White Persian Melon

This is nice! The leaves are perfectly scented, pretty without being overpowering in their sweet melon-ness. Once it’s brewed up the cup is a bit darker than I expected with four minutes of steeping, but the taste turned out just right for me. It’s definitely melon-flavored, but it doesn’t taste fake, and I still get the tea aspects in there too. There’s also a natural sweetness that complements the fruitiness well. It’s a wonderful marriage of aromas and savors, and I expect this would be great iced on a hot day.

Tea & Cards TTB #5
Backlog from yesterday. I so wanted to try more from the box yesterday, but had enough caffeine, so I snuck this one in, rationalizing that it probably had less caffeine anyway. It had a nice, light melon taste. I couldn’t really distinguish specific melon flavors (cantaloupe, honeydew, etc), but it wasn’t too overly artificial or perfume-y. Because the melon flavor wasn’t too overwhelming, I could also taste the grassy notes from the white tea itself. While I’m not a huge fan of grassy greens & whites, it was nice to see the base white tea flavor come out on its own for once.

I actually tasted this tea yesterday, but I still don’t really function very well on 11th September, so I wasn’t up to writing a tasting note.

There are only a few samples left from my Golden Moon sampler set. I’m very much a “save the best for last” kind of person, and the idea of white tea infused with melon was so enticing that I immediately put it aside so it could be one of the last ones I tasted.

Imagine my disappointment, then, when I cut open the packet, inhaled, and crinkled my nose in displeasure. The dry leaves smell like stale bread. I persisted, and after a few breaths I could discern a vaguely melon-y aroma. But when I reset my sense of smell and went back to the tea a couple of moments later, there it was again: stale bread. Unpleasant.

As off-putting as the tea’s aroma was, I couldn’t just pour it out without tasting it. And who knows, sometimes the taste is a surprise, y’know? Sadly, the tea tasted like a wilting flower. Other tasters have mentioned alcohol, overly ripe melon, a sort of fermented smell, but the one thing I took away from both the smell and taste of this tea is, “spoilt.” The smell of stale bread and the taste of a wilting flower’s sickly sweet smell. Blech.

As with the aroma, continuing to sip for a while improved the experience ever so slightly, but putting the mug down for a while and coming back to it after a few moments pushed the reset button so that I had to endure the whole stale bread, wilting flower thing all over again. That’s just too much work to try and enjoy a nice, hot cup of tea.

This one was confusing to me. Let me start by saying I am not a big fruit tea fan and I am especially not a fan of melon. However, just because I don’t like something as a food doesn’t mean I won’t like it as a tea so I gave it a shot. This is part of my sampler set I received. So upon opening the package the smell is intense and it smells a bit like alcohol. Weird but I went ahead and brewed and it still had a very strong aroma or melon and a tiny lingering smell of alcohol. I had my first taste after letting the tea cool a bit and noticed the alcohol smell wasn’t there and it didn’t taste like it either. However, it was ok in flavor but still better than expected considering my prior disposition. Next, I decided to let the tea cool a bit more and to see if there was a difference and there truly was a difference. It becomes natually sweeter and more like real melon; which for someone who likes melon would love. So great for the tea but just ok for me. I will say this tea probably would be great iced on a hot day with or without sweetener.

Golden Moon Sampler Tea #21:
Guys, I think there’s something wrong with my tastebuds. I’m getting…chocolate from this?

Let me start at the beginning, as usual, I drew this out randomly. I was pretty pleased because while out grocery shopping I had picked up a thermometer for frying that I am going to attempt to use to measure the temperature of my water. Yes, I am cheap. I’m a graduate student, this should not be surprising.

When I opened up the sample packet, I got melon right away. I marveled at the giant-ass leaves for a while but then got down to business. When I poured in the water, that’s when it began. The smell became pretty vegetal, but I was also catching whiffs of, yes, chocolate.

I did a two minute steep for my first cup and then brought it up to 3.5 minutes for subsequent cups. The first cup was…wow! Despite the smell this doesn’t taste vegetal at all! It’s light and sweet, and totally melony. Honeydew, I’d say. But I could be wrong, I don’t eat melon THAT often.

But there was still a problem. I was still getting chocolate! At the same time as melon. W. T. F.

Second cup, the longer steeping time has allowed the tea itself to come forward a bit more, and I am no longer getting the weird chocolate flashes. There is an undertone of, I guess fermentation that I think other people have likened to liquor, but it makes me think of overripe fruit more. I think the combination of the sweetness of the tea and the hint of fermentation was somehow combining to give me the idea of chocolate, don’t as me why. Maybe I haven’t had chocolate for too long and have forgotten how it’s really supposed to taste. Clearly a trip to the candy store is required.

But enough about me being weird. Let’s talk about the tea! I quite like it, but I’m not sure I like it enough to buy more of it. I am pretty much meh on melon, so I don’t know if this tea will have legs once the novelty wears off. I suspect it will not. Still, I give it a definite “maybe.” ;)

Oh the disappointment. I sooo wanted to enjoy this tea especially after reading the reviews. Buy nay, our love was not to be – perhaps my expectations were too high? This was the tea where I finally had to admit to myself that I must get my “winging the temp” issue resolved and soon. I just don’t want to think about how many teas I’ve potentially butchered. (eeek!)

This is another tea where I swear I tasted soy milk (plain soy this time – or what I like to call “bean juice”). Then the melon taste to me was like a not-quite-ripe cantaloupe. I’m so sad that this earns a M in my book.

Brought this tea to work with me, and it was calling me after lunch. I’m glad I chose it, because this is a tea I can relax with. It inspires good feelings. And for some reason, the office is ridiculously noisy today. Grr. But I can peacefully sip this tea and drown everyone out. (Normally, I would say something like, “Mwahaha” here, but this is not a tea that inspires evil laughter.)

It’s just so light and tasty! I’m really glad I invested in a full size of this. Mmmm.

I LOVE TAKGOTI AND AUGGY. LOVE THEM LOVE THEM. This must be known, to everyone. Sorry if this is coming off as a bit incoherent but takgoti just sent me the hugest box of tea known to man. And I’m all weepy and excited and happy and wonderific.

So, how do you rate a tea when you don’t like the main flavoring agent?

I hate melons. Like, really really hate them. The taste of them makes me want to gag, actually. I don’t like their texture. Honeydew? Nope. Cantaloupe? EW. Watermelon? Gross! (Yeah I know, I dislike watermelon, I’m weird, blahblahblah).

So when I opened the GM sample of this, I immediately smelled melon. Ripe, fresh melon. Mixed in with a sweetness that must’ve been the white tea base. Very pretty, but very…melon. I wasn’t that happy, but I dumped the entire sample into my pot and got it cooking. Or steeping, rather.

The resulting tea was a beautiful color. A darker white tea than most, like a very light copper. And the fragrance must be mouth-watering for a melon-lover, but for me… I just wrinkled my nose.

The first sip was a bit… interesting, to say the least. It’s pretty much straight melon, with a nice white tea base. It tastes like a hybrid version of a cantaloupe and honeydew, but actually comes closer to Midori in taste than either. I can actually stomach Midori in small doses, but yeah. I finished the cup, but I can’t say I really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t order it again, but it was extremely high-quality! And tasted just like melon! So if you love melon, I’m sure you’ll love this.

My mom kept sipping it, smiling, and going, “Mmmmmm” over and over again.

This one was so difficult to rate. But there it is!

And OMG TAKGOTI AND AUGGY LOVE FOR REAL.

GM sample #2. I looked around Steepster for some direction on how to brew this and thankfully found someone who suggested using just 3.5 oz. of water. I used 4oz and it was perfect. As soon as this hit my tongue it was like MELON!! And I mean that in a good way. I steeped it a second time and there was still some flavor but much weaker. I think I may be ordering a tin of this one. My daughter and I split this and she loved it too.

After trying to pick a tea randomly, and only getting greens and blacks. I just decided to go for a white tea from the golden moon sampler.

This tea has been tempting me for a while, but I’ve held off since the description says it is “enchanting with a touch of honey,” which i dont have any of right now!

The smell is lovely and melon-y, and the color is so delicious looking as well. Can’t wait, here goes! Wow, so subtle, yet so delicious. This is a flavored tea done right. It’s making me feel foolish for drinking Teavana’s “flavored whites” for so long. The melon is making such a sweet tea, and the taste of the white tea still lingers. But this cup is oh so subtle and utterly fantastic.

Really, this tea is absolutely amazing, I think i’m going to finish it so fast, and I wish I had more than a sample size. This is going on my shopping list, immediately!