Noble Mark Ripe Pu'er Blend 2011

Tea type
Pu'erh Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Creamy, Earth, Malt, Sweet, Smooth, Apricot, Dried Fruit, Leather, Chocolate, Fruity, Bread, Cream, Mushrooms, Nuts, Wet Earth, Wood, Bamboo
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Jason
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec 6 g 5 oz / 147 ml

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57 Tasting Notes View all

From Mandala Tea

We are so happy to offer this Mandala Tea exclusive ripe-style pu’er tea to our fine customers everywhere!

This blend of ripe pu’er leaves come from spring-picked old plantation trees that are between 60 and 80 years old. Grown without pesticides or sprays, this is just pure, clean tea from one of the most pristine growing areas in southwest China.

We carefully selected 4 sizes of expertly-crafted ripened leaf from this plantation and blended them to make a very well-balanced tea. The majority of the blend (around 70%) are smaller leaves which will give up more flavor in earlier infusions with the remaining 30% coming into play in later infusions.

The result is an incredibly well-balanced tea. Rich and creamy in flavor and aroma without overbearing earthiness, this tea hits the mark and is now one of our most favorite ripe teas. And judging by our customer response, others think so too!

We are impressed with the clarity of the tea liquor produced from this leaf as normally, ripe leaf this young makes for a cloudier brew.

Brew it up short and sweet or loud and proud, this tea will not disappoint. In fact, it will tickle all your ripe tea drinking fancies!

About Mandala Tea View company

Company description not available.

57 Tasting Notes

91
42 tasting notes

Very good Pu Erh. Lovely color and taste. Id like the aroma a bit stronger however, and a bit more full bodied liquor. Nice, smooth, silky pu erh, just not my favorite one ;) If you are new into pu erhs this would be a great one to start with. For me ill try steeping it longer next time to get a stronger aroma and flavor.

Garret

Hi! Garret here. Thanks for this, too! I don’t know if you had the cake version of this or the loose-leaf. This tea, due to its oxidation level, will change quite a bit over the next few years and I’m pumped to see where it will go. The cake is already developing whole new complexities since it was pressed (pressed 10/25/2012). I don’t know if you’ve checked out a couple of recent reviews of this, but I like what people are saying about its gentle nature. And with a little more leaf and longer steeping, you will likely get the body from it that you are looking for. Thanks, again!!

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90
379 tasting notes

I had this last night before bed. I’ll see if I can remember the experience. I was kind of out of it as it was like 2 am. At first, the dry leaf smell was a turn-off. It was so strong of leather and/or earth. I looked at the description again and it said “without overbearing earthiness” so I was highly doubtful at this point. Well, when all is said and done, they pretty much nailed the taste description. In fact, it was a very clean, smooth, mellow medium-bodied cup of ripe pu-erh tea.

It was slightly earthy, woody, some cream, sweetness, slightly malty, no dirt nor too earthy, no fishy notes, full of flavor, silky and warm mouthfeel, well-balanced. Unlike many pu-erhs, it definitely lacks that strong earth, leathery taste, the mustiness. I did not find it fruity, and there were hardly any, if at all, floral notes (at least that I can detect. I think others differed.) and unlike The Shu Fits and the Imperial dark, it wasn’t as chocolatey but more just a well balanced all-around mellow cup of ripe pu-erh tea. A daily drinker for that calming moment of the day. Perhaps a good starter for those new to ripe Pu-erh since it’s so clean as there are zero signs of a poorly processed tea. Any weird odors, odd tastes, muddy cup, sour taste are non-existent. I can find some who like the stronger tastes to find this a little mundane but since I’m still getting used to shou, it suits me well.

5g, 212˚F, 110ml, 7 steeps: rinse, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s, 40s

Flavors: Creamy, Earth, Malt, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 4 OZ / 110 ML

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90
9 tasting notes

I quit smoking cigars about 10 years ago but the aroma of this tea reminds me of my most favorite cigar ever: a Padron 1964 Anniversary Series cigar in a Maduro wrapper. In this tea, I detect very strong notes of tobacco along with leather, raisins. and dark chocolate. The smell is simply intoxicating.

This is a silky smooth tea. It’s ‘earthy’ but not ‘EARTHY’ like the other shou puerhs I’ve sampled in my short tea journey so far. I taste mushrooms, hints of dark chocolate, and maybe a touch of cedar.

I like this tea quite a bit. I received it as a sample in a recent Mandala order. I think I’ll be ordering up some more of this one soon!

Preparation
8 g 5 OZ / 140 ML

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27 tasting notes

Smooth and sweet. Initial steeps were slightly funky, which is typical of ripe.
I’ve been discovering that I don’t really like ripe that much… but this is one that I might still stock for occasional indulging.

Flavors: Smooth, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 80 ML

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90
21 tasting notes

Next time I think I will try Garret’s suggestion (cf. his reply to another review for this tea) to brew this longer and stronger.

My notes here are from brewing in my standard fashion: 5 grams, 75 ml, two rinses, and about 205 degrees F, progressively increasing steep times.

Overall, what stands out for me is:

1. Concentrated or dried fruit (apricot, Peruvian ground cherry?) flavors and particularly as a lingering and smacking aftertaste that is so reminiscent of many raw puers I have tried. This is the main highlight.

2. Leather undertones. A kind of smoky leather.

3. Personally, I did not get creaminess, but I could go along with a smoothness or maybe silkiness that another reviewer described.

4. Third steep, a buzz kicked in, really felt the qi, left me smiling and giddy, laughing out lout. After a few minutes the tea drunkeness mellowed out, but a background buzz stayed on. I could see why Garret mentioned that he drinks this tea before a run or a workout. (cf same reply mentioned further above).

This is my first tea from Mandala, and I got three more to try from them, so am looking forward to seeing if I have a favorite there. They sent me a free sample, which made my day.

Next session I will try brewing it much stronger.

Flavors: Apricot, Dried Fruit, Leather

Preparation
5 g 3 OZ / 75 ML
Garret

Thank you so much for posting this review. I am really happy that you enjoyed it. Started yet another morning with this tea today and it never ever gets old. I tend to brew it with full boil to bring just a hair more of the strength out of it. It can take the full boil really well! Enjoy! I appreciate that chance to have been of service.
Grateful,
Garret

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88
1184 tasting notes

GCTTB5

The bag was not marked with the year, so I just guessed that it was this entry considering that this is the one that is on the website (I think). So I hope this is in the right place.

This smells really earthy, and I was a little worried that it was going to taste “too” earthy for me. This was not the case, the earthy mushroom notes were there, but not overwhelming. There was also sweet, creamy notes. I found there to be a slight wood aftertaste. Delicious. It resteeps very well. The second steep was 6min, and then I forget after that.

On to the wish list it goes.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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91
1758 tasting notes

This is a very tasty ripe puerh with very little bitterness and a fair amount of fermentation flavor. I would say the fermentation taste went away by the fifth or sixth steep. It was a sweet puerh. I would venture to say notes of chocolate and it definitely developed a fruity flavor in later steeps. I should also note that the fermentation taste to this tea was very clean, I didn’t notice any fishy notes but I don’t always notice this. I steeped this ten times and it would have gone a few more. But on this my first real Sunday off in years I want to go on to a different tea, maybe the White Whale from White2Tea.

I steeped this tea ten times in a 120ml gaiwan with 9.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min. Judging by the color in the tenth steep I think this would go fifteen steeps at least.

Flavors: Chocolate, Earth, Fruity, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 9 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
AllanK

This was my first time trying the loose, I have the cake and that was good too.

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92
1118 tasting notes

This is good. This is so good. It’s incredibly silky with a woodsy/nutty flavor that morphs into something chocolaty as I sip. There’s earth and leather as the tea cools. Yeah, this is a good one.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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286 tasting notes

This is the last of the sample that Dexter sent my way, and I’ll probably order more soon, ‘cos it’s just so good.

So far I’ve done three solid steeps, and I’m gonna go for another in a minute. Nutty, creamy, and a bit of chocolate. Steep two, I’ll admit, I added a bit of creamer, just to see and it turned into delicious sweet milk chocolate.

Thanks Dexter for sharing!

gmathis

I’ve never been brave enough to try dairy with pu-erh. Always afraid it would come out tasting like milky rocks :) But I do have some coconut pu-erhh that might work…

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661 tasting notes

This was the morning tea with Hubby today. He’s liked all the pu’er tea I’ve been brewing up for him. I wish I could remember more on it but I know it went down easy. Kind of silky on the tongue. I’m not as good as picking up the differences in the ripe pu’er teas compared to the raw. I know I enjoyed this tea but just can’t remember why. lol Holding off a rating until next time.

Preparation
0 min, 30 sec 6 OZ / 177 ML

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