132 Tasting Notes
Wow I’m really the first one to review this one?! Well, I am a big pumpkin fan to the point that I even make my own “pumpkin pie” oatmeal at home so when I found this I had to try it! It is very much like pumpkin pie in liquid form except it seems a bit heavy on the cinnamon, which isn’t a bad thing – I’m just a nutmeg lover when it comes to pumpkin pie! The tea even tastes a bit creamy as if there is slight whipped cream taste. Also, there is this other flavor that I couldn’t put my finger on and it really made its presence known at the back of my tongue. This really started to annoy me because I couldn’t pick out what that flavor was that I was tasting! So I went to their site and I notice there is honeybush in here and I have never had honeybush before so I assume that is what that mystery taste was since the pumpkin and spices were all distinguishable. This will be an AWESOME fall drink and will have to make myself a reminder to get some of this around October!
My brother’s a HUGE pumpkin pie fan (his birthday’s in May, but he always asks for a pumpkin pie or my mom’s pumpkin bread instead of a cake. I wish he were a tea drinker because that would make buying him presents sooo much easier! :)
Oh, and I had bought a tiny sample of honeybush from Adagio to try it straight up. I found that it was the different taste in a lot of my other blends. It’s the one that makes me think of lotions. Strange, but true.
Aww that is too bad, this would have made an excellent gift for him! Tell him to try to make his own pumpkin pie oatmeal (if he likes oats anyways lol). I get one serving of oat and cook them in vanilla soy milk and then put 1 heaping tablespoon of pumpkin canned puree and then mix your spices in according to taste and then throw in some brown sugar to sweeten it up a bit. It is scrumptious! I usually make a big batch of this at once, my 5yr old son has been eating this since he was 3 and he is the pickiest eater ever! ;-)
I have no clue how he feels about oatmeal — LOL! Thank you! I’ve copied the recipe and will email him. I’ll keep ya posted if he tries it :)
This is an extremely mild and very subtle tasting tea! You really have to sit there and close your eyes to concentrate on the slight grassy notes that it has to offer. I prefer more taste and flavor to my teas, but the health benefits are supposed to be great when drinking a Silver Needle tea. This would probably be great blended with another tea that has flavor, just to get in your daily dose of health benefits.
Hey Jessica, nice review. I have a very popular tea called Cancer Fighting Tea which blends Silver Needle, Jasmine Dragon Pearls and Rooibos Mirage(Peach, Lemon and Orange flavored). It’s quite yummy plus you get the health benefits of both silver needle and rooibos. I’ll send you some.
Thank you Daniel! Jasmine Dragon Pearls are my ultimate favorite tea out there so far and peach mixed in a green or white tea is always a plus, you can never go wrong there; I look forward to trying this blend, it sounds amazing! Again, thank you.
Lol — I think you had her at “Jasmine Dragon Pearls” ;)
Lol yes, yes he did! hahaha
(how funny — I think Jessica and I posted at the very same time!)
Heh. There is trick to buying Jasmine Pearls. There are numerous different grades and types. Some sell a “Jasmine Pearls” which is not the same thing. It’s a lower quality pearl that’s only scented 1-2 times with jasmine flowers. Then there are several grades of “Jasmine Dragon Pearls” which are ‘okay,’ but the best grade is called, “Organic Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls from Fujian Provence.” They are organic, hand picked and hand rolled 100% buds, which are scented 8-10 times with jasmine flowers. Their aroma is amazing, it kicks you in the face. They are a bit more expensive, but if you’re going to have Jasmine Pearls, you gotta go all out or it’s just not the same.
I have noticed this amongst the Jasmine Pearls that I have tried… I’m somewhat on a mission to find the very best out there so far the winner of my heart is Teavana’s which are the Phoenix Pearls. The Art of Tea has a lower grade I am guessing since they are named simply “Jasmine Pearls”, but they’re pretty good as well.
Do you know what type of Silver Needle you tried from Teavana? The grade makes a big difference on it too. There is a medium grade which a lot of companies sell which is called “The King of the Silver Needle” but despite the name ‘king’, it’s not the highest grade. The highest is called Yin Zhen Silver Needle, only the largest and nicest buds are hand picked out for Yin Zhen. Also the more down or fuzzy hair on it, the higher the quality. Some Silver Needles are naked, or don’t contain any hair, they are very low grade and don’t taste great at all.
Actually, I went to their web site, they do sell Yin Zhen Silver Needle, and by the looks of the needle, it’s correct. I knew they used to sell Yin Zhen, but quite a bit of their teas have changed over the last 10 years.
I’m not sure, it was just called “Silver Needle” I believe, but the leaves weren’t fuzzy, not no where near as fuzzy as their picture online shows them. Hmm now I want some fuzzy leaves… wait, does that sound a bit odd?!
Hmmm maybe the fuzz got knocked off from being rattled around in their canisters? There wasn’t very much fuzz, maybe I’ll have to try their Silve Yin Zhen Pearls, but they’re a bit proud of those and I only want to sample it and not own 2oz of it! ;-)
Oh, yes, they mark up their teas a lot. They have always been some of the most expensive teas on the market. That’s mainly because there main business is specialty tea shops in areas where there are no tea shops, so there online store is only an added bonus to them, so they don’t care to compete much in price online.
That is a good point, very true!
@Daniel Mann: Just gotta say a big thank you for all the interesting information you’ve been adding to comments lately. I’ve always loved it when liberTeas or Frank add some bonus knowledge to conversations — it’s great to have another tea guru out there helpin’ out us noobs :)
Hehe, you’re far from noobs, you guys and gals have probably drank more than tea than I have. I may have the knowledge but you have the tea wisdom! It’s encouraging and informative to read all the reviews, nothing helps me more. I love to talk about tea, so this is a great place to do it.
Here is my 3rd sample from Golden Moon, this time I decided to go with something safe and that I knew I was already fond of! This tea is OK, it is a really light jasmine tea, especially when hot. For this being jasmine pearls I would expect a bit more of the jasmine flavor to be taking the front and center stage, but it’s just not happening. This is a light and subtle jasmine tea… probably would make a good bed time tea.
Preparation
This is my second sample to try from them and this one is better than my first go around! The vanilla is very strong and the jasmine is kind of running behind in 2nd place. It’s a smooth black tea, not bitter but the vanilla reminds me of a vanilla marshmallow taste and I’m not very big on those, except for maybe in hot chocolate! The jasmine does make its self known more as the tea cools, but it throws me off a bit because I am so used to drinking my green tea (jasmine pearls) with jasmine that by having jasmine in a black tea just seems ….sooo…wrong?! LOL but that is just me being biased! This is a good black tea for vanilla/marshmallow lovers.
Preparation
I picked this tea out of my sampler pack to drink last night before bed. When I first opened the pouch a strong beer smell hit my in my nose, possibly even punched me in the nose! So with that being said we’re already off to a bad start. I steeped the tea as directed for 3mins, the color was amber and the smell was of hot beer. I slowly sipped my tea and sure enough… sweet hot beer taste! I let it cool off a bit and I suppose the nectar flavoring came out a bit more, but still none the less this tasted like a sweet, hot beer! I believe this tea is one that you would have to have an acquired taste for; I on the other hand do not have that acquired taste and it probably doesn’t help that I loathe beer either. I had to pour this one down the drain.
Preparation
Beer!? Weird…lol…
Lol YES!!! I’m pretty sure there is some hops in this tea somewhere haha. I noticed Erin made a comment about it tasting like beer and/or yeast which I thought surely that isn’t the case, but sure enough this is beer tea!
I remember really disliking this one too, but the moment you said “beer” I went “aha!” I thought it was more of a musky melon, but beer makes more sense and brings the taste vividly back to mind. ::shudders::
Yes, I am pretty sure that I am scarred after having this one! ughhhh! Hopefully the next sample of Golden Moons that I try will make up for it.
