Mandala Tea

Seems I am the first to review this one. Hope I can get it right. Unwrapping it this little cake is pretty well compressed. I got out the tea needle and pulled out 9 grams to start with.
I rinsed it for about 10 seconds and then did a 15 second steep as per the brewing instructions. The aroma is fresh grass and asparagus . It brewed a pale yellow cup from the yixing. It seems to be "medium " bodied that has the good mouthfeel to it. It gives citrus, wood and some Ku Wei to it. This will seem to slide over the tongue to the back of your mouth to where the sweet side of this one comes out. Easy to drink and wonderful leaf that I pulled out to see. Big and strong and very full.
Mandala another great tea!
I would say best to gong fu this one as I think more complexities will continue to come through. I only have done 2 so far but many more to come.

This is my first milk oolong. Thanks Stephanie!

I first tried this gong fu style. ½ tsp for 4 oz at 195f. The dry leaf smells creamy and sweet. After a quick rinse and a 20 second steep, the first cup smells the same as the dry leaf. The tightly rolled leaf has started to unfurl. There’s a creamy fruitiness in the smell of the brewed leaf. I can’t place it; pit fruit maybe? The creaminess of the tea hits right up front in the sip, followed by a green flavor…parsley or spinach maybe?… and a creamy finish.

Second steep, 25 seconds. Yup, creamed spinach. Well, cream and spinach. I’ve never had actual creamed spinach, so I can only guess what that tastes like.

Third steep, 45 seconds. This steep is more green, less cream. Parsley? Other than the creaminess, this tastes more like a green than an oolong.

Fourth steep, 1 min. Fifth steep, 1 min 30 seconds. Sixth steep, 2 mins. All taste basically the same – creamy and vegetal.

Seventh steep, 2 mins 30 seconds. A bit of toffee comes out.

Eighth steep, 4 mins 30 seconds. Starting to lose flavor. A touch of creaminess, a hint of toffee, and a lingering green flavor that I’m calling spinach right now. The leaves are gorgeous. Big, brownish-green, with slightly jagged edges.

I also tried this Western style: 1 tsp/8oz, 197f, 5 mins 30 seconds. The taste was about the same as I got from the gong fu brewing. Creamy, slightly sweet, vegetal. I don’t know that I have a preference between the two brewing methods for this tea, except that Western style takes less effort/overall time.

I haven’t decided how I feel about this tea. The creaminess was weird at first but grew on me after a while. I think I need to try a few more milk oolongs before I can meaningfully rate this one.

sipdown

I love white tea but I rarely ever have it. Why? Because it must be brewed at such low temperatures. I like my tea hot and white tea always cools down too fast. No problem with this tea since it’s a pu’er white. I can brew it at high temperatures and it’s still delicate. This tea does not have any smoke or bitterness. It’s smooth , light, with a fruity apple taste. I’ve been considering what shengs I should order in cake form from Mandala. I had two picked out but this one is very good too. Hard choice!

Had this tea yesterday from the sample I bought from Mandala. I brewed at near boiling and had a few infusions for the day (4 or 5). I didn’t detect any smokiness but it did have the rich pu-er flavour combined with the lightness of the white. A really enjoyable cup of tea and I got that calm energy rush too. Definitely a good sheng to have in the cupboard.

I had this tea yesterday. This was a sample from Dexter3657. So far every tea I’ve tried from Mandala has been outstanding. This was no exception. The taste just blew me away. I just brewed with boiling water (rinsed twice) then 10 sec. Did about 30 sec on the next few infusions. It’s hard to remember clearly from yesterday but I do remember it being juicy, full in the mouth. There was a delicious sweetness that would hang on the tongue after a sip. It was a bit buttery, smooth with just a bit of astringency (which I enjoy so much with green teas). I didn’t get much smoke flavour from this one- perhaps a tiny bit in the first infusion or so. The smoke flavour is the one thing that takes some getting used to. I was using the small Chinese cups and every time I would pour I would drink it down so fast.
It was also very distracting. I was doing my work from home on the computer and every time I would take a sip, it was so good ; it took my attention away from my work. I noticed on some of the comments here Garret said he could see colours better when drinking this tea. Well, what happened to me (other then the great calm energy rush) was I could see things in a new way (like through the eyes of a child). I felt like grabbing my camera and heading out for a creative pursuit outside. Alas, I had work to do. Have to pay those bills. I’ll keep this tea in mind on a day when I plan on doing some photography. It really gets those creative juices flowing and lets me see things more creatively.

Thank-you Dexter3657 for another fine sample!

Got this as a sample, decided to try it out.

I could not even bring myself to taste it, it smelled so gross. It was extremely smoky and even smelling it made me gag a bit.

I don’t think dark oolongs are my thing.

I am normally not a fan of dark oolongs. This tea however, surpasses any oolong tea i have had before. Greener oolongs are very good!

Smelling the dry leaf, I notice it is very coconutty, and also some mango is in there too. Once I start steeping the tea, I keep drinking it until all the flavor is gone! I would definitely recommend for everyone to at least try it once.

I haven’t been having many shengs lately because there’s so many infusions with them and I’ve been trying to cut down on my caffeine. Then someone here mentioned that the first few infusions are usually not the best anyway; to take a few sips and throw it out. I tried that this morning with this tea. Although I felt terrible throwing away good tea because infusions 1-4 were still good, I tried that. At infususion 5 it really was better! So mellow, lighter, silky mouth feel, buttery. And the best part? My lungs were all congested this morning and it’s really cleared them out. I think I need to buy a cake of this and have it daily.

Also enjoying the calm energy from this tea.

I had this tea this afternoon. I don’t have a gaiwan but did the gong fu brewing method with my tiny ceramic teapot. It’s pretty much the same thing. First brew was 10 sec. I see now with this tea I could have gone longer. It was a little on the weak side for the first infusion but I enjoyed it. I could taste the earthy pu’er along with the sweet buttery notes. I increased the infusion to 30 sec for the next one and thereafter increased just a bit more. It seemed I could taste the underlying buttery notes a little more with each infusion along with the earthy pu’er flavour. There was no smokey notes which kept this tea clean and refreshing. It did seem to clear the lungs.

This tea is a real tongue, mouth and throat experience that goes on and on after a sip. The soup is a bit light compared to the thicker greens I normally drink, but the mouth experience is rather powerful. I am glad I didn’t judge it by the light color, and brewing the entire 7 gr sample in a small amount of water would have been a waste, there is so much to get from this in the 3 gr in 180 ml I brewed. First my sour/bitter taste buds wet awakened, not by sour bitter taste, but just light astringency, it is an impact rather than a taste. My sweet taste buds woke up afterward like that latent sweetness I get from anise. I get the pepper reference in the website description, on the back of the throat, but to me it is more like the after effect of chewing on green wood, like a sumac stick after peeling off the bark.

I read about the local cuisine in the Anhui province where this tea is from, seafoods in salty/spicy brown sauces. While this tea is good by itself, it would really be a good follow up to a brown seafood sauce, to clean the mouth and continue the meal experience.

Update: I ordered some more of this tea after putting the steeped leaves into a glass jar of water in the fridge, and 3 days later I got a really fine cold tea. Lots of yummy steeps and then an excellent cold brew spells good value to me.

Sipdown and so very happy for Sil sending me a sample of this tea!
My family and I drove to Sonoma yesterday to attend my sister’s graduation and I think mother cried hehe. We decided to stay there and booked a hotel with breakfast soooo hot water for me it is! This was very easy to drink in a restaurant. Just drop the cones inside, let it steep, and pick it out with a fork. Luckily they were tied together pretty well so there wasn’t that many loose leaves floating around.

A really nice black tea! Nice and dark, and with a small touch of milk it tasted amazing!

Thanks again Sil for sending this to me!

When I saw Dexter ‘s pic of Mandala’s milk oolong on Instagram, I felt compelled to have a Mandala oolong tonight also.

Colored Species is another favorite of mine…such a bright and delicate tea.

Vegetal and grassy, but I can detect hints nutmeg and cinnamon notes. Sweet and floral with a minty fresh finish, it’s everything I love about this type of oolong.

You won’t see it on the pics I took during this session cause I was in a zen mood and needed some candle light tonight, but this tea is really green, beautiful leaves to look at.

I steeped many times in the glass gaiwan, and it gave me such a peaceful session.

Now I have to remember to drink it more often!

Pics of the session:

http://instagram.com/p/yi5k1rwh-q/

http://instagram.com/p/yi6Fz4Qh_y/

Mandala olongs…Ooh, la, la…

I’ve decided that Colored Species is my favourite…well today it is. Yesterday, it was Milk Oolong. Tomorrow, it will be Golden Turtle. Yes, they do Oolong pretty well.

It’s a soft oolong. Not very sweet and buttery like so many others of this type, but lighter, more floral.

Lilac and orchid, I even pick up so jasmine in later steeps. But it’s not overly perfumy. In fact, it’s not over the top anything, it’s just one of the most well balanced green oolong I have ever had.

It reminds me of Da Yu Ling oolong, the taste of mountainous climate.

My mouth feels so fresh after each sip…forget gum or any type of freshener, drink more of this and you’ll have the breath of an angel I guaranty it :-)

This is just the most exquisite afternoon tea…and I just reordered, taking advantage of Mandala’s sale, cause I can’t ever run out of this one. Ever.

Im not a person who swears a lot, but this tea makes me want to say bad words that’s how good it is…Mandala, what are you doing to me?

First, Colored Species is such an appropriate name for it, never seen such saturated almost glowing emerald green leaves before and I’ve had tons of green oolongs. Just stunning.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the liquor that it produces could be called Colorless Species. It gains a bit of pigmentation with later steeps, but barely.

The first three infusions develop into a nice floral taste as the leaves unfurl. It is actually hard to describe cause it’s unlike any other green oolongs I’ve had. It’s not overly anything, if that makes sense. Not overly floral, not overly grassy, not overly mineral, but a perfect amalgam of all three.

I’m on the deck right now, it’s getting dark and it’s that time of the year when hundreds of frogs are talking to each other in the pond. It is a beautiful symphony that will occur every night for a couple of weeks. I love how peaceful it makes me feel… And this tea makes this special moment even more picture perfect :-)

A bit puzzled at the name of this tea, “Autumn Song 2014,” I am writing this in springtime 2014, it is not autumn yet. It was nice to get a sample of this tea with my order, however the sample I got contained a number of sticks, and the tea had a fishy taste and smell. I only brewed up 2 grams, gave it two rinses to break up the leaves. Given the fishy taste I wouldn’t want to brew any more of it.

This is the first Yellow tea I have ever tried. To really appreciate this tea you have to realize how much work is put into this tea! Anyway it has a similar profile to a dragonwell but has a mellowness to the tea. Unlike Dragonwells, I can brew this over a minute and it won’t become bitter or grassy. Whenever I drink this tea it makes me imagine I have climbed up a step Chinese temple and given tea from the emperor to hydrate me. Anyways I enjoy this rare tea.

I have tried a lot of white Peony tea and this one smokes them all. I was extremely impressed with this tea. The amount of white fur and fluffiness of the full leaves are incredible. I don’t know how this tea would be better. It was very fresh!

For a chinese black tea, I do prefer the Keemun. This tea is from Yunnan which gives it a distinct taste because of the soil, its like a south American coffee beans vs African coffee beans. I would say this tea is better in terms of quality and probably safer but its not the same taste as of a keemun.