Mandala Tea

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Recent Tasting Notes

95

So delicious! Definitely one of the better Jasmine Pearl teas I’ve encountered. Sweet, buttery and rich, the jasmine notes are subtle and soft and exotic. No soapy notes here, just gentle floral tones and sweet, fresh flavor.

LOVE!

TeaBrat

I might need to try it. Everything I’ve had so far from Mandala has been good!

ms.aineecbeland

Hum! interestingly good and simple review. I must remember to make mention of yours when reviewing Harney & Sons Dragon Pearl Jasmine Floral Tea. Key words to look for buttery. I don’t like soupy or buttery. Good review I guess.

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95

Decided to break this out today as the after lunch tea. I definitely recommend keeping the steeps short with this one, like 30 seconds or less because it doesn’t really need that much.

Shu is the perfect after lunch tea in my opinion. I wrote a fairly extensive tasting note on this a while back so I won’t repeat the whole thing. Notes of pipe tobacco, earth and a fruity essence. I love this little cake, it’s so cute.

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec

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95

This is such a great shu – I love it! I had some this afternoon to baptize my new teapot. You can see the pictures at my blog post below:
http://sanfrantea.teatra.de/2012/08/13/new-yixing-koi-teapot/

Scott B

Nice photos, Amy.

TeaBrat

thanks!

Garret

Sweet!!!! Wow, I am honored to have been mentioned in the article! Great photos. Funny that I drank that tea all day yesterday. I’m going to have to put some in reserve so I don’t drink it all away :) Can’t wait to see that yixing pot in a few years as the patina develops and evolves!!!

TeaBrat

Yeah it should be pretty kewl!

Skulleigh

Oh, I love koi, what a pretty teapot. The name of the tea makes me smile.

Garret

Yo, Amy! You must have gotten some new looks at your blog. A few tea customers and friends said they read your post today about your new pot and the Phatty Cake.

Garret

@Skulleigh – we named it Phatty Cake because the day we took delivery of them, a customer saw one as we unpackaged them and said: “What a little fatty cake!” And the name stuck, we just changed a couple of letters :) Glad it made you smile, too!

TeaBrat

Hurray!

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95

This is such a good pu-erh! I’m doing short steeps of 30 seconds this afternoon with the remainder of my sample. The tea liquor is dark and silky, I am getting all kinds of interesting flavors like chocolate, camphor, & cinnamon. Smooth and gentle, with no funky aromas. Mandala did a great job with this cake they commissioned. I will need to pick one up soon. :)

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec
Bonnie

I love the name! Phatty Cake! Gordita…so cute!

TeaBrat

You would probably like this tea Bonnie.

Bonnie

Sounds like I would!

Garret

Amy! I was drinking this tea today, too! I am so happy that you enjoy it. It’s one of my favorites and I’m so glad I got so many cakes pressed.

Sunday, I got together with David (Verdant Tea) and we sipped teas for 4 hours. It was great. He and I try to get together every couple of months for a “tea summit”.

I was thinking of you because I had brought along some of the “wild tree” mao cha that I am having pressed into sheng pu’er. It is one that I think you will love. David thought it was spectacular and we worked it quite a while. I think you’re gonna like this one.

While I have 66 lbs being pressed, I have 1 kg loose mao cha here and 20 more pounds on the way. It’s your kinda tea :)

Happy day,
Garret

TeaBrat

Hi Garret – I am looking forward to trying it soon!

CHAroma

What’s camphor?

ScottTeaMan

This is on my list.

TeaBrat

@CHAroma – it’s a tree, it has a minty sort of flavor

CHAroma

Cool, thanks!

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95

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…

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 45 sec
Garret

Amy! I’m really happy that you enjoyed this tea. I found this ripened material from 2007 and never even contemplated blending this with other leaf. I liked it all on its own as a grade 1 leaf. Bought every bit of it, pressed 300 cakes and kept 25 pounds as loose leaf. Thanks for writing about it. I had brought a cake of this for one of my hosts when I was in China these last few weeks and we brewed it up gong fu style there. I am happy to report that they loved it there in Kunming!! Funny to bring tea to China, I know :)

TeaBrat

Oh, as a side note I did cold brew my leftover leaves and enjoyed them the next day, they were really good that way!

ScottTeaMan

Amy, do you mean cold brewing leaves after hot steeps with the same leaves? Just wondering because I was thinking….‘Man, thems some hearty leaves!’. :))

TeaBrat

Scott- that’s exactly what I did.

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91
drank Lapsang Souchang by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

Finally decided to rate it today, I like it. A lighter lapsang that has flavorful notes of smoke (duh), honey and also that sweetish/tangy barbeque type of flavor. Very clean and delicious! Would definitely get this one again… see previous notes.

ScottTeaMan

LS fom Mandala, or Hu Kwa from Mark T’s??

TeaBrat

I still like the Hu Kwa better for now

ScottTeaMan

Mandala has some really nice teas…….gonna purchase something at some point this year.

TeaBrat

Do it!!!

ScottTeaMan

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA….Seriously, that’s how I laughed! I will, I’m just trying to dwindle my stash a little. :))

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91
drank Lapsang Souchang by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

Well I know it is too late for caffeine but I couldn’t resist trying this. I am generally not a huge fan of lapsang because I find the smoky flavor to be totally overwhelming. When I saw this on Mandala’s site being described as subtle I figured I would like that. When I compare my tea to the one in the picture it is a bit lighter so I may need to use a bit more leaf next time… I will hold off on rating this for now but my overall impressions are very good. In aroma and flavor this is like a lapsang lite which has a pleasant and subtle smoky aroma & flavor which is delicious and does not cover up the flavor of the tea underneath. More to come…

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 15 sec

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91
drank Black Pearl by Mandala Tea
1353 tasting notes

Amusingly, it appears that Arison has somehow pulled it off to follow me twice. I’ve checked, they show up twice on my ‘followed by’ list, and I show up twice on their ‘follows’ list.

So far today has been quite rich. I got sung at first thing in the morning and served breakfast of eggs, toast, mushrooms and baked beans. I’ve received a Harry Potter film (DH pt 1) and the Tintin film on blu-ray and I’ve also got the latest Bruce Springsteen cd, which is very good. I wonder if this is all I’ll get because I’m getting a little concerned that the boyfriend is showing me up on the birthday gift giving scale. (And if he sees this, he’ll probably show up in my room saying “It’s not a competition, you know!”) I’ve also got a card from him, and from his parents and his sister. Those latter two are one with cakes and one with kitties. They know me well already, it would seem! :p

So it appeared to me that a Mystery Tea That I’ve Never Had Before was in order. This one came to me from Spoonvonstrup and I’ve been having a plock of a time working out which part of China it comes from. The company didn’t bother mentioning this in their info. All it said was that it was produced by the same people who also produced one of their other teas, so I had a look at that one. Still no clues about region. Hm. I shall have to suss it out for myself then!

The aroma is sweet, chocolate-y and grainy. Normally this automatically makes me think Fujian, but I think this is a trap. It’s not deep enough, particularly on the grain note, for me to be at all certain. Then there’s another thing, which is a tiny, vague note of straw and a wee bit of pepper. Those are Yunnan give-aways, but they’re not quite strong enough to me to be at all certain of Yunnan either. As I very much doubt it’s a mixture of the two, which would be rather bizarre in this particular context, it has to be one or the other.

Perhaps flavour will give us a clue. At first there’s a strong note of brown sugar in this. That molasses-like strength and depth, it’s very strong here. That note is not one I associate with either type. It’s very good, but it doesn’t really help me work this out.

Next I get that note of straw for a second before it turns into something kind of, but not quite, grainy as the cup cools. That’s a Yunnan-y trait. I’ve never come across that straw-y, hay-y note in anything else than Yunnan. A Fujian tea would have been much stronger on the grain note.

But then there’s there cocoa-y note, which I find to be more Fujian-y than anything else. I may have found that in Yunnan teas before, but it’s not one that stands out in my head as an association to that region.

I don’t know what to make of this. I’m beginning to suspect it’s actually out of an entirely third region. It’s time to go and look for some answers. I know black tea pearls are not that uncommon on Steepster, so I have a look at a few others of different brands. Without exception they are all mentioned as Yunnan teas.

I was close then. This is just not one that is very similar to other teas I’ve had from that province. Your average Yunnan black tea, I tend to find to be a mouthful of hay more often than not, and to drink it requires a very specific sort of mood. This one isn’t like that at all. Yes, it has the straw note in it, but it’s much more subdued, and that makes me like this a whole lot better than my usual impression of Yunnans. I especially enjoyed that brown sugar note. That was right up my alley, that was. I loves me some brown sugar!

Dinosara

Happy birthday!

gmathis

May your day be full of lovely and enjoyable “get-to’s.” (As opposed to gotta-do’s.)

ashmanra

Sounds like a great start to the day! Happy Birthday!

TeaBrat

Have a great birthday!

Bonnie

Many years to you!

Yogini Undefined

Happy Birthday to you! :)

Scott B

Happy Birthday!

Missy

Happy birthday!

Dylan Oxford

Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you!

Ag

Happy birthday!

LadyLondonderry

Happy birthday, Angrboda!

Azzrian

Happy Birthday!! dang we need a page where we post birthdays so we can send sneak surprises!!

kOmpir

Happy birthday to you with best wishes for even better cuppas to come :)

Joshua Smith

Happy birthday!

Ninavampi

Happy Birthday! : )

ChariTea

Happy Birthday :)

Daisy Chubb

Happy happy birthday! :D!

Indigobloom

Happy happy birthday!!! let there be tea =D

Roughage

Tillykke med fødselsdagen. :-)

Buy the Stars

Ahaha, I hadn’t even noticed that! My miraculous ability to break things on the internet, I suppose. Happy birthday. :)

Lucy

Happy belated Birthday! Great sounding start to it too

Angrboda

Thanks everybody!

Roughage, OMG!!! :D

Daniel Scott

Seems I’m a day late, but happy birthday!

And I love posts like this! I will have to make notes about the tastes you associate with each region and see if I notice them in the future; I definitely haven’t had a Fujian tea yet.

LadyLondonderry

Daniel, you haven’t had a Fujian yet?! ::clutches pearls:: Jeeves, get the young gentleman some Fujian immediately!

Angrboda

Why do I suddenly get the feeling that LadyLondonderry share at least some of my enthusiasm for this region? :p

Daniel, there are only really three regions, where I have specific ideas of what I expect from them, and that’s because I just have the most experience with them. I haven’t really been very good at exploring the rest of China properly, but have been hovering around the three most well known for black tea. Fujian, Yunnan and Keemun.

I tend to think of Fujians as sort of grainy and sort of fruity with a cocoa-y/chocolate-y note to it. And something else which I can’t actually describe much closer than ‘Fujian-ness’. I get mildly synesthetic reactions to flavours sometimes, so Fujian-ness is mostly a mix of seemingly random associations. Not so much a colour that I’ve noticed, but definitely a certain feeling of a depth and darkness and basically pleasure at the same time. It’s my favourite region.

Yunnan is my least favourite of the three, but I’ve had the most experience with golden yunnans, which I have to be in the mood for in order to drink. They have a strong note of hay and straw for me. Some think they tend to be pepper-y, others think they tend to be smoky in flavour. I started out in the smoky camp but have landed more or less in the middle of the scale now. Sometimes they’re one, sometimes they’re the other. I tend to prefer the smokier end.

Keemun is another favourite tea type for me, but I haven’t found the perfect one yet. These have a very grainy flavour profile, reminding me strongly of freshly baked proper Danish rye bread. The sort you know in North America? That’s not it. Danish rye bread is dark and strong and eaten in thin slices. It seems that people who didn’t grow up on it, often doesn’t seem to like it much. My boyfriend is definitely not a fan. Anyway, like with Yunnans, Keemuns can have two faces. Either they’re very floral tasting or, again, smoky. I’ve noticed that the higher grade of Keemun I seem to try, the more likely they are to be floral, and I really prefer the more smoky ones, so I tend to go for the cheaper end Keemuns when shopping.

Spoonvonstup

Happy belated Birthday! Glad you had fun with this one. Garret at Mandala seems to have a real passion for Yunnan (especially shu pu’er!) so you’re probably right on the money as far as region goes.

Kittenna

Happy belated bday! I’m looking forward to having a palate developed enough to identify the region of a tea, but I think I’m a few years off yet :)

Garret

These are, indeed, a find from Yunnan! I just got back from tea travels in China and spent a majority of time in Yunnan seeing some tea gardens, mountains, sipping and buying tons of teas (including more of these pearls!) and finding more tea wares. Bought much mao cha from a few farmers and will have it pressed soon under our label. I really do love Yunnan black teas. My favorites, though I acquired some great black teas near Huangshan on this last trip, as well!

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90

Thanks to Garret and Krystaleyn I decided I needed to have one of these this morning. It happens to go very well with the vegan chickpea mini quiches I made for brunch. I steeped one toucha in an 8 oz cup with my Finum filter for about 60 seconds and this was perfect for me. Looking forward to more steeps!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Kittenna

Vegan chickpea mini quiches?! That sounds very tasty!

TeaBrat

Yes, here is the recipe, next time I will try adding olives to mine, I think. http://www.limetreelife.com/2012/01/04/easy-breakfast-vegan-gluten-free-mini-quiches/

Kittenna

Those look fabulous! Love that they’re gluten-free; when my roomie is back in the fall, I bet she’d be thrilled to make some of these up with me! She’s gluten-free/vegetarian, so I can see us adding some cheese. Thanks!

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90

Backlogging – I haven’t been drinking too much pu-erh recently, but decided to break this one out today and had 3 steeps of it this afternoon. I like the unique rice flavor of it, it even seems a bit salty. I am loving Mandala for pu-erhs and black tea…

Doug F

Good to know about Mandala. I guess it’s worth trying other tea companies, but I get spoiled living close to Upton and being able to get tea the next day. Teavivire is another one I want to try.

TeaBrat

I definitely like Upton as well…

ScottTeaMan

Upton is definitely my Favorite tea company overall, but they lack in certain areas-like Japanese teas, and Pu-erh cakes. I’ve settled on Mandala for my Pu-erhs right now, because they have some good black teas I want to try. That is WHEN I order-I have ssooo much tea right now! :)) :-// :))

Doug F

I’ve been getting my Pu-erhs from Yunnan Sourcing, which has hundreds of selections—it can be intimidating, but their descriptions are helpful. It looks like Upton has become a little gun-shy about Japanese teas but they seem to be slowly expanding their pu-erh offerings.

ScottTeaMan

I didn’t order any Japanese green teas from the 2011 crop, but I miss my Sencha & Gyokuro! Very soon, I will be ordering some of the 2012 crop. :))

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90

Mandala is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to buy pu-erh from. I’m excited my Mengku gifting raw cake arrived today along with a few other goodies (ok, lots).

Those of you who read my tea log may know my fondness for the green rice scented pu-erhs. I’m kind of curious about what this rice scented herb is (Nuo Mi Xiang), but it smells so good. The aroma reminds me of hot buttered popcorn.

These are an interesting departure from regular shu, but not sweet or flowery which seems like a definite bonus (I’ve had the rose and chrysanthemum varieties before and they never thrilled me). I did one steep for about 45 seconds (regular infuser mug method) and got a medium-light smooth and earthy cup with a definite savory flavor. I liked it but thought it was a little light.

My second steep was for 1.5 or 2 minutes and then I got a dark, smooth and enticing elixir which is reminiscent of a cup of kona coffee. Ah, joy… The rice aroma is still sticking around through this second steep and now the leaves have unfurled a bit more to show some of their beauty. I am fascinated by this stuff, can you tell?

The third steep I left in for around 3 minutes, which resulted in a slightly lighter cup than #2. Here I think the rice aroma/flavor is fading a bit but the shu is emerging as a tasty, mellow champ.

yep, I liked this pretty well!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C
Garret

Hi Amy!! Just got back from China on a tea buying spree and read your recent reviews of some of our products. Thank you for taking the time to do so!! I had the fortune of visiting some tea gardens and buying mao cha directly from the farmers and am having some more raw tea pressings done this summer!! Found some good ripe materials as well that I am working on blending. Did I send you a sample of my latest ripe pressing, the gong ting (not on website yet)? If not, i’ll get some of that to you. I pressed 200 of those cakes and they should arrive in the next couple of weeks. Wishing you well!!

TeaBrat

Hi Garret -I did get it but haven’t had the chance to try it yet. For me pu-erh really needs my undivided attention and I’ve been so busy lately!

Kittenna

And this is the other one you sent me?

Kittenna

Ok :) Quick tutorial on brewing a little tuocha – do you rinse it? If so, how long/how hot? Do I need to break it up into pieces? I’ll follow your infusion times here (and go with just under boiling water, as it appears you did).

TeaBrat

Eh, good question! I usually rinse mine with boiling water briefly just to get rid of dust or anything that’s accumulated. I suggest you start with a light infusion of 30 seconds and see what you think, if the tea is too light keep increasing the steeping time until it gets the way you want it, you should be able to get a few steeps out of it. I don’t usually break mine up, I just keep the steeping times shorter if I’m using a small cup. I hope that helps! :)

Garret

What Amy said :)
You may check this out, too, a little video of mine from the tea room about mini-tuo cha:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdIW5jzwMCs

ENJOY!!!

Kittenna

Thanks Amy & Garret! I feel much more confident now :D And I think I’ll use my little glass teapot like was done in the video, as I think it would work well for the purpose. Ooooh, I’m excited! (Now the only question is… do I drink this before I go for a run, or after?!)

Garret

Hi Krystaleyn! I am a runner, too! I usually always start my mornings pre-run with pu’er tea! You can have a few steepings prior to a run and then use it for hydration following the run, too. Tea is great for the electrolyte balancing properties – in actuality, it is more hydrating than water alone! Happy running!!

Kittenna

Great to know! I ended up deciding before I read your comment that I would have it first, mainly because it’s hot and humid still here, so it may be an hour or more until it’s cool enough for me to go running. I imagine it may still be going strong for more infusions when I get back, too!

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94

Finally I decided to break into this cake that I purchased 3 YEARS AGO (after trying a sample) and am just getting around to trying now. What remarkable self restraint I have!

So the rating on this just reflects my personal opinion and not my expertise in pu-erh. I feel like I’m still a noob so don’t make fun of me. ;)

This tea is almost 8 years old and it is showing some signs of darkness as well as a dark gold tea liquor. When I tried to break a piece of the cake off it seemed a bit dry and crumbly, so I wonder if it’s aging well in my apartment. Harumph.

I am doing 5-7 second microsteeps of this. I actually ditched the first two steeps and steeps # 3 & 4 are fairly woodsy and smoky with a definite bitterness in the finish. Strong! You can still taste the sweetness and the green vegetal notes of the tea.

Steeps 5 & 6 are mellowing out. Smoky vegetal notes are retreating and there’s a pleasant apricot flavor I’m picking up with a sour finish. This is a very energizing sheng and I can feel my energy lifting. I have to say young sheng gets me wired like no other tea I have found.

After the 8th steep, this is mellowing out quite a bit and becoming more brothy and fruity with a bitter/sweetness but the energy feeling still remains. Do you know how you feel when you jump into a pool of cold water? It’s kind of like that. Very interesting stuff. Maybe I’ll revisit this again next year. ;)

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec
Sil

i’m excited to get through more of my samples so that i can break into my cakes haha

TeaBrat

I’m trying to resist buying a lot of cakes :)

Sil

same…trying to get through the samples so that i can get better about buying a sample and then trying it to be able to decide if i want a cake faster. So far i only have um 4? cakes…6? lol

TeaBrat

Between cakes and bricks I have quite a few, I’m not too optimistic they are going to age well in the Bay Area however.

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94

Thanks to Mandala for sending me a sample of this tea. I wasn’t able to get a better pic from the website so please feel free to update this if you’d like.

After doing my taxes it has turned into a lazy tea drinking day but I am going out soon so might as well have another cup. :)

I decided to steep this in the gaiwan this afternoon which is my favorite method for trying pu-erhs. I did rinse this quickly and then steeped my first infusion for about 30 seconds at 190 F or so. The wet leaf smells slightly smoky and lemony.

My first sip and I’m thinking yum! Slightly woodsy with a hint of smoke. The flavor is slightly astringent but somehow moist at the same time and seems to end on a bit of a sweet note.

Second steep is also good, nice vegetal artichoke-y type notes in the flavor. I did have a gunpowder green earlier today and I’m noticing some similarities between the two especially as I’m picking up some gentle pungency with an almost brothlike thickness. Oddly enough I am not getting much camphor here.

Third steep I went for about 60 seconds or so. I am really enjoying this sheng. It is mildly stimulating and energizing but without the drying bitterness of some others I have had. Like a lot of raw pu-erhs it is slightly sour but delicious.

Fourth steep for 30 seconds or so. I’m getting some delicious and light corn type flavors. If you steep it for less time you don’t get as much sourness. I can’t help but wonder what this will be like as it ages.

I don’t think I can resist this for the price, I am going back to get an entire cake. :)

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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89

This is a sipdown for me, I haven’t had this tea in a while… It does remind me a lot of a white tea in flavor but there’s definitely some smoke involved. This is yummy with a bit of coconut sugar as well. There is no 2008 silver bud pu-erh on the site anymore but I would definitely get some of the later versions.

yum yum

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec
Kirkoneill1988

i shall try this (or rather a diff year) someday

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89

I got a sample size of this beeng from Mandala to check out. I’ve only had one other white pu-erh – I find them intriguing and they aren’t too easy to find.

I decided to steep this up in the gaiwan this morning. I did give the leaves a quick rinse with boiling water.

My first infusion is really lovely – it has the sweetness and smoothness of a delicious white tea with a hint of lingering smoke in the background. I am getting nectar like flavors with a bit of apple. Very mild in flavor.

My second steep I accidentally spaced out on the timing. I must have left it for two minutes or more. The flavor is a lot more assertive than I was expecting. It got more smoky and slightly musty but still very easygoing and delicious.

The third steep I used water that was around 180 F for 45 seconds or so, I’m getting a honey like aroma with tiny hints of malt and apple, again. The other reviewer mentioned nutmeg and I agree. This is definitely a non-finicky tea as the description states. Charming and interesting! I think this will age quite nicely. Good job Mandala… I would go for more infusions now but it’s time for work and I may need to revisit this when I am slightly less rushed for time.

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec

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80

I was definitely not sure what to expect from this one because descriptions I have heard of Lao Cha Tou just sound so weird… since these nuggets are formed at the bottom of the pu-erh fermentation pile (while making shu puerh).

I did decide to follow the recommended instructions and I rinsed the nuggets three times. After that I infused my first batch in the gaiwan for about 60 seconds. I have to admit this does smell a little bit like a barnyard but I’m not one of those squeamish types. I got a very dark red liquor that is clear in color, slightly sweet and very earthy.

My second steep was only for around 30 seconds because the color already started getting so dark. I’m picking some some mushroom-y type flavors as well as the sweeter ones mentioned above.

Third steep seems like it starting to mellow out a bit and get slightly more grounded. Imagine shiitake mushrooms cooked with a handful of twigs and a touch of merlot and that’s starting to get close… lol. This is some pretty interesting stuff I must admit. I’m not sure if I would buy anymore but it’s pretty fun to try.

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 0 sec
CHAroma

Mushrooms, twigs, and merlot! Yum! Hahahahaha!! You’re hilarious!

TeaBrat

I forgot to mention the eye of newt. :)

ScottTeaMan

Hahaha….I was just thinking of an eye of newt Gingrich in your tea! hahaha. :))

ScottTeaMan

Also, I read the title quickly and thought it read OLD TED NUGGENT! What’s wrong with me today?!

TeaBrat

@Scott – lol

Garret

HI Amy! Thanks for writing this up! This particular vintage of old tea nugget has been our bestselling one to date. I usually start out at around a 30-40 second steeping and just keep doing that over and over. We have many customers who report 25-30 infusions before they call it quits! I must admit, it’s one of my favorites and I like the sweetness that comes through. I can’t tell you how many customers quit coffee on the spot when they have tasted this brewed up nice and strong :) Have a tea-riffic day, everyone!!!

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90
drank Morning Sun by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

Sipdown! Finishing off the rest of the Morning Sun today and might need to order more soon. :)

Bonnie

Amy, heads up…take a look at a newcomer mrmopar who started following me…he has lots of good puerh…I mean lots! Right now he’s just following me so check him out.

TeaBrat

Thanks!

Cheryl

(((Amy)))

TeaBrat

Thanks Cheryl. I have been avoiding lots of teas because I cannot sleep too much.

Cheryl

Don’t care about that Amy (the tea part). Was happy to see that you commented is all. No explanation needed. And here’s another for later ((((Amy)))).

TeaBrat

Thanks :)

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90
drank Morning Sun by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

It’s cloudy this morning and I did not sleep a wink last night, but must somehow get it together to go to work and toil away on a big, complicated project.

Thanks to Mandala tea, I have my own Morning Sun today. :)

The wise man J. Krishnamurti once said, “One has to be a light to oneself”

Trying to stay positive and keeping on! what else can you do?

Thanks to all my Steepster friends for the supportive thoughts, it really means a lot to me.

Bonnie

You have some candles here too.

ScottTeaMan

Your welcome.

TeaBrat

Bonnie, you are awesome! Scott too! :D

Missy

I’m glad you are trying to stay positive. It can be pretty difficult especially in your type of situation. I’ll be your personal cheer squad as long as I don’t have to use pom poms. ;)

Doug F

Hopefully, the big, complicated project will take your mind off things. I’ve found that just getting out of bed and maintaining the routine can be the best medicine. Best wishes!

Scott B

Time moves so much faster when you are busy, that should help.

Azzrian

I need to get this in my next mandala order! It didn’t make the cut last time I ordered as I had to skim back but I really want to try it soon!

TeaBrat

Azzrian – I am planning out my next order from them soon, just waiting for payday! :)

Azzrian

Oh they have so much goodness to choose from! :)
I am getting a water treatment system on payday for sure!

ashmanra

I mailed you some tea this morning! You are a beautiful person. May happiness alight in your heart soon! :)

TeaBrat

Thank you ashmanra – right back at ya!

Cheryl

Oh gosh, sorry I missed your news Amy. But I have a feeling you are going to be fine and stronger when the sting/punch wears off some. Hang in there chicka, we all know you can :)

TeaBrat

Cheryl, thanks, It’s sad but I will be ok. ;-)

Bonnie

Tea people are like those fairy godmothers flying around you in Cinderella! (I think I have the right movie …) you get the picture though …

Mike G

Just read over your last note, sorry to hear what happened :(. But like you said, stay positive :)!

TeaBrat

Hi Mike – ayep, will do! thanks.

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90
drank Morning Sun by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

the morning cuppa. I raised the rating a few points today, I am liking this stuff a lot. A strong tea with a sweet flavor – See previous notes for more info.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec
ScottTeaMan

i HAD TO GO BACK AND REREAD YOUR FIRST note, but this tea looks and sounds like a great one…….I have to give Mandala a closer look.

ScottTeaMan

Decent price for he qaulity.

TeaBrat

I have not been disappointed with them yet (Mandala). I think they have some great stuff!

ScottTeaMan

Any Puerhs from them you’d recommend? That’s a good price for the fatty cake.

TeaBrat

@Scott – so far I have liked all the puerhs I’ve tried from Mandala – they are in the database so check there for more deets. :)

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90
drank Morning Sun by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

Still raining in San Francisco so I had to make some of my own Morning sun!

I liked the shape of these rolled leaves and have had good luck in the past with these spiral sort of shapes from China. The aroma of the wet leaves is very robust and almost smoke like and it’s amazing to watch them unfurl!

I decided to steep mine for 3 minutes basket style although this tea will need to have some gong fu experiments from me soon. :)

I am definitely getting the sweet flavor, kind of honey like with a bit of roasted sweet potato or carrot like starchy/thickness… it is reminiscent of a golden monkey to me, except bolder and more assertive. I’m getting a touch of smokiness, tobacco flavor here in the flavor as well. I tried this plain but then I ended up liking it with soymilk because the creaminess blends nicely with the other flavors. I liked this although a bit on the assertive and bold side for me so I think a shorter steeping time will be worth pursuing. I just gave my sweetie a sip and he says it smells very smoky and tastes like miso… I like miso actually. :)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec
ScottTeaMan

I’m all over miso. :))

ScottTeaMan

China blacks are awesome!

Garret

Thanks, Amy! We have a local coffeehouse that we source this tea for. We restock them every week on this one as they go through so much of it. They are doing 1.5 minute steepings. @Scott – You’re right! China blacks are awesome!!

TeaBrat

I like China black but most of my favorite black tea is still from India & Nepal (aside from puerh, of course).

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92
drank Pure Buds Black by Mandala Tea
4843 tasting notes

I steeped this in my gaiwan and am blown away with how amazing it tastes. It has a delicious malty tone to it, sweet … but not too sweet. Very smooth, rich and robust. Notes of cocoa, but not an overly sweet cocoa taste. A fruit note in the background that is both sweet and sour. Slightly creamy, and absolutely wonderful… LOVE!

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93

wow, I haven’t had this tea in a while. I couldn’t get it out of the bamboo tube and ended up pounding it on the counter, which was actually quite therapeutic.

I have decided I hate my local post office. I made an inquiry with the USPS 1-800 number about my lost package from Yunnan Sourcing. The post office claimed they called me and they closed the case but I never got a call! Even worse they don’t answer the phone. I can see I will need to find some kind of a mail service if I want to have any tea packages delivered in the future. It’s just so stressful and annoying to have to deal with this.

Anyway about the tea… my first notes on this were that I thought it was mellow and earthy but today it seems more assertive, smoky and bitter than I remember. It should be mellowing out more over time, I would think? Of course it could be I have just used more tea in my pot than the last time I tried it. I did break off a pretty big hunk and am keeping my steeps very short.

I must say this is a very energizing sheng, it’s uplifting and perking me right up!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec
Fjellrev

Yikes, I’m so sorry about your package. :( So does that mean that you have to just suck it up and accept the loss because they won’t go about trying to track it down anymore? Will Yunnan Sourcing send a replacement package?

TeaBrat

I may go down there in person to see if I can get an answer from the post office but it appears they are not going to do anything. I am getting a replacement package, hopefully I get it SOMEDAY!

Fjellrev

That’s scary how they give up like that, but I’m glad to hear you’re getting a replacement package. Fingers crossed it will actually grace you with its presence!

mrmopar

Hope you get the second in. I would raise a little h—l at the Post Office after all no disrespect to any of them we do pay their salaries and should be able to get a valid answer about any issues.

AllanK

In order to get the tea out of the bamboo tube take a heavy duty chefs knife to the top of the bamboo tube, about 1/6 of the way in. Once you do this put enough pressure on the tube to finish breaking it and it will open right up. I think puerhshop has this technique on their page somewhere, don’t know where though.

TeaBrat

mrmopar – I will go down and talk to them soon. By the way that post office gets bad reviews on Yelp! Other people have also complained that they never answer the phone and lose packages. It seems like an epidemic problem!

boychik

I ordered boots for my daughter before Christmas. I truly believe they delivered to a diff place. I couldn’t find any answers at my local PO . I was nice and then I was mad. Nothing helped. I called the company and they sent replacement overnight by UPS. UPS did it right as usual. I feel bad for the company to replace it though. It’s not their fault

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93

I decided to use this tea to anoint my new YiXing teapot, I blogged about it over here if you want to see the photos.

http://sanfrantea.teatra.de/2012/06/10/YiXing-teapot-a-new-addition-to-the-family/

After 5 steeps of this I am feeling quite caffeinated so I think I’ll need to stop drinking tea for a while. :) See previous notes for more info.

Roughage

Heh, I just realised I am following your blog without realising it was you. Doh! :)

TeaBrat

ha! how funny. :)

Garret

Hey Amy!! I noticed you had said you were having a hard time removing the leaf from the bamboo. What I do is peel back the bamboo lengthwise on one side. Then the tea can easily be taken out. Like in the pic on this link:http://shopmandalatea.com/raw-pu-er-tea/150-gram-fragrant-bamboo-ripe-pu-er-2006.html I hope that helps!!!!

TeaBrat

Thanks Garret!

Garret

One is glad to be of service :)

CHAroma

Wow!! What a gorgeous teapot! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it!

TeaBrat

@CHAroma – thank you, I was quite taken with it myself.

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93

I really wanted this because I am a sucker for this strange packaging – you get your pu’erh in a piece of bamboo, how cool is that? :)

I really wasn’t expecting much from this especially given the reasonable price. And raw pu’erhs can just be kind of sour, bitter and gnarly. I steeped some of this up earlier today in my gaiwan and totally forgot about it for 2 or 3 minutes. I was expecting a vile mess but it was nice and mellow!

So I’ve had four infusions with the tea so far, I did rely on shorter steeps for the duration of the experience. I was expecting this to be really smoky for some reason. It’s earthy and smooth with no bitter flavors but I can’t really describe the flavor profile of this tea! I think the bamboo steaming is definitely different (in a nice way). I might be getting some notes of light cedar, woodsy, here, slightly nutty and only a touch of mild astringency. I must think it’s good because I keep going back for more. :)

I steeped it six times and it shows no signs of slowing down. very good!

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Azzrian

Okay yes I DO want – for the bamboo and the tea. Yes the bamboo thing is totally cool!

ScottTeaMan

Wow, I may really check this out. Really good price. What else would you reccomend ??

TeaBrat

I don’t know… I am working my way through some stuff I recently purchased

ScottTeaMan

Dig it , man. Did you purchase samplers? They have some samplers with infusers, and I was wondering if you purchased any.

ashmanra

I definitely want my next tea order to be from there!

TeaBrat

I got one or two samples I have not tried yet

Garret

Amy! I’m happy you are digging this tea. I brought my stock of this back from China during my 2008 trip. It has been in our climate controlled pu’er storage room since then. I recently broke mine out as I hadn’t tried it in a while and I enjoy it so much more now than I did when I first got it. I enjoyed reading your description of it. When I go on my next buying trip (April) I am going to see about some other bamboo pu’ers. I’d like to bring back some new ones to add to the mix! Thank you!!

TeaBrat

@Garret- that’s great! what was it like when you first got it? It seems to be aging quite nicely.

Garret

One of the things that I like about it now compared to when I first bought them has been a toning down of the bamboo flavor. Honestly, the bamboo aroma/taste was a bit much at first and I thought I’d just sit on them (not literally, you understand) and see if that mellowed. Not only has that original, slightly overbearing flavor gone away, but the tea itself has gotten deeper in flavor, less astringent and works great with slightly warmer water already. I’ve still got a bunch of these left and I think I’ll keep two or three around in the vault for a bunch of years and try it out every so often.

Tea is the one thing that makes me want to be immortal! I look at the raw pressings that I had done last year and the ones I’ve got getting pressed right now and think “I may not even get to taste these teas when they are 50 years old! Rats!” Oh well… yet another reason to take the best possible care of myself, right?

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