This was the second lovely sample I received from Mandala. I was a little sulky when, a couple days after I placed my order, they added this as a tea (that description)! I would’ve ordered it instead of the random puerh I ended up going with (edit: looking for Special Dark replacements- Noble Mark is still around and Noble Dark doesn’t exist… yet).
First and second steeps exceed expectations, with a creamy and silky profile and a touch of high grade dark chocolate (traces of earth, nuts, berries). Mandala description says later steepings have notes of brown sugar but I get hints of that now. The aftertaste reminds me slightly of dark chocolate covered acai/blueberry jellies. These flavours mellow out as it cools, becoming simply milky with an earthy dark chocolate finish.
Third steep was equally perfect.
Fourth steep was ditto (this was from last night so I may have been half asleep and missed the development).
Steep Count: 4 + a rinse
Flavors: Berries, Brown Sugar, Cream, Dark Chocolate, Earth, Milk
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is noble dark gone too?!
er well noble mark…since i’m guessing you meant special dark + noble mark?
Oh, dear, no! Noble Mark is still around; I even bought some with this order. Sorry for the heart attack >.>
Tea typo of the month
haha way to give me a heart attack thinking i had to horde noble mark too!
Been aiming to brew this one up too. Still airing a bit.
This tea layperson looks forward to your insight and observations on this one, mrmopar! I love and respect your thoughtful tea notes.
Sil, I’m so envious of your Special Dark horde- I always have the worst luck when I try to stock up. Also, how do you only have 39 teas? Is that for real? (+200 teas is permanently burned into my mental image of a Sil cupboard)
Yeah. Down to 39….and 2/3 of that is Pu’er. By weight like 3/4 is Pu’er lol
pu’er layperson: it’s probably my least explored tea type.
That’s impressive (both in cupboard size and pu’er ratios)! If you’re going to horde, why not it be something that takes aging well? I always make the mistake of trying to horde green tea and the results are sad.
here’s hoping i don’t eff up the tea while they languish in my cupboard.. heh
I’m sure it will be alright! I have a tea cake (Wild Monk Sheng 2012) that’s been sitting in my cupboard for +6 years, unopened, and I worry when I remember about it too :/
i have 2 of those and a 2014 version haha. At this point it’s a sunk cost so if i screwed it up…well that’s a learning experience
is noble dark gone too?!
er well noble mark…since i’m guessing you meant special dark + noble mark?
Oh, dear, no! Noble Mark is still around; I even bought some with this order. Sorry for the heart attack >.>
Tea typo of the month
haha way to give me a heart attack thinking i had to horde noble mark too!
Been aiming to brew this one up too. Still airing a bit.
This tea layperson looks forward to your insight and observations on this one, mrmopar! I love and respect your thoughtful tea notes.
Sil, I’m so envious of your Special Dark horde- I always have the worst luck when I try to stock up. Also, how do you only have 39 teas? Is that for real? (+200 teas is permanently burned into my mental image of a Sil cupboard)
Yeah. Down to 39….and 2/3 of that is Pu’er. By weight like 3/4 is Pu’er lol
pu’er layperson: it’s probably my least explored tea type.
That’s impressive (both in cupboard size and pu’er ratios)! If you’re going to horde, why not it be something that takes aging well? I always make the mistake of trying to horde green tea and the results are sad.
here’s hoping i don’t eff up the tea while they languish in my cupboard.. heh
I’m sure it will be alright! I have a tea cake (Wild Monk Sheng 2012) that’s been sitting in my cupboard for +6 years, unopened, and I worry when I remember about it too :/
i have 2 of those and a 2014 version haha. At this point it’s a sunk cost so if i screwed it up…well that’s a learning experience