GABA Black

So far this is my favorite GABA tea – this one has an tasty sour dough raisin bread with honey flavor. The other GABA teas I’ve had were all green oolongs which are more in sour vegetal country. However, Black GABA appeals to me more as that crazy GABA flavor works better with the black base adding more comfort food feels, at least in my opinion.

This tea is also very pretty – it steeps up gorgeous, glowing and clear with a huge leaf!

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/gaba-black-tea-mandala-tea-tea-review/

Interesting honey flavors. I need a second cup to make a judgement call on this one.

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.

This is one of those crossover teas that confuse me – ok maybe it’s not, but that’s how it seems.
This looks like a highly oxidized, roasted oolng – it’s smells like an oolong, but everything says black tea. It hurts my head a little.
If I think of this as oolong – then it’s nice and dark, toasty, roasty, without being too smokey. A little sweet – interesting tea, I like it.
If I think of this as black – then I’m thinking, why does this taste like oolong. It seems disappointing to me – not dark enough, not rich enough – there are better blacks out there.
It’s weird how our expectations, reflect our experience.
Either way, this was enjoyable at work today. Definitely interesting, and I urge all you Mandala fans out there to try it.

This is the first tea I have tried from Mandala, it was sent as a sample in my order, and I’m pleasantly surprised by the complexity and flavor of the tea. There are muscatel notes, lightly sweet aftertaste (which evolves into Hui Gan in subsequent infusions), aromatic and flavorful notes reminiscent of decaying wood and forest, and an ostensible fresh baked bread taste.
Being fond of black tea I would certainly recommend this to anyone that enjoys smoother, less bitter black teas for late morning and early evening hours.
The Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) content is uplifting and warming, and personally makes me slightly lightheaded , but in a pleasant “tea-drunk” way.
Unfortunately I’m short on time while writing this, and cannot do the tea justice, but this is certainly for tea drinkers that want afternoon, and possibly nighttime, black teas that provide an excellent flavor and experience.

Received as a sample in a Mandala order several months ago. It’s definitely…unique. I’m having trouble coming up with the right words. There’s a honey-like taste to it and a syrupy sweetness. A grape or muscatel flavor, as well. It tastes more like a roasted, well-oxidized oolong to me than a black tea. There are fruit notes that are difficult for me to describe…they’re similar to peach or apricot, but not quite the same. It calls to mind crunchy, sweet green fruits and vegetables. Pear? Is that it? I can’t tell. Celery? No, not quite. It’s slightly vegetal and floral. There’s an aftertaste like honey-drizzled, buttery bread. Light and spongey and sweet. It’s smooth and roasty too. I like it more than I expected to. I wish I could better explain its indescribable taste!

A very roasty black tea. Got honey notes as well.
Smooth.
Loved it. Thanks Dexter3657 for sharing

This was in a surprise parcel waiting for my from Dexter3657 when I got back. I’m on the resteep now, and I had the initial steep last night so this is mostly from memory.

Upon my first sip, I was reminded on Bailin. Which is great, since I keep that one around in decent amounts. The honey, syrup-y thickness was awesome. I have begun steeping Bailin at shorter steep times just because the syrupy quality can be a touch overwhelming, but not knowing what to expect I steeped this one longer and it was still tasty. The resteep is tasty, but in a much lighter flavoured way. Overall a great introduction to Mandala.

Thanks Dex!

A wonderful black tea. I’m not much of a black tea drinker, but it tasted just barely honey-touched, and left me with a lasting energy.

(was this too pretentious? probably, but it’s so good)