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, hickory, creamy, apricot, persimmon, apple, and grassy sweet hay. I love the persimmon notes, but the smokeyness was very enjoyable too!
No bitterness or crazy pu’er funk! I got a slight astringency in later infusions, but that was cool. Very tempted to try this tea iced, but I treasure this cake.. maybe when I buy another one!
Wild Monk was a memorable experience for me, more inspiring of a tea session than crazy pu’er party time, which I get from ripe pu’er. I’m more of a green/white tea drinker so this raw cake just danced perfectly with me!
Full review and pictures of me butchering my first pu’er cake at my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/mandala-wild-monk-raw-puer-2012-tea-review-and-experience/
Tea lesson: Buy a pu’er knife or things get really messy.
Preparation
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uh oh!! 100 bam! (added to list)
oooh, I love Mandala!
i am a green tea drinker, too. but white seems very banal…your take?
@ligongsf this pu’er has that body of a green or white (vs. richness of a black or ripe pu’er). I’d say a raw pu’er is the type of pu’er to try if you drink greens and whites. Wild Monk has a edge as it is complex in flavor and can be resteeped many many times (10 plus) over a white.
I’d also recommend Mandala Tea’s White Night – its a white tea, but is quite unique but also complex in flavor.
thanks, Owl…I guess Mandala only sells online? I plan to stop by DavidsTea, Teavana, and Chinatown tea shops tomorrow in San Francisco to taste around. not sure of their teas, though
Mandala is online http://shopmandalatea.com/ they have a store in MN. I’d say the teas I mentioned, you aren’t going to find comparable ones at DavidsTea and Teavana, they have more blends and their straight teas are okay quality (or really overpriced in Teavana’s case). You got a fantastic chinatown, I’d ask around in the discussion page for recommendations on specific stores.
Have you tried Lupicia? They have a store in San Fran if you want to be able to instore sample some teas.
Pu’er is a really intense experience for me. And its production seems really complex:http://www.articles3k.com/article/198/135670/Talks_about_Black_ShouRipe_Puerh/
uh oh!! 100 bam! (added to list)
oooh, I love Mandala!
i am a green tea drinker, too. but white seems very banal…your take?
@ligongsf this pu’er has that body of a green or white (vs. richness of a black or ripe pu’er). I’d say a raw pu’er is the type of pu’er to try if you drink greens and whites. Wild Monk has a edge as it is complex in flavor and can be resteeped many many times (10 plus) over a white.
I’d also recommend Mandala Tea’s White Night – its a white tea, but is quite unique but also complex in flavor.
thanks, Owl…I guess Mandala only sells online? I plan to stop by DavidsTea, Teavana, and Chinatown tea shops tomorrow in San Francisco to taste around. not sure of their teas, though
Mandala is online http://shopmandalatea.com/ they have a store in MN. I’d say the teas I mentioned, you aren’t going to find comparable ones at DavidsTea and Teavana, they have more blends and their straight teas are okay quality (or really overpriced in Teavana’s case). You got a fantastic chinatown, I’d ask around in the discussion page for recommendations on specific stores.
Have you tried Lupicia? They have a store in San Fran if you want to be able to instore sample some teas.
Pu’er is a really intense experience for me. And its production seems really complex:http://www.articles3k.com/article/198/135670/Talks_about_Black_ShouRipe_Puerh/