Golden Moon Tea

As inspired by Morgana’s “Tale of Three Vanillas” I chose this one out of my sampler for my morning tea. This is the first vanilla tea that I’ve ever had and it was nice. The dry leaf smell reminded me of Vanilla Silk (which is neither good nor bad – I just only have it with cereal and not as a straight drink). The steeped tea smelled like a gentler Vanilla Silk.

That being said – this is the first loose leaf black tea that was actually “smooth” to me. Maybe a little too smooth because it sort of bored me, but it did give me hope that someday I’ll like black teas more than I do at present. Ultimately it’s like this tea was going out of its way to be overly polite. M

Oh gunpowder: you evil love-child of green and black tea! Okay, maybe not, but it sure tasted like it. I shall keep my mind open to future gunpowders, but am I ever happy that this was a small sample.

So, the scent of the packet (I forgot to smell the leaves before steeping them) was a really light and pleasant smell that I couldn’t put my finger on – just a hint of smokiness. I sniffed the tea after steepage and it reminded me of the food I gave my pet Hammy the Hamster back in my elementary school years. ::shudders:: And once that scent-association happened it was all an uphill battle for this tea to become likable for me.

I thought that I had oversteeped the first cup – I tossed it out halfway through and tried again. Steep two – I made it four sips and tossed it. My face actually resembled the “yucky face” on the rating scale on my final sip. I mean, I didn’t even toss out any of my lowest rated teas until I’d had at least one cup. Therefore, even though there are probably some very redeemable qualities to this tea, it’s recieving my first 1 (because I made that EXACT face). GA

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act IV scene 1

Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,
Lend less than thou owest,
Ride more than thou goest,
Learn more than thou trowest,
Set less than thou throwest;
Leave thy drink and thy whore,
And keep in-a-door,
And thou shall have more
Than two tens to a score.
King Lear, Act I scene 4

When I received Doulton’s box and eagerly pawed through it I remember seeing this baggie and thinking, “Oh, I’ve tried that — I think it’s one I really liked.” and then continued rummaging. Well, this morning I wanted a Shakespeare tea and I wanted one that would get me going. This is the one I chose. I started drinking it and it was sooo perfect and yummy. Then I hopped on Steepster to see if I had indeed reviewed this before.

My jaw dropped.

This is the tea that I had my mini-meltdown of “why oh why can’t I appreciate black teas?!?!? Waaah!” and ~lauren had given me some encouraging words. This was about a month ago. My oh my, how things have changed! I think the highest contributing factor to my current enjoyment is my new electric kettle. Seriously. I have found that I love most black teas when the water’s heated to 205. Anyone new to tea who happens to stumble across this note: have a way to get accurate temps for your water. It’s not even funny how much of a difference this makes. Seriously. My original rating was 47 and M.

Enter The Fool from King Lear. Such a wonderful character (even though he does disappear) who’s the only sane one in this play. I wrote an epic paper in my Shakespeare course all about Lear and the verbal abuse going on within it. Christopher Moore’s The Fool is also a book that’s been on my “to read” list since it was released. Know that for me to name this tea The Fool is a high compliment. I also feel foolish for my earlier Note where I howled like Lear. I feel like this tea just gave me a talking to and set me straight. Yum. It’s just a great Irish Breakfast tea with a very subtle plum note. NE

::bangs head against a stone pillar:: What is wrong with me?!?! I’m struggling to enjoy black teas, and I really would like a healthy relationship with them. This is probably an excellent Irish Blend (I do like it more than Stash’s bagged version), but for me it’s a black tea that reminds me how frustrated I am with my taste buds. And of all the flavors this tea claims to have I think the only one I picked up on was prunes.

I’ll be going to a green tea tasting class this Sunday to get a better handle on that type of tea – I must remember to ask them if they plan on having a black tea class in the near future. Until then I think it’s time for me to start experimenting with additives (like a sweetner) to see if that will bring me around to the dark side. M

This tea smells suprisingly like warm honeyed biscuits! The taste is a bit like milky, toasted oatmeal— yummy!

I’m really enjoying this tea, although I wasn’t so sure I would. I’m kind of prejudiced against Ceylons because, from the few I’ve tasted, I’ve found them too mild, timid and non-descript—fit only as bases for flavored blends.

But this “French Breakfast” is opening my mind. It is mild, yes. But it’s mildy elegant . The flavor is present but in a soft and comforting way.

The harsh glare of morning may be too much for this “temperate” tea. It would be better suited for a lazy, luxurious brunch. Or as an afternoon repast—with plenty of milk and sweet nothings.

Golden Moon Sampler Tea #7:
Grabbed this for my morning tea. Late as usual, steeped for like, a minute because I had no time! Surprisingly, despite the short steeping time it had some taste! I was quite shocked. And kind of impressed. Good job English Breakfast!
It tasted quite good, too. Will have to do a longer steeping later to see how it turns out.

I picked up a tin of this on sale at Cardullo’s a few weeks back and have been going through it at a good clip. I’m not a big fan of melons in fruit form, but as a gentle flavoring on white tea it works quite well. This is no candied watermelon either, more like a squeeze of fresh honeydew into the mug.

I haven’t been drinking a lot of white tea lately, so I don’t have anything nuanced to say there. This is, in fact, why I keep this one at the office – the fact that it’s flavored means I don’t feel as guilty when I can’t brew it just so and give it my full attention (which for white tea I normally would). Every tea has its place!

GM sample #1/31.

Got my GM sampler today! Disclaimer: I’m not a melon fan. G is though, so he’ll be getting most of this one. Dumped the whole sample (~2g) into the 3.5oz pot to make sure it’s strong enough. And it is – barely. Sweet and mild, the melon flavor is present but definitely not overpowering, and comes out more as the tea cools. Going to try chilling the next infusion. But for a white tea? Really tasty.

ETA: Infusion 2 chilled was very good; got 4 steeps out of this with no problems, with steep times of 2-5 minutes.

I’m sampling this today with much gratitude to Auggy. I’ll need to invest in a full-size. It’s certainly the best Irish Breakfast I’ve had in…well, in forever, I would guess. Although I’m not picking up on the delicacy of prunes or hints of truffle or whatever else is promised, I do have a good strong cup of flavorful, malty, fresh caffeine. I liked it better with the addition of some sugar and milk, but I’m a milk/sugar addict. Or a milquetoast? Or a milksop? I must consult dictionary.

Very smooth, just slightly astringent, this is helping me to wake up on a lazy Friday morning that is now approaching 2 PM.

Thank you, Auggy. You send out the best and most beautifully packaged samples.

My 125th tasting note!

Haven’t tried this particular tea from Golden Moon Tea in a while, and it’s just as delicious as I remember. When brewed, it has a nice caramel aroma which is further intensified upon tasting. It’s a great after-dinner tea with a good balanced flavor.

Finally, a good selection from my Golden Moon Tea sampler! What a treat on a grey, rainy day. The smell when I opened the package was intense — I think I smelled the leaves for a good minute or two. A nice, deep rich caramel scent with some subtle smoky undertones. (Must’ve been that burnt sugar the package alluded to.) The finished cup was just as pleasant, although I tasted more caramel than oolong (which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing). I could see this as a good after-dinner tea. Even after three infusions, the caramel flavor was still strong, but not overpowering. A real winner.

I’ve wanted to try a loose leaf chai for awhile. I admit, I took the shortcut for preparing it and brewed it as I normally do steeping for 4.5 minutes this time. I tasted first with no milk or honey (I very rarely add anything to my teas). I expected I’d probably want to add something but I figured I’d taste it straight anyway. Not bad, the spices are quite strong straight. It made my tongue feel weird. So, I added some milk and honey.

The taste is amazing. Just the right balance of spice and tea. It’s almost meditation inducing. Too bad I didn’t measure the milk and honey so I could reproduce this. The scent is intoxicating.

I’m really enjoying this tea.
Oops, as it cools I realized I think I put too much honey in. It’s getting a bit sweet.

A tea that tastes like melon…it sounds like a dream come true for a cantaloupe lover like me. And I am so glad this delivered on that melon flavor. Unsweetened, the delicateness of the white tea is what you taste first, and then the melon taste hits the back of your tongue after you swallow. Sweetened, the melon taste fills your mouth from front to back. It’s like a little bite of cantaloupe with each sip. Would make a great after-dinner tea or an afternoon tea. Delicious.

Golden Moon Sampler Tea #6:
After running around campus all day handing out conference fliers, I was really in the mood for something refreshing, but I also wanted to try something completely new and interesting. Green and black tea with mint and vanilla? Sounds like a winner to me! Provided it pulls it off, of course.

This tea is wonderful! I’m not sure I can do a description of the taste justice, but it starts with a core of mint that seems surrounded by a layer of vanilla, surrounded by a hint of black tea, finishing off with the taste of green. At least, I think that’s what I got out of it. I finished the cup in the space of about three minutes, so I can’t really be sure. The mixture of black and green makes this tea light and ensures that the two flavors, which are usually quite overpowering enough on their own don’t dominate the tea – I think the green especially serves to smooth everything out.

I still have some left over in the teapot and I am really tempted to chill it and see what it tastes like iced. Unfortunately, we recently had a pretty nasty kimchee (one of my roommates is Korean) spill in the fridge, so that is probably a bad idea. Maybe I’ll just leave it overnight? It does get pretty chilly at night here.

Definitely need more of this.

Golden Moon Sampler Tea #5
This was the first black tea I saw this morning, which, of course, means 8 more weeks of winter. Wait no, it just means that I made it my “must…wake…up…” morning tea. It’s a neat looking tea, love the giant long leaves. Reminds me a bit of Golden Monkey, although the taste is in no way similar.

To tell the truth I was going to just dismiss this as decidedly meh after the first (all-important morning) steeping, but after reading all of the glowing reviews, I decided I needed to give it another go, so this is actually my second try, this time in a more relaxed, paying more attention environment. I definitely see the appeal this time around. It’s just such a strongly tea-y tea. It smells like tea, tastes like tea, but more! Like, more tea than tea. Or something. It definitely hits that tea itch that I occasionally get in the back of my throat.

On the other hand, despite it’s name, it appears to be not particularly suited for me as a breakfast tea (or at least not on weekdays, maybe on weekends), since I need something quick brewing (for the many days I sleep through the alarm or hit snooze once too often) yet forgiving (for when I get distracted and let it steep for like 10 minutes). No pressure though! I think in that sense, French Breakfast wins out.

I’m feeling a bit off this morning so I thought a green might be a good idea.
Trying to preserve the health benefits, I waited about 10 minutes after boiling to let the water cool.
It smells like grass and looks like a pale green (quite pale).
It tastes grassy too, and healthy. I wish I could find the healthy taste enjoyable. That would make life so much easier.
In the end, I don’t enjoy the taste but hopefully the healthy quality will help. It is why I picked it today.

I so made the right decision to bring this tin home from work: it has to have controlled brewing to bring out its best. Winging it at work made it taste…kinda like a wimpy off-brand of Frosted Flakes. At the right time/temp with filtered water: NOM!

I was also glad that this was my first tea of the new year (Happy New Year Y’all!) since it reminds me of the tea journey I started last year since Golden Moon’s sampler was the first “big” tea purchase I’d made. I’m still a-steepin’ these leaves (adding a minute to each steep). Yuppers. This is good stuff. TG

So, I was a rather naughty tea girl (somebody get that scarlet T iron-on ready for me). I was 5 steeps into my Iron Goddess oolong from Adagio when it started to get weak. I wanted to finish off my Sugar Caramel sampler that has a little less than half left. So I decided to rinse and add the last of my sampler to my already steeped leaves – sort of “piggybacking” them. For me it seems to have worked. I’m on the 3rd steep of the mutant tea and it’s still goin’ pretty strong. I don’t plan on doing this too often, but it’s good to know I can get by with it and still have yummy tea. :)

Oh…sweet…jeebus…on an everlovin’ pogostick!

I needed this tea desperately today. I was really disappointed with the other GM samples I’d tried so far, and then came this – this nectar. Ah, sweet bliss!

The smell of the dry leaves was carmeliscious and I couldn’t wait to get this puppy goin’. After steeping I poured it and then spontaneously smelled the pot. Wow – I’m not gonna do that again – it smelled of funky veggie (sorry that I can’t be more specific on that one). I’m guessing that that’s what oolongs must generally smell like (I have yet to try out a straight-up oolong – something that I hope to rectify soon). I then tried smelling the aroma of the cup and I was somewhat surprised when I couldn’t smell a thing. I think that the smell of the pot was such a shock to the system that it took a little bit of time for it to “reset.”

Ah, and then the cup of happiness. I love creme brulee and here it is in tea form! The caramel aroma that I eventually smelled drifting up from my cup was divine. ::sigh:: I have steeped this puppy three times now, and each time the cup evolves: the caramel fades into the background and almond seems to step up to the palate. Yes, this is the first “will buy again” from the GM sampler. TGs

Edit: After finally having a straight oolong I can confirm that the smell in the pot is indeed oolong. Which I now know to be a great thing!

A long and tiring day. Going for a golden moon sample of oolong.

It seems a bit watery, and I can’t really taste much of a flavor. Maybe the water wasn’t hot enough when I put it in… but the color is rather dark.

When I do get a good sense of the flavor, it tastes awesome. It’s a little nutty, with a flavor very similar to a typical black tea taste, but lighter. It’s so very relaxing and calming, and hopefully it will be enough caffeine to help me get through finishing the last bits of my homework.

I will definitely try a second infusion, but this may very well be a tea I’d want to buy again.

Golden Moon Sampler Tea #4:
So I’ve been thinking about my teapot lid issue, and I have come up with several possible plans of action.
Plan A: Befriend a potter.
Plan B: Order a billion different lids off ebay and hope one fits
Plan C: Invent time machine, go back in time and grab lid before it gets broken/stop myself from throwing it away like a noob.
Plan D: Recall the existence of thrift stores and the preponderance of random ceramics in them and see if there’s anything there that fits.

I’m currently leaning towards plan C myself.

Back on topic! The gods of fate have decreed that my afternoon tea be pu erh chai. The leaves look very nice with bits of cinnamon bark and a cardamon pod. I am a big fan of cardamon in chai and am always mildly disappointed when it fails to appear in my chai leaves. So bonus points for that, definitely. I have to agree with the other reviewers that the smell when brewed is decidedly funky. I probably would have been freaked out enough by the pungency to add milk (of the rice/almond vanilla variety) had there actually been any in the house. Sadly, I am currently milk-less, so I’m just going with the straight tea.

For me, this came out a very lightly spiced pu erh. I can definitely distinguish the base tea, unlike in the case of the sugar caramel oolong. Now, if a flavored tea is just standard black tea + flavor of some kind, I am generally more forgiving if it doesn’t distinguish itself. If something is specifically a flavored oolong or pu erh or other kind of distinctive tea, I fail to see the point if the flavors completely eclipse the base tea, if that makes any sense. Thus, I approve of this tea, although I think it could stand to be a bit more spice-y. On the other hand, since pu erh brews up so dark all the time, I may have overestimated how much water was needed. Sigh, always with the caveats.

I think I would like to try this with some sweetened milk, I may have to order more just for that.

To paraphrase Patton Oswalt: this is a failure tea in a sadness cup. This is the first time that a tea has upset me – I got over it after a few minutes, but man, I wasn’t in a happy place for those few minutes.

I’m thinking “Yippee! I adore jasmine and I’ve been dying to try a pearled tea!” I even found the teapot my mom gave me when I started on my tea journey (a glass Bodum) so that I could watch the agonized tea leaves (wait, what?). Not impressed with the show. I only enjoyed it once I started adding sound effects in my mind of screaming leaves or tiny little “enhs.” I sniffed the sample pouch and thought, “oh, this should be lovely!”

And then I poured it.

Two wafts of a smell hit me as I poured and I was rather shocked. I had a moment of bewilderment where I thought that maybe I had grabbed the Vanilla Jasmine instead. I double-checked the bag: nope, it definitely was pearls.

Then I sniffed and that smell that I thought was vanilla was there. I sipped and oh lordy, the disappointment. Within a few sips I was able to nail what that smell/taste was that bothered me (because I was only getting the tiniest hint of jasmine): it’s a freaking half-eaten Tootsie Roll Pop. You know that point where most of the lolipop is gone (I’m thinking grape) and you’re almost transitioned to the Tootsie Roll? Yeah, that’s it. I hate Tootsie Rolls and I hate their “Pop” brethren.

I gave it a second chance with another steep and it mellowed quite a bit to where I’m tasting more tea, but once something has been smelled it cannot be unsmelled.

Ultimately, Tootsie Roll Pop lovers should rejoice and think about trying a sample of this tea. GA

Ok, so I actually tried this tea 2 days ago. Oops. I got busy and only typed a few lines before I needed to run off so this will be brief. I still wanted to log it though.

Smells of vanilla, Tastes of black tea with vanilla. Warming. Nothing special but nothing bad. Hmm, I wish I’d typed more or had it in front of me now but sadly this tiny bit is all I can manage for this tea.