Mandala Tea
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Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrr! It be the day o’ days again, what ta celebrate seafarrrin’ criminal enterprrrise! International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Arrrr!
This yearrrr, I be drinkin’ a mighty appropriate bit o’ booty from me latest adventures on the high tea – err, sea! Black Pearrrrl, from Mandala! This be my first time raidin’ from those lubbers, and I don’t regret it one bit! The ship’s manifest contained a handwritten note o’ surrender* from one o’ the co-Captains o’ that ship, a Cap’n Garret. I ordered them ta give up 4 coffers of gold, and they were so skeered o’ being keel-hauled, they sent 2 smaller coffers as well! Quite a haul!
The cask o’ Pearls now, they be a fine lot! I’ve plundered pearls from Adagio before, but these have a fuller bodied aroma, like the ladies what hail from Trinidad. They are brighter and more lustrous when compared to those jewels. Darker darks, and more golden golds.
Bit less o’ a chocolate taste, but still malty and sweet. Quite good. I be enjoyin’ me first cup, and look forward ta more!
Arrrrrr!
*note of surrender was actually a very nice thank you for my purchase. No merchant vessels were harmed in this skirmish ;)
Preparation
I’m really enjoying this one. I got it as a sample with my order from Mandala, thank you for that. It has a lovely balance to it and a nice silky mouthfeel, that was probably the first thing I noticed. It is smooth and savory not too strong and very pleasant. I was actually drinking it quite fast, I gulped 5 cups in like and hour… lol. Nutty, creamy, mushroomy and earthy, with a fantastic mouthfeel.
Preparation
Needed a shu to get me going this morning! I haven’t been drinking much puerh since the winter/early spring. It’s something I typically reserve for cooler weather, when I need something to warm my bones…And it usually does the trick. (: Interesting to revisit an old favorite after so long. I used 2tsp of leaf to about 10oz of boiling water, rinsing for 15 seconds first. Steep times were 35sec, 40sec, and 1min 15. Every steep was creamy, nutty, and mushroom-earthy. Each flavor had varying intensities but for the most part each steep was very similar. Notes of baked bread gained strength with every infusion.
Overall I would say Bu Lang Gong Ting makes a bold cup with light sweetness, pastry/bread notes, some fruit/berry undertones, and a strong earthiness about it. Lowering the rating a tad because it’s not very complex—it’s comfortably consistent and reliable. Not very fussy either. Nonetheless, it’s still one of my favorite shu’s.
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Berry, Bread, Creamy, Mushrooms, Nutty, Pastries, Wet Earth
Great job with your notes! And you are right about complexity of this tea. It has wonderful characteristics by itself and brews up a wonderful western style brew. But for gong fu style brewing, I like to blend in some larger leaf material to keep it more interesting in later steeps.
The flavors you bring up in your notes are spot on for me, too.
As far as the ripe pu’er in cooler weather, that definitely rings true for many. In Chinese medicine all foods, drink, etc are seen as having a thermal nature – they can be cooling, neutral or warming. The lighter, less processed teas are seen as cooling, oolongs (for the most part) as neutral, and darker teas as warming. We really see it reflected in our sales as the lighter tea sales increase as weather warms and the inverse when weather cools. Seriously an inverse relationship.
I hope you are having a super spectacular day, my friend! Thanks for the notes!
I’ve never tried gong fu brewing with this one. Maybe I need to do that next. I tried a 5 minute steep this morning and it was delicious! Like a breakfast pastry, somehow the long steep brought out more hidden sweetness and a buttery flavor. Seriously good.
I have heard that before. Oolongs typically have a cooling effect on my body temperature—especially high mountain oolongs. In winter I would drink puerh before trekking across university campus for class. If I drank it right before leaving, I would hardly notice the wind chill on my face and hands. If I drank other kinds of tea—oolong, green tea—it wouldn’t have the same effect. I can always feel my body temp rise after drinking puerh. Other teas served at the same temperature won’t necessarily do that. I always thought it was fascinating…I didn’t read anything about it until months later.
I hope you’re having a lovely day as well! Thank you for the wonderful tea!
The only way I can think to describe it: damp leaves, freshly picked berries still lightly coated with dirt, earth, and cream. I find it a bit hard to explain. Fruity, mellow, while still dark and earthy. Tastes faintly of sweet bread. Tends towards delicate. Not so much in-your-face. A lady pu-erh. Gosh, I realize I’ve been putting off writing a note because I didn’t think I would do it justice. I still don’t think I have. Probably my favorite from Mandala and my special occasion tea for sure.
Preparation
I distinctly remember that the first time I brewed a cup, I took a sip and my eyes went wide. “Wow.” Then I took another sip right after. “Wooooowwwww.” It was love.
These handy little flowers have become my go-to tea to carry in my purse. I can bring them with me to a restaurant, drop a few in my cup, let them steep & fish them out with a fork when my tea is strong enough. I don’t need a strainer, because they are tidy, with the leaves all tied together in the classic flower formation. The resulting cup is malty, smooth, & sweet. And they resteep nicely too. :)
sipdown!
This afternoon was the St. Louis Harp Society Fall meeting. I’m the president (no real power, I just set up meetings & recitals & such). I brought my own tea (& I’m glad I did, there was nothing that interested me there), & this was still in my purse from yesterday, so I polished it off.
Tony & I went out to breakfast at the Southwest Diner. Although their tea selection is lame, the food is quite good. I brought 3 of these blooming buds, dropped them into the little silver hot water thing they brought to the table, that holds just enough water for one cup, & didn’t even need a strainer. When she refilled it, I made sure she knew not to dump the tea out (waitresses have done that to me before). I was set for tea!
I really enjoy these. I only have 3 left. I need to place a Mandala order.
Hey Sil… ;)
One of the things I like about these little black cones is that I can put one flower in my smallest Gaiwan, steep it a minute, pour it into a same size cup & enjoy repeat steepings several times, just adding a minute to each one, until there’s no flavor left…which takes awhile!
First tea of the day, enjoyed hours ago while I was watering my garden!
I went with 3 cones @ 5 minutes. Admittedly, I didn’t watch them bloom, but that didn’t take away from the deliciousness of the resulting cup of tea. Walking around in the garden, watering hose in one hand, cup of tea in the other, butterflies & other insects flying around.
What could be better?
So of course as soon as Garret mentioned these last week, I had to place an order, right? I’m not really a big fan of blooming teas, but this is a blooming black tea, so that’s my excuse!
These are malty little flowers with a sweet backdrop! I’ve tried them 2 ways this morning:
First, while I was fixing my breakfast (leftover homemade soup), I put one in my little glass gaiwan, which I don’t use much because it gets way too hot! But it was perfect for this because the flower bloomed nicely! I did 4 steepings: 1min, 2min, 3min, 4.
They were all tasty, but I think #3 was my favorite. I can foresee just blooming a single flower in a 4oz cup for 3 or 4 minutes, when I want something quick & easy, just a small cup of tea.
Then I put 3 of them in my regular cup & steeped 4 minutes. That one was my true favorite, with the full richness of what these little cones have to offer! The final cup is a resteep of all 4 cones @ 5 min, & that’s pretty decent too!
HI Terri! Just sent a package out your way! You should see your “lost” goods very soon! Thanks so much for your reviews, your passion and your continued support of our business. I truly appreciate it!!
Not that I need another reason to make Mandala my next place to put in a tea order, but this tea has done it. Dexter3657 had generously included this in a swap some time ago – so thank you Dexter3657 for introducing me to Mandala! And thank you Mandala for providing quality tea’s…can’t wait to place my order!
This is a lighter pu’er but not light on flavour. The flavour profile is deliciously smooth, earthy and nutty. I have a silver tip pu’er from another company…not nearly as tasty as this sample.
This is a very mellow pu’erh tea that I quite enjoyed for several infusions. It’s soothing. I haven’t really been a fan of ripe pu’erh teas but I quite liked this one. It has a very smoky and heavy flavor that was absolutely delicious.
Preparation
I have been cleaning my house lately which is why I have been away from Steepster. My family has the propensity towards collecting randomness. Holiday items, curtains, tools and apparently tea sets. Squirreled away in a box of randomness was a tea set from Japan and a saki set. I am completely estimating but I think they are from the 40s or 50s because my Uncle was stationed in Japan around that time. It’s all gold and prettified. The tea set has a Foreign mark with a globe-like symbol—the saki set is a mystery because I can’t read Japanese…or anything but English. I have become completely obsessed with it. I had the brief thought of asking my aunts if they wanted it but I guess that’s impossible considering I am hoarding it like Gollum hoarded the One Ring.
Garret is officially my Tea Superhero. Like Batman only better. I have been on a serious green kick lately. Green oolongs, sheng pu’ers, green tea…all of it. But I had so little because that is usually not my schtick. Garret sent this one along with many other greenish teas in my last order. Happy dance!
This one started out very floral in a jasmine kind of way. Jasmine with a light honey sweetness. Surprisingly, I really loved it. The first steeps were dominated by floral notes but as the steep times got longer it veered more toward fruity notes…mainly peach. The honey stayed consistent with varying intensity.
I really liked this one quite a bit. It’s not my favorite green oolong. I think that is a tie between Alishan Oolong and Milk Oolong. But it’s pretty darn close. I’ll probably order some more of this and cold steep the last bit of this because I think it would be lovely iced.
Preparation
It’s like Garret has some super special powers and…just knows. Cause I swear I have most of the tea he sent on my to buy list.
Valley Peak is on my list. It’s a never-ending list. I am currently sipping Torch Festival green and it’s so yummy.
OKAy, I officially wanna party with all three of ya’s! You should know that I am a huge fan of each of you, too! Truly. Inspiring me in so many ways. I am a grateful man. And I so appreciate how you are helping to grow our labor of love with your kind words, your sharing of our product, your reviews. I am humbled.
Enjoying this one today. Good, solid loose puerh to have on hand.
Thank you for sipping, enjoying and writing about it, my friend! This same loose material was what we used to press in the 2011 Phatty Cake. And it was also used (in addition with a slightly larger grade leaf from same producer, same year) to press Phatty Cake II: the sequel. Definitely worth a try.
One of the things we hear over and over again on this loose leaf is how it makes people think of old, leather-bound books. We had a man from Germany in our tea shop on Saturday and I prepared some of this tea for him. He loved it and starting tearing up a little when he described that the tea was invoking the memory of his mother’s old, leatherbound Bible. He said he hadn’t thought of the book in many years. A good memory association brought on by great tea. What a neat thing it was to be a part of that. Needless to say, he left with a stash this tea :)
I haven’t seen AureliaFish on site for some time, but this is who I got this amazing sample from – so if you do ever see this AureliaFish – thank you!
Leather and smoke. That’s what this tea tastes like to me. I like it a lot. I will definitely be ordering this in the near future.
Really enjoying this one! Very savory, delicate, flavor. Its buttery and nutty, maybe even hints of corn… so good, I’m eating cherry pecan chocolate with it, Yumm! Definitely ordering more.
Preparation
This is one of my very favorite greens. When I was at the farm last April, I was so excited. I got to taste this tea after it had been processed just the day before. Super-clean growing area, clean air… so good. A long hike to get there, but well worth it.
What you were writing about is the crop from the 2013 spring harvest. I’m really happy that you enjoy it!
Morning and Happy Easter! A day to drink this lovely, bready tea outdoors (can’t get enough of this warmer weather) and count some blessings. Having friendly, kind, and funny Steepster buddies is one of them :) Relish your day today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guhr0Vh2hE0
(Music starts at about 1:36)
What I’m listening to this morning.
This one is going to take some thought and experimentation. Started the morning with 4 pearls to a 16 oz cup—maybe one more next time. First sip of the first steep and I wasn’t getting much flavor, just a thick, rich texture. As it cools, however, we’re getting something smoky, cedar-y, and a little sweet.
Good morning, Terriharplady and thanks for the chance to try this. Taking a couple days off work (too many weeks in overdrive) to tend to house/home, kith/kin, paperwork/piddling…so there may be a little time to think on this one some more.
I quite like this one from other vendors, and I hope this will be tasty too! The last one I tried had more of a malty flavor than smoky.
i have this one waiting for me to finish off some other teas… i think terri was responsible for me wanting this one, lol.
Thanks for writing up the review! We have exactly 4 ounces left of this tea after a gentleman bought up a ton of them today! We are unable to buy this tea as the producer did not make them this year. We are hoping that they will make them next year as our customers love them. We did just get in a shipment of blossoming black tea (they are cone shaped) from a producer I visited last April in China. They are quite nice. We just put them up on the site under black tea.
Very good Pu Erh. Lovely color and taste. Id like the aroma a bit stronger however, and a bit more full bodied liquor. Nice, smooth, silky pu erh, just not my favorite one ;) If you are new into pu erhs this would be a great one to start with. For me ill try steeping it longer next time to get a stronger aroma and flavor.
Hi! Garret here. Thanks for this, too! I don’t know if you had the cake version of this or the loose-leaf. This tea, due to its oxidation level, will change quite a bit over the next few years and I’m pumped to see where it will go. The cake is already developing whole new complexities since it was pressed (pressed 10/25/2012). I don’t know if you’ve checked out a couple of recent reviews of this, but I like what people are saying about its gentle nature. And with a little more leaf and longer steeping, you will likely get the body from it that you are looking for. Thanks, again!!
Wow! I’m in love.
I was very curious about this one. When my order came this was the first tea I opened, and let me tell you it was worth the wait. It smells milky, sweet, with some grassy notes and I want to say cotton candy or toffee. Its fantastic! I was so excited to try it that I forgot to rinse it first. In any case the first steeping was a bit more grassy, almost with a hint of seaweed in the after taste, yet still milky and sweet. The second steeping is a bit darker in color, and so much smoother, now I taste to toffee and cotton candy. This tea is really a must try, I’m only on my second steeping an I’m sold. Yum!
Preparation
Thank you for writing up the review, my friend! I appreciate hearing what people have to say about the various teas we are bringing from China and Taiwan. The tea that you have is from the spring crop and I quite like it. The autumn crop will be a while, but once we get it, I’m sure we will find like with the other autumn milk tea crops, it will be more aromatic and a bit sweeter, too. Interesting, isn’t it, that this happens from season to season, year to year? So much joy to be found in tea!
This Big Red Robe is on the lighter side of roasted flavour, and while it is delicious, I think I prefer a heavier roast. This is a very good tea if you don’t like a heavy dark roast.
Even though I prefer a heavier roast, I am appreciating this tea for it’s lighter notes. It brews to a dark golden colour. The taste is light and a bit mineral, with a floral and fruity hint in the aftertaste.
I’m on the third steep and I’m sure I can get a few more steeps out of the leaves.
Thank you Dexter3657 for providing me with a sample of this tea.
Memo to self – scribbles prefers darker roasts oolongs (I have the dark roast of this specific tea – I haven’t tried it, but once I do…..)
I haven’t tried the light roast, but I’m with scribbles. The Dark roast version of this is awesome. :)