Mandala Tea

I have never had anything quite like this tea. It has this aquatic, hard to describe quality. It also has some very uplifting impact on my mood; this tea makes me happy.

I’m afraid I’ve been completely sucked in the world of Pu’er.
I have never tried Sheng Pu’er before and Wild Monk Sheng Pu’er has been a marvelous introduction. To me it tastes like sweet, dried apples/hay/grass, no bitterness whatsoever. When it cools down I can detect some smokey notes. It’s a complex tea you really want to drink more and get to know it.. Pretty sure I will re-order.

Tea swap sample provided by @Amy Oh

This seemed like a nice, mellow, Qimen-like tea. Unfortunately my husband I drank through our 6 steeps too quickly for me to write enough notes. We’re not big Qimen fans, so I’ll refrain from rating this tea. (Not to say it’s bad, because it’s an enjoyable black tea. But I have a bias)

It also reminds me of Tao Tea Leaf’s Mei Zhan. Which keeps the same mellow Qimen theme going on.

100ml gaiwan, 5g, 6 steeps (rinse, 15s, 30s, 45s, 1m, 1m30, 2m)

Yesterday was my One year Steepster anniversary and I am almost up to 1000 tasting notes, egads!

I haven’t been drinking a lot of pu-erh lately but today it’s raining so I thought this afternoon would be great time to try this sample cake I got from Mandala. According to traditional Chinese medicine, Pu-erh is a good cure for internal dampness.

I broke off a chunk and put it in the infuser mug after a quick 10 second rinse and then steeped it for about 60 seconds. I got a medium reddish-brown liquor. This seems like a very clean tasting pu-erh… a roasted coffee aroma with very earthy & mushroomy flavors and a creamy feeling in the finish.

My second steep was for about 90 seconds and this time I got a much darker infusion. This pu-erh now reminds me of coffee even more. I really think I used way too much leaf in my infuser basket so I decided to dump this infusion out and go for one with a little less time. I wasn’t really wanting such a dark tea so I resteeped it for 30 seconds and liked it a lot better this way. I really think that pu-erhs should be more of a reddish-brown color instead of black so if mine are very dark I know I probably used too much tea.

I’m not sure I am ready to give this a numerical rating yet due to the errors but I am enjoying it. I think I will retry this on another day with a smaller leaf to water ratio. It is warming me up and nice for this icky weather…

Still going strong after 4 steeps but I will probably end here. :)

AmyOh, I was determined to save this one for a day when I really had time to enjoy it, and that is what I did! Hubby and I have a tetsubin full of hot water on a warmer, my tea tray, the easy gaiwan, and some Yixing cups.

This is only the third sheng puer I have ever tried. I find this somewhat similar to the one from purepuer.com and completely dissimilar to the shu puers I have tried. (I love shu puer, by the way!)
I really didn’t realize that sheng were so different from shu until not long ago.

Like Amy, I find myself resteeping and drinking, resteeping and drinking. This puer has a cool feeling without being minty, perhaps being more like camphor, as I have read in descriptions. When I drink shu puer, I think of words like “deep, dark, low notes, earthy.” This sheng makes me think of high notes, light, brilliance, and minerals. We have done many, many steeps and it is still going strong. There is a sour aspect that isn’t overly drying, and a nice sweetness rises in the throat after the sip on these later steeps. If you swish the warm tea around your mouth, you will notice a creaminess to it as well…creamy, but not heavy.

My husband used to drink only Tetley or Ceylons with tons of milk and sugar. Now he enjoys Silky Green by Bird Pick, and doesn’t mind drinking shu puers with me. I was really curious as to how he would feel about this, half expecting him to make a face and say, “All through!”. But no, he drank cup after cup right beside me. I told him that at this price, it would be wise to buy a bunch of these and lay them in storage for up to a decade or more, just making conversation, and I was surprised when he said, “You probably should do that.”. And now, like Garrett, I find myself thinking, "Oh, how I hope I live long enough to see how they taste in (x) years!

Thank you, AmyOh! This has been a real treat!

This is also backlogging…from a couple of weeks ago.
My first Big Red Robe, and a free sample that Garret so kindly included in the box with my new yixing teapot. (It’s beautiful, by the way! I haven’t decided what to dedicate it to yet, but I’m thinking an oolong of some sort.) This is a perfect tea morning…
Anyway, I’m figuring out gongfu style, so I decided to try that too. Steeped 1.5 tsp in a little 4 oz ceramic cup that I just got from an artist friend, rinsed the leaves for about 10 sec, poured out the water, holding the leaves back with a fork (because I’m classy). I started the 1st steeping below with 30 sec, about 205 degree water, and added about 10 sec each steep.
1st steeping: I’m getting a mineral-y quality here…very smooth, with a hint of metallic texture.
2nd steeping: Mmm. Wow. This is sweet and smooth, and I taste something that I can only describe as caramel. This is delicious…can’t wait for the next steeping.
I’m not ready to rate it yet, but I’ll try it again to familiarize myself with it better so I can accurately rate it. Very nice!

sipdown!

I had this in the morning when steepster was acting up. I prefer this one to the black beauty that mandala offers. The taste here is much smoother and tasty…and sadly that’s all i can remember. Thanks for sending this my way terri! i may pick up some more eventually heh :)

backlog -

sadly i forgot to take notes and the past couple of days have been insane. Mostly what i remember was enjoying this but i’m glad i have more to pay closer attention to. Thank you terri!

SIPDOWN! (234) Thanks again to terriharplady for being so awesome! I’ve really enjoyed this one from Mandala even though it’s not my all time fav keemun. This is a cup that i could enjoy most days because it’s that kind of tea that doesn’t deman attention but is still flavourful and is enjoying to drink. I’m working from home today so look out cupboard! i hope haha

YAY for catching up to today’s teas finally. I’m also super happy that i can add new teas again to the database since i had a couple of those to do before i could finish all of that up as well. I am still enjoying this one quite a bit, though part of me was a little sad that it wasn’t a sipdown. I need more of those…like a lot more. I added a wee bit of maple syrup to this even though it’s not really a smokey keemun heh. Mostly because i’m still celebrating being back with my tea! :)

love this keemun from mandala – a dash of maple syrup = yummy! I’d consider keeping this in my cupboard on a more permanent basis for sure, though i think? i read somewhere he was thinking of switching this out for a different tea….i think. Either way another delicious tea from mandala and thank you again terri!

so i know nothing about pu er. like, absolutely nothing. however, i’ve always been interested in the flavors people describe it with so when my dad offered to let me buy tea (as a present for getting my drivers license) i decided I AM GOING TO BUY PU ER. AND NO ONE WILL STOP ME.

then i received the package today and just sort of. stared at it. what do i do? how do i do this? what? i read how other people did it and did it that way

not a thorough review but here are my impressions: it smelled much more strong than it tasted. for the most part it just tasted very smooth and almost mushroomy with a bit of herb-yness. if most pu ers taste somewhat like this, i guess i’ll keep going. it’s nice and i’d drink it again :0

I only wish work weren’t kicking me in the ass lately. I had this today and i remember it being a delicious cup of tea…but then the world exploded and before i could take any notes it was 8pm and i was home….exausted. This will be going on my re-order list from mandala.

thank you terri for sharing this with me!

Finished this one off today – i’m still around and drinking tea just not as frequently as before. Not sure why that is, but it is what it is :) Really enjoyed these pearls, though they not as amazing as my memory of the originals. However, that could very well just be my crappy memory haha Still though, these are delicious and they make me happy.

Review for Garrett’s NEW bigger black pearls. I didn’t want to create a new steepster entry since he won’t have the old ones ever again. The new ones are significantly larger taking 1-2 per cup vs the smaller ones. All that to say that i sort of drank this one up this morning, without actually taking notes. Work was a little crazy and when i went to start a note, i found i’d finished the tea hahaha. So um more to come when i have them again – think i’ll go with a longer 4-5min steep.

oh bother. It’s official. these are finally finished up, out of my cupboard, possibly never to be seen again. sad. but happy. but sad. Seriously though. Favourite pearls ever. there’s just something deliciously wonderful about how malty and rich and yummy they are. If garett ever finds some again, they will be insta-buy. even if they won’t be exactly the same.

edit: also drinking this so early in the morning means i can resteep it aaaallll day! oh happy day!

One cup left of this. Thankfully i saved my leaves from yesterdays cup of this and will be able to drink a few more steeps of this today, thus saving the last cup for a no good very bad day in which i need a pick me up. Seriously…if anyone out there has these and doesn’t want theirs….my house welcomes them lol

2 more delicious cups of this left. thankfully this resteeps well if my other half doesn’t discard the tea leaves accidentally :( backlog from yesterday as it was one hell of an insane day, followed by ppl at my house and then i pretty much wasn’t feeling well so i went to bed right after they left. I love the deliciousness of this tea. I have half a mind to take this out of my cupboard and hide the last two cups somewhere i won’t find them for like a year :)

I have been hoarding this tea..no longer! Today was 5 pearls for a 16oz travel mug and it was perfect. Seriously, i REALLY hope that Mandala is able to secure more of these in the future so that it doesn’t become like my beloved that i can’t bring myself to finish. :) Really though…these resteep well, and the chocolatey deliciousness of these are just awesome.

backlog from yesterday. I had these in the morning and i’m going to call them
keychange’s since she was kind enough to send me a few more of these babies that i adore! I relaly hope that someday Garrett can source these again since they are currently my favourite black pearls. there’s just something about the way they brew up that has me reaching for them over others when i want pearls. :) thanks keychange!

some days….there isn’t enough energy for tea writing. Morning tea. 6 pearls for 16oz…delicious.