Mandala Tea

Since the dashboard is slow right now, I’ll post this today instead of tomorrow:
Another lovely sample from Kawaii433! Thanks again. :D I’ve never had this one. And I love trying any ripe pu-erh. I went with a smaller piece of pu-erh for a not-quite-full mug (again to have another steep session on a later day). After the rinse and a three minute steep it seems this pu-erh is hardly unraveled yet, though the brew is already quite deep brown. No unpleasantness in flavors or fragrances here. The most distinctive quality is a starchiness that really lingers well after the sip. Quite sweet and like the best sort of mushroom (I don’t like mushrooms but this flavor is fine.) Somehow, this is a tough pu-erh for me to describe. (Kawaii, you are already amazing at flavor notes. haha. I’m failing at these flavor descriptions lately.) All the steeps were somehow the same flavor, though the first cup had the most starch. I had to physically break apart the leaves before the fourth steep because it was still in a solid piece, despite all that boiling water! This pu-erh is tasty enough, but I usually like when I find distinct flavor notes.
Steep #1 // smaller piece for a not-quite-full mug // 13 minutes after boiling // rinse // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 8 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min steep
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10 minute steep
2019 sipdowns: 40 (Lupicia – Cassis & Blueberry)

Gongfu!

This was a Sunday morning tea session with some juicy blueberries! Truthfully, I probably wouldn’t have thought to try this combo together were it not for seeing a couple different bottled iced teas that were blueberry and ginseng flavoured, and the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea! The mouth coating sweetness of the ginseng oolong works with the juicy ripe berries and helps offset the couple times I bit into a particularly tart blueberry, while the woodier notes of both the ginseng and oolong compliment the natural floral undertones of the fruit and, if anything, actually bring them out even more! This is a very nice tea in general and I love how much longevity there is to the session, but more than anything I was impressed with how this tea pairing really manipulated my perception of the fruit and made it more enjoyable!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcLeCPdO1tc/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eegxGbPVHq4&ab_channel=TobySebastianMusic

Gongfu!

In today’s moment of “all the days blur together”, I can’t remember if I had this last weekend or just early on in the week…

Here’s what I wrote about it on instagram though:

Everlasting Gobstopper!? Nah, more like everlasting oolong! I love this ginseng oolong!! It’s sweet with coating and slightly medicinal tasting ginseng, licorice root and woody tree sap notes. Makes a pretty solid afternoon pick me up, if I do say! Honestly no end to this session in sight though; they just keep giving!

And, I mean, that was true – I got like eight steeps in and the bulk of the tea leaves were still cakes with ginseng. It was a great way to blow through a few hours, and quite tasty. Nibbled on some pineapple cakes too, and I loved the sweetness of the ginseng with the pineapple.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_yH2I-gbg9/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c5M9UQlk0c

Grandpa brewed this morning at work today – very good tea for grandpa; the little ginseng coated leaves sink like rocks at the bottom of the mug and ginseng is so sweet that the tea will never get bitter. Just taste really richly of ginseng; which is what I wanted this morning when I chose a ginseng tea.

Subsequent top ups get gradually less ginseng heavy, but still have floral sweetness and a nice woody/resin like quality to them as well.

Plus, it’s the oolong that just keeps giving.

Drank this one Gongfu on my first day back in the office, post vacation, while I caught up on the 100+ emails that I had received since I’d left. It’s good to have a nice tea to sip on while doing something annoying like responding to that many emails…

From my “sick period” during the week.

Original plan was to drink this Gong Fu because I thought the Ginseng would be nice on my throat/stomach and the many little cups of warm tea would be comforting. However, I simply did not have the energy to get out of bed and brew that way; so I instead drank two big Western mugs (the second was a resteep) of this tea while piled under blankets in bed and binging Rupaul’s Drag Race – it was still very comforting.

Amazingly, I could still taste the sweet and woody ginseng despite all of the congestion.

Free sample yay.

Light and mild tasting tea. Sweet, lots of stonefruit notes (apricot, peach). It’s very delicate, smooth, almost creamy mouth feeling. I didn’t know the health benefits of osmanthus until I just looked it up. I would say health benefits or not, this is a delightful, smooth, floral apricot tea. Lung health, sedative effects, detoxifies, appetite suppression and more. The green tea base carries the osmanthus perfectly. I “think” I’ve only had osmanthus oolong and this is my first green tea base. Not sure though. I have only tried a few osmanthus teas but they tend to be a little too sweet for me and this one is not. It’s a naturally sweet taste and the green tea base is very smooth. As I progressed, it became more and more floral (not perfumey) but the apricots and peaches remained through the rest of the infusions.

Porcelain gaiwan, 6g, 175F, 5 sec rinse, 8 steeps: 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s, 40s, 50s, 60s. 2m.

I really enjoy their green Colored Species oolong but my tummy lately has been favoring roasted oolongs. Seems like the greener the tea, the more my tummy hurts. :( I was brought up with mainly green tea and matcha, basically what I drank for years and now when I drink them (unless I’m on a full stomach), it’s like battery acid. Ugh. So, having said that… I’m glad that I got into oolong and even more glad that I can enjoy roasted oolongs with no tummy aches. ^^

Back to this new Mandala tea… It’s very good. I like it much better than the green Colored Species. I’ve had it as recommended 1 tsp per 8 oz 200F, 30 sec, then add 10 sec each subsequent infusion up to 3 minutes and I’ve had it gongfu style: Gaiwan, 6g, 110ml, 200F, 10 steeps, rinse, 5s, 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 1m, 1m15s, 1m30s, 2m.

I prefer it much better gongfu style. The wet leaves have a very strong roasted aroma that lasted the entire time. The flavor seems to last much longer gongfu style. I get a fuller and more satisfying taste. Lots of nice notes that I favor in roasted oolongs are present… Roasted nuts, sugar cane, spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and later some minerals, a little smoke. Like the green Colored Species, there is a little tartness that plays on the sides of my tongue and it has many notes of that version as the steeps progressed.

I like this. :)

Additional note:
Sipdown on this one. Most of the time I drank it gongfu style but this last one I prepared it as suggested. A heaping Tbsp in 8 oz, begin with 30-45 sec (I made 16 oz with 2 heaping Tbsp) and add time for additional infusions. I also added a splash of milk and ice cubes. It’s so hot today lol. The little bit of milk brought out the toast more, I can still taste the almonds, cinnamon (very light) and spices but the additional “toast” note made it even more delicious.

Busy day and I have more so hopefully I can add to this review.

Preliminary thoughts: Nice almond notes, as well as the spices, such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger. Stays true to the Wuyi oolong rock teas… Minerals. It says lightly roasted but I would classify it more medium to heavy. Not charcoal-smoky flavor but more roasted flavors and notes. There were caramel notes, some warm vanilla notes. Nice mineral finish.

Roasted, nutty, fruity plum goodness.

Gaiwan, 110ml, 205°F, 9 steeps: rinse, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s,40s, 60s, 120s

I hope you are all having a great and productive day. ^^

1st (very short) steep was interesting, smelled sweet and floral/green, more like smelling a vegetable garden than say, a rose garden. The sweetness is what I tasted first, followed by bitterness.

2nd steep is where things got weird for me. Still has a little sweetness, but the bitterness is more pronounced. Couldn’t figure out how to describe it until I saw other people here saying “green pepper.” That’s it, it’s vegetables with a kick. Combined with that initial slightly-floral sweetness, it makes me think habanero minus the heat. Not sure how I feel about this as sort of flavor as tea.

With some trepidation, made a third cup. Shorter steep than I did for the second cup. Still a little bitter, but significantly less peppery. Unfortunately less sweet too, but what can you do…Just a touch of minerality in there also that I hadn’t noticed before.

I could probably make another cup, but I’m not sure I’m inclined to. Overall a very educational experience, if mostly in discovering that I do not enjoy this sort of tea. On the plus side, it’s not a one-note tea. And for a tea to wake me up to start the day, it definitely did the trick.

Will need to write a more detailed description next time when my tea drinking isn’t interrupted by errands and other things, but I’m very glad I bought this one! It’s very sweet and light, with a little fruity/hay flavor? Reminds me a lot of Whispering Pines Tea’s Moondance white tea, which I love, but a more grown-up version. Not bitter or overpowering, but pleasantly energizing, with just a hint of a darker, woodsy-ness underneath.

It’s been a long day, you know? Last week, I did some tree clearing on a friend’s property for fire prevention. She set up a community event to encourage other denizens of their heavily forested community to do the same. I went back today to line up all the brush and limbs and tree trunks along the roadside for a wood chipper staffed by the community fire department to chip and haul all the residents’ debris. I guess word got around what a thorough and clean job I did (it’s nice to know your work is appreciated!) and I ended up clearing a neighbor’s property. This is a nice side gig to pick up pockets of cash and there’s no pressure to cut anything down I’m uncomfortable with…. since it’s just me and my chainsaw.

When I got home, there was a tea package waiting at the front door. Not Mandala Tea, another company, but inside was a teapet, a lovely red pig to commemorate my year. Inspired by tea-sipper’s recent review of The Shu Fits, I figured a shou would be a good way to end an exhausting day and a nice dark ‘mud bath’ of a tea to soak my new buddy in.

I’m rambling. Can you tell I’m relaxed?

I have to say thank you to both Mandala Tea and to Kawaii433; the former included a sample of The Shu Fits in my last order and the latter sent a sample as part of a tea swap. I had this loose puerh a few years ago and remember it being very sweet with a red berry-chocolate-leather feel. Has the tea changed in a few years?

Yes, it has. The berries are now mostly evident in the aroma of the dry leaf, along with brown sugar, chocolate, leather and wood. The chocolate has really mellowed in taste as well as the sweetness. This tea seems to have moved into more savory tastes of chicken broth and cedar, some leather, faint mushroom, and a clean mineral finish. It’s fairly light-bodied and sips easily, depositing a pleasant aftertaste of walnut and faint milk chocolate-red berries at the base of the tongue. There is some astringency, tempered by salivation and a light returning sweetness.

All said, a pleasant evening sipper with some relaxing effect. You will find no funk in this tea. I have enough leftover to do a western steep soon to see if that will bring out some of the remembered berry and chocolate flavors.

EDIT: Mandala has some new teas out including a loose shou, Dark Star, a nod in name to the Grateful Dead.

Trying a sample of this one:
Quick rinse, struck by slightly smokey aroma. First couple cups are kind of smoky, slightly earthy, followed by a tangy and sweet flavor – kind of citrusy? Is it making me think of orange? At one point I even thought pineapple, but that’s not quite right. Not sure I can pin it down, there’s a lot going on here. At the end it’s just a tiny bit bitter and drying.

Later cups seem to have mellowed out a little. Less smoky, still a little citrusy. There’s still something I can’t quite place, something a little earthy and herbal that balance out the fruit flavor.

Altogether, it’s pretty interesting, lots of contrast. I’d try it again.

Thanks so much for a sample of this, Kawaii433! I definitely wanted to try it, especially because the name is too precious. I was in the mood for a shu, so this is what I went with. Note: I completely bypassed the rinse. Somehow my brew doesn’t look as lovely dark as the photo. The description might be over-promising… dark chocolate, chocolate, brown sugar? Really any shu can taste like that if you’re stretching your imagination. The flavor is delicious – I do notice a bit of chocolate, but really any shu if brewed dark enough would taste like dark chocolate. I feel like I could never overbrew shu. The darker the better. But there is also a sweetness that I always appreciate in shu. Clean and clear if that makes sense. The leaves of this puerh start out huge, but then it’s odd looking in the infuser and the leaves don’t seem to be expanding. All three steeps were the same… I tried really milking the third steep but nope, the flavor remains the same. It’s certainly a delicious enough puerh, but the description really set a high bar. But maybe I like the tiny leafed puerh so it can be dark dark dark. So I’m not sure if this shu fits me!
Steep #1 // 1 1/3 teaspoons for a full mug // 17 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 10 min
2019 sipdowns: 24 (Steven Smith’s Brahmin which turns out was in my steepster cupboard but I never actually had it? Does that count as a sipdown?)

If I’m brewing up this tea it can only mean one thing… It’s my birthday! As most here on Steepster know, I have a yearly birthday tradition of spending the day drinking all the different teas in my stash with “cake” in the name. Some are pretty literally birthday cake flavoured while others, like this one, are just a quirky coincidence. Even still, I always look forward to my yearly tea session and revisit of this deeply earthy, petrichor-rich, and camphorous shou pu’erh each year!

Thank you to everyone who has reached out today to wish me a happy birthday. I’m so tired today and just enjoying a low-key day resting, so even if I haven’t replied back yet I have seen and deeply appreciate all the thoughtful messages!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DHJwsF8S0CN/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGaLPpbgUnE&ab_channel=EyeCandy

Gongfu!

This past week was my birthday, and if you’ve known me for a while then you know I have a tradition of drinking “cake themed” tea throughout the day! So, as I always do, I’m kicking off the day with a session of Phatty Cake II ripe pu’erh!! It’s dark, dense and woodsy with rich notes of rain soaked potting soil and beets with the most wonderfully camphorous and medicinal finish. I always look forward to this yearly tea session, and it never disappoints!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4ddQH9uKpm/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uEQdIkqxPA

Gongfu!

Start my morning with a session of this shou to kick off my birthday tradition of drinking only teas with ‘cake’ in their name throughout the day! It’s wild that after nearly a decade of doing this I still only have the one traditional tea that actually applies to; as a result I’ve kind of accidentally also started the sub-tradition of only drinking this shou on my birthday! It’s gotten better every year though; so thick and oily with a full bodied punch of forest flavours. Pine tree resin, leather, rain soaked earth, molasses, and leather. So incredibly camphorous!!

There’ll be many other cake teas throughout the rest of the day, with a roundup post probably tomorrow. In the meantime, I’d love to invite my tea friends from across the world to participate in this yearly tradition with me throughout the rest of the week.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CpuzyzXuS0J/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndN8TrAB0wc

Gongfu – this is the last cake tea, as well…

It was quite the journey getting through all of my cake teas this year but seventeen in three days is still mighty impressive IMO. This was a nice afternoon session for me; a sloppier one but sometimes sloppy and casual is just the most relaxing – and don’t we all need to relax right now with the currant state of the world?

The tea was smooth, sweet & maple-y and oh so woody/earthy!! I was very pleased with the number of strong steeps I was able to get, and with how well clean and well balanced the overall profile was!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9ujv2oAUqX/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI1NITLXIo0

Birthday “Cake Tea” Tasting 6/8

The only straight tea in our tasting! I’m glad at least one straight tea wound up getting included; I knew I couldn’t include simply every pu’erh cake but this one does ACTUALLY have cake in the name, so it made the cut off.

Of the people I invited to my birthday tasting, half of them were from the Store Operations department at work and the other half were a mix of people from Research & Development and Quality Control. I would call everyone present BIG fans of tea, but without a shadow of a doubt only the R&D/QC people are really big fans of straight and traditional teas – for all of us, that’s what we gravitate to the most outside of work. It definitely came across in the tasting too, because the only people who liked this tea were the R&D/QC staff members – everyone from Store Ops found it too intense.

This was actually my first tasting of this tea, and I will definitely need to try it again to get a real sense of what this is like – I don’t think the cupping style of preparation tends to do most Shou pu’erh any sort of justice; always better to Gong Fu, Grandpa, or even just brew Western. My snap impression was that this was very earthy though, with a bit of a sharper saline top note – and maybe a wee bit oceanic in a sort of “crabby” sort of way over the less pleasant “fishy” descriptor sometimes used for pu’erh.

Glad I got to share this one, though!

I haven’t been feeling the gaiwan love for several days and have been wanting easier teas to drink, so thank you Kawaii433 for sending this mini tuo cha my way :) Grandpa is the theme of the week I guess.

I must first point out the aroma because I know there are a lot of cocoa lovers here: cocoa and walnut. The tea is clean and alive for a shou. It’s very mineral and complex, with bright and dark layers moving around in a kind of creamy suspension that later turns oily. It’s like drinking a walnut tree, wood and fruit. Hints of cocoa, healthy dark soil and leather all elevated from the walnut grove floor by a pervasive brightness and light sugarcane sweetness. Clean camphor cools then warms the throat and chest. I feel grounded and calm. Definitely the best mini tuo I’ve had.

This morning’s brew, stewed in my thermos like the 2020 Zendo mini tuocha and poured off twice into a mug maybe 30 and 45 minutes later.

For as mellow as this is western and gongfu, it’s much stronger and maybe a bit muddy when prepared this way. Baked bread, earth and molasses. So at least it’s versatile but I’m not too fond of this method for these minis. Still recommended.

It’s been a few years since I’ve had one of these mini tuocha that Kawaii433 sent in a swap (I hope all is well out there, miss!). I received a few of these as a freebie in my most recent order with Mandala and brewed one gongfu tonight so I figured I’d give another review.

This is the mellowest, most potentially inoffensive shou I’ve ever tasted. Dark in color but not in taste. Earthy but never overbearing; hay, leather, still getting a touch of autumn leaf. Light sweetness and bitterness. Stable, simple and pleasant through every steep, of which I got a good amount. Very low caffeine. I don’t think I’d go out of my way to purchase these, but it’s a nice break from some of the strong shou that I gravitate toward.

[Initial rating 74]