Ah, the reason I rejoined steepster. I spoiled myself and signed up for Golden Moon’s insider tea club, and already it’s off to a fabulous start.
This isn’t a tea you make with the “hot water” of the work water cooler and forget about as it sits on your desk. This requires precision and adequate time to prepare and savor. And a proper cup—I broke out my porcelain for this one. This tea is SO smooth. I didn’t catch that the first few steeps, since I oversteeped it, but my fourth attempt is perfect. (The steep time is incorrect on this review, since 15 seconds is the shortest it will go. It’s actually five. Yes, seconds. That’s just enough time to pour in the water and pour it out again. It makes me feel like a scientist.)
This tea was grown on a private lot in the mountains of China, and you can almost SMELL it. I don’t know what standing in the middle of a tea farm smells like, but I’d bet this is it. Smooth, fresh, with a scent of dew-dropped grass. This tea deserves a porch on a mountain overlooking China. Unfortunately, I’m in New Jersey, but the Hudson River is pretty, too.
It’s sweet and buttery in your mouth, and smooth on the way down. There’s no overwhelming aftertaste, just the slightest hint of that dew-dropped grass. I intended to make my current cup last long enough to finish this review, but… well, I don’t have to tell you how THAT went.
A side note: this can be stepped up to 20 times (!), and is thus far the only tea I’ve dried out between steeps to keep for future use. And it just gets better each time. (I’m responsible for the photo here in the swanky glass teapot, because why wouldn’t I use a swanky glass teapot?)
