White Persian Melon

I’ve apparently been slacking off in my tea reviews. But with the cooler weather upon us, anticipate seeing me pop up more often than usual.

Anyway! This sampler was open and I apparently forgot to log it last time. Since I love both white tea and melon, it’s kind of obvious I would love this, too. A little honeydew-like (or maybe that’s because honeydew is my favorite and I want it to be there. heh). It’s really light, which makes me a happy little tea drinker, and the flavor is subtle. Another win from Golden Moon!

Brewed after letting it cool for a bit post boil.
wow! This really smells like melon! I didn’t and any sweetener since it smells so sweet already.
For the taste, I’m glad I didn’t add sweetener. It’s light, refreshing, with that sweetness of melons that actually annoys me if I have too much (in the melon as well as the tea). If I concentrate hard, I can pick up a tea flavor at the end of the sip. Really though this tastes like melon. I imagine it would go well with a summer breakfast (then again, that’s when I eat most of my fruits during the day). For me, it’s too specific of a taste for everyday. Now and then, just like the fruit, I like it.

Yummmmm. I brewed this up and tasted it without honey and determined that it did not need any. It is definitely sweet on it’s own. However the directions did say to add a touch of honey, so I did. I always follow directions on the first steep of a new tea. I am glad I did, because after adding just a half teaspoon of honey, the melon flavor really popped. This won’t be my favorite tea, but I will be returning to it often.

A pleasant tea. The Melon flavour doesn’t overwhelm the tea, though it still has a bit of an ‘artificial’ taste to me. I can’t decide yet whether I like it or not? On the other hand my wife was sold on it and loved it the first cup she tried.

This is lovely, refreshing, and light—just right for a gorgeous spring afternoon! Honeydew and cantalope enveloping scents; soft, sweet melon flavor (2nd infusion actually sweeter than the first.) Come summer, this gets iced!

GCTTB

My previous experiences with melon teas comes from David’s tea, and we know those are loaded up with stuff. So I was interested to see how this would compare, and if I would actually pick up on the melon.

The dry leaf had a definite scent of melon. Once brewed, I found that it a very fruity aroma. The taste of the melon was subtle, but I found it. I accidentally steeped it too long, so the white base was quite dominant. Despite the slight over-steep, it was still enjoyable.

I got a small tin of this in the last TTB and decided to break into it. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Much sweeter than I wanted, almost syrupy. I think it would make a lovely iced tea in the summer, but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for in the dead of winter.

I’m also not quite sure what the melons were – looking at the picture, I can see honeydew and cantaloupe, though neither came through distinctly when I was drinking. I wonder if I can taste them now that I know they are both there?

Sipdown Sunday Tea and Books!

This tea was one of the oldest teas in my collection as I bought it back in February when I ordered a Golden Moon Tea sampler. I learned along the way, though, that I’m not a huge fan of white teas, and hesitated to drink this.

Iced tea seemed like the best way to use up all of the leaf from the sampler in one go, so here we are.

The Tea

I used the whole of the sample on 2 L of cold water and let it steep overnight. I also added about 2.5 tsp of sugar to the pitcher. The resulting tea is not very melon-flavoured, as I can really taste the white base (I think it’s Shou Mei). However, I’m happy that I’ve finally dealt with this tea so that I have one less one in the cupboard to worry about.

The Book

This tea is supposed to taste like melon, and while I can sense the taste, it’s not very fresh and juicy, but more dark and dusty. I’m pretty sure that other people here have said that this tea tastes like muskmelon. So that’s the flavour I’m assuming to taste here.

When I think of muskmelon, a particular sci-fi story comes to mind: “Tiny Tango” by Judith Moffett.

This was a novella that got nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula awards after it was published in the late 80s/early 90s. It’s about a botanist with HIV who chooses a life of academic mediocrity to hide her HIV-positive status, as she’s worried that the stress and high profile of a successful academic career would both ruin her health and run the risk of “outing” her to the world. She instead devotes her time to breeding a new variety of muskmelon.

However, as time goes by, other issues become far important to the world’s landscape: the arrival of extraterrestrials, climate change, and a vaccine to prevent HIV. The story shows her reaction to all these things in turn.

I’m not really explaining this story well, I realize. It’s a hard one to sum up, especially considering the public discourse around AIDS has changed a lot since the story was first written. But when I thought of this tea, and the flavour of muskmelon, this was the story that immediately jumped to mind.

For those who are interested in reading it themselves, it’s available on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IA66OAG/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00IA66OAG&linkCode=as2&tag=morein-20

GCTTB Rd 3:

Having this iced and it is definitely a melon tea but at the end of the day, I can’t help but compare it to Cantaloupe & Cream and it just doesn’t measure up. It is nice though so thank you Christina for the chance to try something new.

This sample came to me from Dexter3657. When I brewed it up , I could smell something I just couldn’t place. For taste I picked up the light white tea but just couldn’t detect the melon. I don’t know why. There are plenty of reviews here that say they can taste the melon. Then I read a review that said it tasted like liquid bread. Yes, that’s the taste I picked up – like a baker’s yeast.

Just not my cup of tea but thanks Dexter3657 for the sample. I’m glad I got to try it.