graceatblb Send Message

The minute I opened the sample, I knew this one would be good. Sometimes you just have that feeling. Je t’aime had this almost custard-like vanilla and caramel type smell. It was almost overpowering in the best way possible.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well that amazing dry tea translated into a delicious cup of tea. The vanilla and caramel didn’t weaken all that much and was pleasantly creamy not cloying and over-sweet. I also love this black base quite a lot. It’s sort of smoky and has a bit of astringency to it. The sweetness of the vanilla and caramel and the kick of the base play very well together—in harmony if you will. The only negative I have, is that this tea is pretty much a one shot deal. The resteep was too weak and I just tossed it. But based on how amazing this one was on the first steep, the lack of resteep-ability can be overlooked.

Thanks to Laurent for the sample.

I have had Golden Needle on my “To Buy” list every time I have made a Mandala order and always ended up picking something else. I am regretting that now in a seriously bad way. It was included as a sample in my last Mandala order and it is one of those “I could die happy while drinking this” type of tea.

Dry the tea kind of smelled fruity. Like apricots. But brewed the flavor profile was completely different. It was malty and chocolaty in the most amazing way. The sip starts out with a malty smooth flavor but kicks in with a bit of bite but smooths out into a chocolaty finish. It kind of reminds me a little bit of Laoshan Black but I think I prefer this one. It has a bit more kick to it. It will be a part of my next order and if it’s not, please remind me what an idiot I am.

I just got my new glass mug from Mandala and I figured that I should pick a sample that I haven’t tried in a long time to break it in. I chose Year of the Dragon because…well, it’s the first one I saw.

I am going to try something a bit new. I am going to use the same brew time throughout. I’ve settled on 15 seconds.

1st Steep-
I may be a bit in love with this tea based on first impressions and I am deeply regretting not buying a cake. Very creamy and absolutely no earthiness. The only comparison I can think of is dates. Dried, dark yummy dates that I wait for at Christmas time and hoard them.

2nd Steep-
It’s getting to be more of a prune flavor. I don’t want to say that because most think of prunes as unappetizing but that’s what I’m getting with this steep—dried prunes. And it is yummy.

3rd Steep
Still tastes like a cross between dates and prunes…can’t decide which one. But it’s delicious.

4th Steep-
Still with the prunes but kind of candied because there is almost a burnt brown sugar aftertaste that you get with candied prunes.

5th Steep-
It’s starting to lighten a bit. Not much but enough that it doesn’t look so much like coffee. It’s lightened to the taste of raw figs. Oh boy.

I am now upping the steeping time to 20 seconds.

6th to 8th Steeps
Still figgy. A bit of candied fig taste with a brown sugar background.

I upped the time to 1 minute

9th to 12th Steeps
Still figgy but less so. Some vanilla notes peeking through at various levels of intensity.

13th Steep-5 minutes
Tastes like vanilla extract without the alcohol. Can’t say it’s not pleasant.

14th Steep-15 minutes
I think this tea is done. Tastes like hot water.

I love this tea. It hit every single flavor profile that I found appealing. Figs, prunes, dates…that’s like heaven to me. I’m a weird one I know. And as a bonus, I loved my new mug too. It’s adorable. It’s short and chubby and looks like it should be wearing a bow-tie. No, I am not crazy…I named it Stuart…maybe a little crazy.

P.S. This tea experience was completely different from my first time around with this tea. Just realizing that now when reading my tea note.

I had a chocolate craving this weekend. It doesn’t happen often but when it does…it gets bad. I decided that instead of mainlining chocolate bars to have Special Dark instead. I did a rinse and then a 7 minute steep. It’s definitely recommended. Dark chocolate with almost a hazelnut type background. I love it which is interesting considering I HATE Nutella.

I just got finished drinking my sample of the Noble Mark loose tea and now I am moving on to the cake sample that Garret sent me. I am kind of curious to see if there are any differences.

1st steep-15 sec
Still a gentleman’s pu’er. It’s not overwhelming even on the first steep. It’s very gentle. Like it’s holding the door open for you. Tee hee. Slightly roasty notes like a cup of blonde roast. Creamy. Almost a pastry type of sweetness. It tastes like a napoleon.

2nd Steep-20 seconds
The pastry aspects really come out. It tastes like walking into an old school bakery smells. It’s like being hit in the face with all those lovely smells of baking. Kind of sweet but in a breadlike kind of way.

3rd Steep-30 seconds
Still sweet and breadlike. A little honey coming through.

4th Steep-35 seconds
Same as before. Sweet like pastry with honey and some new nutty notes. Kind of like baklava.

5th Steep-40 seconds
Still a bit nutty with honey notes.

6th to 12th Steep-Up to 2 minutes
Varying levels of vanilla. Sometimes with nutty notes, sometimes with fruity notes and one very interesting time with a basil note. Tea is losing a bit.

13th Steep-5 minutes
Figs and honey. Almost can’t give up on this tea now because figs!

14th Steep-45 minutes
I forgot it. I don’t even have a good excuse but it didn’t turn out bad at all. Very light even with the long steep time. The figs are gone sadly and replaced by an almost anise like sweetness.

15th Steep-1 hour 30 minutes
I figured why not. It’s very very light. Still sweet but it’s hitting the floral side of fade which means it’s time for me to move on.

I did notice that when I started steeping this one, I was in a terrible mood. Like Eeyore meets Grumpy Cat meets Archie Bunker. Mainly because my team’s superstar decided to bail on a 15 year deal. Once I started sipping Noble Mark, the mood lifted and I was all cheerful again. Could be a coincidence but considering how much of a bad mood I was in. I doubt it.

I really did love this in cake form more than I did loose. I don’t know why. The flavor seemed much deeper and I didn’t mind spending almost 5 days with it at all. I have a feeling this would be one of those teas that taste different every time you steep it.

I wish I could strike my first review from the record because I was wrong. I was such a pu’er rookie and kind of jumped into the deep end with Noble Mark…and I brewed it all wrong.

I didn’t take detailed notes and I kind of mainlined it so I have no idea what each steep tasted like but I did 10 steeps. Noble Mark is a deliciously creamy and suprisingly light shu. And there is no post-fermentation smell at al (ignore that part of my first review—it was my rookitude). It actually smells a bit floral. The taste is a combination of whipped cream and light milk chocolate with some berry notes. It’s what I call a gentleman shu. It’s not going to kick you in the face or assert itself too much. It’s beautiful in it’s elegance.

I have a sample of the cake version of this tea that I am steeping now. Should be interesting to see the differences.

I haven’t had this one for a while. I missed it. It’s like an old friend that I haven’t seen for a long time but think of constantly.

I tried shorter steeps this time around because I wanted to extend the leaves a bit.

1st Steep-10 seconds
Slightly smoky with a sweet raisin finish. I am going to see what shorter steep times can do to this tea. So far so good.

2nd Steep-15 sec
Very very slight smoke. Roasty. There is also a almost breadlike note on the finish. Very thick mouthfeel as well. Shorter steeps seem to be working really well.

3rd Steep-20 seconds
Sorta sweet. Kind of leathery. Smooth mouthfeel.

4th Steep-25 seconds
There is a grape note in there. Sweet and a bit earthy. Like grapes just off the vine.

5th Steep-30 seconds
Grapes and a bit of a spice bite. A little nutmeg in some sips.

6th Steep-40 seconds
Nutmeg just popped right out there. With vanilla. The grape is gone. Still fruity but it’s a different feel to it.

7th Steep-50 seconds
Lightening up quite a bit. The fruit flavor is much clearer. Like a carmelized fig. It’s pretty much my favorite thing ever.

8th Steep-60 seconds
All fig right now. With brown sugar. This one is perhaps my favorite steep because figs are the best thing ever.

9th Steep-1.30 minutes
Lightening up much more. Tastes of vanilla wafers.

10th Steep-2 minutes
Vanilla and a bit of clove.

11th Steep-2.10 minutes
Some spice…clove still…and a floral taste creeping in.

12th Steep-2.30 minutes
This tea is pretty much done. Very floral on the last steep and that’s how I know to quit. Floral + me= no fun

I saved this one for last because I was really looking forward to it. It just sounded so good and it smelled so yummy in the bag. And it was really really good but it was kind of weird too.

I don’t know what I was expecting when it came to this tea but I definitely didn’t expect what I got. Dry the tea smells like any other black tea. Maybe a bit roastier. But brewed this tea smells…it’s kind of difficult to describe…but kind of herbaceous. Like basil. Basil in a garden because there is also kind of an earthy smell as well. It smells like my Grandma’s garden….it’s a happy place for me. The taste keeps that basil flavor but adds a chocolaty kick at the end of the sip. It reminds me of my favorite cake ever which happens to be a chocolate basil cake. It sounds weird but it’s pretty much the best thing ever.

I’m still brewing this one so updates will be updating. That makes very little sense but it will happen.

Garret included this one in my birthday order as a sample. I was overjoyed because it was on my list before pu’er craziness took over and I added another cake instead. This one was really really good.

First of all, the leaves are so pretty to look at. They are these golden bits of pretty. I almost felt bad pouring water over them. And they smell like the best caramel you’ve ever had. As I said yesterday in my review of Long Life, black teas for me fall into 5 categories fruity, chocolaty, malty, roasty and kick you in the butt. This one falls right in the malty category. There is a bit of nuttiness and even some chocolate notes but it’s not one of those “Good Morning!" with a punch in the face teas. It’s mild and gentle. Golden Strand is that quiet kid in school who always does well even though you don’t hear from him much in class.

I’m going to steep this one a bit more. I only had time for two steeps tonight. I’ll probably update this tea note tomorrow.

Pu’er just may be the love of my tea life but coming in a close second is black tea. Not so much flavored black tea but the unflavored stuff. I have been searching for my favorite but there are so many different varieties. There are the chocolaty ones, the roasty ones, the malty ones, the fruity ones and the ones that just kick you in the butt in the morning. This one is fruity. Very fruity.

When I opened my package of tea, I was hit in the face with the smell of dried apricots. It’s the smell of Sundays for me. My Grandma used to give me dried apricots in church when I was a kid to keep me from starting my own mini-riot. The brewed tea tastes very much the same. Dried apricots with a bit of malt. It was pretty perfect. It was more apricot than any apricot flavored tea I have ever tried and apricot is one of my favorite things on the planet so I’m pretty picky. I resteeped this tea four more times increasing by a minute each time. Each resteep maintained the same level of apricot and towards the end got a bit of a nutty note.