Mandala Tea

I’ve had good milk oolongs and bad oolongs, I’d say this is one of the more flavorful ones I’ve had. The milk taste is very obvious and it has a coconut tinge to it with some mild lilac undertones on the second steep. Smooth and fragrant. I didn’t experiment too much with it, but following vendor instructions yielded excellent results: 1 tsp, steeped at 190 for about a minute. It was good for multiple steeps. I got a very nice uplifting energy from this as well, which was unexpected.

One trait that I value in a tea is that it holds its taste and doesn’t become bitter if I accidentally forget about it. This tea, surprisingly, is not picky at all. There were a couple cups that I left steeping for much longer then I should have and it retained its original taste very well.

The cost of the tea itself is very nice – affordable and good value. I’ve paid much more for much worse. I felt that the money I paid for was well spent and will buy again.

This is strange but my review of the original sample I tried (further below) is glowing, but the subsequent 100-gram cake I got doesn’t leave me with the same observations. I thus think my original review may have been colored by a good mood or something. This is a fine daily drinker, but repeated sessions with the cake just don’t reveal the complexity that I may have imagined in the sample.

Original review of sample:
This is a shu puer I want to have on hand. Smoky, earthy, mineral, and then a fruity apricot character reveals itself in the middle of all that and lingers as an enjoyable aftertaste. This tea demands going beyond simple descriptors such as “creamy.” This shu has complexity, depth, and character. It does thin out fairly quickly, but rather than collapse, it moves away from the initial smoky earthiness into a lighter realm of wet wood, some mustiness, still some hints of apricot and even floral notes, all that keeps you steeping. This is a shu that I would want to share with someone new to puer and just watch the revelation in their eyes. I got this as a sample and hope to get a cake.

I am glad other reviewers had such a positive experience with this tea. Personally, of the four shu I have tried from Mandala thus far (this one, Noble Mark 2011, Phatty Cake II 2013, and Temple Stairs 2014), Temple Stairs is hands down my favorite and one I would want to have on hand for its depth and complexity. This Rama Lama Bulang would rank last among those four for me. This is primarily due to what I tasted as a definite upfront bitter burntness and initial funk that hung around for a few steeps. It does mellow out soon enough, and there is some nice smooth texture. There is more to its flavor profile than I can competently describe, so I would say this tea remains somehwhat of a mystery to me, and I would point readers to the other very positive reviews of this tea. The material itself is small, and it brews fast. My reccommendations would be: air it out for a few weeks first, rinse it three times, and flash steep it for a few rounds until it mellows out. This was a free sample from Mandala, thanks!

I guess I have had this tea for that long. I just got my first tea art press by kamjove yesterday an was eager to try it out, but not so eager to figure/decide which tea I wanted, so I settled it this oldie but goodie. I really should be more versatile, I’m still getting the white2tea club but it’s starting to pile up because I lack the time.

208f,150ml/tuocha/steep x 12+
If you let the leaves rest between steeps, there’s more flavor and color to be had, but If you decant and steep right away, you need a longer steep time per steep

Next time I think I will try Garret’s suggestion (cf. his reply to another review for this tea) to brew this longer and stronger.

My notes here are from brewing in my standard fashion: 5 grams, 75 ml, two rinses, and about 205 degrees F, progressively increasing steep times.

Overall, what stands out for me is:

1. Concentrated or dried fruit (apricot, Peruvian ground cherry?) flavors and particularly as a lingering and smacking aftertaste that is so reminiscent of many raw puers I have tried. This is the main highlight.

2. Leather undertones. A kind of smoky leather.

3. Personally, I did not get creaminess, but I could go along with a smoothness or maybe silkiness that another reviewer described.

4. Third steep, a buzz kicked in, really felt the qi, left me smiling and giddy, laughing out lout. After a few minutes the tea drunkeness mellowed out, but a background buzz stayed on. I could see why Garret mentioned that he drinks this tea before a run or a workout. (cf same reply mentioned further above).

This is my first tea from Mandala, and I got three more to try from them, so am looking forward to seeing if I have a favorite there. They sent me a free sample, which made my day.

Next session I will try brewing it much stronger.

Struggled with this one today – while it was smooth and dark and tasty, there was no real nuance to this one through multiple steepings. I’ll have to play with it some more another day and see what i can do.

Pulled this one out today as well. This one i can get behind and i’m happy it’s in my cupboard. Sweet, cedar, wood, earthy….overall just an enjoyable session..though i was more western than gonfu this time around with a couple cups instead of a large number.

Good tea but quality of Oolong was okay because of blend. Unique taste is lost. Maybe because I brew for longer with less leaf.

The smell from this tea is absolutely incredible. It smells like movie theatre butter popcorn and a deap delicious creaminess; it also smells like matcha pocky. This tea brewed much differently then I would have expected. It tastes very much like that buttery popcorn but with a really bright green top notes. While this tea is not as good as the smell it is still quite tasty.

I received this as a sample and I really enjoyed it! I brewed it gongfu style with the first steep at 30 sec, the second steep at 1 min and then adding another minute for each subsequent steep. This tea is very malty, somewhat astringent, and I noticed notes of honey and sweet potato with subsequent steeps.

This is unlike any milk oolong that I have ever had before. The dry leaf smells heavily of butter and toffee and is very pleasant! I brewed it gongfu style, 1 tsp in a 120mL gaiwan at 195F initially for 15 seconds and then adding 10-20 seconds with each subsequent steep. The wet leaf’s butter and toffee scent is more subtle and vegetal notes are more prominent. The tea itself tastes buttery smooth with just a hint of coconut at the end. I was hoping to develop more flavors with subsequent steepings but maybe my tea palette isn’t well-developed yet. Regardless, this is a wonderful tea!

Sweetness, bitterness then sweetness then bitterness. Switness always stronger that bitterness (in fact bitterness is just a cherry on the top, its hardly noticeable in between all of the floral notes). Apricotish. With beautifull golden up to light brown colour. Chilling and relaxing. Sitting in old chair and enjoying the breathtaking view. Sleeping. Dreaming of summer. Those are my expressions when drinking it. Very long peach and apricot aftertaste. Beautifull smell which reminds me blooming grass. Awesome.

this is wonderful places

Amazing taste, if you like delicate aftertaste and mild aroma, this tea is for you.

woot! While i’m sad to see this go, i am super happy to have one less puerh in my cupboard. only a zillion more left to go. What i’ve enjoyed about this one is that it works western brew too and has a really nice flavour to it that works well on those slightly more challenging mornings :) Thanks Garret!!

Brewed this western earlier today as a kick off to the morning. I’ve been trying to make the most of our weekends by getting up, working in a run or ride as well as an adventure for the dog before we get down to “adulting” So far it seems to be working as i’m starting wk 5 of a running program this week AND i’ve actually managed to get back on the bike twice now. Feels good to get out, enjoy the outdoors and relieve work stress. I am a fan of this one western style…just a little smoke and the rest is all creamy, delicious shou.

Working from home so i’m trying to spend a little bit of today drinking some of my puerh. Started with this one and am enjoying it. Especially since Mandala is back up and running again and i can contemplate picking up more teas that haven’t been in my cupboard from them in forever!

More puerh time! I’ve been drinking this over the course of the day…i’d forgotten what a slightly smokey treat this one is. It’s been nice to revisit this one..especially since it seems like garrett is getting closer to being up and running with things again online :)