4183 Tasting Notes
Thanks so much, DigniTea! Excited to try a couple Mandala teas! I tried to follow Mandala’s instructions as closely as possible (1-2 teaspoons, 208 degrees, rinse, 1 min steep increasing to 3-5 min steep). The leaves look like a golden Yunnan.
Steep #1 // 4 min after boiling // rinse & 1 1/2 – 2 min steep
I tried to split the sample I had, so I went with 1 1/2 teaspoons of leaves. Someone at Mandala was kind enough to experiment with waiting for water to cool after boiling and taking temperatures. It definitely gave me a better idea with water temps, even if the conditions (kettle, air temp, etc) isn’t exactly the same. Either way, I was letting the water cool way too long for EVERY tea. To get to 208 degrees, I really should have waited only two minutes after boiling, but somehow it went to four. I’m not fast enough! So the temp was probably really around 205. ANYWAY: The flavor is lovely! I feel like these types of teas embody three distinct flavors: honey, squash/sweet potato and dark chocolate. It depends on the leaves what represents itself more. This one is pure squash and hints of honey. It reminds me of one of my favorites: cutting an acorn squash in half and roasting it in the oven with brown sugar & butter. The body of the tea itself is lighter (though the steep color reminded me of root beer), so the chocolate notes are not as easy to detect… they are present in the background. But sometimes it’s nice just to have the squash notes. I’m very impressed that all three flavors are in this cup, since sometimes it can just be honey flavored if the leaves are mostly yellow, or just dark chocolate.
Steep #2 // 2 min after boiling // 4 min steep
Mandala also suggests that one of the steeps is 3-5 minutes long. This results in a darker, deeper cup – yet not at all astringent. It’s closer to chocolate but not quite. The squashiness is less, but honey remains. It’s a completely different cup altogether. A nice cup, but I think the first is better. I should have had another steep in between these two with a three minute steep. I think that’s why Mandala suggests a one minute steep and then a 3-5 minute steep at the end… the lovely differences the leaves present.
Thanks so much TeaTiff for selling some teas! I couldn’t resist! A few always perfect-for-me Adagio teas. I woke up thinking of an assam just like this one! I’ve never even had this tea before and it was perfect for my craving. The one tea that would have been perfect in my entire collection!
Steep #1 // 2 min after boiling // 3 min
SUCH a delicious cup! Malty, a tiny bit brisk, hints of dark chocolate. Everything an assam should be. I feel like there could have been a bit more chewiness or robustness of flavor, but that could probably be arranged with a minute longer steep or some more leaves (used a teaspoon).
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 min
Another nice cup, but weaker than the last, when the last cup already had the problem. But as I said, it’s the amount of leaves or the time I steeped. I love this tea. Adagio is just usually perfect for me. Gorgeous teas all the time, all the time. Adagio might not be for everyone but they are for ME. If I could only order from one tea company for the rest of my life, Adagio would very well be in the running. And they have all of those fandom blends to support my nerdy love of all the things.
OH GOD THIS TEA, I MISS IT SO MUCH. I usually give it 4 minutes, and I think that might make the difference for you in terms of chewiness. It’s got some lovely notes in it. Man, I hope I get enough folks to do an Adagio UK fandork tea group run soon, because I’m seriously dying without some of my staples, and this is absolutely one of them. So good.
haha :D I’ll try 4 next time!
Another one from Dexter3657! thanks so much! I think I liked this one more than others if the Steepster rating says anything, even though I probably shouldn’t have, since this is usually the sort of tea I don’t really like. One teaspoon, a few minutes after boiling, for two minutes. It tastes like a hojicha mixed with a Fujian tea, with the charcoal flavors, also a tiny bit like Laoshan Black. (I really shouldn’t be comparing it to that one all the time, as I realize not everyone has tried that one. And even different harvests would make a difference.) So it is certainly an odd mix of flavors here. I don’t need a ton of teas like this in my collection, but I will certainly enjoy the remainder of this sample whenever I would like a tea like this.
Additional notes: TeaGuys had a sale which I almost bought from. I realized they have the same supplier as Fusion Teas! I love their blends! Sadly though, I thought Fusion actually blended their teas. But no… there is my beloved Pistachio Lime Mate in the list for TeaGuys. Seeing that FOUR ounce tin of this one in the cart I didn’t buy, I had to have from my stash this morning. Man there are a ton of caramel pieces in this pouch! (I think I was complaining there wasn’t enough caramel before. I even tried one out of the bag – pretty tasty!) When the leaves are steeped, it looks like there are different types of leaves here though. This remains one of my favorite pu-erhs.
A sample from Rachel’s sale a while ago – sheesh should I be trying these faster! This is exactly the tea I wanted at that moment and exactly how I wished it would taste. I’m not even sure how I knew what black currants tasted like but this is it. The blend has plenty of flavor – fruity, sweet yet tart… a bit like cranberry but not really. All on a nice white tea. Bai Mu Dan is my favorite white tea I think. There is plenty tea left in this sample and I’m surprised it still tastes so nice.
Why not go with another GM sample sipdown? I’m not sure why this gets such a low rating! It’s a nice representative of Darjeeling… the standard flavors are there. However you could describe a Darjeeling. The flavor here is kind of bold – probably because the sample actually had closer to two teaspoons. Classic delicious Darjeeling. I’m a fan! Not much else to say, but I don’t understand such a low rating for such a tasty Darjeeling (growing to love them, I guess.)
Steep #1 // waited 13 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 min
Steep #2 // 13 mins after boiling // 2 1/2 min
Thank you QueenOfTarts for a sample of this one a while back! As I expected, I’m pretty sure this is the same blend as The Tea Merchant’s Silk Dragon. Same ingredients, same taste. Not a bad thing! I have a bit of the sample left of that one, and I’m happy to have a bit of this one left. It’s a nice oolong with a hint of lemon and vanilla. This blend seemed to have less vanilla, but maybe the Tea Merchant’s blend was as fresh as possible when I first tried it. It’s a nice one! I just wish it had more lemon or tasted more like creamsicle like another tasting note mentioned.
DigniTea sent over a few samples to me instead of accumulating more teas with the teabox! Completely unnecessary but it seemed like it was more necessary for DigniTea to pass along some teas. So thank you so much! I had to try this one first since the Steepster rating says it’s magic… I went with one teaspoon but I really wish the site had steep instructions.
Steep #1 // 35 min after boiling // 1 1/2 min
Well, I’m not getting magic from this one, sadly. It doesn’t taste much like milk oolong… not even really strong enough for any of the usual oolong flavors. It’s so light! So vaguely oolong. I must have steeped it wrong. It’s good but if it’s the best oolong on Steepster it should have a ton more flavor… any flavor.
Steep #2 // 30 min after boiling // 2 min
This cup is much the same as the last – not much flavor! Sadly, I think I’ll be the one lowering the rating on this one.
I’ve only brewed this one western style and had thoughts similar to yours. It’s a decent enough oolong so when I want an oolong, I enjoy it. However, I did not discover the buttery and sweet notes mentioned by many. I attributed it to my “easier” western brew rather than gongfu. Sometimes I wonder if extremely positive reviews don’t just set us up for a bit of disappointment.
Sadly, it doesn’t even have an average/typical oolong flavor to me, let alone the flavor of a highest rated oolong, so I can’t help but be disappointed. I appreciated trying it though!
I definitely get buttered popcorn from this one but I wish it had more of an oolong twang, if that makes sense.
Hi Tea Sipper – please clarify what you mean by “30 min after boiling”? Thanks!
I don’t have a temperature setting electric kettle, so I just let the water boil to 212, it shuts off, then I wait until it cools enough for whichever tea I’m drinking – 30 minutes for green tea, white, sometimes oolongs.
Waiting 30 minutes should get the water around 180 degrees if I’m making sense.
Probably let the water cool for 30 minutes after it finished boiling before infusing?
And buttered popcorn! That sounds great.
I think it is possible your water is way too cool for best oolong results. Milk Oolong is recommended at 195F. In a nutshell, if your kettle is anything like mine your first infusion may have been at 170F or lower. If your vessel was not pre-warmed, even cooler.
I tested water temperatures using the method you describe – bring to full rolling boil (212F) and wait. Room temperature of about 70F.
Kettle: Bonavita 1L Electric. A solid and relatively thick-walled stainless simple boiler (not variable temp), filled to the top.
Measurement: NSF TruTemp digital, probe dangled in the center of the kettle through one of the holes in the cover. The kettle remained covered throughout.
min 0 212 degrees F
min 2 208
min 4 205
min 6 200
min 9 197
min 10 195
min 15 190
min 20 185
min 25 180
min 30 176
min 35 171
min 40 166
Ah! Thank you so much for this. I know that I don’t have the same kettle as this one, but this is extremely helpful in getting an idea how fast water cools. I don’t have the tools (thermometer) to do this. I have one teaspoon left of this oolong, and within the next couple of days I will retry it. I’ve definitely been using water that has cooled too long.
No problem. I really think careful control of temperature, time, and leaf to water ratio will blow open your results and enjoyment. This tea, for example should be brewed at 195 using 1tsp dry leaf per 8oz of filtered water. Even remarkable teas can taste flat without care.
You have 1,000+ tasting notes. You have EARNED a thermometer, if not a variable temp kettle!
haha! Well now I’m thinking those tasting notes aren’t even accurate. But they will be more accurate now. I’ll try this one again soon!
Here is one of these unwieldy metallic packaged GM samples sipdowned. I felt like chai today! I don’t know if it was just my sample, but this one seems to have mostly cinnamon (and black tea of course – though the description on the label says it should have also contained green tea – eww no.) A hojicha chai might be nice. But it looked like there is just black tea here.- not a CTC leaf but kind of smallish. This is pretty good – nice black tea with a decent briskness. The cinnamon shines. If I were to pick a favorite chai ingredient, I’d pick cinnamon.
I think my tastebuds recently changed… there was a week where my tongue was sore… like if I had eaten eggplant, though that usually only lasts an hour. Some things are tasting differently now. Ketchup is almost unbearably strong now. If taste buds change every seven years, that means the last time was about a year after I started drinking tea and that was mostly teabags. Hopefully none of my favorites are terrible now! hmmm…
Another from my lucky free Steepster box! thanks Steepster! Instructions say 205 degrees for 2 minutes. The more I drink Fujian teas, the more I like them!
Steep #1 // few minutes after boiling // 2 min
This one is actually pretty much how I expected it would be, after some disappointing tasting notes that I’ve read. The description itself sets itself up for disappointment…. cherry and caramel? The flavor profile could give hints of cherry, if you’re really looking but not really caramel. This is like Laoshan Black but with less chocolate notes. There is something that could be interpreted as smokiness, but I think it’s just the way Fujian teas taste. I like it, but I can see others like Laoshan black more for the chocolate notes.
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 min
This cup is much deeper and much chocolatier, chewier, not necessarily a better cup for me, but it’s interesting that it’s a different flavor profile with the second cup. I like this one even if it wasn’t cherry/caramel.
