s Kashmiri Chai in my cupboard for the longest time and been dreading finishing off my sample since it’s a lovely chai, but I hope that the new organic Masala Chai blend they’ve made to replace their non-organic teas would suit.

So, once I got this Masala Chai in, I decided to do a side-by-side taste test!

Both teas were brewed for 5 minutes in identical mugs using identical filters and a nearly identical amount of leaf. So here’s what I’m noticing about each tea.

The dry leaf: The leaf of the Kashmiri Chai looks larger and more intact, and you can definitely see whole chunks of cinnamon and pods of cardamom. In contrast, the leaf of the Masala Chai looks much more like a CTC tea, and while I can see the occasional cardamom pod, I see a lot of ginger and not much cinnamon. The smell of both varieties holds this up – the Kashmiri Chai smells much more of cinnamon and cardamom, while the Masala Chai smells much more of ginger.

The tea liquor: When they started brewing, the Masala Chai had a reddish tint to it and the Kashmiri Chai looked like more of a cool brown/umber colour. However, after a 5-minute steep, the colour of both teas was pretty much identical. The smell was fairly similar to the dry leaf: Kashmiri smelled cinnamon-ish, while Masala smelled like ginger.

Taste and mouthfeel: The Kashmiri Chai had a smooth sweet taste that coated the tongue and lingered long after the sip was over. I could taste the earthy base of the tea underneath, but could definitely sense the play of spices. In contrast, the Masala Chai smells and tastes strongly of ginger and malt, like gingerbread. Not quite a gingerbread cookie, but if you actually had a loaf of ginger-infused bread. I got a sweet potato note and a citrus note. I really can’t tell here what the base is, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the base were a Ceylon tea of some sort. It didn’t linger much on the palate, but was somewhat malty.

Verdict: I prefer the Kashmiri Chai tea, but considering they don’t make that blend anymore AND that this taste test was a sipdown of the last of the KC leaf, I’m out of luck.

Next, I might consider mixing this Masala Chai with some of Just Organic’s Just Charming Chai – the JO Charming Chai is too cinnamon-heavy, so they might complement each other really well. We’ll have to see.

’Here’s Hoping’ Teabox Round #4 – Tea #21

I don’t see this one on Steepster anywhere, so I didn’t think it was older Golden Moon tea (pre-overhaul), but then I didn’t see it anywhere with the new stock of teas. Hmm. This is an okay bai mu dan… a little more pickley in flavor than I’d like my white teas to be. I don’t really notice the chrysanthemums lending much to the blend, but I don’t think any went into my infuser and I’m not sure what they should taste like anyway.
Steep #1 // 30 min after boiling // 2-3 min
Steep #2 // 20 min a.b. // 3 min

The dry tea smells very minty like Trident gum but I found the flavour to be curiously bland. The mint was present and not much else as the gunpowder base seemed rather weak. I think I prefer the black-green mix of the Vanilla Mint blend which gave the tea more body. I find this blend to be only okay.

I was looking for something to perk me up in the late afternoon and something minty was perfect. I’d say this tea is more mint than vanilla but it does give the tea a creamy, sweet undertone. The mixed black/green base is an interesting one and it gives the tea more body than what you’d get a from a straight gunpowder green. Nice and refreshing it hit the spot.

There’s definitely vanilla in this tea but there more to it than that – there a toasty, almost pastry-like scent and flavour, possibly due to the base, making this tea very dessert-like. It’s a very smooth tea with nice, creamy undertones and slight hints of fruitiness in the aftertaste.

Sipdown!

I bumped this up a bit because I find it slightly unique and flavourful. The taste was so authentic. I think they did a nice job blending it. I’d have it again some day, but not for a bit.

This tea is interesting. It definitely has a natural pear flavor with the heaviness of honey, if you know what I mean. I recognize that there is a black base underneath, not hidden, but not overpowering either. The aroma is very noticeable. It has a vague floral flavour as well.
I like this more than I thought I would, but still not enough to want to make sure I keep it on hand.

This was one I wanted to try out of Dexter’s cupboard. I love pear in all forms and have only tried a couple of pear teas.
The dry leaf of this is soooo lovely… truly honey pear.
The honey is reminiscent of Harney’s Elyse’s blend, just toned down slightly.
Steeped, it’s really wonderful. I love when teas taste how they smell, which honestly doesn’t happen that often with flavoured blacks for me. There’s no bitterness here, which I was worried about (probably because the honey was reminding me of Elyse’s blend, which while wonderful, is very finicky….). Yup. This is a really nice pear tea.
I’m really glad that I got to try this one! Thanks, Dexter! :))))

Thanks… Sil? Cavocorax? MissB? I actually have no idea who I got this from, though I think it came via Sil at some point. Either way, it was on my wish list (and probably has been for 2-3 years!), so it’s awesome to try it, thank you whoever let me have a cup’s worth! (So, this is also a sipdown, since I used it all up).

Another tea that I’m impressed with, although I don’t like it quite as much as Buttermilk Lemon. The smell is somewhat intoxicating, wonderfully sweet and honey-like, slightly floral, and the flavour is quite honeyed and delicious. Unfortunately, not much pear to speak of, but the honey flavour paired with the mild but tasty black base is a nice combination. I would like to see that honey flavour in other combos, actually – it’s unique. Thanks again mystery swapper! :P

If you love coconut this could well be the tea for you – mmmm coconut. It’s the predominant flavour in this tea but I can also taste the smooth, floral flavours typical of many green oolongs such as pouchong. It has a lovely, creamy mouthfeel and it actually remind me a bit of a particular rice pudding I’ve made that uses coconut milk as a base.

it also yields a decent resteep (@ 4:15 min) though it’s a bit less creamy this time ’round.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Steep Time: 1 minute
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: fall leaves, fishy
Steeped Tea Smell: hints of sweet, and dry fall leaves, citrus
Flavor: sweet, bakey, woody, tangy finish
Body: Full
Aftertaste: sweet, barky, and slightly citrus
Liquor: dark, translucent, red brown

Resteep: 2
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Steep Time: 1 minute

more fall leaves, less woody, still tangy finish

Resteep: 3
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Steep Time: 1 minute 30 seconds

sweet, citrus, a little floral, still leafy and woody

Resteep: 4
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Steep Time: 2 minutes

sweet, floral

Resteep: 5
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Steep Time: 2 minutes 30 seconds

sweet, very light, woody finish

i think it might handle another resteep, but I never drink that much of a tea during work!

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2015/03/golden-moon-tea-company-loose-leaf-pu_19.html

This is a rather brisk tea, a bit similar to a Darjeeling – not too surprising I guess, as the Darjeeling region is close to Nepal. This has a bit more body to it though and doesn’t really have that fruity muscatel flavour. This one has a almost a woody character.

It’s a not really a tea that would be suited to adding milk, but it’s a bit to brisk for my tastes when taken plain.

Last ‘breakfast’ tea of the day – I have a big paper due tomorrow so I figured it was time to get out the big guns. This one is a rich and robust and, while the packet didn’t mentioned where the tea was from, I’m reasonably sure based on the distinct malty flavour that it’s an Assam of some kind. This is a tea that’s definitely better enjoyed with milk as it brings out some of the subtler flavour components such as those nice fruity notes.

Here’s hoping that it’ll keep me awake for the next several hours.

The colour of this tea was distinctly different from the previous one, more of the typical tea-ish golden brown colour. Interestingly I found this tea to be more astringent than the English Breakfast – it’s not horridly so, but I didn’t find it very palatable without the addition of some milk. Milk gives it a nice smoothness and there are some faintly sweet undertones.

I’ve come to associate Ceylon as the default black tea and that’s definitely what this one feels like to me. It’s a higher quality of ‘default’ than most, but I have a hard time getting excited about it.

I’ve decided to try and compare all the ‘breakfast’ teas in my sampler today. English breakfast has become the almost stereotypical ordinary tea. However that doesn’t mean it can’t also bee a good tea.

This one has that classic rich, reddish colour and toasty aroma and flavour along with a solid, middling robustness. I can taste hints of malt and maybe just the barest trace of muscatel astringency from the darjeeling. I enjoyed it plain as well as with milk and a touch of honey. This is the sort of tea the world runs on.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Steep Time: 1 minute
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: fall leaves, mud, acidic
Steeped Tea Smell: hints of sweet, and dry fall leaves
Flavor: sweet, bakey, tangy finish
Body: Full
Aftertaste: sweet, and slightly citrus
Liquor: dark, translucent, red brown

Resteep: 2
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Steep Time: 1 minute

still good

Resteep: 3
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Steep Time: 1 minute 30 seconds

citrus and floral

Resteep: 4
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Steep Time: 1 minute 30 seconds

paler – should have done 2

Resteep: 5
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Steep Time: 2 minutes

pale

Resteep: 6
Water: 500ml at 212°F
Steep Time: 2 minutes 30 seconds

still pale, weaker

Stopped due to time constraints (leaving work) so not sure if i could coax another few out or not.

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2015/03/golden-moon-tea-company-loose-leaf-pu.html

Sip down! I’ve been teleworking a few days a week lately and set my computer up in the kitchen, so I’m VERY close to all the teas and therefore have been drinking them like crazy. I’ve got the patio door open most of the time because SPRING…but it also makes me cold and I’m too stubborn to close it (again, because Spring)…so drinking tea warms me up. Also trying not to drink coffee everyday, which subsequently means more tea!

In doing all this I’ve been working on getting rid of older teas and small quantities I have left , this being one.

I hate the smell of this in the bag. Maybe it’s due to age but it smells very chemical and plasticky to me. I dumped the dry leaf I had left in my steeper to get rid of it in one shot. Tastes better than it smells for sure, but I’m glad to move on to something else!

I might be able to say that I sipped this down, but I feel like I MIGHT have another bag at home, so I will wait.

It’s good… but i think i have discovered that as far as oolongs go, I’m not loving the roasty dark ones. Moreso the green fresh ones – like milk oolong and coconut oolong and vanilla orchid from DT. I realize I just named a bunch of flavoured oolongs.

But the base taste of this sort of oolong distracts me a bit. I did enjoy it, but it’s not one I would restock. It’s kind of overpowering. I’m sure it doesn’t help that when I make it at work I probably oversteep it a bit.

Anyway, happy to have tried it! I will have to hunt around at home and see if that other bag is real or imaginary.

Evidently I’m losing my everloving mind because I guess I never reviewed this either, even though I’ve had it a while and drank it several times. OOPS.

Anyway, I made this after the great Caramel Cream green tea debaucle. It’s interesting to me how much more forgiveable a green oolong is compared to green tea.

I was NOT picky about this yet it turned out just fine. So much better than the bitter disgustingness of the last tea.

It’s sweet caramel over the roasty oolong base.
The leaves looked very pretty after they all unfurled in my gravity steeper.

I liked this. Not sure I would buy more, but I will drink what I have left.

Also – I’ve been postively starving all day. STARVING!!!!!!

This tea is quite alluring. As I sit at my desk here at work I find myself inexplicably drawn to my mug by it’s light, sweet, & comforting scent. As I sip it, I find myself unable to set it down and devote myself to something else. It won’t let me. It has me in it’s clutches and I cannot break free, nor do I want to.
It’s flavour is such a nice spot of honey with a twinge of fresh sun warmed hay. Golden is absolutely the best way anyone could ever describe it . It tastes golden.
I am thankful to be enjoying it this morning. :)

I was looking forward to this organic chai. I am sad to say that the flavours fell flat though. The aroma of the leaf was different than any other chai I have experienced which, in a way, gave me a foreshadowing of how this tea would taste. It smell faintly of light cinnamon, but without any notes of cardamon, ginger, or even pepper.
Upon steeping it remaining only lightly smelling of cinnamon and black tea. Taste-wise it reflects black tea with a hint of cinnamon and ginger but that is all. A most disappointing tea. I will have to add some of my own spices or blend this tea if I intend to finish it. Sigh.
Someday I hope to find the perfect chai with lots of cardamon, a fair amount of pepper (but not too much), and a balance of the clove, ginger, anise, and misc. other delicious spices present. The search continues.

I bought this nearly a year ago and haven’t tried any until today. Bad Christina!

(I’m not a big oolong person, but this was part of the Golden Moon sampler pack I ordered. I remember quite liking their Coconut Pouchong.)

This….is not knocking my socks off. The dry leaf looks really dark and roasted, but I’m getting a really green, floral undercurrent to it. And I don’t think the sweet caramel flavour is playing very nicely with the base.

Meh. Ah well. If you’re reading this tasting note and think you can give it a better home in your belly, let me know – I’m happy to send it your way.

Lovely, rich, robust black tea. I’d begun to worry that my Golden Moon Tea sampler might turn out to be a total bust, but this is by far the best and most flavorful tea that I’ve tried from the company so far. I added a small amount of milk and beet rock sugar, which enhances the flavor of this tea. It’s really nice with the banana nut bread I’m having for breakfast.

It’’s not the best black tea I’ve ever had. I’d like it to be a little stronger, but it’s good. I may be overrating it a little since the other 2 Golden Moon Teas I tried were so disappointing, but I’d definitely buy this one.

I used 1.5 tsp. per 8 oz. water since I’d found the other Golden Moon samples rather bland. It worked great, but the tea is flavorful enough that I’d probably try 1 tsp. per 8 oz. next time. Also, I followed the company’s brewing instructions and steeped this one for 4 minutes, and I did not think it became bitter, not even when I tried it before adding milk.