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Humm…..I’m going to have to try this a few more times I think. First brewing I didn’t believe the suggested 3 minute brew time so brewed for 4.5 minutes and it was quite bitter. I reduced the brew time to 4 minutes and used one heaping tsp/cup as suggested and it was pretty blah. Tried a third brewing at 4 minutes with two rounded tsp/cup and it was better but still a very light assam. I didn’t really pick up malt from it – it seemed more bright flavored and fruity. I might try again at 4.5 minutes and see how it turns out.

This is the April 2011 selection for Golden Moon’s Single Leaf club.

The idea of scenting teas is new to me. I will admit that I avoid scented products in my day to day life (e.g. unscented detergent, fabric softener, lotion, etc….) When it comes to tea, I love the scent of certain spices but scenting with fruits or flowers is not something I would seek out.

This tea has an obvious fruit scent for both the dry leaves and steeped leaves. The scent of the brewed tea itself is pretty subtle, so not objectionable for me. The tea itself seems to be a pretty basic black tea. Nothing special. Golden Moon recommends drinking the tea “neat” however, I found that a touch of milk smoothed the sharpness of the tea.

For my tastes, there is nothing really wrong with this tea, but nothing special either. I would prefer to drink other teas instead. I’m looking forward to trying some of the other teas that are mentioned as sample club items….a unique assam, first flush darjeeling, golden snail yunnan, etc….

The reviews on this tea certainly are intriguing. I’ve brewed it now on three different days, and in the end have found it rather disappointing.

I actually don’t like the smell of the fresh leaves at all. While there is a certain honey scent to them, there is also a very sharp scent that overpowers the honey. I suppose I could describe it as floral, so the fact that I don’t like floral perfumes in general might explain my dislike for the scent. The impression that comes to my mind is someone trying to cover body odor with stinky perfume.

Once brewed, luckily it looses the sharp scent. There is a nice black tea flavor, but I have a difficult time picking up any honey. I detected a hint of honey near the back of my throat as it cooled, but it was rather fleeting (since they describe the sensation as the front of the palate, this also led me to an interesting internet search to learn that taste bud mapping is over simplified).

The second time I brewed the tea, I didn’t use enough leaves and the result was very blah watery tea. The leaves are difficult to measure (I don’t have a scale) due to their very large size. Both the first and third time, though, I used plenty of leaf. The third time around I tried adding a small amount of honey to the tea to see if it would accent the natural honey flavor, but it didn’t really add much. The tea also left a bad aftertaste in my mouth.

All in all, I’m glad to have tried the tea and can see why some might enjoy it, but I think the description from Golden Moon of honey flavor literally exploding didn’t happen for me at all. I don’t generally sweeten my tea, but I do sometimes like a hint of honey in some teas. This one was a little disappointing for me at the end.

Tasted three Upton CTCs today. The leaves for the Irish Breakfast were darker in color than the Upton CTC BOP Estate Blend Organic (TA15) and the largest in size of the three I tasted (Halmari CTC is the third tea). The Irish Breakfast leaves/granules also seemed to have the strongest scent. I tasted all three teas with milk.

The Irish Breakfast is a little malty, with good body, not bitter at all. While not as exciting as some of the single estate assams I’ve had lately, it is very good for a CTC tea. Would probably also be good blended with other teas. I tried adding a tiny touch of honey and it went well with the tea. It developed a creamy feel as it cooled.

I did try brewing (with fresh leaves) a second time at 5 minutes but while it was still not bitter, the flavor seemed better at 4 minutes.

Tasted three Upton CTCs today. Compared to the Upton CTC BOP Estate Blend Organic (TA15) and Upton Irish Breakfast CTC teas, the granules were much smaller and finer, and darker than the Organic. I tasted all three teas with milk.

The Halmari CTC BOP was watery tasting on the first sip, but with good body. No bitterness. Also, no malt. The watery flavor remained as I sipped it.

(Between the three teas, the Irish Breakfast was my favorite)

Tasted three Upton CTCs today. This one was my least favorite, and not worth the extra price over the other two. I tasted all three teas with milk.

Compared to the Upton Halmari and Irish Breakfast CTC teas, the leaves on this one looked more golden – a mix of gold and dark. The size of the granules were between that of the other two teas.

The tea seemed bitter at first, but this went away. It was dull compared to the Irish Breakfast. Good body, but no malt, just kind of blah.

Have done a little CTC tasting lately. Have had the Harney for a while, but then today also tasted three different Upton CTC Assams. Have a TeaGschwendner still to try at some point.

The Harney CTC was OK – what I call a “strong black tea” flavor. No malt, no interesting nuances, just “strong black tea”. It is also not bitter. I usually blended it with some other Harney tea such as Tower of London. If you want malt in your assam, this one isn’t it. But if you are looking for a simple strong black tea without bitterness, this might work for you.

(Between the Harney and three Upton CTC teas, my favorite is the Upton Irish Breakfast CTC.)

Third tea in my tasting this morning (Golden Moon & Harney Irish Breakfast, Upton GFOP). While the GFOP is not marketed as an Irish Breakfast it is an Assam blend like the other two. My notes from the Harney tasting pretty much apply here “not much complexity. It has a typical “strong black tea” flavor but no maltiness, not much interest”.

I think I have been spoiled by the single estate assams and am just not finding these blends very interesting.

This has been my Monday morning tea for quite a while now and remains one of my favorite teas. Nice touch of smokiness to awaken my senses and providing some additional interest to the assam. Not sure that hubby appreciates the smoke as much as I do, so I typically add a small amount of Harney’s Tower of London to the mix and it is quite lovely.