Karsh

Another Golden Moon sampler (I’m trying to work my way through the pack). Great licorice aroma from the dry leaves, but it is a little strong. The licorice mellows out in the first brew and actually balances out quite nicely with the white tea. I’m a sucker for licorice, but I don’t know if this could be an everyday brew for me. Too much of a good thing, you know? But I’m pleased with this. Very nice.

Blech.

Oh, I’m sorry, you probably want something more thorough. Alrighty.

I was excited to try this tea out for some reason, even though I don’t really like black teas or the taste of honey. I do dig pears though, so I figured this tea would be good. When I opened up the package, the thick, pungent, musty smell of honey hit me like a ton of bricks. Almost medicinal.

Then I brewed it up and took a sip. Totally medicinal. The black tea base is too harsh, the honey is too thick, and…well, where’s the pear? Not there.

Dumped the rest. On to the next.

A chai maté. Alone, that sounds like either a delicious mixture or a huge disaster. I’ve gotta put this in the delicious mixture category, because I think this will be my new morning maté. Upon opening the package, I got a really strong, spicy cinnamon smell (almost like Big Red chewing gum). After brewing up a cup and taking a sip, I was sold. Aside from the strong, sweet, and spicy taste, I got hints of almond, coriander, orange, and pineapple. And it all worked together beautifully. If you like a spicy, complex tea that’s also a caffeine pick-me-up, go for this one. It’s yummy.

It was yet another gorgeously sunny and warm day in Atlanta, and I was going back through my tealog here to see what to try iced, and this was jumped out at me. I had just enough left in the pouch for an iced tea steep, so…here we are.

Wow. Just wow. Deep and fruity, fresh and full of flavor. And it seems like it would be an awesome base for any other tea concoctions, smoothies, sparklers, or cocktails. I’m not really doing it justice with this tasting note; get a sample pack and experience it for yourself.

So a few samples in my Golden Moon Tea sampler have now made me want more. I’m already in love with the Sugar Caramel Oolong and the White Persian Melon, so I had to see what was up with this Coconut Pouchong. Now keep in mind that I love coconut. I have a bag of shredded coconut in my fridge just to munch through from time to time. Almond Joy is my favorite candy bar. So a coconut flavored tea (a pouchong, no less!) sounded delicious.

And it delivered.

The pouchong flavor is light and doesn’t interfere with the coconut essence, which radiates from this cup in a beautiful toasty bouquet. Unsweetened, I couldn’t really taste the coconut, but sweetened, it flows delicately and doesn’t compete with the pouchong. It was just what I needed after a long day. Plus, now that this puts my order over $39.99, I can get a free teapot! SCORE!

I found an old tin of this I had stashed away at the back of my tea cabinet (for tea emergencies like today). What an amazing cup. Lemony, licorice-y, full-bodied, yet light enough to be a breakfast tea, and robust enough to be enjoyed iced as well. I need to find some more of this since Ocean of Tea has went AWOL.

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.

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.

Oh, Golden Moon…I had my mouth all set for some sencha this morning and I get…this. I dunno, this tea was a bust. I have a pack of sencha from my travels to Japan, and I gotta say, this Golden Moon sencha looked very pretty. Nice vibrantly deep green needle leaves with little tea dust. But after a 3 minute brew, it was like I was just drinking a cup of hot water. I didn’t get the slightest bit of buttery sweetness that usually comes with a sencha brew. I added a little sugar, and it was like drinking hot, sweet water!

Meh.

I usually have this tea whenever I go to one of my favorite restaurants here in Atlanta. Generally, I’m not wild about French teas, but this jasmine tea retains a delicate flavor even after a recommended 4-5 minute steep.

Here’s how Golden Moon Tea describes it: “The robust flavor is equally elegant and complex. Rich and malty character, with subtle notes of ripe cherries, dark prunes, and hints of hazelnuts and honey.”

Yeah, I probably could’ve strong-brewed a bag of Lipton and gotten the same effect. Either that or my palette’s not sophisticated enough this early in the morning to discern all these complex tasting notes.

sips again

Nope…same effect.

Tried this yesterday as part of a HUGE tea sampler from Golden Moon. Usually in the mornings, I prefer a maté to a black tea. When it’s that early, I need more flavor variety, and I usually find most breakfast teas to taste the same way — burnt. This one was no real exception, even with a short brew time. I just needed the caffeine boost.

I hit the 3pm slump, and had a quick brew of this to perk me right up. It’s been in the back of my tea cabinet for ages, but I was looking for a maté, and I knew this was there.

(Note to self; get more matés. Suggestions?)

It’s just as good as I remember it; smooth, chocolatey, and not too “tea-like” once I added some cream. More like coffee without the jitters. Mmm.

So recently I bought this electric kettle from Adagio Teas (http://www.adagio.com/teaware/utiliTEA_kettle.html), and it arrived this morning. I said “well why not use it to brew up some morning mate?”. In less than 2 minutes, I had boiling water, and quite a smugly satisfying cup of this on my hands. Always a winner.

It’s been rainy, cold, and overcast here in Atlanta these past few days. Today was the first bit of sun I’ve seen in a while, so I brewed up this tea I bought down in Austin. It’s so deliciously sweet, I thought I was drinking Kool-Aid. The blueberry and cherry notes are really strong. This would be excellent iced.

I needed a pick-me-up on this grey rainy Sunday (plus, my voice is still a bit shot from my revelry in Austin), and this did the trick. I tried it out in my new Bodum tea press. Never a bad cup out of this brew. I added a bit of spearmint for a little more zip.

I just came back from a week of revelry and my voice was shot. I thought I’d brew up a tincture to soothe my throat, and I remembered I had a ginger tea of some sort in my tea vault. This was it. It’s a decent Black tea with some peach and ginger notes, but nothing special. Can’t say it helped my voice much either. Good thing I had a stash of candied ginger in my fridge.

Had this at Starbucks today, and was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was. A little too cinammon-y for me (I like my chai’s more spicy), but overall an enjoyable cup.

The last bit of chamomile in this Adagio Teas sampler. I just needed something to ease me into sleep, and this did the trick.

Meh. The smell was heavenly, but I wasn’t blown away by the chocolate-y mate-y goodness I was expecting. (And tea snob that I am, I was already unimpressed because I thought this would’ve been a loose-leaf tea and not a bag tea.) I drank a HUGE pot of this stuff (maybe 2-3 large mugs full), and an hour later, I didn’t feel that usual snap of energy I do when drinking a loose-leaf mate. Instead, it was the exact opposite — I was sleepy! I might try it again (maybe with cream), but it just didn’t do it for me overall.

Steeped for four minutes and added cream at the end. It’s the only thing getting me through this conference call right now.

Smooth and minty. I wanted something crisp after lunch, so I figured a nice mint tea would do the trick. Even though I’ve had this for a few months, the mint is still as tart as it was when I first bought it. Added a dash of cream, so it was sort of creme de menthe-y.

Had this hot with soy milk and sugar. Mmm…delicious. (My delivery food was 2 hours late, so I’m all out of adjectives today.)

What a delicious afternoon pickup! Solid flavor with the chocolate and banana and rooibos. I added milk and sugar and lapped this right up. Mmm.