Sinharaja

Hmm….

Smells a little berry-ish, dry.
The taste is like Thomas Sampson’s second cousin—twice removed.

This a very mild black tea. Very easy to drink. No astringency. No bitterness.

Soft and agreeable, I think.

Slighty sweet toward the end.

There’s not much to say, I guess. It’s a likeable tea, but not memorable, at least for me.

I had a sample of this. Its really good. Smells really deep, very much like molasses.
Its rich, complex, a little smoky and woodsy.
I could see this being a replacement for that morning cup of coffee.
Added some milk (just a little) and a tiny bit of sugar in the raw and it does not seem to drown out the rich flavors at all and does enhance them.
I am surprised – this is one of my favorites from Golden Moon so far.
I could see reordering this one.
I so wish that their sample packs had enough for two brews.
I will see how this does on the re-steep and if it brews well I will add it to my shopping list.

Regular Ceylon, move over, Sinharaja is here! Not only does it have a far more exotic name, but the taste matches it.

I’m almost at the bottom of my Golden Moon sampler – just this, Honey Pear, Sugar Caramel Oolong, and Coconut Pouchong. I have scraps and bits from some of the other teas in the box, but the tasting is almost over. It makes me almost melancholic, really. This box was truly the beginning of my tea education.

Anyway, Sinharaja looks pretty gorgeous for a black. The leaves are beautifully brown and wiry, and very long and unbroken. The smell coming off of the dry leaf is pretty basic. There’s an almost grape-berry smell, slightly similar to a Darjeeling, but it’s really more of a traditional black tea smell.

So I steeped this one up, and the leaves unfurled quite a bit more than I thought they would. They floated up and down, up and down, sort of like a madcap carousel. I was really anticipating this one…

And it delivers! Now, mind you, I sort of think I’m a bit blown away by this one because it is actually a Ceylon. I don’t know how super-excited I’d be if it wasn’t. But for a Ceylon, this is probably one of the best I’ve tasted. The smell coming off of the burnt amber cup is very just “default black tea.” Which I was a bit worried about, because honestly… it smells like a typical toasty Ceylon. But the taste…

It’s a bit more brisk than I thought it was going to be. There’s a pretty heavy berry-like note, followed by a delicious, honey-related note. This one is just one of those compulsively drinkable cups, where the flavors are just smooth and satisfying. I don’t know if I’d be craving this one continually, but I have fallen into like with it. In that kindergartner way. It’s light and yummy and sweet and scratches my black tea itch. Mmmm.

All of the other reviews are right. This is a really special Ceylon!

EDIT: Listen to sophistre! Seriously. I resteeped this (4:30, boiling), which I would have never done with a black, unless someone seriously recommended it. And this is the best resteep of a black I’ve ever tasted. EVER. It tastes completely different than the first steep, but somewhat related. Like cousins or something.

I was a bit worried when I smelled the wet leaves after the second steep, because they smelled… spent. That dead-black smell you get after a resteep that just screams, LEAVE ME ALONE I’VE DONE MY DUTY. But those leaves? They lied. Seriously, because this second cup is lighter than the first, without any of the brisk qualities, and tastes like sugared raisins. With some berry notes. But sugared raisins. Mmmmm.

So. Good. Thanks, sophistre, for pointing out the wonders of the second steep on this puppy!

Another of the teas I got from Takgoti. The dry leaves are long, dark and wiry, I supposed I’m used to seeing my black teas more broken-looking. The scent is interesting in that it’s not what traditional black tea smell – actually it reminds me more of a Yunnan tea than a Indian tea.

The flavour is a bit like Yunnan too, sort of malty but with tannin undertones, although it lacks the strength and smokiness of the Chinese teas. However at the very beginning I’m also tasting something that reminds me of berries, but it’s quite elusive and it disappears quite quickly. I’m not sure where people are getting ‘sugar’ and honey’ from because I’m not really tasting it, although I think there’s a bit of sweetness on the tail-end of each sip.

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 taste the honey notes in this so well. It is feels cozy and sophisticated. This was one of my samples I received and have now added this one to my shopping list.

Looking forward to this one, as it’s been a while since I had a good chance to sample some Sri Lankan teas. Nice spicy, rich and enticing aroma to the dry leaf.

Great balance of flavors here. Strong and complex at the same time, just the way I like them. I’m getting a warm general spiciness rather than a particular note like cinnamon or clove, and some sweetness that I associate with berry or stone fruit jams. I want to see how this will taste with a little cream and sugar, but I’m enjoying it plain so much there’s not going to be a whole lot left over! A pleasing amount of astringency and good mouth feel.

With the additions it’s really luscious. I think the berry/fruit notes have morphed into maltiness. The aftertaste is like I’ve been having shortbread cookies with the tea but I swear I haven’t!

Score – two really nice ones today.

It’s creamy and caramely-like…a bit malty…a beautiful reddish brown. I can taste the toastiness as well. It’s quite strong and full the more I sip. The taste lingers for awhile after the sip has passed and seems to keep me warm and fuzzy all over…lol…

I have had a tin of Sinharaja for several months, and today I just polished off the last of it. I’ve been fond of this tea for some time. It’s one of those black teas that brews up a bit astringent, but once you add a touch of sweetener, it’s delicious. Full-bodied and smooth, with a rich, almost molasses-like flavor. I’m getting some notes of pastry and vanilla as well. The color in the cup has a bit of a reddish tinge. It’s the perfect tea for morning or afternoon — a good all-around black tea, a polished alternative to English or Irish breakfast teas. I’m going to have to buy more the next time I place a Golden Moon order.

Mmm smells delicious. I would say in advance that it will be smooth. And indeed. Rich full taste. As black tea should be. The good kind ;)
Wouldnt say it’s the best black I’ve tried, RareTea Company tops it, but it’s still quite delicious.

Sinharaja was today’s GM sampler grab bag winner. And what a winner it is! I used slightly less than a teaspoon of leaves in my brew basket and a good 12 oz of boiling water. 3-4 minutes and I had a good steep. The flavor was fantastic! Slightly earthy and a little light, sweet. Has a brisk little tannin that gets stronger as it cools…recommend it hot. I put the last little bit of fresh leaves (not enough for a full brew) on top of the 1st steep’s leaves and had another go after 5 minutes. love it. I’ve got a cup or so sitting in the fridge to try iced…i suspect it wont’ be that good, as the the tannin’s will probably give it teeth.

Of the very few Golden Moon teas I’ve tried, this is the first one I’ve tried that I’m truly enthusiastic about. I’m definitely getting the molasses undertone referred to in the product description, especially after it cooled. This one, I think, will be versatile enough to ice down when it’s hot outside and coddle with a little milk when it’s cold outside.

Still chipping away at the Golden Moon Sampler…This tea smelled fantastic, like a rich black tea with a slightly sweet scent. The taste was plain, brewed hot for four minutes with no additives. As it cooled, I noticed an unpleasant astringency, a slight bitter note commonly associated with oversteeped tea. So I added a pinch of German rock sugar and a touch of milk, this made the tea sweeter and smoother.

On the second infusion, fearing the same result as the first, I brewed for 2.5 minutes and added the pinch of sugar up front and milk to taste in my mug.

Overall pretty decent black tea.

Dry, this seems like a pretty unassuming tea — not surprising, since I tend to think of Ceylon as “normal” black tea. Steeping gets you a nice dark cup with a fairly strong smell, woodsy and almost smoky. I wasn’t expecting much based on the dry leaf, but this is getting exciting!

As I sip, I immediately notice that this isn’t the least bit subtle in flavor, which is, as usual, a plus in my book. Toasty is definitely a good way to describe it, and I think my earlier declaration of woodsy still applies. It’s somewhat astringent, more than I’m personally used to tasting, and almost sour. I’m not getting any of the sweet or berry-ish notes that others apparently are, and in fact it’s more bitter than I’d like.

Taking this one for a second steeping, I’m getting a similar albiet milder taste. The bitterness is mostly gone now, but it seems to have taken a lot of the tea’s character with it. This time I tried a pinch of artificial sweetener (I don’t have the recommended raw sugar and milk), but it seems to mellow out the flavor some more more than anything else. Not a bad cup, though; it reminds me a lot of Twinnings’ very basic ceylon.

A very nice choice if you’re a fan of strong, full-bodied black tea, especially if you might like to finish off with a milder second steep! I might choose this as a coffee substitute if I needed one, as while it doesn’t taste like coffee at all, it offers a similar experience. On a personal level, it’s not a favorite due to the bitter and woodlike qualities, but it’s lovely for what it is and I might consider getting it again if I wanted a more permanent ceylon in my stash.

My first tasting from my GM sampler pack!
So the “mushroomy” taste I got from the Keemun, I got it here too. So maybe this is what they call a “caramel” finish? It has the same aroma and smooth round mouth feel to it. So I’m concluding that it is a caramel, not a mushroom. I know, vastly different in the mind, but to my nose and tongue (and the memories that they have) it is the same. The tea also has a sweetness to it, a richness and depth to the flavor, not much of the berry note that was in the description. It’s yummy for sure, again not what I might go with every day. But it’s definitely getting better and better every time I taste this mushroomy caramel thing!

This tea will take the Ceylon niche in my cupboard, when I’m ready to order. Delicious 1st cup, sweet 2nd cup, and caramelly 3rd cup. I didn’t believe it until I tried it—I believe, I believe, I believe!

This is a ceylon black tea. And you can see the black tea and smell it. I steeped this up for a a little while. And this tastes like a good black tea with some sort of sweetness. This is pretty good and not bitter. Perhaps I need to steep this abit longer to get the full flavor?

2/31 sampler. I really liked this tea. I don’t really like black teas, but this one as a hint of citrus with honey undertones. Not very bitter like other black teas i’ve had.

Picked a random black tea from my sampler this morning and got this: Sinharaja! I was even curious enough to look up what it meant. Its a Forest Reserve in Sri Lanka!

First sniff, I knew this was a black tea. It smells like a Ceylon, but not very strong. Yum! It brewed a nice golden yellow brown color. It smells delicate and sweet. I do get a very slight malty taste but mostly a woody molasses. Great tea! I’d say this would be a a great addition for a daily black tea. Tastes great with milk and sugar too!

Brews up bright copper colored. Smells like a salted caramel. Taste is creamy and smooth. A little roasty with some strawberry in the finish. Caramel returns for the aftertaste. Very little astringency. Overall, a very pleasant and smooth tea.