Mandala Tea

New to the tastes and richness of pu’erh tea, and was sent samples from Mandala Tea to try out. I was SO excited when I got them, and Noble mark was the first one I prepared. (Thanks for these, Jamie!)

Rinsed for 15sec, then steeped for 20sec, and it was perfection. The colour of this tea is gorgeous, and the taste is so smooth with a pleasant creamy taste. It didn’t have an overpowering earthiness and had such a distinct rustic flavour of it’s own.
Re-steeped over and over, and never tired of it. This is my favourite ripe pu’erh, and would defiently recommend this tea!

No notes yet.

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.

I’ve been spending a lot more time outdoors with my pups, exercising and gardening lately. I’ve started a miniature container garden! We had a few days of fantastic rare sunny warm/cool days here. Now it looks like we’re going back to the usual disappointing weather in the NYC area. I hate humidity. And work days have been busy. This weekend, unfortunately, is busy as well. I’ve signed myself up for a party today, and then it’s Mother’s Day tomorrow. I’m going to enjoy some tea while I can.

I’ve tried a variety of puers in my life. I’ve decided that I’m not really a fan. While I can drink the cups down quite easily, I never find myself craving them as I do for oolongs, greens and blacks. I’d drink more white but they often make me shaky. But Mandala has a great puer rep so I thought I’d give this a try. I received this sample when I ordered a bunch of puers for my dad’s birthday. I decided to keep this to educate myself. Two months later, I’m finally diving in.

My first thought is that I’m shocked at the smokiness. I didn’t read any descriptions before trying so I was not expecting this aspect. It’s also lighter than expected. Oddly fresh, which is not something I’d expect from a puer. But maybe that’s just because I don’t have much experience with shengs. This is tasty. I don’t think I’ll be craving it ever, but I am enjoying this current cup.

I’ve been going on and on about Special Dark pu’er. It’s probably gotten quite annoying. I am happy to say that it lived up to every single one of my expectations. I like it better than the Phatty Cake and Bu Lang Gong Ting and they are my benchmark pu’ers.

1st Steep-30 seconds
Garret said it would taste like chocolate but, honestly, I was a little skeptical. Dry it smells a bit like cocoa powder. I am not kidding about that. Not even the Hershey kind but the expensive Valrhona powder. And the most amazing thing is that it tastes like cocoa when brewed too. I didn’t put any sugar in it at first so it tasted like unsweetened hot cocoa with a really rich cocoa. I added a touch of raw sugar and it really brought out the chocolate flavor.

2nd Steep-45 seconds
Still very chocolaty with a creamy finish. Almost like a good chocolate mousse.

3rd Steep-1 minute
Milk chocolate. Some spice is coming through but not much yet. Is it sane to say a tea is completely blowing my mind?

4th Steep-2 minutes
Suddenly it’s back to dark, dark chocolate again and there is cinnamon on the finish. Mexican hot chocolate? Yes, please.

5th Steep-3 minutes
And just like that, the chocolate has left the building. It’s sort of butterscotchy. The chocolate isn’t gone really. It’s there in some sips but the butterscotch is really dominating.

6th Steep-5 minutes
Honey and maybe a bit of brown sugar. Still so smooth and tasty. So happy I have 4 oz of it.

7th Steep-Overnight
I know. Overnight sounds crazy and it is. I dropped the leaves in my tea thermos and left it to steep overnight. Can’t say that the result was bad. It tasted like whipped cream and caramel. Not bad at all.

This is the smoothest, tastiest, loveliest pu’er I have ever tried. Pu’ers are typically earthy but this has none of that. It’s starts out smooth and sweet and it finishes that way. Seriously, put a blindfold on and you think your drinking hot cocoa or, at least, chocolate flavored tea. It’s really one unique tea.

And this tea also proved that “tea drunk” does, in fact, exist.

First off let me say I love this Pu-erh!!!! It started off smoky and creamy on the first infusion. Subsequent infusions lost the smoke and got really smooth and creamy. Highly drinkable! I am on the 5th infusion and its still going strong, going to finish it off today. I am really impressed, the only downside is its only 100grams. I want more!!!!! This is definately a keeper and must have in the cupboard at all times.

Phatty cake! What a great pu’er! The highlights of this tea is it is easy to drink, full flavored, bold with notes of earth, chocolate, wild mushroom, spice, raisin, sweet, smoke, and mineral, all developing and changing with further infusions.

I should really buy this cake, I made another order recently for some stuff on sale and pass on the cake. Next order then! I had a really good experience with Mandala teas so I’ll be ordering again for sure!

To read my full review aka Oolong Owl’s pu’er tea drunk party time, check out the blog entry http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/mandala-phatty-cake-from-mandala-tea-tea-review/

Yum! Approaching a sipdown of this one soon. This oolong is so nice.

This time around I’m getting honey and apricot notes…it’s fruity sweet! So good. There are very subtle roasted notes in this cuppa, but it’s much different from the typical taste of roasted oolongs. It isn’t powerful, but soft and soothing – none of that irritating the back of the throat feel I get with some really roasty teas. I’m also getting the hay notes I had gotten before, which really help to ground the sweetness of this tea. I’m really loving this one this morning.

Off to make resteep! Finals are hitting me this week and next, so you most likely won’t be seeing a lot of me. I’m hoping to get back to my regular tasting/posting schedule soon. The past month or two have been crazy! Anyone else graduating this month?

This is the 2nd time I’ve drank this tea.
Dry, it has an earthy, mushroomy aroma.
The first time I used a formula of 5T + 4oz Gaiwan (rinse) & then steeps of 10, 20, 30 secs, etc.
This time I realized there were actual instructions on the package, suggesting 1T + 8oz X 15sec (then 30, 45, etc)
It was nice, smooth, but a little weak for my tastes.

I’ve probably been drinking too many xingyang Shu’s, following their guidelines of more tea & longer steeps. Maybe I’ll try this one like that the next time.

This tea is impressive – its a doppleganger, bringing forth many familiar tastes and combining them into something quite enjoyable. The first few infusions taste like a certain Laoshan Black… hmmmm… So much so that I did a double take to make sure I had put the right tea in my gaiwan. Yep! Not to be overshadowed by the aforementioned steepster juggernaut, this tea can certainly hold its own. The primary flavor is “Roasty” but there is something else there… a fruity/nutty note reminiscent of an assam… and there is a subtle background of roasted florals and buttery grain to remind you of its former, greener oolong days.

Initially I was quite surprised at this oolong. It is quite dark and the flavor profile really falls closer to the true black tea spectrum in my mind. This is not a bad thing, just not what I had expected from an oolong. This tea is capable of multiple infusions, trading the strong roasted taste to more subtle autumn fruits towards the later infusions.

Quite enjoyable in the Gaiwan. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to experience a dark roasted oolong. My only criticism here would be a relatively thin mouthfeel… while hard to put into words, compared to similar tasting teas, this one is lacking a bit in texture.

I’m looking forward to trying the lighter roasted version of this next and will probably end up ordering more of whichever one I like best. So far, the Dark Roast does not disappoint!

I’m a huge fan of darker oolongs as I like the toasty flavor. This one, however, feels, much greener and lighter. I quite like it because it’s full-bodied and has smooth sweetness to it. Next time I’ll try the darker version.
Every time I visit Mandala Tea or Butiki or other smaller vendor websites I have all this new vision for their brands. And yes, in my imagination it all looks fantastic, I just can’t help myself :)

I haven’t been drinking as my puer lately. I’ve been busy, & playing around with the Gaiwan takes attention & time. For the same reason, I’ve been neglecting my greens & oolongs, because I like them best steeped that way.

So today while I was teaching, I really wanted some of this! I peeled off a T of it, steeped 3 minutes, & it was delicious!!! Bold, smooth, with that vanilla sensation (not the flavor), & sweet too.
Second steeping: 4 min, 3rd @ 5min. Still awesome, just what I needed.

No notes yet.

Received this as a free sample a while back, and wrote out a lengthy review on paper. However, said paper went MIA. I waited a while for it to turn back up, but well… it didn’t. (Nothing escapes the gaping maw known as my desk! MWAHAHAHAHAAH!!!) So, here’s what I remember:

It was delicious! Very sweet and creamy with fruit and pastry flavors. what it reminded me of most were the “pasteles de guayaba” that I used to get with my grandparents in downtown Tampa. It’s hard to believe that this tea is unflavored! I love milk oolongs, and this one was very unique. :)

Wow, another amazing oolong from my swap with Dinosara! This one is extremely smooth and sweet and lightly vegetal. Everything I like in an oolong :)

I have been in the midst of a very stressful time. To calm myself I drank the samples that Garret sent me with my birthday order.

1st Steep-30 seconds
Garret obviously knows my tea tastes very well because I loved this tea at first steep. It was smoky but, again, not that heavy lapsang smoke but a sweeter more pleasant smoke.

2nd Steep-45 seconds
Very mildly smoky. There’s also a nice leathery note. Sweet on the finish. It’s getting that pipe smoke taste.

3rd Steep-1 minute
The leathery note is still there with the sweet finish. There is also a bit of clove spice. Very nice.

4th Steep-1.30 minutes
So very smooth with a vanilla note. Not exactly sweet but more of a nutty type of vanilla. My favorite steep so far.

5th Steep-2 minutes
Vanilla buttercream. That’s about as close as I can describe this one. It was sweet vanilla with a nice buttery note.

I had to give up on this one earlier than I wanted to. My teapot got shuffled into the sink while I was reserving my leaves. But I really liked this tea. Very much. I really loved the sweeter later steeps which is odd for me considering I tend to gravitate towards smoky teas. When I was planning my Mandala order, it came down to this one or a Yong de Organic cake and I picked the Yong de. I don’t necessarily regret it but I will be buying a cake of this one in the soontime.

Thanks to Azzrian for this sample! I am always interested in new oolong varietals, especially unroasted ones from Fujian/Anxi.

The steeped tea smells floral and buttery but also with a good helping of vegetal. The flavor is nice, very buttery. Slightly buttered vegetables, if they were also steamed with flowers to impart a floral note. The florals are especially prominant in the aftertaste. Almost sweet but not quite. I am quite enjoying this one! It is a really great example of the kind of oolong that are my favorite. At least that is one category I seem to have gotten pretty figured out.

I read the reviews here, and decided that Mandala’s milk oolong would be my first foray into this type of oolong tea. I am convinced I made the right choice.

I prepared this tea gongfu style in a 130ml porcelain gaiwan.
Water temperature: 195 degrees Fahrenheit.

Rinse: 10 seconds, with about 50ml of water. … I drank it. It smelled too good! Tasted like buttery corn on the cob.

1st steep: 15 seconds. The liquor was clear and a very pale shade of yellow. It tasted grassy/vegetal, with a nuttiness and a slight floral note. I can see where it gets the name “milk” from; its mouthfeel was very creamy from the start. Breathing in after the cup was finished, I felt very refreshed.

2nd steep: 20 seconds. Yellow liquor; smelled of butter, grass, and some kind of nut. It tasted… yellow. Grassy, with almost a pineapple-y fruitiness. The tea had a very creamy texture. On the in-breath after the cup was done, I tasted a minty spinach, or maybe kale.

3rd steep: 25 seconds. Wow, those leaves opened up! The liquor looked like liquid gold! It was thick and creamy, and tasted of butter cream, with something else… citrus? The in-breath was minty, and lingered for a while.

4th steep: 30 seconds. Somewhere, there is a man, woman, or family, who grew this for my enjoyment. The liquor was still golden, and it smelled like a cross between cookies baking and brown-sugar-and-butter frosting. The taste was heavenly – the best yet. At first, vanilla, with milk at the back. After swallowing, there was a light vegetal taste on the sides, but with no astringency. This… this is like drinking a cloud.

I’ll spare the details of steeps 5 through 9, but I will say that this tea would not give up! After nine steeps and about a liter of water, I decided to steep for four minutes, to see what the leaves had left in them. All that was good and glorious about this tea, all of the flavors, smells, and after-tastes came back in one delicious cup. The six-minute steep has not been disappointing, either.

If you’re on the fence about this tea, buy it. You won’t regret it.

My journey into puer began with this cake and i love it! When i compared it to some Taetea cakes, it was good for the value, but not as complex

Getting really sick again, but I wanted to have this again. I did a really quick two steep session: 30sec for the first and a minute for the second.

Yummy honey notes mixed with subtle delicious vegetal-ish notes. I also got some slight hay notes, as well. Held up wonderfully for the two steeps I did, and could have easily gone to six or so.

I would’ve liked to be able to do a complete session in my gaiwan for this one, but I’m drugged up to the gills with cold medicine right now and probably would’ve fallen asleep. It’s hard enough trying to concentrate writing this quick note!

See previous tasting notes for a more detailed (and coherent) taste profile.

Pfff, a green Oolong that tastes like cream and candy? I wish! But hey, I may as well give it a try and see what all this is about.

That smell from my cup on the first steeping is floral and a bit fruity as I’d expect but there’s something else coming up underneath that I’ve never smelled in a tea before, it’s too covered up by the other smells, but it just might be that milky smell this tea is known for.

First and second sips are fruity with a little bit of woodiness to it. It’s good and has a creamy texture, but I’m really not getting that milky flavor — I knew it wasn’t possible! But then on the third sip, right when I was feeling comfortable with the average oolong flavors, it hits me. Toffee? No way, it can’t be! I had to take another sip to be sure, and when I got that same toffee note I just about jumped out of my chair with joy (I’m a huge toffee fan if you couldn’t guess at this point :P ). Every sip from here on is incredibly creamy and sweet, like a really smooth toffee. I can’t believe I didn’t taste it at first, because this tea is dessert level sweet!

Second steeping is more toffee but with notes of vanilla and white chocolate. I’m sure after enough steepings this oolong will evolve into something else, as most do, but I honestly couldn’t care less. The sweet toffee flavor of these first two steepings is enough to make this a staple that I’ll always want to have on hand no matter what kind of flavor it takes on later.

I spent about half the day yesterday getting our taxes ready. I have been putting it off, dreading it, when I should have gotten it over with. I just felt like I could not face that chore! Finally, I knew we were getting down to the wire and I had no choice. And when I was done, it felt like a great weight had been lifted. I should have done it sooner!

I wanted to celebrate, and since we don’t drink alcohol plus I was wanting to give hubby a treat for working on my chicken tractor, I suggested Five Guys Fries. OY! I think a pint of liquor would have been better for me. I waited to eat until almost noon, but still I was a bit reflux-y. I am just not used to eating fried foods anymore! (On a happy note, I have lost all the weight I gained over the holidays and a little more to boot!)

I needed puerh, so I have been drinking this all day and my stomach is quite happy now. Puerh really works for me when I eat too much fatty or greasy food. I made this western style with a nice long steep so it was quite dark in the cup. It was sweet and smooth.

On a side note – the names for the chickens have been tentatively chosen…Nom Nom Nom de Plume (she will be Samwise’s hen, probably a Buff Orpington to match his spot), Darles Chickens (ruminate on that a while, you’ll get it), and Dame Digby Chicken Caesar.

I had been looking forward to trying a White Night/Moonlight for a while, since it sounded very interesting and has the characteristics of some of my favorite teas. It didn’t disappoint!

Dry leaves: Cream colored tips and chocolaty brown leaves. The dry aroma is similar to dian hong, but slightly more muted with a mildly lavender scent and a slight sheng pu’erh mustiness.

Early steeps: Mild and sweet with flavors of lavender, yam, and white grape with slight marine qualities. The taste reminds me of a very soft golden needle, but has a mouthfeel more like a sheng pu.

Later steeps: A sweet greenness appears that reminds me of guapan or Taiwanese oolongs. Slight mushroom flavor, and VERY creamy.

This tea had a WHOLE LOT of qi for me. Very warm, sleepy, and medatative, and strong feelings along my eyebrows, forehead, and spine. I haven’t been this tea-drunk in quite a while :P

Had a bromantic date with my gaiwan and some pu’er this morning.

Quick rinse ~ 3 seconds

1st – 20 seconds
Liquid is medium brown and maintaining transparency, this steep is a bit unruly and surly. Maybe I should have let this brew a bit longer, or rinsed it for longer, not sure. Flavor is leathery with some smoke but tastes unstable with a strange salty note.

2nd – 30 seconds
Characteristic of most pressed pu’ers, the color is pure used motor oil, completely opaque! Love it. Mouth feel is silky and the flavors have seemed to stabilize with prominent leather, earth, rocky minerals and cold campfire. That weird unpleasant salty note has disappeared. This is a very good steep and the cold campfire smokiness paired with the mineral rock notes has triggered a nostalgic memory from a whitewater rafting rip many years ago. Enjoyable!

3rd – 45 seconds
The cake has completely broken up. Still opaque and silky, the flavor has edged off just a nudge but it now feels completely mature. This is my favorite steep. All the previous flavors are still present but with a more earthy tone creeping in. This tea would pair nicely with some bbq pork…

4th – 60 seconds
There is light at the end of the tunnel, I am starting to see the bottom of my 2 ounce cup! The flavors are beginning to lighten up as well, but an earthy and smokey taste lingers. Pleasing.

5th – 90 seconds
Back to transparency, noticeably thin with a smokey after taste that reminds me of a watered down lapsang souchong. Still drinkable but I’m going to call it here.

Overall an enjoyable cuppa, and similar to a few other pressed ripe pu’ers I have tried. While its a great representation of the class, this tea doesn’t really blow me away, or bring anything terribly unusual to the table. Aside from the surly first steep – which i’m sure there is a way around – this tea offers a solid and pleasing cup of pressed ripe pu’er.

I don’t feel comfortable rating this tea quite yet until I give it a few more tastings.