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I’m catching up on a note from my sheng adventure last night. I was trying sheng for the first time and fell in love with a silver buds raw. I am not experienced enough to understand if that’s just what sheng’s are like or if that one is special. So I make some of this for comparison.
I have nothing negative to say about this tea. It’s really nice. It tastes like pu’erh, earthy, woody, maybe even a little musty. This is stronger tasting that the other I tried, but it is still smooth and delicate. All in all I think this is a great tea, good for a beginner like me. If you are unfamiliar with pu’erh this would be a nice one to start with, it has all the familiar pu’erh essence without any of the nasty fishy scary stuff.

Rambling for a minute first then will get to the tea. I’ve been trying to get my sample box under control. Sip down all the bits and pieces that I have. Was wanting to continue that tonight, but not in the mood for flavored “candy” tea. This was in that box. Garrett from Mandala generously included a sample of it with my last order. Have I mentioned how AMAZING, AWESOME, INCREDIBLE their customer service is? I’ve dealt with a lot of good, even great online customer service from the various tea companies, and Mandala stands out even from those great experiences. If the rest of the teas I ordered from them are anything like this one, I’m going to be a regular customer for a very long time.

I’ve never drank a plain raw pu’erh before (I know there are several in my cupboard, I just ordered a few to see what I thought and hadn’t gotten around to trying any until tonight).

OMG!!!!!!!!!! I don’t have the words/vocabulary/palate to explain how good this is. I didn’t really have any idea how to go about steeping it western style, it looked like a green tea to me, so I did 80C for 2 minutes. Either I got lucky or this tea could be even better than this (nahhhhhh that’s NOT possible). I like the ripe pu’erhs that I’ve tried. They are earthy, musty, bold, kind of in your face. This has the same flavor profile but is much more delicate and subtle. I LOVE this.
If you are nervous about all the nasty things you’ve heard about pu’erh or if you have tried a shu and couldn’t get past the “dirt” taste, I recommend you find something like this. Great Great tea.

EDIT: I just wanted to add that steeps 2,3, and 4 of this were equally amazing. Not much difference between 1,2,3 steep 4 has lost some of the Pu’erh earthiness and is more mellow, but still good. I’ve had a really good night with this tea.

I must be crazy. I brewed a cup of this earlier tonight, and granted I did over steep it, and all I got was chocolate. I didn’t taste any orange at all. It tasted just like cheap milk chocolate. I found that odd too because the other Della Tarra chocolate teas I’ve tried have been more like dark chocolate. Anyway…. I just chalked it up to the over steep and made myself another cup, this time being way more contentious of the steep time.
Hmmmmmm, interesting, weird, I’m crazy. This tastes like an O’Henry Chocolate bar. Milk chocolate and peanuts. I don’t know, that’s what I taste.
Thanks JackieT for sending me this sample.

I knew going in that I wasn’t going to like this, but JackieT was generous enough to send me a sample so I thought I should at least give it a try.
I’m not a mint person, I don’t like chocolate mint candies, I don’t like after dinner mints, I try to find toothpaste that’s the least minty as possible.
I’m not going to give this one a number, I’m not a fair judge. I will say that it’s actually not as bad as I thought it would be. There is a lot of chocolate, not so much mint in this blend. That’s good news for me.

Too tired to write anything. Just want to say thanks JackieT for sending this to me. It’s yummy.

EDIT: Drank the rest of my sample tonight. Yep still yummy.

Let me start by saying that I am NOT a chocaholic. Chocolate is not usually my go to flavor. Having said that, this is probably the best chocolate tea I’ve had. It’s in your face chocolate, there is nothing subtle or weak about this (and I was worried that I had underleafed it a bit).
I don’t know what else to say, it’s not chemical, it’s not fake, it’s a fine chocolate tea. Thumbs up.

I was really hesitant to try this tea. I’m NOT an eggnog lover. Having read some of the other tasting notes on here, and most say it doesn’t really taste like eggnog, I put on a brave face and gave it a go. I’m really glad I did. This is good. It’s NOT eggnog but it is creamy, cinnamon, winterish, warm and comforting. Thumbs up.
Thanks JackieT for sending this sample. I would NEVER have tried this if someone hadn’t given it to me.

This is a FUN little tea. It’s not my beloved, I’m still in mourning because I can’t get it anymore Creamy Nut Oolong, but in the same family.
I like that this is really light on the chai flavors, there is really just a hint in the background. It really lets the nutty, woody, oolong come through.
The second steep was even better for me. Even less chai, still there, but really subtle. The oolong is really coming forward now.
I might have to reorder this. It could become a cupboard staple.

I’m not sure how it is that I’ve not rated this before. I bought more of this today, I guess that means I really like it.
It’s a nice gentle (yes gentle is the word I want) tea. It’s just soft, not in your face, not grassy (like some oolongs), subtle without being bland, fruity (in a mild peachy sort of way). I don’t really taste the almonds, but that doesn’t bother me.
Normally I’m all about big, bold flavors, but there are times when I just want something mild, soft, gentle. I think I feel about this tea how others feel about whites. This is the white of my world, and it makes me happy.