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A tea that tastes like melon…it sounds like a dream come true for a cantaloupe lover like me. And I am so glad this delivered on that melon flavor. Unsweetened, the delicateness of the white tea is what you taste first, and then the melon taste hits the back of your tongue after you swallow. Sweetened, the melon taste fills your mouth from front to back. It’s like a little bite of cantaloupe with each sip. Would make a great after-dinner tea or an afternoon tea. Delicious.

Finally, a good selection from my Golden Moon Tea sampler! What a treat on a grey, rainy day. The smell when I opened the package was intense — I think I smelled the leaves for a good minute or two. A nice, deep rich caramel scent with some subtle smoky undertones. (Must’ve been that burnt sugar the package alluded to.) The finished cup was just as pleasant, although I tasted more caramel than oolong (which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing). I could see this as a good after-dinner tea. Even after three infusions, the caramel flavor was still strong, but not overpowering. A real winner.

Oh, Golden Moon…I had my mouth all set for some sencha this morning and I get…this. I dunno, this tea was a bust. I have a pack of sencha from my travels to Japan, and I gotta say, this Golden Moon sencha looked very pretty. Nice vibrantly deep green needle leaves with little tea dust. But after a 3 minute brew, it was like I was just drinking a cup of hot water. I didn’t get the slightest bit of buttery sweetness that usually comes with a sencha brew. I added a little sugar, and it was like drinking hot, sweet water!

Meh.

I usually have this tea whenever I go to one of my favorite restaurants here in Atlanta. Generally, I’m not wild about French teas, but this jasmine tea retains a delicate flavor even after a recommended 4-5 minute steep.

Here’s how Golden Moon Tea describes it: “The robust flavor is equally elegant and complex. Rich and malty character, with subtle notes of ripe cherries, dark prunes, and hints of hazelnuts and honey.”

Yeah, I probably could’ve strong-brewed a bag of Lipton and gotten the same effect. Either that or my palette’s not sophisticated enough this early in the morning to discern all these complex tasting notes.

sips again

Nope…same effect.

Tried this yesterday as part of a HUGE tea sampler from Golden Moon. Usually in the mornings, I prefer a maté to a black tea. When it’s that early, I need more flavor variety, and I usually find most breakfast teas to taste the same way — burnt. This one was no real exception, even with a short brew time. I just needed the caffeine boost.

I hit the 3pm slump, and had a quick brew of this to perk me right up. It’s been in the back of my tea cabinet for ages, but I was looking for a maté, and I knew this was there.

(Note to self; get more matés. Suggestions?)

It’s just as good as I remember it; smooth, chocolatey, and not too “tea-like” once I added some cream. More like coffee without the jitters. Mmm.

So recently I bought this electric kettle from Adagio Teas (http://www.adagio.com/teaware/utiliTEA_kettle.html), and it arrived this morning. I said “well why not use it to brew up some morning mate?”. In less than 2 minutes, I had boiling water, and quite a smugly satisfying cup of this on my hands. Always a winner.

It’s been rainy, cold, and overcast here in Atlanta these past few days. Today was the first bit of sun I’ve seen in a while, so I brewed up this tea I bought down in Austin. It’s so deliciously sweet, I thought I was drinking Kool-Aid. The blueberry and cherry notes are really strong. This would be excellent iced.

I needed a pick-me-up on this grey rainy Sunday (plus, my voice is still a bit shot from my revelry in Austin), and this did the trick. I tried it out in my new Bodum tea press. Never a bad cup out of this brew. I added a bit of spearmint for a little more zip.