Another sample from my lovely Mandala ripe puerh sampler! It definitely sounds tasty from the description. It looks very similar to the Year of the Dragon sample I had. It’s mostly one big chunk from a cake, and the leaves are a variety of browns with a few metallic golden spots on the chunk. Dry scent is very mildly fishy, with cocoa and a vague sweetness. I followed Mandala’s instructions and did a 15s rinse, then 30/45/s steeps. I found that there was a teensy bit of bitterness, so I decided to do another 45s steep instead of 60s. I may keep going, but they’re all tasting pretty similar so I’m writing the note now. :)
The brewed aroma is somewhat sweet with chocolate and woody notes. This tea is actually somewhat similar to Year of the Dragon. It has that same lovely smooth, creamy texture and similar milk chocolatey flavor. However, this tea veers more toward savory instead of being quite as sweet as the other. The wood flavor is quite similar, but this one does seem to have a bit of a fragrant, slight spicy cedar edge to it. There’s a very mild earthy/mineral quality that seemed to fade as I kept steeping. I can definitely taste the nuttiness mentioned in the description, and to me it tastes specifically like pecans or walnuts – slightly earthy, but quite rich and creamy.
Overall, this is a very tasty tea and I love the woody and nutty qualities it has mixed with the chocolate. However, I still like Year of the Dragon better… ;) I’m a sucker for vanilla!
Flavors: Cedar, Chocolate, Creamy, Earth, Leather, Pecan, Sugarcane, Walnut, Wood
I see you like the shous :)
This one and Year of the Dragon, yes. :D
I like sensible shous.
The Noble Mark is one of the best.