Mandala Tea

This is for the loose leaf version… I hope this is the right place to post this.

3/4 of a tsp into a timolino and I’ve been drinking it at work for the past three days. =) Yummy.

Picked this one out this morning almost at random, it was the first puerh I came across today. This tea is incredible, end of statement. It is sweet and a little bit earthy. The fermentation flavor is just barely noticeable, barely. I would call the sweet note a dates note, but that is just an opinion..

I brewed this tea twice in an 18oz teapot with 6.3g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 30 sec, and 30 sec. The second steeping I put in a thermos to bring to work.

Brewed this one up western style this morning. It doesn’t get gongfu style at 6 am. This is a nice sweet, earthy wake me up tea this monring. I am not getting the amount of complex notes that I got when I gongfu brewed tit but it is good.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 6g leaf and boiling water for 30 sec.

I brewed 8g of this tea 8 times in a 175ml teapot. I started with 20 sec steeps and went as far as 2 min by steeping eight. I’d swear I detected notes of vanilla, brown sugar, and cacao in the times I steeped it. It is a nice and complex tea. This was from a sample Garret sent me from my last order. I will probably order it.

This was good today, taking advice from other steeping notes I steeped it long. Then it was more of a bitter dark chocolate type of taste. Uniform and dark throughout. About half through, I added some creamer to see how it would be and it tasted pretty awesome. I don’t see this as a regular one for me but it’s good. On a happy note, Hurricane Iselle took forever to downgrade but did just before landfall since the winds dipped below 70mph and it went a bit south. So it wasn’t so bad in Hilo as we thought it could be, winds were little scary and we lost power for a few hours but definitely fortunate compared to people in the harder hit areas. Not as prepared as I thought, next time need to buy batteries for the radio lol.

Well I thought I’d bust this one open and try it while I’m just sitting around today. I’m not getting the cocoa/chocolate that people write about. It’s very dark and reminds me of coffee. I don’t really know what things it all tastes like right now but dark is a good descriptor. It’s ok but I dunno, gotta try it some more I think.

Dear Wild Monk:

I love you very very much. I love your little whiff of smoke. I love your juicy bits. I love your creamy bits. I love the way you make me feel happy and relaxed. I love you so very much that I can’t believe I’ve never written a note about you. WTH? Also, I love drinking you with the other two Wild Tea Triplets.

PS – I also love that I have a shitload of you.

Purchased this from kimquat in her stash sale (I sincerely hope that her name is Kim and people call her that in person, too cute)! I am continuing my quest to try all the Yunnans! Honestly, it doesn’t say where this tea is from on their website, but I was assuming Yunnan based on the appearance and the smell. The leaves are very long and slender, slightly twisted. It’s almost all fuzzy golden buds with some dark grey leaves mixed in. The smell is mild malty bread with honey and stonefruit notes. I did a 3 minute steep at 200 degrees. I’m always so tempted to overleaf these teas because when I get the leaf in, it looks like so little leaf!

The brewed aroma is all baked bread and malt with the same stonefruit and honey notes from the dry leaf. I catch a little nip of earthy, mineral scent. Mm, this is very delicious. The strongest flavor here is crusty bread and malt, yum yum yum. One of my very favorite notes in tea! This bread happens to be toasted with a little bit of honey and apricot preserve over the top. It’s very smooth and lovely with a silky mouthfeel. I do get that little bite of earthy and mineral somewhere near the end, and I think it adds a lovely dimension, even though earthy isn’t generally my favorite.

Yum yum delicious! Thanks kimquat!

Funny, I know I’ve reviewed this tea before, & yet, there is no review from me in the database. Oh well….
This was my friend Lisa’s next selection. I showed her how to man the yixing, gave her suggested parameters, & she did a great job! We drank cup after cup of this medium roast tea, & I don’t really have any tasting notes to offer, as I was restringing a harp for one of my students, while Lisa supplied me with lovely tea & great conversation.
It doesn’t get much better than that!

I enjoyed this sample for 2 days.
I love it. First of all id like to report that i brew sheng with boiling water. yes. its much better because it doesnt taste like mellow smooth green tea anymore. i dont want mellow green tea, i want something special, some punch. it wasnt bitter either because thats the tea or maybe my taste buds changed. either way im happy sheng drinker.
First several steeps were amazing. what would you say to potato chips flavor but without grease? sweet, slightly bitter, delicious. some slight tobacco. those flavors of chips and tobacco were very interesting and made me hungry. Burger would be the best but i had only chicken in my fridge. anyway its too late for after midnight snack. Time to go to bed before i get some other food cravings.

Afternoon sipdown for me. I am not feeling too productive today though I did manage to get my taxes done. Finishing off this nice oolong after waking up from a nap. It is so creamy and light. Very refreshing on a sunny day like the one we are having. I’m not sure I will be buying this again soon because I have a few other green oolongs to get through right now but I really enjoyed trying it… quite delicious like most things that come from Mandala tea. :)

I’m back from a weekend in Big Sur with my BF. I wish I could have stayed at Esalen forever, it is such a beautiful place. The fog is kind of oppressive today in SF.

I am feeling sick this morning with allergies gone haywire, so I thought something green would be nice, and hopefully healthy. This tea is one I don’t have very often, I need to be in the mood for it somehow. It’s so buttery and creamy, I almost feel like I’m drinking liquid buttered corn. Milk oolongs do not tend to be the ultimate favorite for me but I do enjoy this one and hoping the antioxidants can calm down my immune system.

I got this in my last order with Mandala tea. I’m not sure why I waited so long to purchase some… maybe because I haven’t been drinking many green oolongs in the past few years.

This is so nice! It definitely has a buttery flavor and also has notes of coconut, amazing! When it’s sitting on my desk I feel like it has an aroma of buttered popcorn. Definitely exceeded my expectations and then some. Not fakey like some milk oolongs I’ve tried. This is definitely a tasty tea that seems to help relax me. I guess I need to relax right now, My life feels like a chaotic mess and I’m not sure what to do about it. Thinking about making a career change is hard. I think it’s time to slow down and have a tea break :)

Sorry for the short-ish note but I’m trying to do some productive things today instead of spending too much time on the internet. Wish me luck. :)

My first Big Red Robe and I am lovin it! Such a deliciously chocolaty, malty treat with a slight tiniest hint of fruit. Reminds me of those chocolate covered fruit candies but more chocolate and bonus no cavities

This was a tasty white tea! The majority of my tea drinking these days is done with my Mandala Tea thermos. I work full time, and I then immediately go to class after, which results in a lot of to-go tea drinking. Thus, I treasure teas that I can steep multiple times for long durations in my thermos. This tea definitely makes the cut! It was fruity and mellow, which is very relaxing. 2 thumbs up!