Kashmiri Chai Tea (Loose Leaf, 4.5 oz Tin) by Golden Moon Tea

We purchased this large bag of Golden Moon Masala Chai Tea, and it is tasteless, just a hint of spice but mostly just black tea flavor. I'm not sure if the tea is stale, or what the problem is.On this same order, we also purchased a bag of Tippy Earl Grey, (which we had enjoyed before, this was our second time ordering it) and it too is tasteless, without the refreshing bergamot flavor we had so enjoyed with our first bag of it.On both of the listings here on Amazon, Golden Moon states that they have a 90 day refund policy, so I began the process to get a refund, and lo and behold, it stated that both of these products were not eligible for refund/returns!I then attempted to contact them through Amazons' messaging system, and never heard from them. I even went to the Golden Moon website, and sent a message via their email service, and no reply.Long story short: Don't believe their satisfaction guarantee. If you take the chance to buy, you may get a lovely tasty tea like we did on our first purchase, but you will get no satisfaction if the tea you receive is sub-par. Very Very disappointing, as their tea is on the expensive side.

Being a tea drinker of long date, and aware of Demeter standards, we were very much looking forward to trying this particular biodynamically grown tea found on Amazon.The tea that we received from Golden Moon is pleasant to drink and quite “clean”. The standards of caring soil cultivation are most likely helping in this regards.That being said, we were rather “under-whelmed” by the lack of flavor, depth and/ or complexity usually found in well cultured, cured Darjeeling teas in this price range.In spite of having well-formed leaves, even if of average to small size and of varying colors, ranging from dark brown to green(!), once more we are reminded that this tea is not "tea leaf graded" or classified on any conventionally recognized scale. This may in fact have to do with the resulting brew of remarkable little savor, uncharacteristic of what is typically found in well-developed Darjeeling teas.Beyond the noticeable tannic structure which is common with Darjeeling teas, the only other flavors to be found are faint, and are more in line with unremarkable stock tea (bags) that can be found with Ceylon or Oolong teas served in inexpensive restaurants.Truth be told, this is our first try at any Demeter grown tea, so our frame of reference is limited in this particular case. This batch of tea could also be off norms, as may happen on any production line. In any event, it would not compare favorably in taste, or quality to any of the typical medium to medium-high grade Darjeeling teas readily available within this price range, from other sources.We did leave feedback in answer to several of Golden Moon's automated/ boiler plate "customer satisfaction" emails. No one responded.

I love redbush tea for it's bold flavor, dark red color and it's benefits. This tea from Golden Moon lacks all the strength/color or nutty flavor of the Rooibos I am accustomed to, which becomes almost black when steeped longer. Maybe this has been shelved too long; even when I make it stronger than recommended it comes out weak in flavor and color. Maybe it should be boiled like in Africa, but as a steeping loose tea, this does not cut it.

A few months ago we had purchased a bag of Golden Moon Tippy Earl Grey tea, and were truly impressed with the flavor and fragrance. I came back last month to order another bag, and we are very disappointed with our purchase this time around. The tea has very little of the bergamot flavor we had come to love. It just tastes like black tea.Because of the good experience we had had with the Tippy Earl Grey the first time around, we also purchased a larger bag of their Masala Chai Tea on this same order, and it too is tasteless, just a hint of spice but mostly just black tea flavor. I'm not sure if the tea is stale, or what the problem is.On both of the listings here on Amazon, Golden Moon states that they have a 90 day refund policy, so I began the process to get a refund, and lo and behold, it stated that both of these products were not eligible for refund/returns!I then attempted to contact them through Amazons' messaging system, and never heard from them. I even went to the Golden Moon website, and sent a message via their email service, and no reply.Long story short: Don't believe their satisfaction guarantee. If you take the chance to buy, you may get a lovely tasty tea like we did on our first purchase, but you will get no satisfaction if the tea you receive is sub-par. Very Very disappointing, as their tea is on the expensive side.