Wild Monk Sheng Pu'er (2012)

Tea type
Pu'erh Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Tobacco, Fruity, Smoke, Sweet, Wood, Apricot, Bamboo, Wet Moss, Butter, Flowers, Molasses, Sage, Straw, Cinnamon, Earth, Licorice, Nuts, Sweet Potatoes, Yams, Creamy, Hay, Musty, Toasted, Wet Earth, Wet wood
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Sil
Average preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 30 sec 5 g 21 oz / 622 ml

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We don't know when or if this item will be available.

From Our Community

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73 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I’m finally tasting the 2014 version! Thanks for the sample Garret Well, this is a delicious sheng. Not the same as 2012…no smoke at the beginning, a little more bold. Still VERY enjoyable though...” Read full tasting note
    97
  • “On a good or a bad day, I have tea. Yes, it’s part of my life everyday. It’s something that brings me pleasure no matter how shitty my day is. I’ll take pleasure over happiness. Happiness isn’t...” Read full tasting note
    100
  • “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,...” Read full tasting note
    100
  • “Wow, Steepsters. Just wow. Garret very kindly sent me a sample of this, and I am completely floored. This is a 2012?! I’m not getting any bitterness from this, even at 205f. I’m certainly not...” Read full tasting note
    96

From Mandala Tea

Brewing up the nature of all things,
breathing in the essence of this
wild mountain leaf,
we connect with the scent
of past loves, past lives;
Ancient smoke and yogi sweet.

If we listen intently,
the wise tea sage,
through its subtle yet direct teaching,
sits us down and tells us
of ways lost
and the new paths awaiting us
as we rediscover them.

-Garret inspired by our Wild Monk pu’er

This particular pu’er is very special in that it was picked from tea trees grown entirely in the wild, surrounded by all the native floral and fauna, exposed to nothing but clean air, high-altitude and sunshine. The tea grows quite dark, almost purple as it has adapted to the high levels in sunshine, protecting itself from the UV rays. For us humans that means we get a tea that is even higher in antioxidants.

This is a product of our April 2012 buying trip to China. We are so excited by this tea and have commissioned the pressing of 300 cakes of this leaf for long-term storage and aging. Customers are raving about this tea and we have had many repeat buys!

Almost no bitterness is present in the infused tea liquor, even when brewing at higher temps, though most of our customers are enjoying this at water temps of 175 to 190 degrees. This is delicious in the tea glass style of brewing, as well, but should definitely be enjoyed gongfu style at least once!

The dry leaf has a sweet, smoky aroma and even those who have not been fans of smoke are enjoying this tea. So sweet and full in the mouth with a tea energy that will leave you feeling fantastic! You will keep coming back for more!

We are so excited to be one of the first tea companies in the US to offer such a rare tea to our customers. It is much worthy of the rave reviews it is getting!

About Mandala Tea View company

Company description not available.

73 Tasting Notes

94
7 tasting notes

within 20 minutes of its delivery this tea was in my pot, it is semi sweet with very melow earthy undertones not pungient like many puers, the leaf grade is outstanding its clear that much thought went into the production and due to the nature of the trees it was harvested from no cup will be the same.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C
MagicDon

Your a good man Garret!

Garret

Wow!! Thanks for that, my friend!! I’m doing my darndest up here in MN to keep growing and being even better :) You’ll be happy to know that there are some great pressings in the works right now. One of the new pressings is the autumn 2013 version of the very cake you were reviewing! So glad that I was able to secure a bunch more of their mao cha for this! It should be pressed in the next couple of weeks. Granted, it’ll be a couple of months before all the cakes make their way to our tea vault here in the US, but get here, they will! I’m excited about the new pressings!! Thanks so much for writing up your thoughts on this tea MagicDon!! Grateful, Garret

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89
104 tasting notes

The more I drink this pu’er the more I fall in love with it. I will be ordering more tonight.

Preparation
1 tsp 5 OZ / 147 ML

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93
37 tasting notes

This is my first Sheng, and I love it! It took me a while to get used to Pu’er tea, as I’m more of a fan of Oolongs and Chinese Black (Red) teas. Very lovely and I’m reaping the health benefits of Pu’er!

Flavors: Bamboo, Cinnamon, Earth, Licorice, Molasses, Nuts, Sweet Potatoes, Yams

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 11 OZ / 325 ML

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1429 tasting notes

I have this and still have yet to open it. It smells deeply smoky and earthy. When I don’t forget about its existence completely I often wonder when I will finally have the nerves to crack it open. It was supposed to be the first of many puerh cakes.. but here we are.. me and it. Alone together.

One day I will drink some. Probably tomorrow actually. Baby steps.

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80
400 tasting notes

Brief note

While trying to get through my sample stash, I had came upon this one from the old sample box that LP had sent a few months ago. I apparently hadn’t finished the samples from the box (there are four more remaining which must’ve been more than a session’s worth at the time).

I must say that this reminded me a lot of pipe tobacco. It mostly reminded me of the pipe itself after it hasn’t been smoked from in months and months. The pipe has that slight subtle note of tobacco, but has lost that once dominant odor/smell/flavor. I’m guessing that this must’ve been a smoky sheng once upon a time, but has ceased to be the smoky tea like it had been. Now, you only get the reminder that it once was something smoky, but currently remains as the reminder of something that once was….

Flavors: Tobacco

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88
485 tasting notes

Another small sample out of the Puerh TTB! Brewed 4g up in handy 60mL gaiwan. After really enjoying the 2015 Reprise cake, I was interested to try the OG Wild Monk that people seem to have raved about. The dry leaves had a bit of a smoky aroma to them, which only intensified after a rinse. There was also some fruity and perhaps woody notes to the leaf aroma.

There was a bit of smoke to the first two steeps, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Other than the smoke, those two steeps had a bit of a fruity finish and were thick and creamy in the mouth, leaving a bit of a tingling sensation on my tongue.

By the third steep, the smoke was gone, replaced by a few different flavors which interplayed nicely. There was a hint of cinnamon, along with the fruity sweetness. The fruity notes weren’t intensely peach or apricot or anything, but were pretty laid back. By the fifth steep, I was also getting a bit of a sugary sweetness in the front of the sip.

This tea had some pretty powerful qi – even with the small amount, I was really feeling it by this point in the tea session. Felt pretty tipsy and fuzzy-headed. In terms of flavor, this tea really hit its stride around steep six as well. A great balance of bitterness and sweetness. There is just a touch of mouth-drying going on, but not too bad at all. I tasted fruity and light aromatic woody notes in the tea. This flavor carried on through another eight or more steeps – so I got a decent amount out of that little 4g sample!

I can see why people were excited about this tea – it’s definitely a good one. Very balanced flavors and hard-hitting qi. Hopefully Mandala makes it back online soon, though I’m fairly certain this tea was already gone beforehand.

Flavors: Fruity, Smoke, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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80
7 tasting notes

I am here to write my first review after trying this tea that a friend left me a big piece of. I prepared the tea with about 7 grams of tea in a big tea pot and used water that was almost boiling. It is one of my first Puerhs and they told me it was one of the best.

It is good, the taste is nice but the smell is a bit unrefreshing. I like how it makes you feel when you drink it, which is apparently why Puerh tea is so popular. I usually drink Oolong or green tea, and this is actually kind of in between those. I have to go to their website and see how much it costs. It is good.

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 45 sec 7 g
Garret

HI!! Thanks for writing up your thoughts on this. I’m just checking to make sure you had a sample of the 2012 here and not the 2014. Same producers but two very different teas due to picking time weather. The 2014 will benefit from longer storage, I feel, than the 2012. Just finished the pressing of the 2015 and I’m very very excited about this years offering. Grateful, Garret

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1113 tasting notes

Today was great until 2pm when I got a headache. It is now 10:14pm and I still have it.

Miserable.

Pulled this out for 14 steeps while cooking:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152987343467361&set=a.10150201555322361.309460.714617360&type=1&theater

Headache… this was great, very powerful taste for a sheng with beautiful leaf. Some dark green with red/brown tint. Overall one of the better shengs I have had.

boychik

Sorry abt headache. i usually take Advil at first signs. If i dont nothing good happens ;( The meal looks yum

Liquid Proust

I try to not use medicine… I’m stubborn :/

The food is good :)
I wish I could teleport it to you all along with some tea

Stephanie

This was my first sheng love

boychik

ive noticed that some tea induce my headache. just dont remember which one lol. i sure wouldnt mind to eat it. i had very little food today. my fridge is dead since yesterday. i have a backup but its very old too. i have to wait 2 wks for the new one since its special order. Argh.

Liquid Proust

I’ve had that happen sadly… it sucks and it is hard to really prepare for such a thing as well.

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94
526 tasting notes

This is another one of the teas that I’ve been tantalizing over trying and now I can!!

The cake was a beautiful assortment of red, forest green, and a little gold. This cake was so loose and easily pried apart. The dry leaf had a wet moss and sweet autumn scent. I could tell this was going to be a soft Sheng, which is alright with me. I placed a generous chunk in my warm yixing and gave it a whiff. The scent was still sweet but with a campfire background. I heard about this teas smoke, and I was excited to actually taste. I washed the leaves once and used slightly cooler water than what I usually use for Sheng. The steeped leaves lost their sweet tone and became woodsy and smokey. This woodsy aroma was different though. IIt was more like a green woodsy, like bamboo ,rather than dry wood like pine. The initial sip was so smooth! A heavy flavor of yams, smoke, and earth filled my mouth. This was a very deep and smooth Sheng. The brew had absolutely no bitterness or astringency. By every steeping it became softer and deeper. If you don’t like sharp Sheng then this is definitely for you! The qi was sneaky. I didnt feel it until much later and it was rather soft. The feeling was more like a plateau effect rather than a sharp spike that floors me, hahah. I really liked this and I’m so grateful to be able to have it :)

https://instagram.com/p/2TURkEzGeS/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Flavors: Apricot, Bamboo, Smoke, Wet Moss

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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149 tasting notes

Decided to continue with sheng today…
Wow, is this one fantastic…
That hint of smoke is really interesting…and the flavours here are so layered and complex. This is one special tea.
Tobacco is present, but in this mellow sort of way that is completely in harmony with everything else going on… it’s really amazing.
It would be very interesting to taste the 2014 compared to this one….
Thanks for this one, Dexter!

masked185

Tobacco huh? Hmm interesting.

Dexter

Sounds like Mandala sheng was a winner…. :))

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