From It’s all About the Leaf – http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/1429/tea-review-golden-moon-tea-imperial-formosa-oolong/
I know I tend to repeat myself on this point, but I really adore that first whiff of a new tea. The myriad of preparation techniques and additives means that each new tea is an olfactory adventure. Or, more succinctly – dang, they can smell great! And this one – wow. Aromas of dark sweet fruit, like raisins or dates combined with malty, yeasty overtones. It reminded me of whole wheat raisin bread in the first few sniffs.
So I eagerly dumped the packet into the gravity teapot I use at work so I could try this tea. This is where I ran into my first problem. The sample size was pretty small. So I scaled back the size of cup I was planning to make and added my 190 degree-ish water and commenced steeping.
The resulting brew was a beautiful deep brown. But the flavor was a little light. Tones of nuttiness, raisins and a light floral overtone which may have been orange blossom, but nothing outstanding. It was a pleasant cup, but not an outstanding one. I did play around with the steeping parameters to try and improve it, and wasn’t able to get it to sing. I would like to get a larger sample someday and try playing with this tea again.
