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Amy oh

302 Followers / 331 Following

Mandala "Wild Monk" Tea - Mao Cha from Mandala Tea

Amy oh drank Mandala "Wild Monk" Tea - Mao Cha by Mandala Tea

I got this tea in my latest order from Mandala – oooh, it’s very nice!

After my monster matcha green smoothie, I decided to steep some of this up in my Yixing teapot especially for shengs. I decided to stick with short steeps of around 30-45 seconds. The tea flavor here is quite nice… there is a little bit of smoke but it also has a sweetish, thick almost lychee like quality. And yes there is a bit of sourness, a slight lemon flavor. It has a slight fizziness on my tongue in the aftertaste. Compared to the other mao cha I have had, this is considerably more mellow.

If you’re a fan of younger sheng pu-erhs you should really check this one out! I don’t have time for a more detailed tasting note today but I’m sure the 1 oz. of this I have will not last for very long.

2012-08-17 12:43:24 -0400

200 °F / 93 °C

0 min 45 sec

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4 comments

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Garret 2012-08-17 13:06:09 -0400

Amy – in this last order, had I sent a sample of the cake that we had this mao cha pressed into? When I was in China and buying all this mao cha, they were filling the gaiwan over the rim with the leaf and then pouring boiling water over the leaf for a rinse of about 5,7 seconds. The tea was quite strong in flavor and the energy I get from it is very nice, almost psychedelic, I swear! I definitely see colors a little brighter :)

Doug F 2012-08-17 13:50:46 -0400

Young Shengs can be so flavorful but coltish, hard to control. I’m branching out and trying different purveyors (I have an order coming from Butiki); from your reviews, I gather an order from Mandala is a must. Are there three or four that you would suggest I try?

Amy oh 2012-08-17 18:33:06 -0400

Garret – what was the name of the cake?
Doug – all of the ones I have had are great! I have the Bamboo raw pu-erh, the Xiaguan Flame, the Mengku Gifting Raw, and the Mandala Wild Mountain Green 2011. I would recommend all of them! ;)

Garret 2012-08-18 20:24:06 -0400

Amy…. the wild monk mao cha is the leaf that I had pressed into the wild monk 100gram raw cake. It is going to be interesting to see what happens as it ages and ages and ages!!!

@Doug – if you have an questions about any of our teas at Mandala, don’t hesitate to ask. I am more than happy to help however I may. Thank you for your interest!!!

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My profile pic is of a pink dahlia at Golden Gate Park.

Hobbies include: tea, making art, animals, vegan things, buddhism, nature, creativity, books, writing, cooking, meditation, yoga.

I am a fan of many different teas but my favorites are blacks and oolongs, also like darjeeling and pu-erh. I’n always learning and expanding my horizons!

Dislikes include: bergamot, jasmine, highly tannic or bitter teas, overly judgmental and bitter people. :)

Live in San Francisco, I’m a SINK (single income, no kids) and love the urban life, but traveling out to the middle of nowhere is always fun too.

I tend to not drink things I know I will hate so a lot of my tea ratings are on the higher side. Here’s my rating system, sorta

95-100 I love this tea and would like to keep it around

94-90 An excellent tea which I may or may not repurchase

89-80 Pretty good, above average

79-70 Acceptable

69-60 Mundane – Will probably drink it if I have it

59-50 Ick

49 and below Nasty