Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Golden Moon Tea
Product Description:
Sencha is the most famous of Japanese Green Teas for a reason. It is made from tea leaves shielded from the sun for at least two weeks before they are harvested. This increases the level of caffeine, while magically limiting the development of bitter catechin, offering it a sweet flavor.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! Color me surprised! I had heard mixed reviews on the Sencha from Golden Moon Tea, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I don’t think I expected this Sencha to taste this good! But then I remembered that last year, Marcus from Golden Moon Tea had mentioned choosing better teas for their pure (unflavored) line of teas, which would include – I suspect – their Sencha.
And this is a wonderful Sencha. (Great choice, Marcus!) It has such a rich, sweet flavor. It’s quite broth-y in texture: it is thick and smooth. It has a vegetative taste – slightly grassy and also tasting a little like lightly buttered, steamed vegetables. In addition, it is quite an invigorating brew, making it a great choice for an afternoon pick-me-up.
Golden Moon Tea is one of the best tea companies that I’ve ever had the pleasure to deal with. They provide awesome customer service, which is of key importance to me. I might get the best deals on delicious tea somewhere, but if the customer service is poor, I probably won’t be back. Golden Moon Tea is very responsive to the needs of the customer, offering prompt replies to customer questions and concerns, as well as fast processing and shipment of orders.
I also like that they maintain a strong presence online on sites like Steepster. By doing so, it keeps their finger on the pulse of the customer, learning what they like and don’t like about some of their products. This ties back to the start of this review, when I asserted my surprise at how delicious this Sencha was. Some of the folks at Steepster were unhappy with the Sencha that Golden Moon used to carry, so Golden Moon did something about it! They made changes to their line-up of teas, and brought us a new Sencha … THIS Sencha! Things like that really mean a lot to me as a tea enthusiast.
This is a great Sencha from a great company!
Darjeeling from Golden Moon Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Golden Moon Tea
Product Description:
The Makaibari people of India’s Darjeeling Province built their first tea factory in 1859, which means they were growing world class teas according to the rules of permaculture long before permaculture was hip . In such a system, tea is just one of many naturally growing sub-tropical plants under the cool forest canopy – keeping the soil and the tea it produces consistent. In the case of our remarkable tea, this means a consistently nuttier, less astringent flavor than other Darjeeling Teas.
Taster’s Review:
This is a refreshingly different Darjeeling. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love almost every Darjeeling I’ve tried – some more than others, and occasionally I do come across one that should be ashamed to call itself a Darjeeling, but other than those rare tea experiences, I generally enjoy a good cup of Darjeeling.
But, as I said, this one is a bit different – and in this case, different is good. The nutty tones of this Darjeeling are quite remarkable. Typically, I rejoice in the wine-like muscatel qualities of a Darjeeling, but here, I am reveling in the nutty characteristics of this Darjeeling.
The sip begins with a sweet nutty flavor that lasts through to mid-sip. It is at this point that a brief nut-like bitterness arrives, which is almost immediately washed over by a light, sweet fruity note. This is followed by a hint of wine-like muscatel at the finish. The aftertaste is sweet and nutty with a slight fruit note. While there is some astringency to this Darjeeling, it is much lighter than a typical Darjeeling.
This is a delightful Darjeeling, one I am happy I had the opportunity to try! As a company, I have nothing but good to say about Golden Moon Tea. They are prompt and courteous when responding to questions when I have them, and they ship very fast. And I think their teas are fantastic too!
Honey Orchid Black Tea from Golden Moon Tea
Tea Type: Black Tea
Where To Buy: Golden Moon Tea
Product Description:
One of the best teas we have tasted. It is so rare that it is actually its own varietal without any flavorings or scenting. The honey flavor literally explodes on your front palate with a subtle finish of fresh orchids.
Tasters Review:
Marcus over at Golden Moon Tea contacted us recently to try their new and improved Honey Orchid and I will say they NAILED IT! LiberTEAs previously reviewed this and it’s one of the very few 100’s I’ve seen her rate on her steepster log! I agree with her saying this is pretty awesome – that’s for sure!
The aroma of the dry leaves smell like a honey-buttered whole wheat bagel I often have from my local coffee shop here.
The color of the liquor after infusing is quite light for a black! It’s surprising! BUT…it’s NOT light on flavor!
I guess the honey comparison comes into play because it IS smooth like honey and it has that natural sweetness of REAL honey…not that fake stuff! I really like the smoothness of this.
There is a chewiness to this tea as well…I REALLY like that little characteristic!
I would say the Orchid/floral connection would be just as you move the sip from the front of your mouth to the back of your mouth right before it ‘goes down the trap’…so to speak! The floral notes are subtle and refreshing in a way I have never tasted before!
As this cools it seems to become juicer – I think this is an interesting touch – as well!
This tea is more complex than I was expecting and I LOVE that!
Another thing I noticed with this tea is that the leaves are screaming for a 2nd infusion…here is what I found with the 2nd infusion…
This time around it’s still sweet and silky-smooth but more woodsy but in a good way. It’s smells chewier but tastes a little less chewier.
YUMMO!
My favorite Golden Moon Tea thus far! WOW!
Honey Orchid Black Tea from Golden Moon Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Golden Moon Tea
Product Description:
One of the best teas we have tasted. It is so rare that it is actually its own varietal without any flavorings or scenting. The honey flavor literally explodes on your front palate with a subtle finish of fresh orchids.
Taster’s Review:
I feel very honored to be able to try this tea from Golden Moon Tea. It is one of the exclusive rare teas offered to the Single Leaf Club and after having sampled this, I am planning on joining the club so that I can enjoy other great teas such as this! This is phenomenal!
The flavor is so amazing. Just as the description suggests, there is a strong “explosion” of honey flavor as well as a floral finish. I also taste an undercurrent of savory cocoa notes which adds such a luxuriousness to this experience. This tea has a strong presence – with a toothsome, biscuit-y type quality to it. One of the best teas I’ve ever had the opportunity to taste – ever!
I absolutely love this tea. If I were forced to choose just one black tea that I could drink for the rest of my life, I would most likely choose this one, and I would be quite content with that choice. Yes, it’s that good.
In fact, this tea is so amazing that it has left me at a loss for words, because I really don’t know what else to add here – this is a tea for true tea connoisseurs. I highly recommend joining the Single Leaf Club so that you might experience this tea for yourself. I have not tried any other teas from the Single Leaf Club – but I think that this tea alone is worth the membership! Trust me, you won’t be disappointed by this one!
Contest Announcement!
CONGRATULATIONS TO mrawlins2! You’re our winner! You should be receiving your tea very soon!
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Greetings!
To celebrate the launching of our new blog, Golden Moon Tea is giving away a tin of their delightful Tippy Earl Grey tea (read my review of it here!) to one of our very lucky readers! That’s right: a tin of tea FREE (that’s totally and completely free – no shipping charges, no additional purchase required) to one of our readers… it could be YOU!
To enter, simply post a comment to our Tippy Earl Grey Tea review (that’s the review immediately following this blog post. Err… commenting to THIS blog post won’t enter you in the contest. However, if you feel the need to comment on this blog post, please feel free. We’d love to hear your comments!) Only one comment per entrant will be counted. So, feel free to comment as much as you’d like, but you’ll only get one entry. Be sure to include in your comment some way to contact you (your valid email address) in case you’re the winner!
However, there are *ways* you can earn an EXTRA BONUS ENTRY to this contest:
- Twitter about this contest. Your twitter must include a link to this contest.
- Post this contest on your Facebook page. Your post must include a link to this contest.
To receive your bonus entry/entries you’ll need to comment to this blog post to let us know that you’ve tweeted or posted on Facebook. Be sure to also follow Anne & Jennifer on Twitter and become a fan of our Facebook page)
So there you go! You could win your very own tin of tea from Golden Moon Tea!
The Fine Print: Each person may earn a maximum of three entries into this contest. The contest will begin on Monday, June 14 and end at midnight on Friday, June 18. The winner’s name will be drawn randomly and will be notified via email. If we are unable to contact the winner in a reasonable amount of time, an alternate winner will be drawn randomly from the remaining entries. Also, as it is late at night, I may have forgotten something. So these fine print details and/or the blog entry may be edited (that is, changed) if at a later time I see that I’ve made a mistake. I’m human and sometimes I do that. But, for the most part, I think that I’ve managed to say everything that I’ve needed to say. So, enter already!