Mandala Tea

I enjoyed this wonderfully curly green tea on the airplane on the way back from the Midwest Tea Fest. This tea has been sitting around since I ordered it, but I’ve sent a few samples of it out to other steepsterites. I’m definitely going to have to drink this more! It’s a wonderfully light green with hints of chestnut, butter, and overall deliciousness. If you’re a fan of teas like dragonwell, then this would be a great tea to have.

This oolong changes quite a bit between the steeps which is really fun to taste. Enjoyable mild taste that opens up in the next steep. While the resteep value is high, there was a little hint of an odd flavor in this which I cannot identify but I did not care much for it… maybe a brussel srpout that was forced to retire later than it should have…

The tobacco aroma reminds me of Clouds and Fog, plus a little spiciness. Later steeps get slightly bitter; I can feel it in the back of my throat. Is it bad adding sugar to a pu’er? Because when I do that, I like it a whole lot more.

Gongfu. 190 degrees. 1 tsp (about 3g) 30 sec. rinse. First steep 1 minute. The aroma is so floral, but also buttery. Wow. It’s like drinking… uhm… buttered flowers. Does not taste like any oolong I’ve ever had! No astringency at all. Very pleasant aftertaste too. It’s more like a green tea than an oolong imo. Second steep 1:30, flavor a bit stronger, but still no astringency. Third 2 mins; floral aroma is gone, more vegetal now, the flavor as well, but still has a lingering butteryness to it. A very pleasant drink.

200 degrees. 4g of tea. Gongfu. Dry tea aroma reminds me of cigars (why do so many shengs smell like cigars to me?) 2 five second rinses. First steep ten seconds. Wondering if I didn’t use enough tea. Will try a longer steep next time. 20 secs. Flavor is very mild. No bitterness. 30 secs. Ugh. I may have to come back to this one and try it another day.

EDIT: I came back and tried it another day. This time I added a wee bit of brown sugar and you know what? I LOVE THIS TEA. I lost count how many steeps in I am. I could drink this all night. I’m going to have to try the 2007 Clouds and Fog again and see if sweetening it will increase my enjoyment of that tea as well. I am a happy girl.

Gongfu. 190 degrees. The instructions said 195 but my kettle doesn’t do that, so… 3g of tea (about 1 tsp). 30 second rinse. Lovely aroma. I don’t know what it is… floral, light, sweet…peaches? Lovely flavor, also light and sweet. A few sips and I already feel relaxed, and I just got home from a long commute after a long day. Second: 30 seconds. The leaves are really opening up now. Lots of twigs in there (good, bad?). Third: 30 secs again. I really love this tea. It’s so mellow and sweet. I feel like I took a xanax. Sweetness giving way to more vegetal flavor. Fourth: 40 secs. It’s still mellow, not a hint of bitterness, but flavor has faded a tad. Fifth: one minute. It is still giving. I am floating on a cloud. Sixth: TWO minutes, I dare you to get bitter! Nope, it’s not. In my happy place now. Seventh: 3 minutes. No bitterness, but not much flavor left. All done!

Gongfu, 1 tbsp, 200. 30-45 secs. The last time I reviewed this tea it was a few months ago, and it was one of the first shengs I had ever tried. At the time, all I could taste was seaweed. Fast forward a few months, and dozens of teas later, 2-3 a day, every day, all kinds and my palate has completely changed. It’s crazy. I have no idea how the heck I ever tasted seaweed. This tea is sweet; the first steep very much so, I taste white grapes, citrus. Later steeps get a tad bitter and dry. It’s amazing how much a person’s palate can change in such a short amount of time!

I cannot place the aroma I’m getting from this tea and it’s making me crazy. There is tobacco, but it’s not overwhelming. I think it’s seaweed. That’s it, wet seaweed. Wakame. Hijiki maybe. So lovely actually. 190, 20 seconds first, 30 seconds for the second. A little bitterness coming in on the second steep. Third steep went back to 20 secs. Bitterness still there. Fourth at 200, 20 secs. Much better. Seaweed taste is fading. Fifth, 30 secs. Bitter. Sixth, boiling, 20 secs. Short steeps seem to work really well for avoiding bitterness. Flavor has mellowed considerably, but still pleasant. I’m done. I very much enjoyed the first steep though.

Gongfu method. First steep water about boiling. 5g of tea. Two short rinses. 20 second steep for first drink. Tobacco. I taste tobacco. By the way, this is my first ever time trying Pu’er tea. The aroma reminds me of a fine cigar actually, before you light it. No smoke. It’s not bitter at all, no astringency. I rather like it. Second steep 25 secs. What a lovely light brown color. Second steep is a bit bitter. Huh. Third steep tried 15 secs, didn’t re-boil the water, it was probably about 200? Anyway, bitterness gone. It’s quite pleasant, calming down a bit. Can tobacco be sweet? There is something sweet about it. This tea is probably good for 20 infusions at least. Fourth: I got a wild hair and added two drops of honey. Tobacco-flavored honey. Maybe I’m just not crazy about Pu’er? I wish someone else would review this tea to give me a point of reference. I have two others to try, so I’m not giving up on Pu’er yet. Fifth: wow, this tea has calmed down a lot. It’s actually not bad now. The flavor is still one dimensional to me though.

Gongfu cha method. Confession: I drank the rinse water. It smelled too good. I taste coconut, milk, burnt sugar. So good. 30 seconds@ 190. Second steep was about a minute. Grass notes coming in. Third steep longer (maybe two minutes? not sure. I should pay better attention). Noticing lively green color, but my cups are green so… Fourth four minutes (I am an oversteeper, I admit it). Tastes like green tea now, sweet flavors have faded a bit. Still quite pleasant. Fifth, five minutes. The aroma is still lovely and color still bright, but flavor too weak (and slightly bitter) to consider a sixth.

Wowee, this green tea is GORGEOUS! You need to check out my photos Steepster readers!

Nine Lotus is delicate. It has a creamy texture yet crisp and clean. The notes are sweet grass, lemongrass, unripe crisp pear, kiwi and lemon curd. This tea is so beautiful and the leaves are almost perfect! Nine Lotus is also cultivated by Buddhist Monks, how cool is that?

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/nine-lotus-green-tea-from-mandala-tea-tea-review/

Another simultaneous triple taste test from the GCTTB4!

This tea reminds me quite a bit of WP’s Golden Orchid – there’s definitely that sweet fudgy note, like dark chocolate. No vanilla, though, but I did like the dark smokiness of it – I get what others are saying here about leather (which I tend to like!). The flavour was a bit thin, but I think that might have underleafed it – the leaves are so thick and fluffy.

Backlog from yesterday – GCTTB4

I put a cone of this into a 12 oz cup and let it sit for quite a while. It was a solid black tea, but I don’t remember a whole lot about it since I was cooking dinner at the time, and I probably let it sit for too long. But I don’t remember disliking it a lot – it did the job.

Another great sample from Garret!
Definitely get vanilla throughout all the steepings that gets creamier the longer you steep.
For some reason I couldn’t get the flavor strength to my liking, despite some extended steep times(4 and 6 minutes after the initial 45sec.)
I still have 4g left, going to experiment with the last bit with even longer steep times and will update afterwards.

My first review on Steepster :)
Who knew dirt could taste so good? The earthiness of this Pu-erh is unlike any I have ever had, in the best possible way. I am typically turned off by earthy or grassy teas, but this one completely changed my mind on the former. Garret at Mandala Tea included this sample with my first order from them and I am very grateful. Will definitely pick up a cake of this after I finish the others I purchased from Mandala.

1st Steep(45 sec): I tend to start pretty short on steep times so I can be sure it doesn’t come out too astringent. My first thought was mushrooms covered in dirt, and I realize that may not sound tasty but it was exceptional.
2nd Steep(1min30sec): This one came out a bit more rich but just as smooth as the first. Started to catch some hints of toasted caramel on the finish.
3rd Steep(3min): Richness started to fade but the sweetness started to come through even more. This is where I started to taste something more akin to leather than earth.

Despite the time of night, dinner was heavier than I usually eat, and I was craving some pu’erh upon my return home. Of all the pu’erh currently sitting on my countertop (inventory and organization time!), this one jumped out at me, since the description sounded a bit dessert-like.
This will not be a full review, just a record of happy stomach, happy Spencer, and happy tea.

Sheng/Shou TTB
This is a very nice young sheng. Small amounts of astringency and flavorful notes of sweetness and grape skins. This will get much better with age, but it a pleasant drinker right now.

Every time I’ve complained on Steepster about how hard it is to remove scents and stains from my ingenuiTEA and Mason Jar Drinking Mugs I’ve been told that Smart Soak Tea Stain Dissolver is the product I need. The people who told me this weren’t kidding about how well it worked and I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time scrubbing everything down with baking soda and a baby bottle brush. That method may work, but it is anything but efficient.

Overall, I was suitably impressed with Smart Soak Tea Stain Dissolver from Mandala Tea. I was skeptical at first, but it cleaned everything that I threw at it. I didn’t have to scrub a thing, saving me a tremendous amount of time. Now I understand why so many people recommended this product to me.

You can read the full review on my blog, complete with before and after photos:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2015/5/12/tuesday-tea-smart-soak-tea-stain-dissolver-mandala-tea-midwestteafestival

Finally broke into this one! Very nice and light tea. Semi-floral and fruity, like crisp apples and maybe a pear note. Steeped it many times over the past two days. Definitely a good bargain :)

This is another one of the teas that I’ve been tantalizing over trying and now I can!!

The cake was a beautiful assortment of red, forest green, and a little gold. This cake was so loose and easily pried apart. The dry leaf had a wet moss and sweet autumn scent. I could tell this was going to be a soft Sheng, which is alright with me. I placed a generous chunk in my warm yixing and gave it a whiff. The scent was still sweet but with a campfire background. I heard about this teas smoke, and I was excited to actually taste. I washed the leaves once and used slightly cooler water than what I usually use for Sheng. The steeped leaves lost their sweet tone and became woodsy and smokey. This woodsy aroma was different though. IIt was more like a green woodsy, like bamboo ,rather than dry wood like pine. The initial sip was so smooth! A heavy flavor of yams, smoke, and earth filled my mouth. This was a very deep and smooth Sheng. The brew had absolutely no bitterness or astringency. By every steeping it became softer and deeper. If you don’t like sharp Sheng then this is definitely for you! The qi was sneaky. I didnt feel it until much later and it was rather soft. The feeling was more like a plateau effect rather than a sharp spike that floors me, hahah. I really liked this and I’m so grateful to be able to have it :)

https://instagram.com/p/2TURkEzGeS/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Oh ,wow, this one is wonderful. Reminds me of an Oriental Beauty I bought recently, but with slight bitterness — not bad bitterness, though. Apricots, honey, jam… Will definitely purchase again.

The good folks at Mandala were kind enough to put together a black tea sampler in lieu of their “tea party in a box.” This one is very strong, and I may have over-leafed a bit. I brewed it in my gaiwan since the big leaves make it easy to do that. The box arrived yesterday, and this is the first I’ve tried. It’s good, but I’m not a fan of the wood and leather notes that others mentioned. The taste of wood reminds me a little of the way oak tastes in wine, and I don’t like it. Pronounced leather is not spectacularly appealing to me either.

It’s not bad, but I probably wouldn’t order a larger package of it either. I would only recommend it to people who know for a fact that they like leather and oak in their tea. For me, both notes add a bit of bitterness that I find unpleasant. I didn’t find this one smooth as others did.

A strong taste lingers as well — a little like yeasty baked bread or toast mixed with the taste of wood.

It does resteep unusually well for black tea, though. And I can tell it’s high quality tea; it’s just a flavor profile I don’t love. I think the flavor rounds out a bit in later steeps — the second and third were much better than the first for me. And the tea is a very appealing bright red color.

I had a bit more of this tea left than I used last time, but not enough for two cups, so in it went. Mostly because the tea is so fluffy and spindly that teaspoons aren’t really a great measure of the leaf amount anyway, so I knew splitting it would be a mistake.

This is really quite tasty. I looked back at the notes for this one and I have to say I don’t get any wood or leather in this at all. It is just nice sweet grains and molasses. Yum. Maybe because I am treating it with a lighter hand? I often find these fine Chinese black teas need to be brewed more like oolongs than people are used to brewing black teas.

A free sample from Mandala in my last order. I contemplated several of their black teas, but didn’t purchase any of them so it was nice to get this one (#–6) as a sample.

No steeping instructions on the website, so I went with a somewhat conservative wiry-Chinese-black-tea western steeping method. I should note that I was somewhat concerned my water filter wasn’t working properly since yesterday the two highly-rated Mandala teas I drank were lackluster. But I changed that filter recently, so I didn’t think that could be it. This tea convinces me that it was not.

It smells amazing brewed; a bit of grains, molasses, perhaps some notes of caramel and chocolate. The taste is lovely; sweet, with most of the notes from the scent. There is also a bit of raisin. It really reminds me of some of the Fujian black teas I’ve had, although I know it’s not from Fujian. It does also have a little bit of sweet potato, like a tippy Yunnan, but it’s not a strong component. The liquor has nice body and is oh so smooth. All in all quite a delicious black tea, and I’m really happy to have gotten a sample of it.