Thank you for including a sample of this one, Nicole! The large wirey leaves have hints of brown to them. The brew is a pale brown. The flavor is pretty unique, but not strong enough for me (I don’t think I’ve slept very well in the last few days and I’m TRYING to avoid caffeine at night). There is a bright fruit flavor that is unique to this one… almost citrusy even, but mostly stonefruits. But it could be the tangy quality found in those ancient wild tree teas. Also, a bready fragrance to the dry leaf and hints of that in the flavor. Otherwise it tastes half like keemun and half like one of those Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong teas. (All three have a slight smoky quality to them.) I wish I could describe this one more, but I don’t think I’m quite awake while tasting. I definitely didn’t get chocolate notes – maybe because 1 1/2 teaspoons isn’t enough to get the chocolate notes but I used the entire sample I had. The second steep tasted almost exactly the same even though steeped completely differently.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons // 8 minutes after boiling // 1- 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // few minutes after boiling // 3-4 min
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I wasn’t very generous with my Mandala samples… those fall into my hoarding/every day teas category of stash. I want people to try them to see if they like them enough to buy their own, but I didn’t want to run myself out of any of them. :) Talk to me after the next sale that I can’t resist and I may be willing to part with more for experimentation. :)
Oh but you were very generous! I completely understand with hoarding your favorites. :D I am extremely grateful to try one serving samples!
I wasn’t very generous with my Mandala samples… those fall into my hoarding/every day teas category of stash. I want people to try them to see if they like them enough to buy their own, but I didn’t want to run myself out of any of them. :) Talk to me after the next sale that I can’t resist and I may be willing to part with more for experimentation. :)
Oh but you were very generous! I completely understand with hoarding your favorites. :D I am extremely grateful to try one serving samples!