Mambo

I said recently I wonder how long it’ll be before I quit tensing up when the sky gets cloudy. Prayer answered: thunderstorms in area last night, and we slept through them. Very restorative physically and mentally.

The hot/humid/hazy that preceded the rain has lifted and the morning is clear and cool, so I’m taking a few minutes for myself before I go teach my church kids, and enjoying this gift from Doulton. Notes I’m reading refer to smoky, which I’m not getting much of, but it has a nice dark cocoa powder sweetness that, on an even cooler day, I can see myself having with half-and-half, maybe honey. Excellent.

Hrm. This is much better than I expected. Sweet in the way that I expect Yunnan teas to be, but also robust in the backnote. Had it with breakfast, excellent!

When I looked into the canister I could immediately see two distinct types of tea leaves in there. One type was a mix of black and gold and made into thin, rather curly twists, while the other leaves were much larger and more loosely twisted and a uniform black colour. I assumed that these were the Yunnan and Wuyi black tea leaves repsectively; I’ve tried various Yunnans before but I’ve never tried a Wuyi black, just their oolongs.

The tea’s scent in an interesting mixture of smokey and delicate, slightly floral notes. It’s flavour is surprisingly mild as well – I was expecting some more robust and Yunnan-like in character and while the tea does have some of those smokey-tannic notes is much milder and smoother. There’s also an interesting fruity aftertaste that reminds me a bit of a particular Wuyi Yancha oolong that I’ve tried (from H&S, not Adagio). This is a really unique black tea, I’ve got to say.

Received this in a tea swap from Tabby!

This is a nice black tea that has light smoky notes that hit the tip of your tongue, but a very smooth fruity finish that lingers on the palette until the next sip. Reading other reviews on adagio’s website I got the impression that this would be a very smoky tea, but the flavor is much more subdued and mild than, for example, a lapsang souchong or a rock oolong. I also wouldn’t necessarily call this a breakfast tea as many reviewers do, but rather perhaps a mid morning/early afternoon tea that gives a jolt of energy and flavor to help you get through the middle part of the day.

Overall, very tasty!

Not bad..flavorful. It has character and a few smooth notes. I found it to have many different types of flavors and they all played well together.

Long time, no reviews from me. I tend to experiment more in the winter and drink less tea in the summer. I just haven’t seemed to develop a taste for iced tea to carry on this addiction during warmer times. I still do appreciate a cup or two in the morning however.

So on to the Mambo sample from Adagio. The smell of this tea before brewing it has a strange almost mint-like spiciness… I wonder how this will come through when brewed? The label claims this is a mixture of Yunnan Jig and Wuyi Ensemble. Both teas from Adagio I have drank before, I don’t remember this smell coming from either, but it has been a while since I drank the Wuyi.

This is my second steeping and I added some additional tea before brewing which is a technique I have found works well with several Yunnan teas (Yunnan Noir makes an awesome second cup this way). The first cup was brewed for 3 minutes with about 9 ounces of water and a teaspoon and a half of tea. The second cup was brewed for 3 minutes with the same amount of water and 3/4 of a teaspoon of additional tea.

The aroma of this tea is quite nice part buttery, part grassy, small part sassy (very slight smoke?) and spice-like. I think this last bit (smokey spice) is what my nose was smelling before brewing.

Taste is a well constructed fairly mild black tea with some slight grassy notes. All in all a good drink that I shall put in the buy some more when you get a chance pile that will let me experiment more with tea amounts and steeping times.

I first got a taste of this while trying out several signature blends that others had assembled on Adagio’s site. I found myself drawn most to the ones that contained Mambo, and decided to try it straight. I was in love.

This was my staple morning tea for a long, long time. I remember sitting on my bedroom floor every morning before work, taking a few moments to enjoy this tea and paint some watercolor splotches on cheap pieces of copy paper that were destined to be folded into little paper birds (I was too cheap to buy pre-printed paper, and well, it was more fun this way).

Something about this tea made it positively invigorating. A blend of black and dark oolong teas (Adagio’s Yunnan jig and wuyi ensemble), it seemed to hold the best of both worlds— cocoa-y, fruity, yet somehow very savory, a rich and full mouthfeel that never failed to wake me up.

Drinking this every morning sadly wasn’t as affordable after a while, and I went to just drinking the Yunnan jig (funny how I started out with blends and then narrow down to the ingredients I like most), which is nearly as good (and $10 a pound cheaper) but occasionally I’ll blend it with a little dark oolong to attempt to recreate that characteristic richness.

Found it delicios, a nice black to kick in in the morning. Some strong notes but keeping it neutral. Thanks again Rachel!

This is my first time trying Mambo, but I generally like Chinese black teas (but not others- typically). I was expecting a more complex flavor. Nonetheless, it is a nice tea. It is a little smoky, fairly robust, and somewhat earthy. Not smoky like lapsang souchong, or earthy like a puerh. The flavors are much less overt than that. I will enjoy my sample tin, but will probably skip this and re-order a keemun instead.

Almost fruity tasting! It’s relatively unplaceable, but it’s delicious and sweet.

This isn’t really my thing. It has a strong sort of vegetable taste that reminds me of my grandmother’s green beans. Very earthy, very dark flavor. I usually prefer fruity, herbal, and floral tastes, but if you like a strong black tea taste, you might like this. It has a very complex taste.

It’s mellow, smoky, and perfect for fall.

Very tasty and mild.

getting ready to do some work.. perfect wake up and go tea

There is certainly a wood or earthy-smell to it. The coloring is a medium brown-ish red almost. I thought this would be a really strong earthy taste but it evened out nicely. It has an interesting aftertaste tho…reminds me of something…just not sure what exactly. It’s pretty good.