Mandala Tea

I got my gaiwan in the mail today, hooray! I’ve been waiting on it to try all of my puerh and some oolong samples gong fu style. I chose this one to try first because the flavors sounded the best to me – vanilla, cocoa, dried fruit? Count me in! My sample is pretty much one giant chunk with a few loose pieces. I decided to use half of the sample for my session since my gaiwan is 4 ounces and the instructions said 4-8 ounces. The leaves themselves look small and they are a variety of browns in color, from golden to chocolate. Dry scent is both sweet and savory, with cocoa and that slightly fishy/pond smell. I did a 15 second rinse and I’ve done three steeps so far (30, 45, and 60s) and I plan to continue, but they’ve been very similar so I figured I could write the note now. :)

The brewed aroma is only the teeniest bit fishy. Mostly it smells sweet and haylike, with both chocolate and vanilla. Oh my goodness, I am in love with this tea! I was expecting it to be very strong and heavy, but it’s not like that at all! It almost reminds me of a very delicious white tea in a lot of ways. It’s very creamy and grainy, reminding me of lovely sweet bread, like brioche or challah. It’s also quite woody, but in a mild and pleasant way. I do get both chocolate and vanilla from this one, and the chocolate is more of a sweet milk chocolate than a bitter dark. The bottom notes are mild leather and a slight earthiness, and I do get a little bit of a dried fruitiness. Overall, this tea is amazingly creamy, grainy, and delicious. Love the vanilla!

Thanks so much to Mandala for offering this amazing $5 ripe puerh sampler. I can’t wait to try the others! :D

Puerh and I have not yet become friends, so I jumped at the chance to try a number of good quality puerhs in Mandala’s new sampler. I thought the sampler might help me get a better understanding of ripe puerhs, and see if there are any I might truly enjoy. Thanks, Garret, for offering this sampler!

I wasn’t sure which one to try first. It might be helpful if the note that comes with the sampler also indicated which puerhs were good for beginners to start with. I decided to start with this one, since it was listed first. Logical, eh?

I don’t have a gaiwan yet, so I used a small teacup and covered it with a saucer for steepings, a Pyrex measuring cup for a pitcher, and one of my cute cherry blossom teacups for sipping. Verdict? I think I need a gaiwan. ;)

I followed the recommended brewing procedure and here’s what I got:

Overall aroma – sweet, milk chocolate, vanilla. Yay!
30-second steep: leather, earthy, smooth, maybe some cocoa in aftertaste, maybe some cedar.
45 seconds: silkier, similar in notes to previous steeping, more cocoa coming out at end of sip. Yay!
1 minute: I think the note I used to think as leather is really a cedar note. More cedar than cocoa this round.
1min15sec: less cedar, more balanced.
1min30sec: generically sweet, honey.
1min45sec: same as previous.
2min30sec: sweet, weak. I think I’m done now. ;)

Favorite steep: second one, because more cocoa!

Side effect: serious caffeine effect…very jittery. Guess I should watch that.

Overall, I wouldn’t mind if this passed my way again, but I probably wouldn’t seek it out. I’m definitely looking forward to the other samples!

Question: Do you reheat your kettle for all steepings? Mine cooled significantly between steepings.

In other news, I made my first kale smoothie today, with mango and banana, and it turned out pretty good! This has been a “try new things” day!

Thank you for your sale, Kimquat! This was in the Unflavored tea box, but I noticed Kimquat was selling some, so I left the leaves in the tea box for someone else to try. I had this tea a couple days ago, so the tasting note might be short: the dry leaf smells a bit like mint and even tastes like hints of mint! Never had that in an oolong before. The pouch was a nice one, so I don’t think there could have been any flavor contamination from other teas. Other than the mint, it has a vegetal flavor… I can’t remember anything else right now, just the surprising mint! Interesting!

I got this sample from Mandy a while back and I’m just now getting around to trying it.

I like it.

I like it a lot.

It’s creamy and floral. Sweet. Easy drinking.

I was just sad because I didn’t feel it lasted quite as long as I’d hoped.

I also don’t remember enough of it because I’ve been working all morning and it just went down nice and easy. (And yes, I’m just now getting to logging it. I’m a slacker.)

My door is open tonight…it’s raining, there’s a cool breeze coming in, carrying the scent of the forest. Piney, earthy, and mossy.

Perfect night to break a nice chunk of this brick.

Using 8g for 5oz yixing clay pot.

This is my kind of shou. Sweet and syrupy. Rich and dark. Burnt caramel.

I get raisin and mushroom notes. Not overly complex, just smooth and delicious.

It’s really tasty and I get a nice vibe out of it, it’s making me all relaxed and at peace.

On a funny note, when my 4 year old godson asked what I was drinking the other day, I answered pu instead of pu’erh, knowing fully well it would be easier to pronounce for him.

The thing is in French, “pu” means stinky. The little munchkin giggled so hard, he cried. And now his parents just love me…cause he keeps saying over and over again «auntie drinks pu, auntie drinks pu…» and thinks it’s the most hilarious thing ever.

So Pu is not only good for you, it’s makes little children giggle.

Happy Sunday everyone :-)

Pic of the session:

http://instagram.com/p/ryOnqowh5x/

http://instagram.com/p/ryPSViQh7K/

As it turns out this morning I have time for an extra cup of tea. This black is quite good, not too malty at all. The slight maltiness comes across as baked bread and roasted nuts. At least that is in the description and I think it is accurate. We will see how the Gaba effects me. It can be a nice effect but I find it hit or miss.

I brewed this one time in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

I find myself enjoying this tea. I couldn’t sleep at 6 AM so I made tea and picked this Gaba black by chance. It has a variety of nice notes to it. I am noticing the baked bread and roasted nuts. At first I would have described that as roasted barley but roasted nuts is closer to the mark. I added honey to this tea so that note is nicely mitigated. It is a tasty tea. We will see if I notice an effect from the Gaba. I find Gaba to be hit or miss. Sometimes I feel it sometimes I don’t.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

A previous reviewer described this tea as grapenutty, and I agree. It tastes like what I imagine grapenuts taste like, I haven’t eaten them in two decades. It also has the slight taste of what I would describe as baked beans, slightly burnt. I steeped 6g four times in a 220 ml gaiwan with boiling water. First 15 sec, then 15 sec, 15 sec, and 30 sec. It is smooth and tastes a little like an oolong. It has a slight bitter aftertaste. Last time I brewed this tea I brewed it western style, this time I brewed it gongfu style. It definitely benefited from this steeping method. It was noticibly better than last time. The Gaba effect is there but very mild. Sometimes Gaba tea can have a serious effect today it was mild.

This turned out lighter than I was expecting. It smelled more earthy dry. Now I get a bit of malt and cocoa. The flavour is sweet and smooth.

I’m drinking this while watching Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (live action of the anime.)

from the (Mostly) Unflavored TTB

Now this tea I like. I like it a lot.

Sweet, creamy, slightly nutty, slightly grassy, but sweet, very sweet.

Makes up for the last tea.

I’m feeling very dreamy about this tea.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/cheri0627/YB9H21

It’s hard to think of a more pleasing sheng. If it were an actor it would probably be Tom Hanks—consistently very good, eminently likeable, almost no bitterness or rancor. It might not be the Daniel Day Lewis of teas, but sometimes all that intensity can be trying.

Sipdown! I am sleepy and cold, had surprise but challenging company last night then not enough sleep today. I had a cup of my usual but it wasn’t enough so I wanted around and threw whatever I found in the pot and now its working its magic, lifting the fog and filling my palate with scents and tastes of the forest in the sun! Now I must use the awakening to fininsh my work!

I did spend a moment looking at teas to order soon as the cupboard is growing bare of blacks and pu erhs and with fall fogs arriving, I want more of these. I’ve decided to work my way through Mandala’s offerings so I will start to build my order as soon as this work is done!

this is really resteeps from the other day. I put the leaves in the freezer until I could get back to it. I was feeling very slow moving this afternoon and then remember it so I poured a little hot water over it to wake the leave up and went on its much more mineral and mushroom flavors now and that quite nice for this sticky warm afternoon! Its not inspiring me to work much though so maybe I need new infusion of something fresh?

Hmm somehow my note deleted itself. This was a surprise to me, I ordered the mandala sampler for 2 of the teas and this was included. Its a different Pu’er than I am used to, when rinsed the leaves had a strong mushroom scent but it quickly faded. The first brews were light and creamy with stronger vanilla developing and a slight sweet/hay taste. The first brews were not as dark in color as I expected either but the third and fourth were a bright brick color. At this point more fruit came to the palate, fig and plum as the vanilla faded. The final brews (5 and 6) the mushroom started to reappear. I was using half the sample with a 2 oz at a time of water and combing 2 brews in each small cup. This is a nice gentle Pu’er on a day when all other decisions were wrong this one was a good one, you can’t go wrong with it. Its the kinder glentler side of ripe Pu’er

from the (Mostly) Unflavored TTB

This started out with that tastes like smoke but isn’t smoke taste, kinda metallic, and quite smooth and creamy, a little sweet.

It ended up just being a really nice tea to drink.

I did lots of short steeps, starting at 10s, finishing up at 2m.

It’s been a long day at work, this afternoon off and on particularly frustrating and stressful, so I didn’t always pay the best attention to this tea. But I definitely enjoyed it, and I’ll drink it again.

Thank you Kimquat for sending one of these to try! These AREN’T minis! I needed some caffeine for steam-vacuuming the house! This looks the size of maybe two of the typical mini tuochas. The flavor for all steeps were the same: delicious. This is my kind of pu-erh. It’s very dark and coffee like, and not just because of the color of the brew. Very rich with a touch of astringency but it’s also sweet with no pondiness at all. it’s very much like some of my favorite pu-erhs probably just for the reason that there is so much leaf here and I usually use too much. I like too much. Every steep was exactly the same.
Steep #1 // rinse // just boiled // 1 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 2 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // half a mug // just boiled // quite a few minutes

from the (Mostly) Unflavored TTB

Slightly underleafed but I took all that was left.

I did the three shorter steeps directions from the package, 1min, 2min, 5 min.

Malty. And then it got somewhat bready.

The third infusion finally did I get this cocoa flavor.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one.

Brewed this western style this morning. This is another winner of a loose ripe puerh from Mandala Tea. I did not realize I had already written a tasting note on this one. This has notes of chocolate and is very creamy in texture. It is sweet. Evven brewed western style in the first steep there is almost zero bitterness, just a barely perceptible amount. Adding a little sugar to this makes the chocolate notes taste like hot chocolate. This is good.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 6.2g leaf and boiling water for 30 sec.

Steeped this six times in a 220ml gaiwan. First 15sec, then 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, 1 min. I used 7g of leaf and boiling water. This is really good tea. It is high quality ripe puerh with no vestiges of fermentation flavor. The tea broth is no longer at all murky. It has cleared. I found the notes of chocolate, baked bread, and berry. Sort of baked bread anyway. I just got this today with my Mandala order. It was an afterthought added to my order over the phone the day Garret shipped it. It is good.

My first tea from my first Mandala order. (I like their name, it makes me think of art.) Anyway, this smells like what I associate with pu-erh- dark and earthy.

The flavour has a bit of spice and minerality. It’s a very rich and smooth too. My brewing method is what I would call ‘Western electric kettle- single serving mug’.

The wind chill is -30F, and the snow is blowing like mad out there…. thank goodness I’m sitting inside sipping away.
I had 3.5grams of this left from a sample I had received, so this is my last bit of this (I’m sad to see it go! ).
The bread pudding quality is ever present, making it one inviting cup.
I feel so uneducated when I write a note about ripe puerh, because I have SO much to learn… Knowing that I like it is about all I have right now, but I’m not at the stage of being able to compare the subtleties of one to another.
I just know that this is one great cup of tea… the mineral dance on my tongue is delightful, and the hints of raisin and caramel are lovely.

I’m on a pu-erh kick right now, thanks to the wonderful ripe pu-erh sampler box from Mandala.
Going with this one today has been incredibly lovely… I think I’m on my fifth infusion, but I’ve been losing count with these Mandala samples because they resteep so fantastically well… I’m talking ‘drink all day and into the night’ type resteep here…
Boychik once brought up the plum pudding qualities of pu-erh, and this one right here is that exact type…. Creamy, velvety smooth, vanilla dancing around with the warm dried fruit notes, hints of spice…. This tea literally wraps its arms around you and gives you a giant hug (and, I sorta needed that…).
I can’t thank Garret enough for offering this sampler… these teas have made my week! :)

from the (Mostly) Unflavored TTB

I wanted this tea to be great, but it’s only good. It might be because I probably underleafed due to the fact that there’s not much left and I didn’t want to be too greedy.

It’s fresh and kind of sweet. Refreshing. Beautiful aftertaste.

Work is lousy. I want to go home. I want people to stop freaking out.

I recieved a sample of this amazing stuff with my Pu Erh sample order, I was quite giddy because I have wanted to give this a try for a while. See I have a problematic teacup, it is vintage glass and for some reason even a thorough baking soda scrubbing won’t remove the stains. Lots of elbow grease will get it mostly clear, but it has this annoying film that I originally thought was mineral stains…I think it is actually damage from running it through the dishwasher. Good thing it was only 50 cents!

So into the mix my cup (and a spare glass cup that was starting to develop a stain) went! After a nice fizzy soaking all the tea stains were gone, my glass cups are clean! I cannot wait to try this on some of my stained white porcelain.

Sadly the weird white stains are still there, but I think they are there forever since I am pretty sure they are damage and not actual stains.

If you are in need of a cleaner that is not made from harsh chemicals, then I suggest this one. It gets the job done!