Mandala Tea

6th Steep-2.30 minutes
Still has the fig taste. But much lighter. Not as sweet or syrupy but very mellow. Also has a bit of a whole wheat bread taste.

7th Steep-3 minutes
Whole wheat bread. Very nutty and naturally sweet. I do miss the fig though.

8th Steep-4 minutes
Getting a lot of milk chocolate notes. Never have I had a pu-er where the chocolate shows up in the later steeps. Not that I am all that experienced with pu-er but still.

9th Steep5 minutes
Still chocolaty with a nutty note. Not hazelnut. Maybe pistachio. The flavor is starting to fade quite a bit. But after 2 days and 9 (soon to be 10) steeps, it perfectly acceptable.

10th Steep-6 minutes
Vanilla and floral notes. Very pleasant. I am almost regretting putting myself on a 10 steep limit.

I think this one will be a staple. I got so many lovely flavors out of it. I could drink this everyday and never get bored.

I learned a lesson today. A letter opener is not the proper tool to break apart a pu-er cake. It took me half an hour and a coring knife to dig into this one. I don’t think I destroyed the cake too badly but I did end up buying a pu-er pick from Mandala…and more tea because I am a weak person.

I planned to drink this tea to comfort myself in case my hockey team decided to give me a migraine but strangely enough, they won. And I was still lucky enough to drink 5 steeping of this lovely tea. It has tied Bu Lang Gong Ting as my favorite. It’s ridiculously good. And my team won so YAY!

1st Steep-30 seconds
In spite of my mess-up with the breaking of the cake, the initial flavors of this tea is nothing short of mind-blowing. It’s a spicy, leathery and musky. I know that sounds a bit strange but those flavors together are just so perfect.

2nd Steep-45 seconds
I’m getting raisin notes. Very sweet and a bit smoky on the finish. So nice. The slight smoke cuts the sweet of the raisin notes in the best way possible.

3rd Steep-1 minute
Brown sugar, raisins and rum. That’s what I am getting from this steep. And boy oh boy is it perfect. Three of my favorite things in the world. This was a very cakey steep. Very sweet and syrupy.

4th Steep-1.30 minutes
Brown sugar, caramel and a fruity flavor that I can’t place right now. This tea keeps improving with each steep.

5th Steep-2 minutes
Fig! Brown sugar and fig notes. I cannot tell you how happy I was to come across a pu-er with roasted fig notes. I love anything fig so this was just PERFECT.

I love this tea. So much. It’s not even rational how much I love it. I want more and I haven’t even finished this cake yet. I may be a little obsessed with it. I am holding the leaves over for tomorrow because there was absolutely no fade to the brew. I’m just going to keep brewing until there is no flavor left.

That 5th steep is something I cannot get over right now. Is there any other pu-er out there with fig notes in there?

Full review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 24th but for now here are the snippits:

The sweet aroma is present both in dry leaf and when steeped. There is a wonderful sweetness in the taste of this tea not quite honey but not quite molasses, more like sourgum. This lends to the tea being somewhat wine like in flavor, but not muscatel. If memory serves this tea is similar to a barley wine, but it has been years since I have sipped barely wine.

At 6.00 per ounce, discounted to 21.60 if you purchase 4 ounces this tea is a steal for a high quality and totally unique oolong.

The flavor of this tea really coats your mouth leaving behind a long lasting delicious flavor and aroma that sticks in your nostrils. As you breath you can taste the tea even more.

I experimented a bit with the steep time while brewing this tea so it’s probably a bit crazypants because it jumps all over the place. I think I will follow Garret’s suggested steep times from now on because it worked brilliantly with the Bu Lang Gong Ting.

1st Steep- 1 minute
Very mushroomy and earthy. It was pleasant in its earthiness and not at all overpowering. I think this may be the first earthy shu that I’ve liked.

2nd Steep-45 seconds
Still a bit earthy but with a nice leathery note. Very smooth.

3rd Steep-2 minutes
Yet again the third steep is my favorite. This steep was buttery with a bit of roastiness to it. I don’t know exactly what to compare it to but it brings to mind breakfast.

4th Steep-3 minutes
Still very buttery with a touch of honey. Perhaps a bit more intense than the 3rd steep.

5th Steep-1 minute
This was my final steep and it was lovely. It tasted like molasses. So very good.

I had to stop with this tea after the 5th steep because I tend to drink tea late at night. I know that’s probably not normal but I’m generally a not very normal person.

I loved Four Leaves. Perhaps not as much as Bu Lang Gong Ting but I think that one may be my benchmark tea. I really enjoyed the earthiness of this tea. If I was going to replace my morning cup of coffee—which I still need to be human—-this would be the one.

Sometimes I realized I’ve almost finished off a tea without posting a tasting note. This is one of those! I think that must mean I like it, but don’t have much to say about it. This pu doesn’t wow me, but it’s not offensive either. It reminds me of the kind of black teas I like to get for my thermos at school – not the really lovely stuff, but still far better than the teabagged crap they have on campus (which is not to say that all tea in teabags is bad, but the ones at my school certainly are).

I’m glad I tried the sample of this, as it’s a nice easy drinker. Probably won’t get a whole cake. That Xiaguan crane I got from Garret on the other hand…I need to post a note for that and I wish there was a lot more so I could horde it.

I think this was my first ever transcendent tea moment. From the first sip, I was immediately in love with this tea. It was perfect. I was in utter awe while enjoying this tea. I am a former coffee drinker. You just don’t get that from coffee so this was a kind of milestone for me.

1st Steep- 30 seconds
Very leathery and, it’s going to sound strange, but there is also a note of parchment. I’m a book lover so this first steep worked very well for me. The smell of parchment and leather always brings happy memories. There was also a bit of bittersweet chocolate on the finish.

2nd Steep-45 seconds
The dark chocolate really came out. There was also a nutty hazelnut flavor. I loved this steep. I’m not a fan of Nutella but that is what it reminded me of. Maybe I just like it in tea?

3rd Steep-1 minute
The third steep is always my favorite for some reason. There was a lovely vanilla bean flavor with a brown sugar finish. In a way, it kind of reminded me of crème brulee with the brown sugar crackle on the top.

4th Steep-1.30 minutes
I got a lot of cinnamon. Very light and naturally sweet. There was also still a bit of the brown sugar flavor with some honey coming through. I love this steep almost as much as I love the 3rd one.

5th Steep-2 minutes
Honey. This steep was just one note but it was intense. And delicious.

6h Steep-3 minutes
This final steep was suddenly very fruity. Like peach. Maybe my taste buds are in a tizzy but it came out of nowhere.

Yet again, there came a point where I had to stop brewing this tea because it got late but I could have brewed this tea over and over again. This tea was perfection. Complete and utter perfection. I loved this tea. I wish I had bought more than an ounce of it because I could drink this everyday.

Garret sent me home with one of these – my first 10 year old ripe pu’er, and an affordable one. I was working with water at 208 and my dedicated Yixing pot for ripes. The cake fell apart easily with the breaking knife.

30 second infusion: Clean and mild. The flavors are not intense, but work as an integrated whole with nothing spiking out at me. Yes, “clean” is the word.

1 minute infusion: Again, impressively clean-tasting now with a slight cooling sensation. I confess that I don’t like eating mushrooms so I don’t have a good benchmark on some of those flavors others describe. What I do taste is a pleasant leather scent, vanilla, and even slight cinnamon. The extra steeping time brought the flavor intensity way up. Hearty flavor, but not HUGE.

1.5 minute infusion: very much the same cup – it seems to have leveled out at this nice, easy-drinking plateau

3 minute infusion: still the same cup as the 1 minute infusion, the same flavors remain integrated in a nice, round whole. It is pleasant.

Homerun infusion: I don’t know…maybe it was 6 minutes, 10 minutes? Did it for the sake of science and guess what? Pretty much the same cup as the 1 minute infusion.

I’m really glad to have Yellow Mark in my home. This could be brewed in a semi-intentional way for some consistently good pu’er drinking.

I just ordered more—darn sale— so I decided to finish off the last of my sample. It’s like seeing an old friend again after a long time. You miss them, you know they are there if you need them but you just never get around to calling them. That’s how I feel about this tea. I love it so much and I know I have a cake waiting for me but I feel better waiting to drink it. Does that sound crazy?

It’s still my favorite gentleman’s shu after all this time. It’s creamy milk chocolate with a nutty background. There’s also a heavy cream-ish taste in the background. So nice. Like hot cocoa. I’m totally okay with having bought 4 more ounces of this. So okay.

I needed to drink something I knew I loved today. My tea experience last night (with Mango Diablo) was far from pleasant. So Gentleman’s shu it is. It was a beautiful experience of toffee, caramel and cream. I didn’t take notes because I am lazy…That’s been a trend lately. But I do think I have found my perfect brew method with this one. 15 seconds for the first 3 steeps, then increase by 10 seconds until you reach a minute, then after a minute increase by 30 seconds. It was perfect. I am upping my rating because I really love this tea more and more every time I drink it.

I wish I could strike my first review from the record because I was wrong. I was such a pu’er rookie and kind of jumped into the deep end with Noble Mark…and I brewed it all wrong.

I didn’t take detailed notes and I kind of mainlined it so I have no idea what each steep tasted like but I did 10 steeps. Noble Mark is a deliciously creamy and suprisingly light shu. And there is no post-fermentation smell at al (ignore that part of my first review—it was my rookitude). It actually smells a bit floral. The taste is a combination of whipped cream and light milk chocolate with some berry notes. It’s what I call a gentleman shu. It’s not going to kick you in the face or assert itself too much. It’s beautiful in it’s elegance.

I have a sample of the cake version of this tea that I am steeping now. Should be interesting to see the differences.

This was another sample with my Mandala order. My initial impressions of this tea weren’t very good. The dry tea kind of smelled fishy to me. I hate fish so I am really sensitive to the smell. It wasn’t intense but it was there and initially it was a turn-off. But I soldiered on and tried the tea anyway.

1st Steep- 1 minute
My first words after taking the first sip were “Holy Crap!”. The tea still keeps a bit of the off smell but the taste is a big ol’shocker. It’s chocolate with a nice cream finish. I spent almost a minute starring at my teacup in shock.

2nd Steep-2 minutes
It still had the “off” smell but this steep was full of chocolate with a bit of nuttiness. I am borderline in love with this tea already.

3rd Steep-3 minutes
This was my favorite steep. It was all Madagascar vanilla bean and whipped cream. Perhaps a bit of a slight peppery bite as well. It was just perfect.

4th Steep-4 minutes
This had a bit of salty/sweet going for it. It still had the vanilla taste but there was a bit of a salty finish to it. Reminded me of salted caramel. So good.

5th Steep-5 minutes
I brewed this final steep at 1am—bad idea but kind of brilliant at the same time. This is probably tied for my favorite steep. It’s much lighter but I am getting a great brown sugar flavor—with no sugar at all in my tea. The salty bite from the last steep also got a bit more intense. So it’s even more like a salted caramel.

I did not want to stop brewing this tea but it was 1am and I had to get up very early. This was quite the lovely tea. It did not give off the best initial impression but once brewed gave off the most lovely of flavors.

I have a huge backlog of reviews to post. It’s almost daunting.

I received this tea as a sample with my first Mandala Tea order—and I will definitely be ordering most of my pu-er from them from now on. I was planning on saving this tea for tomorrow but my hockey team lost badly and I needed something nice to cheer me up.

1st Steep- 1 minute
Smelled very grassy. Usually this is quite the turn-off for me. It did taste a bit grassy but with a nice smoke flavor that I loved. I am a Lapsang Souchong fan so smoke is kind of my thing. There was also a nice spicy note that I loved. The first steep isn’t usually my favorite but this is definitely a contender.

2nd Steep-2 minutes
I can’t decide if I am getting apple or lemon in this steep. Some sips it’s lemon and some sips it’s apple. I think I prefer to think lemon because I don’t like apple and I very much liked this steep. There was still some smoke but it faded a little.

3rd Steep-3 minutes
The flavor completely morphed. It lost all of the smoke and citrus—bummer because I liked it. But this beautiful clover honey taste took its place. There was a lovely natural sweetness about this steep. This is actually a contender for my favorite steep. To be honest, I would have thought this was a completely different tea from the previous steeps.

4th Steep-10 minutes—It was supposed to be 5 minutes but I forgot about it.
This steep was lovely as well. It was still honeyish but a bit of floral flavor had snuck in there. This is definitely not my favorite steep but it’s good enough. I could have probably steeped this one at least two more times even with my timing fiasco.

Overall-I really loved this tea. I am almost beating myself up because I had it in my cart to buy a cake but I went with another one. I’ll buy a cake of it someday. Not near close to now because I did buy six cakes. But I am happy that I squirreled away half of the sample for tomorrow.

I am noticing a noticeable mood lift that normally would not happen on days where my team loses—I’m pretty obsessed I don’t know if it’s the tea but I’m feeling pretty peppy right now and I am most definitely not a peppy person.

I am busy Steepsters, oh so very busy! Lots and lots of school work and library work. Mostly I wanted to write to say I haven’t forgotten about Steepster or tea, even if it escapes my memory to write tasting notes lately. Rayn and our roommate and I signed the agreement on a new apartment today and I am very excited about it. It’s in a great part of the city and literally right next to Rayn’s older brother (who we are very close to).

I’ve filled my thermos up with Black Pearl the last couple of days and it remains a favorite black comfort tea for me. I’ve always liked drinking tea when it’s still very hot, and this one feels like it’s warming my chest when I take a sip straight from the thermos.

More on this tea later, but for right now this is exactly what the doctor ordered. I have a feeling this ounce of tea is going to go bye bye very fast. Malty, rich, toasty, and cocoa like. Sooo good. This warms my soul.

Thanks for the sample, Garret!

My first thought when taking a sip of this tea was “Wait, is this the right tea?” I had a few shu pu’erh samples airing out in small cups, but this one looked distinctly different, being the only loose leaf. Yep, this is the right one, but how can a 2011 pu’erh taste so clean?!? Despite its young age, there is little fermentation flavor left in this tea. :)

Early steeps: Being this was a young shu, I was fully prepared to set aside the first steep or so for pouring over my yixing, but I decided to take a sip, and it was remarkably clean and smooth. The main flavors that I picked up on were milk chocolate, cream, and white peppercorn. Sure there was a bit of off flavor, but for a tea less than two years old? This is amazing!

Middle and later steeps: The warm, creamy flavor continues, and I start to notice some bready flavors as well as a sugarcane note that reminds me of a Yunnan black. It is malty and delicious. I didn’t find the flavor to be especially complex, just sweet, smooth, and enjoyable. Perhaps more will come with age.

This is a very soothing pu’erh and would make a great “happy place” tea :)

Wow, this is a wonderful shu. I wasn’t completely sure about it based on its slightly muddy appearance and not having heard of Yong De, but seeing it described as a favorite by both Garret at Mandala and (different year’s pressing) by Scott at Yunnan Sourcing, I figured a 1oz sample was certainly worth a try. And it was.

Dry leaves: The leaves are slightly larger than the Menghai pu’s I’ve tried, and are a warm, chocolaty brown in color. The smell is deep and rich, but I have trouble identifying any one note.

Early infusions: The first thing that strikes me in tasting is a sort of marshmallow “puffiness” to the liquer. Even in the first steeping there is no noticeable “off” taste. The tea is remarkably smooth and has a deep woodiness with a pleasant zuchini-like flavor.

Middle Infusions: Around the fifth infusion, the tea starts to open up in flavor with notes of saffron, sea breeze, and cantaloupe. The flavor is woodsy like dry fall leaves.

Later infusions: Around the tenth infusion, when the tea begins to be weaker, the flavors become more sweet and subtle. It has a slight vanilla sweetness, and flavors like a dense sourdough bread. The flavor is very clean, almost like a Yunnan black tea.

This is my new favorite pu’erh, very smooth, clean, and deep. A full cake of it has jumped to the top of my shopping list :)

This is a nice shu! This afternoon I was faced with a tough choice; which tea to try first. :D I was in the mood for pu’erh, and decided to try the phatty cake.

The leaves are attractive and fairly large in size. The compression on this cake is really tight around the center, I could hardly pry a piece out!

Early infusions: The first couple of infusions were a bit disappointing for me. It was a bit too mulchy and mushroomy, but I could taste the good, strong flavors underneath.

Middle infusions: All of a sudden, this tea was delicious! A bold, chocolaty flavor with a slight saltiness, and an unexpected hint of fruit; apricot and, blueberry maybe? Blueberry is definitely a new one for me. There is still a bit of “compost pit” hanging around, but its mostly gone. Around this time I also start to get some “qi” feel with some tingly feelings along the top of my head. Definitely the strongest feeling I’ve gotten from a ripe pu’erh.

Later infusions: Tea! Waht r u doing!! Stahp!!! I have some homework to get on, but these leaves just keep making more tea! These little leaves made at least twelve (I wasn’t really counting) nice, bold infusions.

This is a good, potent pu’erh, but my(not so) expert opinion says it could use a year or two to let the fermentation flavors fade.

I just had to add this tea! I am a big fan of aged TGY, and this one from Mandala has won me over! Can you say roasty toasty honey? I am not a connoisseur of honey like others, but this is nice and floral honey taste. It has just the right amount of floral as well, not overpowering or perfumey! I have been on the lookout for an aged TGY after having the Verdant aged TGY, and I like this one sooo much!
The roasting seems to fade off by the third steeping, leaving a lightly floral honey taste with a sweetness that lingers on the palate. I’m sure there are others who could describe this tea better than I can, so now that it is up on steepster I hope someone else will comment on this great tea! I am extremely pleased with Mandala Tea, I hope everyone enjoys their tea as much as I do!

Ok, I am definitely getting a great tea buzz! Great chaqi from this tea! I don’t know what it is about aged TGY, but 2-2 have gotten me pretty buzzed! This is a must try

I’m not usually a fan of the smokey sheng puerhs, but this one is amazing! After a quick rinse in my yixing teapot this tea was ready to go. I had multiple short steepings each one more complex than the last. My first steepings were more of the smokey flavor but after the third it mellowed out and left me with the most amazing subtle lemon aftertaste. I really enjoyed my free sample and will be ordering more very soon!

Yay, Im back everyone! Its been an interesting winter so far, and i have just been enjoying my teas, havent really felt a need to write anything on Steepster lately. Well, i just received my first order from Mandala Tea and am definitely enjoying myself! And fear not Verdant, i am now enrolled in the TOTM Reserve, I just had to try some other vendors to expand my horizons :)
And expanded they have become: This Lincang shu puer is a very interesting tea! As many know, i am very weary of puer and the “fishy/moldy” smell that can sometimes be found. I am learning that this may be the post fermentation smell, and i have since found that it is really just a smell, and doesnt translate into taste by any means. And i can say that This Loose and Luscious Lincang does not have those “off notes.”
This is an earthy puer. Very mellow, yet thick and full bodied. I definitely get some mushroom notes, yet i also detect some woodiness…I cant perceive what kind of wood(im not that knowledgeable unfortunately) but the smell is pleasant! The taste is THICK! Coating the tongue, and not drying or astringent at all. Again i taste mushrooms, wood, and a very slight sweetness that keeps the tongue and mouth from drying.

I am pleased with this tea! On about my 5th gong fu infusion right now, im sure i could go at least 10-15…Ill see if i can get to 10 tonight!

I will have some other Mandala Teas to describe/rate in the upcoming days…The 09 Bulang ripe, 05 Gong Ting ripe, Simao Black tea, and the Aged TGY :) Also two very generous samples of the 4 Leaf Blend ripe, and “Noble Mark” Mandala Blend ’12 ripe!
Thank you Garret for the wonderful selection, and Happy New Years to you as well!

Oh ya, almost forgot. Prepared in my normal method for puer, 5g/5oz water, 2 rinses, and short 3-5 second steeps for the first 3 cups, a couple seconds added to each steeping thereafter.

A wonderful Daily Drinker Pu’er in my book! I enjoy it quite much. Full review will be on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 31st but here are my snippits:

This tea has a lovely earthiness to it without being too earthy. The mouthfeel does have a creamy texture which is quite nice. I get hints of notes of vanilla, and butter, but its not too intense on those notes. There is a nice woody taste to the cup as well.

To me, this is more of an every day pu’er – and that is not an insult by any means. Usually when I take the time to sit down and enjoy pu’er it is a process, an event if you will. To me, this is one of those pu’er that is not so complicated that you can’t just make some up and enjoy it every day, on the go, or while working. While it is quite good, very good, it is not so complex that I feel I need to do nothing else but sit down with my yixing pot and dissect it.

The notes come over as direct and are unassuming. Creamy, full, robust even, woodsy, perhaps a hint of mushroom, buttery, and warm. Simple enough to enjoy every day but delicious enough to savor and appreciate in the moment without it taking too much time to figure it out. I will not say it is my all time favorite pu’er, nor even my favorite from Mandala Tea, but for what it is, it is hardy, and delicious!

Quick Notes Thanks again to Amy Oh for sharing with me :)
Dry Leaf- slightly sweet and grassy (hard to smell sample sizes)
Wet Leaf- Bittersweet, floral, fruity(apricot?)

Gong Fu Done at work using a Fuguang (which makes it harder to smell the wet leaf, but makes a great out of the house gong fu method).

1st 30 seconds – Sweet and delicate in the front with floral, vegetal, green/grass notes as it washes down. The taste becomes slightly savory before turning sweet and fruity again. Slightly refreshing.

2nd 40 seconds – Floral bitterness in the front with more apparent grassiness and slightly vegetal taste that slowly becomes sweeter and mellow with somewhat fruity hints while still maintaining its grassy notes.

Final Notes
At first I thought there was not aftertaste to it but I was wrong. The after taste linger quite a bit, but it starts very subtle (mostly sweet), but as the sweetness subsides you can appreciate a more floral and grassy taste.