Mandala Tea Phatty Cake

Pu-erh Abuse Warning! The following maybe sensitive for some readers…

First and foremost I want to thank Garret for this lovely-crazy-huge pu-erh phatty cake! (I just like saying that…I think I will say it again!

First and foremost I want to thank Garret for this lovely-crazy-huge pu-erh phatty cake! (There…I said it again!)

I apologize in advance to the pu-erh purists out there for what I am about to say.

I have had a really hard week and today was the ‘cream of the crop’ really. I needed to release some tension. While pondering just how I was going to go about tasting this pu-erh while at work with only my cup and standard hot tea water that I use for nearly all of my daytime tea…I wondered how I was going to proceed.

A few months ago I received a very hard/sturdy mutant-like plastic tool from japan that I cannot find on any website nor do I really know WHAT it is or how I am supposed to use it. Weeeeeeeell, I ‘dug’ the heck out of this phatty cake from center to sides…just enough to get a good amount for tasting. It seemed to work quite well.

Like I said…I know many pu-erh purists are probably cringing right now…but…desperate times call for desperate measures!

I did a rinse – thankfully – because it was TAR brown/black! The aroma was a gentle pu-erh type smell. Not overly loud at all, actually.

For my first infusion…I did a super short one because of the darkness of it. About 15 secs. This worked REALLY REALLY WELL!!!!! So well that I’m rather tickled with myself!

It’s still very dark in color. The aroma is about the same intensity level. The taste is delightful! It’s malty and rich and and velvety. It’s sweet and fairly fruity! This is right up my alley! WOW!

Dare I say I LOVE THIS Pu-erh? I just might…I’m almost there…ALMOST. Regardless this is really great!!! I’m going to do an infusion test. Stay tuned for more infusions and more notes about this one, folks!

Ahhhhhh! YES! First Infusion Score…HIGH upper 90s…between 97 and 100…at this time.

Very nice shu puerh! This was one of the ones I was waiting to try for quite some time and I was not disappointed.

I love the smoothness of the sip and the strength to its brew. Really does well with a GongFu styled shorter steeping. The liquid has plenty of body and is not watered down tasting. This allows for quick reload of your next cup and works perfect for the impatient tea drinker. No need to wait here, steep for 7 seconds in your gaiwan and you are all set – time to pour and sip!

There is very little fermentation smell or taste – more fresh uncovered earth or moisten moss. Greener, not old musty. I found no bitterness at all, no matter the steep time (I did allow the leaves to steep longer a couple times, to gauge it’s character under the Western steeping style. It’s all about knowledge and full experience, for me that is).

There were some cleaner, almost medicinal properties to the tea that I noticed the longer I drank. One surprise I found, somewhere around cup 4-5, was a numbing sensation towards the front of the mouth and concentrated on the tip of the tongue. This was most enjoyable and added depth to the overall interaction with this tea and its wonderful complexity.

I’m sure that I’ve missed a few points that are needed to be stated, however my mind is not able to put all the necessary words together. I guess what is written will have to be the only voice at this time. If there is any question of what I’m trying to say – I really enjoyed this tea!

I’m finally getting around to trying my sample of this today (thanks, G)

I really like the way this dry tea smells! It reminds me a bit of the pu-erhs I’ve been drinking which are flavored with the rice herb. I did give this a quick rinse in boiling water and now it smells earthy and sweet.

Steeping method: gaiwan.

1st steep: 30 seconds. A smooth and dark reddish-brown liquor. A very soil, rich kind of earthy with a definite sweetness bordering a bit on fruity. No off odors or flavors like fishiness are present. A hint of… tobacco perhaps?

2nd Steep: 10 seconds. Believe it or not, 10 seconds was plenty, especially for the way I feel like drinking it today. But it still got very dark! I’m getting a slight smokiness in the aroma here, kind of chewy in the flavor, nice forest floor aroma.

3rd steep: 30 seconds. I am starting to feel some of the invigorating effects of this tea. I did really need it today somehow. Even matching up my socks from the laundry is feeling like a chore. It has a very smooth feel in the mouth, which makes me want to sip on it slowly and linger around with it. Aside from earthy and smoky I feel like I’m getting a bit of raisin here.

It is fairly warm here today, which makes it hard for me to think about drinking more shu so I’m going to save the remainder of these leaves and experiment with cold brewing them.

This is a very nice offering from Mandala’s private pressing, I have enjoyed trying it and may need to get some more in the future. Good job…

This is a nice shu! This afternoon I was faced with a tough choice; which tea to try first. :D I was in the mood for pu’erh, and decided to try the phatty cake.

The leaves are attractive and fairly large in size. The compression on this cake is really tight around the center, I could hardly pry a piece out!

Early infusions: The first couple of infusions were a bit disappointing for me. It was a bit too mulchy and mushroomy, but I could taste the good, strong flavors underneath.

Middle infusions: All of a sudden, this tea was delicious! A bold, chocolaty flavor with a slight saltiness, and an unexpected hint of fruit; apricot and, blueberry maybe? Blueberry is definitely a new one for me. There is still a bit of “compost pit” hanging around, but its mostly gone. Around this time I also start to get some “qi” feel with some tingly feelings along the top of my head. Definitely the strongest feeling I’ve gotten from a ripe pu’erh.

Later infusions: Tea! Waht r u doing!! Stahp!!! I have some homework to get on, but these leaves just keep making more tea! These little leaves made at least twelve (I wasn’t really counting) nice, bold infusions.

This is a good, potent pu’erh, but my(not so) expert opinion says it could use a year or two to let the fermentation flavors fade.

This is one of my Christmas present cakes from hubby! We drank it tonight while playing Star Trek Settlers of Catan with my son and godson.

First of all, I have had loose puerh and mini Tuocha in the past. I liked puerh right from the first time I tried it, even though the first ones I bought at A Southern Season were really fishy smelling. (Not fishy tasting, though.)

Tuocha are easy! Just drop it in! Getting the amount you need detached from the cake is a challenge and I don’t have a puerh pick or knife. I had read that a butter knife would do and that is what I used last night but it didn’t work so well.

Tonight I tried Granny Stella’s tomato knife, a cheap little white knife my husband got when his granny died. It has a serrated edge and a very pointy tip for piercing.

Now I don’t know if this cake is not as compact and hard as the other one, but that knife worked a treat and in no time I had pried off what I needed for steeping.

I am not an experienced and learned puerh drinker, though I hope to be some day, but I can give my impression of this. It was not fishy at all. It was rather mild and the liquor lighter than others I have tried. I used only a little leaf in an eight ounce pot and we got about six steeps that were pretty good strength from it. I was keeping it around thirty seconds per steep. A final steep was really pale but still tasted nice.

This is very good, and I think it would be a great unflavored puerh to start the fearful on the path.

Many thanks to mrmopar and Garret for their help in choosing my Christmas teas!

This will not be a long review, as I’m suppose to be practicing. My Annual Birthday Gig is this Saturday night (I’ll be 54 on sunday), & I’m working on a new tune to add to my performance, ‘Butterfly’ by Herbie Hancock. Playing Jazz on the Harp is challenging, & this piece definitely has it’s difficulties, but it looks like it’s gonna fall into place!

After weeks of reading reviews about this puer, I finally bought myself a Phatty Cake! I’ve been sipping on it for a few hours now, during my breaks & it is quite tasty.

So this is a really nice Puer. Rich, creamy, sweet, deep, & dark. It makes me want to sing, “That’s the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it, uh huh uh huh”. I used 5 G, & will probably go a little stronger next time, because I’m like that. This started out with a smooth vanilla feeling, & a hint of ginger, gradually adding layers of flavor: raisin, wood, a sprinkle of salt, a little spice.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, but I can’t drink anymore tea tonight!
And I have to get back to my practicing!

This is a fantastic little fat cake. I’m on the 8th or 9th steep now (I lost count) and it’s STILL going. And on top of that, it’s still going with short steeps, like 15-20 seconds.

This is the kind of shu that I just love. Deliciously earthy and mushroom-like, no fishy sneaking in there, slightly spicy and reminiscent of hanging out on some pine needles with giant redwoods. I know there are some puerh purists out there who would snark at this description, but that’s just what it does for me!

I had some really mellow and euphoric feelings with this shu as well, especially in the first few steeps. Ever since then I have been AWAKE. Of course now it’s (checks time) 11:30 and very soon I need to be asleep…

I drank this from the time I got home from work until now, when I need to crawl into bed. Such a good (cute, it’s cute darn it) little cake.

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/

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.

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

I learned a lesson today. A letter opener is not the proper tool to break apart a pu-er cake. It took me half an hour and a coring knife to dig into this one. I don’t think I destroyed the cake too badly but I did end up buying a pu-er pick from Mandala…and more tea because I am a weak person.

I planned to drink this tea to comfort myself in case my hockey team decided to give me a migraine but strangely enough, they won. And I was still lucky enough to drink 5 steeping of this lovely tea. It has tied Bu Lang Gong Ting as my favorite. It’s ridiculously good. And my team won so YAY!

1st Steep-30 seconds
In spite of my mess-up with the breaking of the cake, the initial flavors of this tea is nothing short of mind-blowing. It’s a spicy, leathery and musky. I know that sounds a bit strange but those flavors together are just so perfect.

2nd Steep-45 seconds
I’m getting raisin notes. Very sweet and a bit smoky on the finish. So nice. The slight smoke cuts the sweet of the raisin notes in the best way possible.

3rd Steep-1 minute
Brown sugar, raisins and rum. That’s what I am getting from this steep. And boy oh boy is it perfect. Three of my favorite things in the world. This was a very cakey steep. Very sweet and syrupy.

4th Steep-1.30 minutes
Brown sugar, caramel and a fruity flavor that I can’t place right now. This tea keeps improving with each steep.

5th Steep-2 minutes
Fig! Brown sugar and fig notes. I cannot tell you how happy I was to come across a pu-er with roasted fig notes. I love anything fig so this was just PERFECT.

I love this tea. So much. It’s not even rational how much I love it. I want more and I haven’t even finished this cake yet. I may be a little obsessed with it. I am holding the leaves over for tomorrow because there was absolutely no fade to the brew. I’m just going to keep brewing until there is no flavor left.

That 5th steep is something I cannot get over right now. Is there any other pu-er out there with fig notes in there?