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Golden Moon Sampler Tea #21:
Guys, I think there’s something wrong with my tastebuds. I’m getting…chocolate from this?

Let me start at the beginning, as usual, I drew this out randomly. I was pretty pleased because while out grocery shopping I had picked up a thermometer for frying that I am going to attempt to use to measure the temperature of my water. Yes, I am cheap. I’m a graduate student, this should not be surprising.

When I opened up the sample packet, I got melon right away. I marveled at the giant-ass leaves for a while but then got down to business. When I poured in the water, that’s when it began. The smell became pretty vegetal, but I was also catching whiffs of, yes, chocolate.

I did a two minute steep for my first cup and then brought it up to 3.5 minutes for subsequent cups. The first cup was…wow! Despite the smell this doesn’t taste vegetal at all! It’s light and sweet, and totally melony. Honeydew, I’d say. But I could be wrong, I don’t eat melon THAT often.

But there was still a problem. I was still getting chocolate! At the same time as melon. W. T. F.

Second cup, the longer steeping time has allowed the tea itself to come forward a bit more, and I am no longer getting the weird chocolate flashes. There is an undertone of, I guess fermentation that I think other people have likened to liquor, but it makes me think of overripe fruit more. I think the combination of the sweetness of the tea and the hint of fermentation was somehow combining to give me the idea of chocolate, don’t as me why. Maybe I haven’t had chocolate for too long and have forgotten how it’s really supposed to taste. Clearly a trip to the candy store is required.

But enough about me being weird. Let’s talk about the tea! I quite like it, but I’m not sure I like it enough to buy more of it. I am pretty much meh on melon, so I don’t know if this tea will have legs once the novelty wears off. I suspect it will not. Still, I give it a definite “maybe.” ;)