Mandala Tea

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Wednesday, February 17th: Random Acts of Kindness Day Tea #2
Courtesy of Kawaii433 a while ago!  Thanks very much!  I’ve been neglecting this one a bit because I’m not usually seeing the specialness of a roasted tea, but this one isn’t too bad.  There is a hint of green under the deep red leaves and the brew is fairly light orange.  The roast isn’t too bad, but also tastes like a hint of stevia which obviously isn’t there.  Maybe I’m just now making this connection that roasted teas taste like stevia to me.  The second steep is much the same, light roast flavor which I like, starchy, maybe hints of squash.  Not oversteeped at all at three minutes. The third steep is also great but I can never notice nuance after the roasted notes. But the roast is light, so I like! I definitely wouldn’t consider this “dark roast”.
Steep #1  // 2 teaspoons for full mug // 30 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // 28 minutes after boiling //  3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 4 min

Mandala. Every time I think I’ve tried your best tea you throw me through another loop and I taste something even better. (Granted I still find it hard to beat your Milk oolong) Though I’m not much of a fan of pu er, I find this one astounding. I truly feel like I am drinking sticky rice. The mouthfeel is incredibly silky. If steeped for too long the earthy notes become a bit overwhelming. Make sure to try this gong fu style.

NOOOOO!! I thought this was a Lapsang. It smelled too heavily of campfire smoke, so I didn’t think it could be anything but Lapsang…. But no… It’s a wonderful black tea. And why am I screaming? Because I dumped a bit of it in my bone broth that is cooking from yesterday’s turkey leftovers. Shame, shame, shame. This tea is so smooth. A Keenum style but without the astringency. The aroma is of apricots and slight earth in the wet leaf. I’m currently on my third steeping and it’s still going strong. I hope my bone broth is amazing.

Simply went grandpa today morning. I took everything that was sent to me by derk who get it from White Antlers, so again a tea I haven’t bought myself, though looking (not only once) on Mandala Tea website.

Anyway, I have used almost boiling, but not yet, water. I think it could be around 90°C and it was great. I quite a lot agree with derk’s statement saying liquid honeysuckle. As I don’t recall the taste/aroma of it too much, I guess it’s correct. It was indeed somewhere floral/vegetal. As well the aftertaste was mellow and enjoyable; I get hints of pine maybe as well? Hints of mineral, yellow melons and smooth.

Maybe a bit wrong way using everything and so “simple way”. But that’s it, I don’t have it anymore :D

Thank you, White Antlers, for passing this along :)

Only had 6.5g and I was in the mood to use my shou pot, so I tried to compensate for the lack of adequate grammage in comparison to the vessel size by steeping it long.

I think this shou still needs time to come into itself. It’s pretty low on the funk but still has the yeasty-bready taste early before moving into beety petrichor, heavy dark wood and minerals. There’s a sour cherry dominating tone that I think still needs to be worked out and smoothed. There are some hints of licorice root, forest floor, cocoa, walnut and pine and a wisp of camphor. An almost candy-like, fleeting redfruity finish but no lingering aftertaste or returning sweetness; mild bitterness.

I’m curious how the aroma of the dry leaf (smells like applewood smoked pork) will effect the taste in the future since it’s very different from how it currently tastes.

This is a swap sample, I believe from Kawaii433. I wonder how she’s doing… Thanks for the sample, lady!

I steeped it Western-style, about 2 or 3 teaspoons for my mug. The leaves are huge and twisty, so it’s hard to measure by anything but eye.

This is mighty tasty! Very sweet and roasty, reminiscent of a mellow houjicha. There are light honey and sticky dried fruit notes that make me think of figs or dates. And a comforting gentle autumn leaf pile flavor that makes this a perfect tea for fall…

Ahhh…

I have plenty of houjicha at the moment so I don’t feel the need to rush out and order this one, but I will definitely put it on the list for the future.

Whether these mini tuocha came from White Antlers or from Mandala Tea, I don’t know. Either way, they were a gift of kindness :)

This morning, I stewed a 4.5g tuo in my work thermos to pour into a special mug. The mug is dedicated to shou and has an image of Prague on it, all in earthen tones. It makes me think of Martin Bednar and his benevolence.

Zendo is fresh and has very little leftover fermentation funk. I mostly notice it as that kind of nutritional yeast flavor I sometimes pick up on in shou. Barely cheesy, barely bready, entirely welcome. Zendo is like drinking smooth, wet rocks with a hint of sweet dark earth. Not getting chocolate or fruit like Mandala.

I really like Zendo as a daily drinker (I finished both mini tuo within 24 hours). It’s so easy and smooth, clean and mineral. Ah, comfort.

This is backlog from yesterday morning when I was preparing for statistics and probability exam.

It wasn’t a weather to wear a suit all the time I was travelling to the University, as temperature dropped to -10°C and well, suit isn’t much isolating. So I took my warm jeans and typical, common clothes and took my suit folded up in a bag with me.

I have decided to take a puerh with me, as we now have a kettle available for students at the university (someone probably heard me lamenting), even mugs! But I took my thermomug just in case as I didn’t knew they are there too.

And well, this one was a wonderful tea after hour or something later I have arrived (foot-train-bus as means of transport, 60 km away) at the university premises.

It was thick as needed (I just went as rule of thumb, just the rest I had from derk, thank you!); bold, chocolate-mushroomy, peaty, forest floors. Even leathery.

It was just a perfect tea for the start of the day. And thick and everything. Good for cold, winter days.

Oh I forgot! SIPDOWN 44

I found out I put into my virtual cupboard wrong Phatty Cake, athough it was clearly labeled with II.
I am as well not fan of ripe pu-erhs; but I like drinking them during cold days as those hit my country and yes, we had the snow already. 90 km (56 mi) from my home: https://twitter.com/CT24zive/status/1315566575152500737

A tea, received in box from derk and again my assumption it’s from her. So thank you If it is from you, White Antlers, sorry and thank you for it :) — but it is hard to recognize, though there is WA mark on some.

Anyway I was drinking this tea during the lecture of “Statistics and Probability” and there is one task:
There are 5 white balls, 6 black ones, 2 blue ones.
If I take three of them, what is probability I took
A) all blacks
B) every one is different
C) two are blue and one is white?

Ah, tea, right?
As I said before, I never been fan of shu. They were quite all same for me, somehow dark, peat, fishy, smoky… But this one seems different. Although it was certainly peaty when dry, even in first steeps, it was as well quite pleasant. Leather notes, woody, forest floors, mushroomy (but in a good way), I enjoyed the thickness of this tea. There are some notes reminding me chocolate and petrichor (that could be outside though).

I am glad it wasn’t one of those teas which are full of that less favorite smells and flavors and rather those nice ones.

Delicate fluffy white tea on a smokey August morning.

Liquid honeysuckle in a cup. A little tangy with a dry finish. Mellow honeyed aftertaste.

It was a nice moment, courtesy of White Antlers.

2.5g, 200mL, 2 steeps

nice mellow, subtle blank slate

Smooth and coats the tongue

I’ve been called to the kitchen window today. It’s a large window with a view northwest toward the Pacific, into the mouth of winter storm creation. The first call was upon waking, then many more while cooking breakfast. Again while cooking lunch. More times throughout the day than I care to admit. I am restless. I know the clouds are moving quickly because the wind is tossing around the climbing rose arbor, shaking it to its roots, threatening to topple the entire structure and what I imagine following as the setting free of hundreds of ruffled-edge flowers in a cloud of silken yellow confetti — poof.
Such a show would be stunning against the backdrop of this ominous sky. So many shades of grey, each one a pocket of guesses. It is undeniably spring.

Ah, here comes a surprise afternoon shower.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7ZxRs45tTg

Much love to all.

Sipdown – for a tea that didn’t make it into my Steepster cupboard

Westren, 190F? Autumn 2018 Tea
I got a lot of melon flavors off this tea. It was also floral and sweet. Great tea for work, strong flavors, and well balanced.

Spring 2018 harvest – sipdown
Boiling, 2 min, western
I liked this tea a lot. It worked much better for me at a hotter temperature than what is stated on the package.
Vanilla, oak, soft, nutty, and orange. I need to re-order some of this.

Sipdown for a tea that didn’t make it into my cupboard.

Spring 2018
Boiling, 2-3 minutes

Super light even at high temperatures. Soft and creamy. A little bit of vanilla and honey. Of the two whites I ordered from Mandala, I like the other one ‘White Night’ better. I like my white teas to be a little more robust and not so delicate.

Welp, this sample has been sitting in my drawer since I last ordered from Mandala, aka a year ago. Not sure how that will affect the taste of the tea, but here goes.

Now, I know, like most oolongs, this is likely meant to be gong-fu. But as you all know, I really don’t do gong-fu, so it’s brewed western style with low steep times. I did give it a rinse though first for 10 seconds.

Brewed: 195F/12oz/5g/30sec (first steep)

Taste is… very complex. I’m getting a strong roasted flavor, along with sweetness, and… onion? Like, is this supposed to taste like onions? It’s odd. I’ll have to look.
Wow, so caramelized onions are listed as a flavor. It’s an odd profile, but not unpleasant. There’s a bit of honey there too, but it’s muted. It really does taste like caramelized onions!
As it cools, the bitey onion flavor mellows out, leaving a lingering sweetness behind. There’s a note of toast? I really hate trying to describe these complex cuppas. My palate isn’t nearly refined enough for this type of tea. Just take my word that it’s complex and hard to pin down all the flavors. It should be noted that I rarely drink oolong, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a roasted oolong before, so this is uncharted territory for me.

Overall, this is pretty good. Definitely different from my usual fare! I’m not going to give a numerical rating as I have no idea how to judge this compared to other oolongs. I may have to branch out and try some different oolongs in my next order.

Even though I haven’t posted a review in quite a while, we’re still enjoy gung-fu Pu-erh (mostly Shou, some Sheng) every morning.

Today is something different, something special, something so special, I had to post a review. We’re enjoying our very last mugs of 2006 Special Dark using TheTeaFairy’s Western brewing method. 1 Tbsp. (5g) / 10oz / 212 / rinse / 5 min.

Rich, smooth, dark, warm, velvety, full-bodied, chocolatey, & relaxing – just perfect!

Zero bitterness, acidity, astringency, or any hint of fermentation flavor (as you’d expect in a 14 yr-old Shou) – just absolutely perfect!

Unfortunately, it’s N.L.A.( no longer available) & our bag is now empty :-(( – the end of an Era! God bless Garret & the wonderful Chinese people who grew it & made it!

Garret, any chance of S.D. 2.0?

fuck yeah this is good. I’m pissed i can’t get more – i didn’t get around to trying it when i first bought it soon enough and it sold out. I was grateful that i got to have this today while spending some time going through all my old work clothes. I’m trying to find people who could use them especially sincei know times are tight with covid etc…but so far no luck. I’ll donate them to an institution if i can’t find someone i can give them to directly. It took me forever to get through the closets today and it was nice to have a few cups of this while i did it.