1040 Tasting Notes
I’m trying really hard to like this, I’ve had a few cups this weekend – played with steep times, amount of leaf. Nope can’t do it. It’s was too spicy. In your face cinnamon and clove. I don’t think the balance of spice is wrong, there’s just too much of it. Totally cover the caramel and the pu’erh. Nope don’t like it. Glad to have it out of my cupboard.
I have a sample of this thanks to the incredibly generous scribbles. I really, really like this. Not sure what it should taste like, but I’m getting chocolate oolong. I’m fully aware that this is a straight black tea, that is suppose to be smokey. Dunno that’s what I’m getting, and I like it. I’ve been drinking this pretty much all day, and the longer you steep it (ok, I got distracted and let one infusion steep for more than 10 minutes) the more chocolate notes come out. This could be my go to black. I have several others to try, so my opinion may change, but for now – thumbs up.
Thank you so much scribbles for sending this to me.
Why do teas keep confusing me? This is chocolate, no doubt about the chocolate, and I got some nutty goodness, didn’t really taste the caramel. My problem with this was that it was bitter. I can’t decide if the the black tea was bitter, or if it was dark chocolate bitter. This tasted like really dark chocolate with nuts. If you are a dark chocolate lover, you will probably like this. I would have preferred it to be a little sweeter, and more milk chocolaty.
Not bad but not my favorite.
This came my way via a generous, thoughtful gift from nxtdoor. Thank you for the teas!!!
The rooibos is definitely present in this tea. I like rooibos so that wasn’t a problem for me, but for others that aren’t keen on it, it may get in the way. It was really sweet with lots of caramel flavor, and just a hint of creaminess. My only minor complaint about this tea was the mouth feel. I thought it felt thin, and then somehow that translated into watery. The flavors are not watery, but it’s hard to wrap your head around those rich flavors in a thin tea. At least is was for me.
All in all a solid caramel rooibos that I certainly will enjoy drinking. Thanks nxtdoor.
But I don’t want to write the first tasting note on this tea. This note is more my impressions for me. Please don’t judge totally on what I have to say.
My first problem is I don’t always read steeping instruction – I think they are more guidelines and I don’t always follow them. I didn’t rinse this enough. The official instructions say THREE 10 sec rinses. I only rinsed once – read the instructions later. I don’t think the leaves were open enough on my first infusion because of that.
Anyway, taking all that into consideration, this is still not quite what I was expecting. Grace said that Noble Mark was “gentlemanly” (I LOVE that line, had to steal it). If Noble Mark is gentlemanly, this is feminine. Almost too gentle for my tastes.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is a high quality pu’erh. Like all Mandala pu’erh’s it’s nice and smooth and easy to drink. No icky at all. I would prefer it to be more bold. I don’t need it to kick me in the face, but a little nudge would be nice.
I’m not going to number rate this. Next time will be more careful with steeping instructions, and see if that gives it more pow. I might have underleafed it a bit too.
I’m sorry Old Nugget, I didn’t treat you right…..We will be friends yet, I’m sure of it.
lol, this was an awesome note, dexter!
LOL, I wish there were a way of saving tasting notes for “private” viewing before making them public. I LOVE Mandala teas, and I know they can’t ALL be my favorite. I think I can make this better with more leaf, more rinse, and longer steep times. For my personal tastes this needs more flavor. If you want a nice gentle feminine pu’erh, then this would be perfect.
I have a 1oz sample of this one. Kind of happy to hear that it’s a gentler tea than I thought. I had the 05 version and it was like a swift kick in the pants. If you want a bolder version of this one…that’s it :) If this one is feminine that one is an ex-football player with unfulfilled dreams.
i really love following the comment threads, =0)
LOL Me too, you can learn a ton from the comments. I love this site. I didn’t even really understand what pu’erh was until I stumbled into this site. I certainly wouldn’t be drinking straight pu’erh of this quality if it weren’t for this wonderful community. (I really need to update my profile too….)
Hmmmmm ex-football player with unfulfilled dreams….. that might be a little too aggressive for me, but maybe not. I like bold flavors, I just don’t like the icky bold flavors.
I’ve read that some people don’t even drink the first three infusions at all, sometimes prefer only the 5th onward. As for me, a 20 second rinse when I have no instructions and I poke a hard puerh with my pick. I’ve seen pro’s do it so I don’t feel bad about it. Why wait? Get the tea party going! Puerh is pretty forgiving.
It’s not icky at all…well, the first couple of steeps were challenging but after that it was all niceness.
Bonnie, like I said, I’m pretty non conformist when it comes to the “rules” about steep parameters. To each their own, and if you like your tea then you steeped it properly. At least that’s my motto. This one I don’t think I steeped properly. Will play with it and see if I can get it more to my liking. Poking a hard puerh with a pick is a good idea, I hadn’t thought of that, will give it a try. :))
Grace, LOL I didn’t need to know that. I would really like it if it’s BOLD without being icky. Add it to the wish list. I just placed a Mandala order today….. Need to wait before ordering more. (At least that’s what I keep telling myself).
Tee hee. Sorry :)
That’s the cycle I go though with Mandala. No. Nope. I will not order more. Well…maybe a cake or twenty. I think it may be time to parental block the site…Nah.
I only ordered ONE cake (250g Noble Mark), 2 oz Black Pearl (rumor has it there isn’t much of it left), 1 oz Milk Oolong (had to try this one before I totally give up on green oolongs) and a Yixing teapot. I thought I showed great restraint. (What that really means is that there are still several on my wish list).
I was good this time too. Only one cake—the Phatty Cake Sequel. Last time, however, very very bad.
Milk Oolong…how I miss it. It’s the only green oolong I can tolerate. I did just buy some of the Alishan with my last order.
I can honestly say with plenty of shame that most of Mandala is my wishlist. Except for the white teas. Never really got into that.
I agree, not really into whites or greens for that matter. Just starting to explore blacks – still have lots to learn about them. Like the roasted oolongs more than the greens….so only about half the Mandala site is on my wish list. It’s a dangerous place. I don’t want to talk about tea ware, I desperately want/need better tea ware. I see several more orders in my future…
Don’t even get me started on tea ware. I found a whole box of antique tea pots from random places in my Grandma’s house and I’m still considering buying a yixing teapot.
I love you guys :)
Hi! thanks for writing that up, my friend!! Yes… this 2009 tea nugget is definitely milder than the 2005 we have in. It is a favorite of some and not for others :) The 3 rinses for old tea nugget are important as these are some very tightly compressed gems we are talking about. Not only do we need to really prime the leaf, the rinses are also helping to heat the brewing vessel up as this tea needs the hottest water possible.
When I was in China last April, I was working at sourcing more old tea nugget and did not have a whole lot of success finding something that compared to the 2005. I mos def recommend trying the 2005 stuff. We have just a few kg’s left and one customer who buys it 8 ounces every time she orders. I hope to find something as good to replace it with.
In regard to ripe pu’er, in general, many drinkers are looking to have a milder cup and this one works really well for them, with some people sipping this from their glass tea thermos, too. Most of the time, I like bolder flavors, darker color when it comes to my ripe pu’er. But ain’t it swell that we all have different taste? And ain’t it swell, too, that our tastes can change?
Life is grand. Tea it up, Steepster pals!!!
And again, wow, on the wonderful compliments about our tea biz. Golly, y’all know how to make a fella blush!
I think I may have to brew up some of this tonight. Most of the time, I like a good kick in the head from tea but today I think I want something gentler.
Garret-I just sent you an email…Sometimes I worry about the oddest things :)
I received this from the amazing scribbles. Thank you so much.
I’ve been drinking the Tealux version of this tea for most of the evening and was quite enjoying it.
Then I tried this one (thank you scribbles for sending both samples so I could compare side by side). This is a much better tea. I didn’t understand that the other one was rough around the edges until I tried this. This is not as metallic, smoother, nicer. This is a really good oolong. It’s just easy to drink, everything a Big Red Robe oolong should be – at least in my world.
Thanks again scribbles for letting me try these two great teas.
Edit: I spoke too soon. :(( This was really nice on the first and second steep. Steep 3 was starting to get astringent and has that “such the moisture out of your mouth” feeling that I don’t like. This is the better tea on the first steep, but quickly looses that smoothness. I won’t be doing a fourth steep.
I received this in a marvelous swap box from scribbles. Thank you so much!!!
This is a nice dark oolong. It’s really metallic to my tastes, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This isn’t quite as smooth and gentle as some of them are, it’s a little rough around the edges. All in all a pretty good oolong.
I will have no problem finishing this sample. Dark oolongs always make me happy.
I did four flavorful successful steeps of this with no nastiness in later steeps. This tea had some nice staying power.
(Then I tried the other Da HOng Pao she sent me- tasting note to follow).
I’m not sure I have anything useful to add about this tea that hasn’t already been said. It’s one of my favorite 52teas blends.
It’s sweet, it’s coconut, it’s a bit cheesecake esque. I really like it and am sad that this is the last of my package. Would consider ordering more if I had the opportunity.
This was in my FABULOUS, AMAZING, GENEROUS swap box from scribbles. This was one of the “I would never have bought that for myself” teas. I am so glad that she included it in the box. This is also why I shouldn’t judge a tea by it’s name.
I don’t normally like vanilla tea (unlike my last tasting note that confirmed that I don’t like earl gray) but this casts doubt on that thought. I like this, I REALLY Like this.
The vanilla is present, but it’s not hitting you over the head. There are some caramel notes that I really like. This would be a great winter tea, those nights you just want to curl up with a warm soothing cup of something hot to take the chill off.
Thank you so much scribbles for introducing me to this tea.
