76
drank Special Dark by Mandala Tea
4183 tasting notes

Thanks Terri Harplady for sending a bit of this to try along with the HH teabox! I used one teaspoon of leaves… these leaves just look chocolatey.

Steep #1 // cooled the water a few minutes // 1 min
This cup looked very pale in color… maybe I wasn’t supposed to let the water cool at all. The flavor wasn’t strong enough for me! I definitely should have steeped longer. I don’t see anything special OR dark with this one. I’ve had some pu-erhs that have been pitch black in color after seconds. The flavor is so mild it is tough to describe…

Steep #2 // cooled after a couple minutes // 3 min
This cup was darker… the color of root beer! The flavor was better too, but still not the strongest pu-erh I’ve had. It would be a nice intro pu-erh for anyone to try. The flavor does have hints of unsweetened chocolate and some cinnamon actually.

Steep #3 // just boiled // 10 min
Hmm… still not super dark. But the flavor is pleasant… hard to discern from the pumpkin bread I had while sipping though. Not dark enough for me! But I can say there was no ‘over steeped leaves’ flavor or anything.

If only I knew the perfect way to steep this one! But I have one more teaspoon to try with….

Stephanie

I like a loooong hot steep and a lot of leaf for this one. KAPOW it gets dark! The serving size is supposed to be a whole tablespoon I think :(

tea-sipper

Aw, I had a feeling I wasn’t using enough leaves.

Stephanie

:( Maybe you can get a tasty 4 oz cup with the last tsp. Let it steep as long as you can stand to!

tea-sipper

I’ll try that, if I remember!

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Stephanie

I like a loooong hot steep and a lot of leaf for this one. KAPOW it gets dark! The serving size is supposed to be a whole tablespoon I think :(

tea-sipper

Aw, I had a feeling I wasn’t using enough leaves.

Stephanie

:( Maybe you can get a tasty 4 oz cup with the last tsp. Let it steep as long as you can stand to!

tea-sipper

I’ll try that, if I remember!

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Hi! I love tea and trying new ones – it adds a bit of variety to my day! Books, music, TV & movies are my thing… and tea, of course.

Some of my favorite tea shops (still operating):
birdandblendtea.com
teavivre.com
52teas.com
svtea.com
whisperingpinestea.com
justea.com
harney.com
Dammann Freres
fusionteas.com
Javateaco.com
Lupicia
Octaviatea.com
Davidstea
eco-cha.com
what-cha.com
singleoriginteas.com
teasenz.com
tealyra.com
Mandala
verdanttea.com

Favorite tea shops (RIP):
butikiteas.com
steapshoppe.com
steepcityteas.com
aquartertotea.com
dellaterrateas.com
zentealife.com
angrytearoom.com
theteamerchant.net
joysteaspoon.com
tealiciousllc.com
Rivertea
Specialteas

My icon photo is Richard Mayhew from the graphic novel ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry.

Most of the teas listed in my cupboard are actually sample sizes. I don’t really have 2,000 ounces of tea around here! Many of my teas have only one teaspoon left… maybe two. But I like keeping them in my cupboard list for reference to what I could be sipping. Usually, I write tasting notes once for each tea. I’m still drinking them, just not writing tasting notes each time!

I’m always in search of: Hattialli, Qu Hao black, Jin Jun Mei, teas using marshmallow root.

My dislikes: hibiscus, ginger (unless in chai), turmeric, bee pollen, charcoal type flavors

My ratings:
95-100 – Super awesome deliciousness favorites – cupboard essential
80-95 – Also pretty delicious
65-80 – Pretty good
50-65 – Okay
1-50 – Probably won’t want to sip it again

I’m planning on being a Steepsterer as long as there IS a Steepster, so if you’re not hearing from me, that means something happened to my health… if you know what I mean. (Or as evidenced by the great computer hiatus of 2019, something happened to my computer… I have a dumb phone so can’t access internet on that. As of 12/20/21 my wifi might start getting unreliable.)

Happy sipping!

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USA

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