Mandala Phatty Cake II: The Sequel

Phatty cake, phatty cake how I love saying phatty cake.

I had a sample of this from the time when Mandala was having its shou sampler set (In 2014 IIRC). Unfortunately for me this one was forgotten and neglected in its plastic baggie at the back of my tea box. After surviving through two moves and an equal number of years in a ziplock bag the flavors were slightly muted. I still get whisps of the wonderful flavours other reviewers have described but I definitely should have tried reviving it first by reintroducing some humidity. Still a good tea, but I wish I had enjoyed it sooner.

After dusting off my gaiwan I spent a good part of the morning enjoying this tea and ignoring the mile long to-do list I have sitting on my counter. I gave the leaves a quick 15 second rinse, discarded the water, and began with a 30 second steeping. The flavor was light, with hints of leather and molasses. Each time I steeped this tea the flavor deepened and the notes changed. What started out as leather and molasses moved into dark chocolate and slowly became sweeter. The later steepings reminded me of the Mexican vanilla beans I bought last year, they tasted of wood and vanilla.

You can read the rest of the review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2015/8/25/tuesday-tea-phatty-cake-ii

My first review on Steepster :)
Who knew dirt could taste so good? The earthiness of this Pu-erh is unlike any I have ever had, in the best possible way. I am typically turned off by earthy or grassy teas, but this one completely changed my mind on the former. Garret at Mandala Tea included this sample with my first order from them and I am very grateful. Will definitely pick up a cake of this after I finish the others I purchased from Mandala.

1st Steep(45 sec): I tend to start pretty short on steep times so I can be sure it doesn’t come out too astringent. My first thought was mushrooms covered in dirt, and I realize that may not sound tasty but it was exceptional.
2nd Steep(1min30sec): This one came out a bit more rich but just as smooth as the first. Started to catch some hints of toasted caramel on the finish.
3rd Steep(3min): Richness started to fade but the sweetness started to come through even more. This is where I started to taste something more akin to leather than earth.

This Puer starts out very strong and in-your-face, with notes of wood, cork, and cigar ash. In later infusions notes of ocean spray and clay emerge and in even later infusions it becomes more mellow and sweet with notes of tobacco.

It’s very dynamic from one infusion to the next, but I don’t think it’s really my tastes simply because of how pungent it is at the start. I used flash infusions and it was still rather intense from the get-go.

Tasted smooth with a fruity lingering mouthfeel.
Very enjoyable! No fishyness detected but lots of good earthy tones.

The beau and I had 4 or 5 steeps of this last night after a great supper of homemade pad thai. We are anxiously awaiting the opening of a new Thai restaurant in the town near us, but so far no dice. So we took things into our own hands!

This was a great choice afterward for our night tea. This is a habit I picked up from a great friend and her husband of 25 years. They are kindred spirits even if we are 20 years apart in age. For their whole marriage, her husband has prepared coffee for them to take to bed and enjoy before going to sleep. Both of them like whatever is left cold in the morning, and it creates a nighttime ritual for just the two of them, perfect for the parents of four great kids.

After commenting on how brilliant that is, my husband started making night tea for us, usually my choice of tea, as we have no problems sleeping after tea. Or while drinking it. He usually finishes his, and I get halfway through mine, but I love it. We don’t have kids yet, but it is still nice to carve out a ritual for us in the midst of busy lives. Due to my propensity to fall asleep as soon as I am in bed, we usually enjoy this in the living room but it works for me. We also read bedtime stories to each other since I’m just a really big kid. We’re almost done the Philip Pullman collection of Grimm’s Fairy Tales and I am looking forward to reading the Tales of Trenzalore next. Except whenever hubby reads, I fall asleep. He puts up with a lot. :)

SO! We used half the pack, which I got in the Mandala Shu sampler of a few months back. This is the second one I’ve actually managed to try. Probably should have used all 7 g but I wanted two goes at it, and my cups are small. Gave it a rinse, which was very pale and didn’t open it up very much and then drank the first real steep at 30 seconds (boiling water). It was earthy, with a smoky note. I was reminded of a campfire in the rain, it wasn’t overpowering, but very nice. Through all the steeps, that smoke note remained, and was present with some earthiness, some leather, maybe some mushroom flavours. I increased the time with each steep and the leaves really let go of each other with each steep.

This tea had no bitterness or astringency at all which was really nice. As I got further on, I got more sweetness but it was never a really sweet tea. It was rich and nice, very pleasant but a bit mild because I didn’t use enough leaf, I imagine. I was trying this to see if I should get a cake of it in the mandala order I am considering since they’re having a sale, and I think for an easy drinking, every-day, no-thought-required shu this is fantastic. We both really want a few cakes of shu that we can just have western or gongfu, with no fuss. I want one at work, at home, and the beau wants one at work too. For now, finances and common sense dictate we settle down a bit but if I do this order, I will definitely add a cake of this. Really nice easy drinking shu – if you’re afraid of it, try this.

Interesting – This immediately reminded of old books.
Dark brew. Tastes smooth and rich with spices, wood and leather.

My favorite dark pu’er sample so far.
Rinse/rest/rinse/approx:10/15/20/30s..

Brewed Western-style. 15 second rinse. Steeping times: 30, 45, 60, 90, 120.

Leather dominates the dry aroma. The leather is intensified in the wet aroma, and notes of tobacco and a scent of moist forest soil also appear. After the second infusion, these disappear, replaced by chocolate.

The liquor has the color and consistency of coffee. A thick, creamy texture. Full-bodied. The first and second infusions taste like milk chocolate and cocoa. Leather returns in the later infusions. Old leather-bound books comes to mind. Fire smoke lifts from the liquid and rises to the roof of my mouth. The flavors also shift further away from the sweetness and become bitter, a light bitterness present in good quality black coffee.

This rich shou is incredibly comforting, even when the weather’s warm and a little humid (cold, no, come back, it’s autumn now). I felt like I /became/ the pu’erh. I was really looking forward to trying a Phatty Cake. It obviously lives up to its reputation. I wanted each cup to never end.

Another yum tea from Mandala. This is smooth and yummy. It’s less sweet, but has some nice leathery and almost coffee notes.

I don’t know why I didn’t try this sooner. I did two rinses, and then it was ready to rumble. I’m on the 5th steep and still going strong!

Sweet. Creamy. Really good.

I was distracted by work this morning and let an early infusion go longer than planned. Then all other infusions had to be long, too. I had a couple of really long ones at the end. The last was maybe half an hour…possibly longer…and it was just sweet. So delicious.