Mandala Tea

30s(rinse)/8s/10s/10s/10s/10s/10s/12s/12s/12s/15s/15s/18s/…

Tuocha is tidy and dark and basically looks like every ripe tuo cha. The dry leaves don’t have much scent beyond a vague dry earthiness. The wet leaves smell like leather while the broth is sparkling and richly amber instead of going that full coffee dark you sometimes get in a shou although it does go more darkly opaque in the 3-5th infusions before settling into a ‘black/red tea’ color. The flavor has elements of cedar and sawdust and some wet wood. This tea is an excellent daily drinker or work tea. Its maybe a little shallow and it doesnt have some of the staying power but I think a lot of that has to do with it being a tuocha with more of a dust elements. The tea is (expectedly) a lot more broken up which just lets it brew out faster but it delivers a punch for the fist ~8-10 infusions which is pretty good. While it doesn’t have a complex or nuanced series of infusions, it is pleasant to drink, has no hint of musk or funk, and even has some prominent flavor notes.

Brewed in 100ml purple clay teapot.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – February 2023 Tea #4 -A tea swap tea or gifted tea

I wanted to finish these leaves here from Kawaii433 before they got any older.  The last time I used only a teaspoon and a teaspoon just didn’t seem like enough at the time.  Today I used at least two teaspoons for a big mug. The flavor was better!  These long leaves taste almost like a Laoshan green, just not as strong.  Nutty, creamed corn, a bit vegetal, a bit like spring flowers somehow.  Definitely better with more leaves.  Not astringent or overdone at all.
Steep #1 // 2+ teaspoons for a big mug // 30 minutes after boiling // 1-2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 25 minutes after boiling // 2-3 minute steep
2023 sipdowns: 15

From Kawaii433!  Thank you very much!  I love a fantastic green, I sighed just typing that.  Unique looking leaves here, which is a weird thing to say about a tea (but I see more than one tasting note mentioning the look of the leaf).  The flavor is lovely – sweet creamed corn, one of my favorite flavor profiles in a green tea.  I’m not sure if it was the way I steeped it, but the flavor seemed a little light at times.  But looking at the brew basket, maybe this is one of those teas that needs more than one heaping teaspoon.  I have a little more to try again! This tea gets a very high Steepster rating, so I will definitely try something different next time.
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon for a full mug // 35 minutes after boiling // 1-2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 25 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep

So this might be the last tuocha from the OLD Mandala sampler that I need to write a note for!  The ones I can identify anyway.  I doubled up on this tuocha, two for one mug, as the last time I had one in a mug it was too light for me and a little one note, bland flavored.  Two is PERFECT.  A really great level of richness, like coffee.  No negative qualities. The first steep WAS a little bland and light, but probably because the tuochas were crammed in the infuser side by side on that first steep.  But the second, third, and fourth steep were amazing!  So delicious.  It seems I lost a note of “berries” though in only having one tuocha, reading my original note for this.  SO maybe I should keep using one tuocha to notice the berry note.   But I will miss that depth of flavor! The rating for two tuochas would be higher than the 83 I originally gave this, but I think it is only fair to give a rating for one tuocha.  I have really been enjoying shou all winter, now into Spring.  
Steep #1  // 2 tuochas for full mug // rinse // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  10 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 4 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 12 min

This mini from the Mandala sampler looks like this photo and the only English on the wrapper says “Lao Cang”.  So I will post this here.  Another tasty puerh, though not as strong to me as the two that I have previously and recently tried from the sampler.  If I need a ripe puerh to be one thing, it needs to be Strong.  But there aren’t any negative puerh qualities here either, so that’s fine with me. Not bad, not great.  To be honest, the water might have been a bit cool on that first steep anyway.  Notes of cocoa, berries. Looking at the leaves, they also look like large quality leaves. Seems to be the standard for Mandala.  This one is a little light for me and sadly there are the most of these in the sampler.  oooo… what if I steeped two at once in a big mug?!?!  I will have to try that.  
Steep #1 // 29 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 //   3 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 6 min

A note on the overall mini-tuocha variety pack experience!  At this point, all of these tuochas in this Mandala sampler are probably ten years old now and they are aging WELL!   I think I have tried them all.  Most of them are VERY delicious.  The lowest rated is 83 and another is the rice flavored — I don’t think that type ages well.  Most of the others are in the 93-95 range.   I think I fully trust in Mandala’s options of mini tuochas and that whomever is curating them shares the same taste in shou that I do.  We are on the same shou wavelength!  The fun thing is, if I ordered the Mandala sampler today, it would be mostly different tuochas!  But I know they would be great.
What I found in the sampler:
Temple Stairs 2014 mini tuocha – 95
Drawing of Sunflower wrapper – 94
Drawing of Brown circle with clouds wrapper – 93
2005 Langhe ripe – 93
Gold ingot mini ripe puerh – 87
Lao cang ripe mini – 83
Sticky rice – 74
So I will set the rating for this entire sampler at 93! Very thrilled I was able to try this. VERY happy with most of these tuochas!

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2024 Tea #2 – A tea that comes in a special shape

I think the only “special shape” teas I have at the moment are tuochas.  I’m trying the sunflower tuocha in this old sampler again, because the last time,for some reason, regretfully, I used two tuochas for a mug.  I don’t know why!  Because trying it again, this tuocha is PERFECT.  It must be a “golden leaf” because there is a lot of lightness here to the leaf.  I also love the massive biscuity scent wafting from the drenched leaves.  The flavor even on the first steep is deep and delicious. Wow.  Sweet, biscuit, syrup, rich.  This is the ripe I love.  Again, I bet age is helping this one.  The third steep is a little weaker in flavor, but still decent.  The fourth steep, I wouldn’t bother with again.  I’d rather just go for a long third steep.  But this is entirely forgivable as the initial flavor is so good.  It’s a quick unraveller!   The rating for this sunflower wrapper tuocha would be a 94. If anyone has any old tuochas left from older Mandala sampler sets that they don’t want, let me know, as I would love to gratefully rehome them!
Steep #1  // 1 tuocha for full mug // 22 minutes after boiling // rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  10 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10+ min

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – May 2023 Tea #5 – May 11 – National Eat What You Want Day

The most distinct thing I can describe of the mini tuocha I steeped today, it looks like there is a brown sunflower on the wrapper. I thought I had found that using two of this tiny tuochas really works best with this particular tuocha, and I really wanted to use two of them, so that is what I did (points to the prompt for today).  Rich deliciousness.  Not a sipdown. However, it looks like this one isn’t even on Steepster. So I was mistaking this tuocha for the Lao Cang. Oh well, you can’t really go overboard with ripe puerh but I will have to try a single tuocha at some point, rather than two.

edited to add: Some actual FLAVOR notes since I haven’t written any for this specific tuocha yet. It has a nice unoffensive flavor! Deep, rich, no negative qualities, a little biscuity. I do not regret accidentally steeping two of these at the same time! Rating: 92. But again, I have to try a single tuocha, since I have a sneaking suspicion I love overleafing the ripe!

So I have no idea the name of this mini puerh, so I will file any Mandala mini I can’t identify by Steepster photo under the Mandala sampler. I forgot to mention in the previous note, JakeB sent the sampler! Thank you, JakeB! Keep in mind this sampler is at least probably eight years old and is NOT the current Mandala variety of mini tuochas they have available. The white wrapping has a big brown circle and drawings of clouds at the sides. I can tell when the leaves unravel, this is another mini made with higher quality leaves, as they are quite big. The flavor is also rich for a mini – biscuity, bready. Second steep, the same plus cocoa. Third, a little weaker but still very delicious! I like this one a lot. Rating: 93 (I don’t want to rate the entire sampler based on one of the types in the sampler.)
Steep #1 // 29 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 17 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // many minute steep

I recently saw that Shae wrote a note for a mini tuocha and the wrapper looked familiar… that I might have it in my Mandala mini tuocha grab bag.  I did indeed have some of this wrapper design in that bag, and upon unwrapping the tuocha, I noticed it said 2012 and 2013Bada and Mengsong and made in 2014.  The description for this one says that as well, so thanks to Shae, I figured out what one of the mini tuochas actually is!  Maybe most of them say what they are on the wrapper…if I’d actually unwrap them and steep them up. 
Anyway, this is delicious.  Quite dark for a tuocha.  Notes of coffee, dark chocolate, bready, and none of those pesky negative puerh qualities.  Usually I would say a mini tuocha does not have enough leaf that I would normally use to my tastes, for a full mug of tea but this one passes the test!  It is dark and rich enough! I wanted to mention ‘walnut’, while not trusting myself, but I notice derk mentions walnut, so now I can trust that. The fourth steep was fading in flavor a bit, so I’d probably only steep three mugs in the future.  High quality for a mini tuocha, just as Mandala attests. Both derk and Kawaii433 say this is the best mini tuocha, and I might agree! I’d buy these but like Shae recently found out, not possible. Such a nice discovery in my sampler. I really need to go through and see if my detective work (with the help of Steepster) can figure out the other mini tuochas…
Steep #1 // 1 piece for full mug // 17 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 14 min after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // 7 min after boiling // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled //  10 min

2021 harvest

Unfortunately another casualty of COVID.

Green Gold was such an approachable Chinese green tea. It had a little bit of everything in wonderful balance. Sweet, viscous mouthfeel and refined astringency. Just a pleasure to drink in a variety of ways. It was special and I wish I could describe its taste profile. Maybe next year.

Couldn’t ask for a better tea to have post-surgery. So mellow and easy-going, gentle and nourishing. Thanks, Mandala :)

Today it smells like dried basil and an ant colony. Ohhh sweet larvae. And sweetened egg yolk?

It tastes like the idea of the essence of lotus seed moon cake added to a bottle of spring water with grass living in it. Cooling, herbalmint finish. Little bit of osmanthus aftertaste.

Not sure if 2022 harvest (I think that’s what I ordered?) or 2021 because that’s what it says on the bag. It does taste very fresh whichever year it was made!

Been having bowls and grandpa glasses, both leafed heavier than usual for greens. Fragrant, mild, soothing, tonifying. Understated.

I wonder if it’s the same leaf used to make Mandala’s Yunnan snail-style biluochun because of that tendency to lean pretty heavily into sweet scallops. This also has the same kind of bitterness and astringency as the snails and those qualities develop over the same length of time.

Like it, don’t love it but will have no problem finishing it. I’d probably buy another small bag.

Pulled from TTB 2022, shared by Inkling.

Oh wow, oh wow.

I nearly bought one of everything from Mandala’s website after my first sip of this. I’m still probably going to go back and buy a few somethings.

Started with a 15-second rinse, followed by a couple minutes rest, and then a 10-second steep. Increased steep to 10-20 seconds in subsequent cups.

This somehow reminds me of both a candle shop during the holidays and an outdoor flea market. It’s leather and spices, I think that’s the connection. It’s so comforting and familiar.

If anyone has recommendations for others like this, please share! I’d love to find something similar since I know this is no longer available.

Orchids everywhere. Whispers of bitter greens, sweetgrass and mossy granite. Silky with some interest provided by refined astringency. Long, gripping floral aftertaste. A unique feeling in the body. Muscles feel swelled with a subtly powerful, vibrating bass energy but I’m also encouraged to meditate.

Bought a bag after Kawaii433 gave me a sample. My bag says 2020 harvest but it doesn’t taste like it to me, I think it’s last year’s.

Anyway, the one from Kawaii was very soothing. I’m sipping from a bowl what I bought earlier this year and it’s a great palate cleanser had with a light lunch. The tea has a restrained yet deep orchid florality that, despite drinking in between bites of food, reveals itself fully on the breath after each sip. And the lingering mouthfeel is very active, tingly but not in a pure astringent or tannic way.

:)

Nothing like the therapeutic soak of Chinese green tea leaves in a bowl of hot water.

Soothing, creamy much like soymilk with a forward sweetness balanced by fine grass astringency, fine sorrel acidity, fine wet granite minerality.  Hints of buffalo grass and leafy herbs.

The leaves float.  Good news is they’re edible.

I will be sure to order Nine Lotus from Mandala with my next order to bathe longer in these leaves’ calm.  Thank you yet again, Kawaii :)

Tea #3 for the day. I spent some time Friday night updating my spreadsheet with the uncatalogued tea floating around the living room. Final count is over 300!! Which is not great…I’m taking in tea faster than I’m drinking it. And not just in number – weight as well.

My pie chart is interestingly even. Tea count has pretty equal amounts of black, white, oolong, raw, & ripe with little bits of green/herbal. But I mostly drink blacks, oolongs and whites. Therefore, I need to work on drinking ripes and raws.

Tea itself: bright & fruity, citrus?, creamy aftertaste 205F, 2min. Not a lot to it.

Very enjoyable! I wanted to add my voice here to even out some of the other reviews. I found the first 4 steeps to be incredibly rich and complex, with prominent notes of honey, berries, and pastries. After steep 4, the sweetness dropped off and I did notice the “green pepper” note that other reviews talked about, although I didn’t mind it. It looks like the other reviews were from 3+ years ago, so this tea seems to have improved with age!

I enjoyed a smokiness in first couple of steeps.
Started to notice some oak, ash, maybe tobacco, and yes some bitterness.
Giving some time between steeps helped notice some apricot aftertaste, but not as forward as in other raw pu’ers. Some butter also in aftertaste, but subtle. I had tried this tea a few years ago as a sample, and I still have a bit left, so am trying again. Am being cautious not to drink too much because some reviews note its potent chi, and I recollect that as well from a few years ago. For me, it is an interesting tea to try, especially as I imagine the high altitude and pristine environment from where it came.

The combination of aromas in the dry leaf smells almost exactly like a brand of Swedish snus called Ettan, which has the obvious rich tobacco smell as well as walnuts and chocolate.

Those same notes come through in the warmed leaf along with a spicy dark rye and a vague flowery quality. Rinsing enhances the spiciness and brings out warm yeast bread dough and mahogany furniture.

The taste is warm but the tea doesn’t warm the body. In the mouth is a clean swirl of tobacco, mahogany, goji and cucumber, very light bitterness; clean and oily. The aftertaste is sour and feeling in the body acidic which leaves me thinking this tea will benefit from time stored. I get that kind of sourness that cucumber can possess and also that of fermented cacao beans. Something also reminds me of coconut husk.

I don’t have enough left of this free sample provided by Mandala to bother storing. If this is still offered by Mandala in a few years, I’d consider buying a cake. A clean, oily shou that tastes like tobacco and mahogany is much welcome, compared to those that are muddy and taste of potting soil.