MzPriss very kindly and generously sent me some Mandala puerh teas to try, the next step in my long and convoluted tea journey.
This was one that I specifically had on my wish list because of all the amazing reviews.
I got the tea this morning in the mail and I hadn’t made anything yet for breakfast, so obviously I tore right into this one.
Smelling the dry leaves was a bit odd, or new, let’s say, because it sort of smelled like something i might find in my spice cabinet. Earthy but a bit spicy, which I didn’t expect. Zero dirt or fish smell so that’s good! (Something I’ve noticed in the past with a couple puerhs)
I rinsed the leaves first because I thought I ought to… If rinsing means pouring a cup and then dumping it out, because that’s what I did. Maybe I should have teasearched a bit more before diving in (tea-research, just made that up :))
Anyway, so I brewed at 212 degrees F as per the directions and let it steep only about 1-1.5 min because I’m a little nervous about this one. I figured I could always do longer later.
I had my cup in front of me for like five minutes, just sniffing and contemplating… I swear I’d never been more terrified to drink tea in my life.
It straight up smells like mushroom soup.
I went for it though.
It straight up tastes like mushroom soup.
Even slightly salty? What?! Am I imagining this?? And the spice is the thyme that I always put in my homemade cream of mushroom soup!
I must have done something wrong, I’m not getting any chocolate! With LB I get cocoa, but this tastes like lunch….
Pu’erh experts….Help!
I’ve never wanted to love a tea more, especially where a friendly stranger shared this with me out of the kindness of her heart. For that, MzPriss, I thank you very much! I am working on this!
Am I just not ready? I know my taste buds are still a work in progress….
I’m open to suggestions! Steep longer? Rinse better?
Eta
Even though this isn’t what I expected based on other reviews, it’s still enjoyable!
I also have to say that I now suddenly understand what a “good mouthfeel” means…. Because this is like silk filling up my whole mouth, really smooth and full. Neat.
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Short steeps and boiling hot water will get you the best results. I generally wash a puerh for 5 seconds and toss it and then steep starting a 10 seconds most of the time.
Agree with mrmopar. Another thing is tea water ratio. For 150 ml I would use 5-6 g of tea. Only short steeps like 5/10/15/20 seconds etc
Ok, thank you, I will try again!
A lot of other reviews talk about people steeping for 5 min and having it taste like hot chocolate so I guess that’s throwing me off
I’m drinking steep two now, it’s not unpleasant at all, it’s just not what i expected!
If I would steep it for 5 min I would make a latte. Milk and maple syrup transform it into hot chocolate. I do that once in awhile. Usually for me short steeps (seconds) and no additions. Mushroom soup interesting.mmm
I found with this onet hat you couldn’t oversteep it. After doing a few shorter steeps, I left it in for 10 minutes. You could try that before you toss the leaves out and see if this super-steep gives you any cocoa!
Yeah puerh is something you have to experiment with to find the measure of tea and the brewing time. I usually go at least 12 grams for sheng and about 10 for shou. I do gongfu steeps with it but this is my preference others may find it too strong others too weak. Once you find your comfort zone you will be like WOW! It will come just experiment.
I did one really long steep at the end before tossing, it was still good and dark, I decided to add a splash of cream for the hell of it and it ended up being sour :(
I had to throw it all down the drain, sadness.
Good thing I have more to play with later :)
Short steeps and boiling hot water will get you the best results. I generally wash a puerh for 5 seconds and toss it and then steep starting a 10 seconds most of the time.
Agree with mrmopar. Another thing is tea water ratio. For 150 ml I would use 5-6 g of tea. Only short steeps like 5/10/15/20 seconds etc
Ok, thank you, I will try again!
A lot of other reviews talk about people steeping for 5 min and having it taste like hot chocolate so I guess that’s throwing me off
I’m drinking steep two now, it’s not unpleasant at all, it’s just not what i expected!
If I would steep it for 5 min I would make a latte. Milk and maple syrup transform it into hot chocolate. I do that once in awhile. Usually for me short steeps (seconds) and no additions. Mushroom soup interesting.mmm
I found with this onet hat you couldn’t oversteep it. After doing a few shorter steeps, I left it in for 10 minutes. You could try that before you toss the leaves out and see if this super-steep gives you any cocoa!
Yeah puerh is something you have to experiment with to find the measure of tea and the brewing time. I usually go at least 12 grams for sheng and about 10 for shou. I do gongfu steeps with it but this is my preference others may find it too strong others too weak. Once you find your comfort zone you will be like WOW! It will come just experiment.
I did one really long steep at the end before tossing, it was still good and dark, I decided to add a splash of cream for the hell of it and it ended up being sour :(
I had to throw it all down the drain, sadness.
Good thing I have more to play with later :)