Review: Golden Moon Tea Pu-erh Chai

Dec 31

Review: Golden Moon Tea Pu-erh Chai

Laura’s Teaview Snapshot

"It's weird...kinda sweet and kinda wrong. This is pretty smooth and much less offensive than some pu erh."

Laura’s Teaview:	7/10
Other Teaviews:	Dan gave it 9.3/10, Joe gave it 7/10
Your Reviews:	Add your review »

"Dark leaves, aged to perfection, produce a deep, russet-brown liquor. An exotic blend of rich, earthy notes enlivened by aromatic cinnamon bark and elegant green cardamom pods, highlighted with a smooth citrus bouquet. Sweet and full bodied. A mysterious adventure in every cup." --- Golden Moon's website.

So let's get real about pu erh. I am not really a fan. In fact, I kinda hate the stuff. I really don't understand how anyone could actually like it. Oh yea, cuz its 'earthy' tasting. Yea, earthy if you mean like it was grown in the soil of a cattle farm lol. I have only had cheap pu erh and I keep some around for 'health' purposes--you know what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, the taste is so strong and distinct that it is hard to completely hide the taste or the smell. However, I've tried a number of samples from Golden Moon and since they have all been pretty good, I decided to request this one.

My sample package smells a little different than my other pu erh options do. It smells almost a little soapy in fact. I steeped this like a black tea and sweetened it as it is a chai. When I opened the tea maker while releasing the contents into my cup, I drew in a breath of the steam. There it is...the slightly sweet odd pu erh smell. Yuck! Before adding milk, I decided to allow this to cool so that I could taste it on its own. It's weird...kinda sweet and kinda wrong. This is pretty smooth and much less offensive than some pu erh. There is a lot of cinnamon in it and it is a bit citrusy. It also has a kinda soapy after taste, which is better than the barnyard taste that I've experienced with some pu erhs. My suggestion is not to smell steam coming from the cup before you drink it. The steam actually smells a little worse than the drink tastes--seriously, plug your nose. I don't know that I would really call this chai tasting, but its not bad---for pu erh. After consuming a small amount of this I counter-instinctively added a bit of milk to it. At least it made the stinky steam go away. However, it didn't really make it any better because it dulled the cinnamon taste and just made it creamy soap tasting.

This didn't turn me into a pu erh fan or anything like that. However, I do like to have some pu erh on hand and I think I actually like this a little better than Mighty Leaf's Mocha Pu Erh. When I run out of that I will probably replace it with some of this. However, I will mix it with a strong chai or cinnamon tea so that I am not drinking a big glass of steaming stink alone. If you like pu erh and cinnamon chai, then you will probably like this. Best pu erh I've tasted to date.

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