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Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2024 Tea #4 – A pantry staple  

This must be the coconut tea with the most longevity!  Amazing flavor and I THINK this is seven years old?  So this is definitely a coconut staple for me. As such a simple blend, the coconut really needs to be the star.  Take note of this blend, green rooibos or coconut fans.  Luckily a few more cups left and I think they will taste just fine.  Will be restocking!

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2024 Tea #3 – A tea that reminds you of a garden  

WOW, no dashboard stall for this weekend?  It has been a while since a weekend has been free of that!  This was buried in the ‘soon’ pile of teas, for around Easter, then thought it was perfect for this prompt.  Too on the nose?  Why not.  What ISN’T “a rabbit’s garden”? They eat everything, bark too. The flowers don’t have a chance. These poor old peas and corn kernels here.  Still mostly a flavor of peach.   And old green tea….  next time, a sipdown.

A note on the overall mini-tuocha variety pack experience!  At this point, all of these tuochas in this Mandala sampler are probably ten years old now and they are aging WELL!   I think I have tried them all.  Most of them are VERY delicious.  The lowest rated is 83 and another is the rice flavored — I don’t think that type ages well.  Most of the others are in the 93-95 range.   I think I fully trust in Mandala’s options of mini tuochas and that whomever is curating them shares the same taste in shou that I do.  We are on the same shou wavelength!  The fun thing is, if I ordered the Mandala sampler today, it would be mostly different tuochas!  But I know they would be great.
What I found in the sampler:
Temple Stairs 2014 mini tuocha – 95
Drawing of Sunflower wrapper – 94
Drawing of Brown circle with clouds wrapper – 93
2005 Langhe ripe – 93
Gold ingot mini ripe puerh – 87
Lao cang ripe mini – 83
Sticky rice – 74
So I will set the rating for this entire sampler at 93! Very thrilled I was able to try this. VERY happy with most of these tuochas!

So this might be the last tuocha from the OLD Mandala sampler that I need to write a note for!  The ones I can identify anyway.  I doubled up on this tuocha, two for one mug, as the last time I had one in a mug it was too light for me and a little one note, bland flavored.  Two is PERFECT.  A really great level of richness, like coffee.  No negative qualities. The first steep WAS a little bland and light, but probably because the tuochas were crammed in the infuser side by side on that first steep.  But the second, third, and fourth steep were amazing!  So delicious.  It seems I lost a note of “berries” though in only having one tuocha, reading my original note for this.  SO maybe I should keep using one tuocha to notice the berry note.   But I will miss that depth of flavor! The rating for two tuochas would be higher than the 83 I originally gave this, but I think it is only fair to give a rating for one tuocha.  I have really been enjoying shou all winter, now into Spring.  
Steep #1  // 2 tuochas for full mug // rinse // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  10 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 4 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 12 min

This is from Cameron B!  Thanks very much!  I wasn’t expecting much with this tea, as I knew this was probably full of rosehips and strawberry teas are usually a let down.  The hardest flavor to get right, I think, is authentic strawberry.  Surprisingly, both steeps at least had a bit of strawberry candy flavor.  Surprising because it looked like half the blend was rose hips!  So really it tasted like strawberry flavored rosehips, as I couldn’t really taste any white tea.  So this was better than I expected?  But the bar was very very low here. 
Steep #1   // 2 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  20 minutes after boiling // 3 min

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2024 Tea #2 – A tea that comes in a special shape

I think the only “special shape” teas I have at the moment are tuochas.  I’m trying the sunflower tuocha in this old sampler again, because the last time,for some reason, regretfully, I used two tuochas for a mug.  I don’t know why!  Because trying it again, this tuocha is PERFECT.  It must be a “golden leaf” because there is a lot of lightness here to the leaf.  I also love the massive biscuity scent wafting from the drenched leaves.  The flavor even on the first steep is deep and delicious. Wow.  Sweet, biscuit, syrup, rich.  This is the ripe I love.  Again, I bet age is helping this one.  The third steep is a little weaker in flavor, but still decent.  The fourth steep, I wouldn’t bother with again.  I’d rather just go for a long third steep.  But this is entirely forgivable as the initial flavor is so good.  It’s a quick unraveller!   The rating for this sunflower wrapper tuocha would be a 94. If anyone has any old tuochas left from older Mandala sampler sets that they don’t want, let me know, as I would love to gratefully rehome them!
Steep #1  // 1 tuocha for full mug // 22 minutes after boiling // rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  10 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10+ min

This is QUITE a small tuocha! And it is a very slow unraveller, even after a rinse and steeping for three minutes. Resulting in a very light brew on that first steep — too light, really. And bland because of it. The tuocha looks like it absorbed a little water, but still kept its form. But it’s unusual for me to steep a tuocha for three minutes on the first steep, so I really didn’t want to go over three minutes. Rethinking this though, I should have steeped until there was a HINT at least of a dark puerh that I would have enjoyed drinking. But that is what I figured out on the second steep! Still, the tuocha is hardly unraveled but the steep is MUCH darker and the taste is lovely. Like a cup of coffee. Rich and dark, just like I love shou. No negative qualities here at all. Even after the second steep, the tuocha needed a bit of prodding for a delicious third steep and then a delicious fourth. Note to self: Just steep the first cup until it’s a drinkably dark brew color.
Steep #1 // 1 tuocha for full mug // 22 minutes after boiling // rinse // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 1/2 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 6 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10+ min

From Daylon R Thomas a while ago!  Thanks very much!  Impossible to measure these leaves unless using a scale.  Once in a while, I seem to say “these are the longest leaves I have ever seen”, but these must be the longest!  Not so much twisted together, as almost straightened somehow, but still very difficult even to POUR out of the skinny bag. I was pleased to notice the description says: “Our Cang Ya is tightly twisted into a strip shape.”  So there you go.  The dry leaf has a scent of summer squash and dried hay.  The flavor is also summer squash!   But also a sweet fruit candy flavor that I thought might be strawberry, but then settled on candy grape. The second steep is rich but not overdone or bitter.  Biscuity.  I really expected the flavor to be much lighter on this one, so I’m very happy with how this one resulted! (I’m really not describing the richer flavors here, but there are some.)
Steep #1  // 22 minutes after boiling // 1 1/2 – 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  just boiled // 3 min

Gmathis noticed me raving about one of my favorites — the many variations on coffee puerh, so she sent over a sample of this one!  Thanks very much (and also for the super cute card! Books!  Tea!)   This might be the first tea I am trying from TeaMaze?   I could tell even before tipping the kettle over, the scent of the dry leaf could not be better.  This blend should have been called “The Best Coffee”.  At least to this coffee novice!  Then again, this is being marketed to tea people and not coffee people!  The flavor couldn’t be better here, the best parts of coffee — it’s coffee, but sweet, mocha, and a hint of cocoa.  Three steeps with great flavor. The twenty minute third steep was almost the same as the second steep.   However, the base is a little too weak for me, no matter which steep it is.  As a combination of puerh and black tea, I love the concept, but the result of the brew is so light in the mug. (The description says “robust” tea and I disagree.) But where I rate this tea so highly, is the perfect flavor that lingers through all three steeps:  IT’S COFFEE.  Delicious coffee to someone who avoids actual coffee. So I will allow the base here to take a backseat as the carrier of this perfect flavor I’m craving all the time (while not actually craving coffee).  Yum.
Steep #1  // 1 heaping teaspoon for full mug // 22 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  15 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 20 min

From AJRimmer QUITE a long time ago — thanks very much!   Honestly, even the scent of the dry leaf had something a bit offputting to me, an odd scent, which might be why it has taken so long to write a note for this. It’s just a mystery — not sure if it is flavoring they have added or one of the ingredients that is creating that scent. It’s nothing TOO bad, just unique.  It also transfers to the flavor.  I probably majorly overleafed here to use up the rest, and wow it is a LOT of tartness in a mostly hibiscus blend.  But then there is another element that gives it a syrupy sweet note. Not really any noticeable fruit?  Not terrible if you are actually craving a tart cup of hibiscus!  
Steep #1  // 2+ teaspoons for full mug // 23 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 5+ min
2024 sipdowns: 32