100

100! UH OH!

This tea is amazing! Steeped in a glass gaiwan, it was beautiful to watch the cake chunk turn from dark leaf into fall colours.

Great, complex notes that change every infusion: smokey, hickory, creamy, apricot, persimmon, apple, and grassy sweet hay. I love the persimmon notes, but the smokeyness was very enjoyable too!
No bitterness or crazy pu’er funk! I got a slight astringency in later infusions, but that was cool. Very tempted to try this tea iced, but I treasure this cake.. maybe when I buy another one!

Wild Monk was a memorable experience for me, more inspiring of a tea session than crazy pu’er party time, which I get from ripe pu’er. I’m more of a green/white tea drinker so this raw cake just danced perfectly with me!

Full review and pictures of me butchering my first pu’er cake at my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/mandala-wild-monk-raw-puer-2012-tea-review-and-experience/

Tea lesson: Buy a pu’er knife or things get really messy.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C
Shmiracles

uh oh!! 100 bam! (added to list)

TeaBrat

oooh, I love Mandala!

@ligongsf

i am a green tea drinker, too. but white seems very banal…your take?

Oolong Owl

@ligongsf this pu’er has that body of a green or white (vs. richness of a black or ripe pu’er). I’d say a raw pu’er is the type of pu’er to try if you drink greens and whites. Wild Monk has a edge as it is complex in flavor and can be resteeped many many times (10 plus) over a white.

I’d also recommend Mandala Tea’s White Night – its a white tea, but is quite unique but also complex in flavor.

@ligongsf

thanks, Owl…I guess Mandala only sells online? I plan to stop by DavidsTea, Teavana, and Chinatown tea shops tomorrow in San Francisco to taste around. not sure of their teas, though

Oolong Owl

Mandala is online http://shopmandalatea.com/ they have a store in MN. I’d say the teas I mentioned, you aren’t going to find comparable ones at DavidsTea and Teavana, they have more blends and their straight teas are okay quality (or really overpriced in Teavana’s case). You got a fantastic chinatown, I’d ask around in the discussion page for recommendations on specific stores.

Have you tried Lupicia? They have a store in San Fran if you want to be able to instore sample some teas.

lifeofbriangreen

Pu’er is a really intense experience for me. And its production seems really complex:http://www.articles3k.com/article/198/135670/Talks_about_Black_ShouRipe_Puerh/

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Comments

Shmiracles

uh oh!! 100 bam! (added to list)

TeaBrat

oooh, I love Mandala!

@ligongsf

i am a green tea drinker, too. but white seems very banal…your take?

Oolong Owl

@ligongsf this pu’er has that body of a green or white (vs. richness of a black or ripe pu’er). I’d say a raw pu’er is the type of pu’er to try if you drink greens and whites. Wild Monk has a edge as it is complex in flavor and can be resteeped many many times (10 plus) over a white.

I’d also recommend Mandala Tea’s White Night – its a white tea, but is quite unique but also complex in flavor.

@ligongsf

thanks, Owl…I guess Mandala only sells online? I plan to stop by DavidsTea, Teavana, and Chinatown tea shops tomorrow in San Francisco to taste around. not sure of their teas, though

Oolong Owl

Mandala is online http://shopmandalatea.com/ they have a store in MN. I’d say the teas I mentioned, you aren’t going to find comparable ones at DavidsTea and Teavana, they have more blends and their straight teas are okay quality (or really overpriced in Teavana’s case). You got a fantastic chinatown, I’d ask around in the discussion page for recommendations on specific stores.

Have you tried Lupicia? They have a store in San Fran if you want to be able to instore sample some teas.

lifeofbriangreen

Pu’er is a really intense experience for me. And its production seems really complex:http://www.articles3k.com/article/198/135670/Talks_about_Black_ShouRipe_Puerh/

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Profile

Bio

I’m a tea blogger – The Oolong Owl
www.OolongOwl.com – I do tea reviews, obsessively photograph teas with mischievous crocheted Owls and get tea drunk. I am also a crochet and knitting designer at Awkward Soul Designs.

To contact me for reviews, check out details at OolongOwl.com/about or email me at [email protected]

I was raised on floral oolongs and green teas, mostly “beauty” teas. Early on as a kid, I can guzzle an entire pot of tea (or two) at a Chinese or Japanese restaurant.
These days I like adventurous and interesting tea blends. I’m fearless in trying new teas! I’m into oolong, pu’erh, white, green, black, guayusa, mate and herbals. I’m not into red rooibos but I keep buying it anyway.

The tea brand that got me started into loose leaf teas was DAVIDsTea. I used to live in Vancouver Canada and had access to their shop, however that is now limited since I moved to southern California.

However, the perks of living in the US is ultra cheap, fast shipping! Since then, my tea stash insanely expanded.

Other stuff I’m into that sneaks into my tea notes: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, metal music, drawing, painting, cooking, photography and nail polish.

BTW, my Steepster cupboard is not even close to accurate and I track my teas on a spreadsheet. Last update 573 Teas – August 2015.

Location

Seattle, WA USA

Website

http://oolongowl.com/

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