Mandala Tea

had this mini tuo couple days ago.
Such a cutie. And delicious too. i think i liked it more than loose form.
Gongfu 100ml glass pot, 212F
2 rinses/5/5/10/10/10/15/15/20sec
its pretty resilient. Color is beautiful. taste sweet and rich, and creamy.
i have to pick more of them.
Thank you Garret for the sample, i enjoyed it a lot, as usual;)

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First cup was much lighter in color than the second; maybe because the leaf rested in between.
Tastes smooth, sweet and like slightly leathery/earthy caramel, with aroma to match. There is a very gentle tart-like juiciness that lingers after drinking. Mellow and lovely.

Will save the leaves to steep again later.
I say this every time, but think this is my favorite ripe mandala pu’er sample so far – so gentle. :)

This is a pretty mellow and easy-to-drink Puer. It’s really quite calming in that way.

The first tastes I got from the sip were of leather, earth, and dried fig. The wet leaves also smell of dried fig. The infusion color is a deep, dark brown as with most ripe Puer. There really isn’t much change from one infusion to the next, but it does seem to become even more mellow and with a bit of a dull sweetness to it. It’s a pretty agreeable Puer, despite not being a very complex-tasting one.

This puer may be a bit too much of a smooth-talker, giving me a bit of a cloying feeling. I think I need a little more to ponder on in my shu puer, a little more substance.

I will have to try this tea another time to see if I was just too tired to enjoy it, but I didn’t like this tea much. I thought it decent but that’s about it. It was sweet tasting and the broth was a nice color for a raw tea but the taste was just a little off to me, not meaning off from poor storage, meaning I just didn’t like the taste.

I brewed this twice in an 200ml Yixing teapot with 200 degree water and 8g leaf. I brewed it for 10 sec, and 5 sec.

I’ve been enjoying quite a few steepings of this little tuocha while doing laundry and making scones. I made pumpkin pecan scones and they are yummy!!! I always feel like baking when the weather turns cooler. I think I’m getting more fermentation flavor with these little tuochas than I did with the piece of cake, if the barnyard note is fermentation flavor. I noted it in early steepings of the cake, but have noticed it lingers for awhile in the mini tuocha. Makes me a little nostalgic for the time of my life that I rode horses. It turns to a sugary cinnamon sweetness later, similar to the Ba Ka Ngoi cake I have from JalamTeas. You can’t beat the convenience of these mini tuochas though! I can’t wait to dig in to the variety pack!

I have long heard the comparisons between shou and coffee, which often times imply a certain amount of personality rather than flavor similarity. This is the first shou I’ve had that upon smelling it immediately struck with reminiscences of my coffee drinking days. I’m not going to say it smells and tastes like coffee but there is certainly a common touchstone somewhere.

Yes, there is a slight bit of fermentation flavor in this, which dissipates so quickly you might forget it is there. Notes of cocoa and a myriad of other flavors and feelings hit while drinking this tea. It’s a great mini tuocha and something I am really happy was included in my order from Mandala as a sample. I might have to pick up a cake of this at some point to see how it progresses as I feel the 85 I am giving it might even rise further upon some aging and I am wondering what the difference will be between the two forms.

A good tea, but not a great one. The vegetal characteristics of the flavor reminded me of a Dragonwell, which I typically enjoy. However, there was also a bit of a grain-y taste, which I associate with Senchas – and I really don’t like Senchas. I drank this slowly, and as it got cooler, the grain notes faded.

The beau and I had 4 or 5 steeps of this last night after a great supper of homemade pad thai. We are anxiously awaiting the opening of a new Thai restaurant in the town near us, but so far no dice. So we took things into our own hands!

This was a great choice afterward for our night tea. This is a habit I picked up from a great friend and her husband of 25 years. They are kindred spirits even if we are 20 years apart in age. For their whole marriage, her husband has prepared coffee for them to take to bed and enjoy before going to sleep. Both of them like whatever is left cold in the morning, and it creates a nighttime ritual for just the two of them, perfect for the parents of four great kids.

After commenting on how brilliant that is, my husband started making night tea for us, usually my choice of tea, as we have no problems sleeping after tea. Or while drinking it. He usually finishes his, and I get halfway through mine, but I love it. We don’t have kids yet, but it is still nice to carve out a ritual for us in the midst of busy lives. Due to my propensity to fall asleep as soon as I am in bed, we usually enjoy this in the living room but it works for me. We also read bedtime stories to each other since I’m just a really big kid. We’re almost done the Philip Pullman collection of Grimm’s Fairy Tales and I am looking forward to reading the Tales of Trenzalore next. Except whenever hubby reads, I fall asleep. He puts up with a lot. :)

SO! We used half the pack, which I got in the Mandala Shu sampler of a few months back. This is the second one I’ve actually managed to try. Probably should have used all 7 g but I wanted two goes at it, and my cups are small. Gave it a rinse, which was very pale and didn’t open it up very much and then drank the first real steep at 30 seconds (boiling water). It was earthy, with a smoky note. I was reminded of a campfire in the rain, it wasn’t overpowering, but very nice. Through all the steeps, that smoke note remained, and was present with some earthiness, some leather, maybe some mushroom flavours. I increased the time with each steep and the leaves really let go of each other with each steep.

This tea had no bitterness or astringency at all which was really nice. As I got further on, I got more sweetness but it was never a really sweet tea. It was rich and nice, very pleasant but a bit mild because I didn’t use enough leaf, I imagine. I was trying this to see if I should get a cake of it in the mandala order I am considering since they’re having a sale, and I think for an easy drinking, every-day, no-thought-required shu this is fantastic. We both really want a few cakes of shu that we can just have western or gongfu, with no fuss. I want one at work, at home, and the beau wants one at work too. For now, finances and common sense dictate we settle down a bit but if I do this order, I will definitely add a cake of this. Really nice easy drinking shu – if you’re afraid of it, try this.

Awwwwwwww yeaaaahhhhh. This is delicious. Wonderfully roasty and dark, with an aftertaste of cocoa. As close as you can get to black tea without it being in that category, and so very smooth, as well. Love it. Definitely a cold day comfort sort of tea. Thanks again Sil!

ETA: Oh man. I forgot how delicious gulping down a cooled brew of a dark oolong is. Intense chocolate deliciousness. OM NOM NOM.

Sipdown! 973.

Yum. Yum. Yumyumyum. That’s about it. Really enjoying this one, though my tastebuds aren’t quite as sharp right now as they were for the first cup. Still incredibly sweet and smooth.

Thanks to Sil for letting me sample some of this wonderful tea! I’ve had a bit of a rough day, and needed something tasty to cheer me up. This was pretty perfect. Ultra smooth, caramelly sweet, hay… not usually the flavour profile of a black tea that I look for, but it was so perfectly smooth here that it was delicious. Mandala is definitely on my list to make an order from eventually, even though pu’erhs are not my favourite. Thanks Sil :)

Thank you so much for the sample boychik!

This is really good shou! Creamy, a little sweet, rich and earthy in a cocoa way. Definitely my kind of thing! Another winner from Mandala :)

I received this as a sample in my Mandala order. Thank you!

Wow. Big Red Robe and I haven’t had a great track history so I had stashed this away and not thought much about it until the other day when I was cleaning up my samples box. Why did I wait so long to try this. Yum. Deep roast flavor, on the verge of chocolate, and malt. The end of the sip offers hints of fruit. This is actually the first Red Robe that I have brewed gongfu style and I think I might have to try the others that I own this way. I am on infusion #7 and it is still going strong. This is such a nice tea for the winter. I will have to add this to my wish list. Thank you for letting me try this one.

Thank you for this one, TeaTiff! The name is a little promising, but it’s kind of tough to live up to…

Steep #1 // rinse // 15 min after boiling // 50 second steep
I used what looked like a tablespoon of these very long, dark, twisty leaves. Dark oolongs aren’t usually my thing but this one is lovely. There are only hints of that charcoal flavor rather than being the main note. It doesn’t scream cinnamon but how could any tea without actual cinnamon? Mainly I find peaches in this pale yellow brew.

Steep #2 // 10 min after boiling // 60 second steep
This one definitely rewards with shorter steeps. A little longer and this would have been too much. As it is, it’s a lovely peach nectar! Even fuller flavor with a syrupy texture and somehow even the charcoal that was there is missing now.

Steep #3 // 10 min after boiling // 60 sec
Another delicious cup. Much like the flavor of the second steep. I think this one could keep going without getting an oversteeped leaves flavor.

Finally got around to drinking this sample sent by the kind MzPriss.
I always thought to, but I often boil the kettle before deciding what I want to drink. Which means that whites and greens are out of the question.
That’s backwards, I know.

Anyway, I set out ahead of time to drink this, so I boiled the kettle to the appropriate temperature.

It looked and smelled very interesting in the bag, but alas, just like every other straight white tea I’ve ever tried…. I got nuthin’.

Very mild hay taste. I even overloaded the tea leaves just to make sure I would maximize the flavour potential.

I am very close to concluding that straight white teas are simply not my cup of…tea.

Happy to have tried it though!

This is one of those teas that you must stock in a lager quantity, because quite frankly, there are days that nothing else will do! I love the lingering qualities of this tea, with it’s sweetness and warming of the face, upper chest and down the arms. Such a treat and extremely delicious. I personally can’t imagine anything that I want to add to this tea. It delivers an absolutely perfect cup.

BTW: I have an yixing that is dedicated to strictly milk oolongs, and this tea is my favorite to brew from this pot.

Sampled this one for my afternoon tea session.
Rinse/pause/5/10/15/30/45/90/120/240
I was tempted to use two of the toucha but I decided against it as I only bought 2 ounces.

First steeping was reminiscent of what it smells like after a fresh rain, with overtones of mud and fresh earth noted.

I found the body was medium with a soft almost juicy mouthfeel. There was a nice qi present but not very caffeinated in my experience.
The longer I drank this sample the more earth and bold taste developed.
Later into the session there was a sweetness revealed that I didn’t notice at first.
Took it to about 8 steepings.

Thank you so much Cheri for sharing a couple of these minis with me!

Man, I love mini tuos. They are so adorable and convenient! This is a VERY tasty shou as well. Nice and clean with some creamy earthy cocoa notes. Quite satisfying. These are going on my Mandala shopping list for sure! YUMS!

Have you ever roasted a sweet potato and left it in the oven just a little bit too long? The outside becomes dark brown and brittle, but the inside is still delicious and creamy. It smells slightly smoky and tastes that way too. Well this tea is basically that experience in a cup. Incredibly similar to sweet potato with some smokiness and a tannic bite that is not unpleasant. I really enjoyed this tea. So far I have enjoyed a single, longer western style steep more than lighter multiple steeps.

This tea is nice.

I’ve got a nice, relaxed feeling going on.

I started at 205° and the tea was a little bitter. I dropped to 195° and the bitter is gone. Smooth, sweet, not quite fruity. I like it.

Interesting – This immediately reminded of old books.
Dark brew. Tastes smooth and rich with spices, wood and leather.

My favorite dark pu’er sample so far.
Rinse/rest/rinse/approx:10/15/20/30s..