Mandala Tea

I think this will be the third sipdown I will have logged for this tea, LOL.
I’ve received samples twice from Sil & once from Garret. It’s a tasty little tea, & ocne again, it’s gone!
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I’ve claimed sipdowns of this tea twice! First I drank a Sample Sil had provided, then I received another sample from Garret. And then Sil sent me some more!
Not like it’s a problem, or anything, because it is a tasty cup, & I enjoyed a whole pot of it today with my lunch. See previous reviews for further comments, because I know I’m not really doing this tea justice today.

Sipdown #2 of the day (#11 overall) Teacount = 381
This is actually a pleasant cup of tea, kind of sweet, smooth, & grapenutty. There’s also a hint of a roasty coffee-like flavor, which is interesting. I went with two steepings, 3min/5min. Both were delicious.

Regarding GABA, the best ways to up your levels are:
Yoga – which I haven’t done yet today…
Eating fermented foods – which I have! I’m pleased to share that my most recent batch of root kimchi is the best batch ever! I started the crock a week ago, with a mix of carrot, burdock, sunchoke, radish, turnip, horseradish, ginger, garlic, onion, shallot, scallion, & probably a few other things I can’t think of right now. I like to cut each root into it’s own unique shape, sticks, squares, triangle, etc. My talent @ making carrot flowers, which used to grace all my soups when my kids were young, has sadly diminished, so the flowers look kind of lopsided, but they will still taste good, & add interest. Anyway, I had some of the kimchi with my breakfast, & it really is a tasty one, so I’ll jar it up later, & add it to the laboratory (i.e. the fridge in my basement where all such culturing projects are stored when they reach the appropriate level of ripeness. They will keep almost indefinitely, but we do eat them regularly. It’s current residents include cukes, green beans, the last of the pink kraut).

I’m finally getting around to sampling this. I have the sample Sil sent me, & Garret also sent me a sample in my recent order.

This is not a bad tasting tea, & I think the interesting flavor Sil was reaching for in her review of this one might be “coffee”. It has an essence of coffee-like taste to it, not bitter, but that’s what I’m getting from it. I’m also getting “grapenuts”, for sure.

Personally I would never buy a tea because it has high levels of GABA, because honestly, according to the things I’ve read, taking GABA as a supplement doesn’t increase the levels in your brain. GABA is manufactured in your brain, & taken as a supplement, it can’t actually cross the blood-brain barrier. The best way to up your brain’s GABA levels are:
- eating fermented foods, like kimchi, keifer, etc, which will improve your absorption of the nutrients needed by your brain.
- doing yoga! Studies have shown that doing yoga enhances GABA levels!

Still, it’s a pleasant cup of tea! Thanks for the samples Sil & Garret!

I got this in the mail yesterday and drank some this morning as I was getting ready for work. Here lately my mornings have been a race to see how many caffeinated teas I can try before I have to leave for work lol and this was the last one I got in! This was my first order to mandala and when I opened the box there was a handwritten note from them, which I thought was really nice, and 2 samples which was also really cool because my order was small. I am very happy with the way they treat their customers so far! Would definitely re-order based on that alone. On to the tea… This tea smelled wonderful brewing! I love the smell of jasmine! It was not overwhelming though. The taste was subtle and not overwhelming. I could definitely see this being a jasmine tea for someone who does not usually like jasmine teas. The jasmine doesn’t hit you right in the face. I really enjoyed this and can’t wait to try to the milk oolong that I ordered along with this!

well,i lied..i said that I would try the year of the dragon shu this evening but instead im trying this one…this is nice…I really enjoy Bulang teas raw or ripe…another winner from Mandala…110ml gaiwan 8g tea…

I had this last night…I actually didn’t like this nearly as much as some of the other ripe offerings mandala offers…tonight I’ll try the year of dragon and see how that one is…

this was a great morning tea with an everything bagel with herb and garlic creamcheese. :) slightly smokey taste, little bit of astringency but overall the perfect compliment to breakfast this morning.

i’ve had this a couple times now from my most recent mandala order and i think i’ve decided that i don’t love it. It’s not a BAD cup of tea…but compared to a bunch of the other offerings from mandala, i’d rather pick those ones up than this one.

thank you gracebtlb She sent this my way in an awesome card full of puppies! I figured i might as well drink it think morning rather than adding it to my cupboard :) This is an interesting tea for me. I rather think i’ll ask Garrett for another sample of this the next order i place so that i can have some more. It’s not an overly fruity or malty tea, but there’s enough going on of both that it blends well together for a rather tasty cup! Thanks again grace!

Free sample with the purchase. Thank you Garrett !
Steeped gong fu 1,2, 3 and 5min
I like it a lot. It’s bold sweet, smoky and spicy. I have to agree with Terri it smells and taste like roasted poblano . I do like this smokiness and spice. It’s welcoming , makes you feel warm and toasty on a wet and chilly winter morning. This tea is not flat and boring. It changes as it cools. I prefer it hot.

very nice, very smooth…. i have to play with steeping to maximize its potential. still quite lovely though.

I’m sipping on this one over the course of the morning to give it a full run through of as many steepings as possible. Gracebtlb sent this my way and i’ve been looking forward to trying it.

First couple steeps have been earthy with a hint of almond.

Edit: as this progresses the tea is becoming slightly sweet. I’m not getting the cherry flavours that grace mentioned but i am really enjoying this.

(more to come later)

bottom line, creamy and an all around good oolong.

I love this tea – I had not known tea could have this deep roasty full flavor. Smelling it is like being in a forest – in a good way. Delicious.

Thank you, Mandala Team, for making my first purchase quick and painless, and for adding extra samples! I haven’t branched out to new companies in a long, long time.

This is delicious. It’s sweet, creamy and cocoa tinged, with a nice finishing accent of pepper spice and sour chips (also smoke in some of the steeps). Smooth cocoa notes come out thicker at the end as it cools a little.

It’s also a relatively forgiving steeper: 1tbsp, first steep boiling for 30sec, in a mug (wait, is this thing more than 8oz?). Second steep 174F (ahhh..nooo!), for 1min. Third steep, boiling 1min (this is gold).

This is turning out to be a rocky session, but the tea plows through all the challenges I present it. Thank you, tea; I’ll treat you (and all puerh) better next time.

I got this for Christmas from my youngest daughter and used it for the first time last night. Appropriately, I used it on my Mandala Tea Phatty Cake, which has some spots that are rather easy to break but some really difficult, hard spots around the edge.

This is a huge improvement over my previous dangerous cake breaking experiences. A slippery plate with no rim and a serrated tomato knife result in the occasional spilling of blood for tea. (Totally worth it, though)

I still don’t have a knife and pick but will get those soon. Even using my old knife, this was so much easier and safer. All the leaf was well contained by the rim, and the corner opening made it perfectly easy to just sweep the loose bits into the pot.

Hubby wants to devise a means of keeping it on display on the wall when not in use, and he prefers for it to be tilted in a diamond shape, which will tilt the Chinese character that is in the middle of the tray, so not sure if that is how we will do it. I wonder what the character is, anyway? I KNOW someone is going to ask!

Bottom line – I love it, and highly recommend buying one if you like any compressed cake teas.

This is a sample sent with my Christmas order to Mandala Tea. It is soooooo good I think another order is warranted. I shared this with my best friend this evening and we were resteeping a single teaspoon of leaf in a tiny 8 ounce pot. We had gingerbread almond biscotti with it. Delicious!

This was sent a s a free sample with my Christmas order from Mandala Tea. Thank you, Garret, because this is a real treasure.

I made this last night while we were playing Ticket to Ride, European version. My son wanted some, too, and when hubby saw our cups he asked for some as well. What a joy it is to have everyone in the family requesting tea now!

This puerh was clean and fresh, with lots of mineral flavor, no astringency, no fishiness, and not really horsey. Pure, fresh nature is what came to mind. There is an oily/creamy mouthfeel that I love, similar to what I find in Mengku Palace Ripened Golden Buds. This is excellent, and I will probably be ordering some more as soon as I can justify spending more money on tea.