considering a mandala order - what to get?

Pu’er – Wild Monk, Noble Mark and Special Dark. Maybe go with the last two as you can get a 1oz to try, or go with the Wild Monk Mao cha. Wild Mountain Green is quite lovely too. Both Phatty Cakes are very good too, but its in cake form, rather than 1oz to try.

Oolong – I quite like Mandala’s Big Red Robe Fancy grade dark roast. If you love dark roast oolongs, you’ll love this oolong! I’m quietly squirreling away this oolong.

White – White Night. A very flavorful white that is unlike other white teas – it’ll turn into a black tea in a few years!

It’s not on your list, but I have to recommend Yellow Buds. After steeping out, it is great to use the leaves for fridge iced tea. I have a Mandala discount coupon I forgot to use with my last order, if you would like it send me a message.

I second the recommendation for Wild Monk :)

Since you seem to like oolongs I would recommend the Alishan along with Milk Oolong. Their Rou Gui is also quite nice. Colored Species was a little too floral for my taste—I prefer creamy, nutty oolongs. You might like it though.

Their puerh is fantastic. Bu Lang Gong Ting, Noble Mark, and Mandala Silver Buds are among my favorites. (Shu, shu, and sheng.) I also enjoyed Special Dark, but I always added milk and sugar because it brews SO strongly. Kick you in the teeth dark. Whoa. Not a bad thing, it just caught me off guard. (:

I really enjoy their Golden Strand, too. It’s one of my favorite black teas. Pure Buds Black is similar, but I’ve found it to be a bit more fruity and drying on the tongue. Their flowering black tea cones are lovely. A very distinct malty, chocolatey Yunnan black—I found them to lean more towards dark chocolate than sweet chocolate.

Hope that helped!!

Wild Monk for sure. Phatty cake very multi-faceted puerh. Special Dark.

I just gave Wild Monk as a gift and also got one for myself based on the recommendations here on Steepster. Haven’t tried mine yet, only because it is April/May and my fresh spring tea orders are coming in that have a shorter shelf life and are at their best now. Mandala is my new go-to though, I am located in a neighboring state on a direct postal route, literally one day shipping. I can order in the evening here, they mail the package the next day, and it is in my box the following morning. If I want something I will check there first.

i see you are drinking oolong. i recommend Yunnan Beauty. its like cross between yunnan black and oriental beauty with Darjeeling touch. Wild Monk, Special Dark, Autumn Song (beautiful new sheng). i love Mandala everything. if i was a rich girl i would buy all puerh fr them

Do they offer sample sizes? (.5 oz or 5-7 g) I would like to try some of these teas.

Special Dark, Wild Monk, Wild Mountain Green, Phatty Cake, Black Beauty. I could go on…

Garret is very awesome as well.

Wow… I missed this thread until now! Great recommendations and such nice words. Y’all are the best :)

Lariel… yes our smallest portion is 1 ounce. But if you place an order, shoot me an email and let me know if there are a couple of other teas that you are interested in trying and I’ll take care of your order so I can get some samples to you with your package. I’d love to tea you!

APT – for me to make recommendations seems self-serving but I’ve been drinking the 2014 Wild Monk like crazy, the Autumn Song and Wild Mountain Green raws, too. Ripe pu’ers – , Special Dark, Noble Mark, Phatty Cake II has opened up very nicely and has been a go-to these last few weeks for me. Oolong – the new Jin Xuan is excellent, as is the Big Red Robe dark and the Golden Turtle. Yellow Buds – excellent. Valley Peak green tea (sipping that right this second), Highest View if you like a bolder green tea is very nice. White Night! White Peony is the freshest white – just came in and is delightful. Black teas – Black Beauty, Pure Buds and Golden Strand are my faves right now. My email is [email protected] Be in touch if I may be of any assistance!!

Wishing each of you all the joy you can stand!

Grateful,
Garret