drank Black Pearl by Mandala Tea
612 tasting notes

Another wonderful, precious gift, this one from Dexter3657. Had these yesterday during husband’s band practice. The drummer, someone I consider a dear friend, didn’t have much to do (it’s not really practice and hasn’t been for months; they’re mixing the recording for an upcoming album) so we spent most of the afternoon sitting in the living room chatting while I drank cup after cup of this. This is one where the hype is warranted (or maybe I just love pearls?); 3 pearls yielded a seemingly endless stream of deliciously rich, chocolatey smooth delight I enjoyed over the course of hours. It’s sweet like an indulgence, but not cloying; it’s evened out by a textured-almost-like-plush sort of dimension that somehow makes it both eminently more easy-drinking and more interesting/compelling. Put me in a good, up-for-endless-socializing mood and may have been what powered me through a closet razing (10 garbage bags’ worth of old clothes and shoes to donate, some I had when I was still in high school, and there’s still two tiny hallway closets left to do!) that took me late into the night. I feel honored to have had the chance to try these precious, currently out of stock little wonderballs. Thanks so much Dexter3657!

boychik

This tea sounds amazing! I wonder if Mandala going to restock it, please!
I tried to clean my closet today too. Never ending story…

ifjuly

have you had pearls before? (teavivre’s, i think, right?) i loved thepuritea’s so much, drat. i think you’d love these. i could be remembering wrong but i think i saw Garret saying somewhere—maybe in a log comment thread?—he’s working on sourcing some sometime in the kinda-near future. i love watching them open up, and also how portable they are while still not being teabags.

Sil

Garrett is trying to source these again, but so far no luck. He cotinues to try though!

boychik

Yes, I have Teavivre and sample of Puritea. Love them both

Dexter

Puritea?

Sil

i think they went away dexter..unless i’m confusing them with another company but: http://steepster.com/companies/thepuritea

Dexter

I took a quick look and couldn’t find a website for them. Oh well. Hope Garret works some magic and can restock these. They are just amazing. more than happy to share so that you could try them. :))

ifjuly

yeah, thepuritea had something called red dragon pearls IIRC, and they were delicious, but boychik and i discovered them just as they were going out of business (they had a huge blowout sale and it got mentioned on the boards), alas.

it was awesome you gave me so many considering it’s so up in the air whether they’ll come back…you are one generous tea buddy.

MissB

So because of this review, I went to see if I could find any Black Pearl tea – and did, on AliExpress. The picture looks almost identical to this one, so I grabbed some. If it’s as amazing as this, I’m happy to share! Ask me in a month though, after it gets here. :P

Garret

So far… nothing. The producer is not going to make them this year. The labor prices have increased 500% in the last handful of years and he can’t afford it. The stuff that I’m finding out there now is just old stock and I don’t want to buy it. Will keep pressing him. But there is killer black tea material that we have that aren’t in pearls that is incredible. The new “pure bud”. Or try the “morning sun”. And my perennial favorite the “black gold”.

MissB

Wow, good to know, and thanks for chiming in Garret.

Sil

morning sun i need to try again…pure bud i haven’t tried yet, and i like pearls better than black gold..though they’re all on the high side of delicious hehe

Dexter

(Pure buds and Yezi Yi Fu Chun and both in the “Sil” box for next time)

Sil

haha thanks dex!

Dexter

:)) will always share if I can.

ifjuly

that makes a lot of sense to me, Garret, re: labor costs. thanks for keeping us informed! and i appreciate that you don’t just buy old stock. kudos.

man, i LOVE morning sun. it’s one of my favorite fancypants breakfast teas. so good. Terri was right on the money about how it reminds one of masa harina and roasted green chile. how often can you say that about a tea?! yum.

ifjuly

and MissB, i’ll be curious to see how your aliexpress pearls are!

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Comments

boychik

This tea sounds amazing! I wonder if Mandala going to restock it, please!
I tried to clean my closet today too. Never ending story…

ifjuly

have you had pearls before? (teavivre’s, i think, right?) i loved thepuritea’s so much, drat. i think you’d love these. i could be remembering wrong but i think i saw Garret saying somewhere—maybe in a log comment thread?—he’s working on sourcing some sometime in the kinda-near future. i love watching them open up, and also how portable they are while still not being teabags.

Sil

Garrett is trying to source these again, but so far no luck. He cotinues to try though!

boychik

Yes, I have Teavivre and sample of Puritea. Love them both

Dexter

Puritea?

Sil

i think they went away dexter..unless i’m confusing them with another company but: http://steepster.com/companies/thepuritea

Dexter

I took a quick look and couldn’t find a website for them. Oh well. Hope Garret works some magic and can restock these. They are just amazing. more than happy to share so that you could try them. :))

ifjuly

yeah, thepuritea had something called red dragon pearls IIRC, and they were delicious, but boychik and i discovered them just as they were going out of business (they had a huge blowout sale and it got mentioned on the boards), alas.

it was awesome you gave me so many considering it’s so up in the air whether they’ll come back…you are one generous tea buddy.

MissB

So because of this review, I went to see if I could find any Black Pearl tea – and did, on AliExpress. The picture looks almost identical to this one, so I grabbed some. If it’s as amazing as this, I’m happy to share! Ask me in a month though, after it gets here. :P

Garret

So far… nothing. The producer is not going to make them this year. The labor prices have increased 500% in the last handful of years and he can’t afford it. The stuff that I’m finding out there now is just old stock and I don’t want to buy it. Will keep pressing him. But there is killer black tea material that we have that aren’t in pearls that is incredible. The new “pure bud”. Or try the “morning sun”. And my perennial favorite the “black gold”.

MissB

Wow, good to know, and thanks for chiming in Garret.

Sil

morning sun i need to try again…pure bud i haven’t tried yet, and i like pearls better than black gold..though they’re all on the high side of delicious hehe

Dexter

(Pure buds and Yezi Yi Fu Chun and both in the “Sil” box for next time)

Sil

haha thanks dex!

Dexter

:)) will always share if I can.

ifjuly

that makes a lot of sense to me, Garret, re: labor costs. thanks for keeping us informed! and i appreciate that you don’t just buy old stock. kudos.

man, i LOVE morning sun. it’s one of my favorite fancypants breakfast teas. so good. Terri was right on the money about how it reminds one of masa harina and roasted green chile. how often can you say that about a tea?! yum.

ifjuly

and MissB, i’ll be curious to see how your aliexpress pearls are!

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Bio

“…you can never know everything about anything, especially something you love.”
-Julia Child on food and cooking, and I think it applies to tea as well!

note: i am currently taking a break from swapping/mail of any kind as money is rather tight. i apologize! i do love to swap but i can’t afford to right now. hopefully in a month things will change.

my cupboard includes any tea i’ve ever owned, including things i’ve sipped down, in order to facilitate swaps with people and keep a record—this way i don’t get redundant samples/order duplicates to try. if you are interested in swapping, i have a separate ever-updated list of teas i actually have on hand i can PM.

i like strong, rich blacks (including some choice old skool CTCs); juicy-fruity flavored green blends; buttery chinese greens; light floral oolongs; flavored oolongs (how sacrilegious!); earl greys; smoky blends; second flush muscatel darjeelings; verdant’s straight oolongs steeped in a gaiwan (mind altering!); anything from laoshan village it seems.

favorite notes include lavender, bergamot, violet, fennel, cardamom, melon, honey, sandalwood, smoke, nuts, roasty/toasty stuff, malt, wood, leather, creamy lemon, steamed rice, artichoke, garden-sweet snap veggies, earth/soil, forest and wet bark, and mushroom.

notes i generally can’t stand (at least in tea) include jasmine, rose (ok in small doses but i often find it overpowering and then everything just smells like musty old lady perfume), astringent apple (and general fruitiness really unless it’s with green tea), and chamomile (unless i’m congested or tired).

my current favorite tea vendors are butiki and harney and sons. i’ve also found some delicious teas and/or had good customer service experiences with the following companies: capital tea ltd., the devotea, verdant, mandala, golden moon, teavivre, lupicia, taiwan tea crafts, yezi tea, den’s tea, the tea merchant, norbu, fauchon paris, tao tea leaf, zen tea, fortnum and mason, townshend’s tea, joy’s teaspoon, new mexico tea company, persimmon tree, teajo teas, whispering pines, della terra, upton imports, mariage freres, samovar, justea, teabox, american tea room, steven smith, steap shoppe, utopia tea, and andrews and dunham damn fine tea. when i’m at the grocery store my “you could do worse” brands include stash, bigelow, tazo, taylors of harrogate, whittard of chelsea, and pg tips. and it’s a fact: you can’t make classic southern sweet tea without luzianne.

top picks, fall 2013

black:
verdant zhu rong yunnan black
verdant laoshan black
thepuriTea hong jing luo (no longer available :( )
thepuriTea red dragon pearl (no longer available :( )
mandala morning sun
golden moon honey orchid
verdant golden fleece
taiwan tea crafts red jade
yezi tea zheng shan xiao zhong “scotch” tea
capital tea borsapori estate assam tgfop1 (spl)
butiki khongea golden tippy assam
butiki giddahapar darjeeling extra special
upton imports fikkal estate
golden moon sinharaja
harney and sons new vithanakande
persimmon tree vintage black
teajo teas black manas
justea kenyan black
harney and sons kangaita op

morning blends:
butiki the black lotus
harney and sons queen catherine
harney and sons eight at the fort
harney and sons big red sun
harney and sons scottish morn
golden moon irish breakfast
harney and sons irish breakfast
utopia tea english breakfast
fortnum and mason breakfast blend (needs milk!)
andrews and dunham double knit blend
steven smith no. 25 morning light
butiki irish cream cheesecake

earl greys and scented afternoon blends:
teajo teas silky earl grey
harney and sons viennese earl grey
upton imports lavender earl grey
american tea room victoria
lupicia earl grey grand classic
harney and sons tower of london
tao tea leaf cream earl grey
zen tea earl grey cream
della terra earl grey creme
upton imports season’s pick earl grey creme vanilla
upton imports baker street afternoon blend
harney and sons russian country
della terra professor grey
verdant earl of anxi

flavored black:
herbal infusions moose tracks
american tea room brioche
steap shoppe cinnamon swirl bread
della terra oatmeal raisin cookie
butiki nutmeg cream
kusmi caramel
david’s tea brazillionaire
lupicia banane chocolat
butiki hello sweetie
fauchon paris raspberry macaron
butiki blueberry purple tea
herbal infusions marshmallow snowflake earl grey
herbal infusions creme brulee chai

pu erh:
mandala loose and luscious lincang 2007 shu/ripe pu erh
mandala special dark 2006 shu/ripe pu erh

oolong:
verdant shui jin gui wuyi oolong
verdant hand-picked early spring tieguanyin
butiki 2003 reserve four season oolong
harney and sons formosa oolong
tea merchant silk dragon
golden moon coconut pouchong
zen tea coconut oolong
american tea room coconut oolong
teavivre taiwan jin xuan milk oolong
butiki flowery pineapple oolong
butiki lychee oolong
lupicia momo oolong supergrade
butiki strawberry oolong
butiki pumpkin milkshake darjeeling oolong
52teas tiramisu oolong

green:
verdant laoshan bilochun green
verdant autumn harvest laoshan green
tao tea leaf hou kui
harney and sons tencha
harney and sons gyokuro
new mexico casablanca
butiki with open eyes
american tea room nirvana
joy’s teaspoon mahalo
den’s tea pineapple sencha
harney and sons tokyo
butiki potato pancakes and applesauce
butiki holiday eggnog and pralines
den’s tea organic genmaicha with matcha
golden moon hojicha

white:
butiki cantaloupe and cream
butiki champagne and rose cream

no caf:
harney and sons soba buckwheat
butiki birthday cake
della terra lemon chiffon
52teas strawberry pie honeybush
butiki mango lassi
joy’s teaspoon italian dream
butiki coconut cream pie rooibos
butiki peppermint patty
persimmon tree mint chocolate chip rooibos
art of tea velvet tea
fusion teas chocolate cake honeybush
american tea room choco-late
steven smith no. 40 bon bon
townshend’s tea dark forest chai
utopia tea decaffeinated earl grey cream

sleep aid/medicinal/therapeutic:
new mexico extra sleepy bear
stash white christmas
verdant ginger sage winter spa blend
samovar turmeric spice
butiki the killer’s vanilla guayusa

coldsteeped wonders:
whispering pines manistee moonrise
harney and sons fruits d’alsace
utopia tea berkshire apple and fig
culinary teas peaches and cream
butiki peach hoppiTea
butiki ruby pie
whispering pines gingerade

besides tea

born in seoul, raised in new england and upstate new york, went to college in pittsburgh, currently in memphis with an eye toward philadelphia, portland, or asheville eventually.

i like cats, most beverages really (i also like good freshly roasted coffee, craft beer, wine, whiskey and gin-based cocktails, and soda/soft drinks like agua fresca), art (mainly writing but also visual and music) and critical theory, feminism/genderqueer politics, historiography, statistics, children’s literature and librarianship, travel, and food/cooking. also have recently gotten into weightlifting (mark rippetoe and stumptuous!) and sprint training (HIIT, plyometrics) and i love it.

Location

Memphis, TN

Website

http://facebook.com/ifjuly

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