Mandala Tea

Edit Company

Recent Tasting Notes

100

Wow. I might sound crazy but I’ve just had a full-blown religious tea experience. I started out drinking it casually watching Dr. Who honestly having no intention of picking apart the flavors but this tea commanded my full attention. It pulled me into a completely new space. I paused the tv, closed my eyes, and just spent about 15 minutes sipping the cup with my eyes closed making taste associations because boy, the flavors and images this tea presented to me were endless. I got everything from almond cookies, to dirt, to cranberries, and beyond.
I had visions in my mind of everything from sandy beaches to mountains and lush pastures.
And the moment I even just started smelling the wet leaf I felt a real, tangible rush of euphoria and exhilaration.

Honestly, I cannot fully explain just how significant and ethereal this experience was. It was a mental quest through life and all its sensory experiences. This is what great tea is all about, it is almost beyond this world. This tea has taught me to better appreciate tea and to surrender my senses to it fully when I consume it, because after experiences like these, I truly believe that in some way that is currently unknown to me, tea is a divine plant. Call me crazy if you wish… This tea rocked my world, thank you Azzrian, thank you Mandala and thank you to whoever is responsible for the production of this exquisute tea.

Bonnie

I know the feeling! You sound like you had a good dose of L-theanine to the brain which can feel great and produce euphoria. I’m asking my doctor about the effects with my anti seizure meds for migraine because I get a strong tea high. It’s supposed to be a healthy thing for you. Enjoy.

K S

I love teas that take you to a mountain top!

Garret

This is excellent, Kyle! I am so happy that you enjoy this gong ting. When I first tasted it in 2006, I bought every bit of it that I could from my main connection in Kunming. It is a special tea, no doubt. I am sad to see our stock of this tea dwindling. My partner, Sarah, is wanting to hoard the rest of it for us and stop selling it, but we will watch the stock and keep offering it for a little while. Great review. This tea definitely transports!!!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90

My first time using my yixing pot (after a seasoning).
I sat with my Zojurishi (sp?) and enjoyed multiple steepings which were seamless with that wonderful machine from Mandala!

Steep One: 30 Seconds (after an initial rinse)
Light, Juicy mouthfeel, Dry in back of throat, Mushroom flavors, Spicy, Creamy, and my favorite flavor.. Leafy!

Steep Two: 45 Seconds
Leafy, Oaky, More Creamy than first steep, Autumnal Flavors and aromas like being in the woods after a light rain in Autumn! Love it!

Steep Three: 1 Minute
Leafy aromas with an amazing mossy flavor again the wet leaves in Autumn flavors but more prominent!
Drier, Earthy, Hay, Tingly, Mushroom.

Steep Four: 1:15 Minutes
Light, Clean, Milky, Nutty

Steep Five: 1:30 Minutes
Weaker on flavor in this steeping, Mellow, Leafy, Sweetness coming out!

Steep Six: 2:00 Minutes
About the same as the last cup but sort of getting weak. I went for another steep anyway.

Steep Seven: 2:30 Minutes
Mossy, Juicy and now Fruity!

Steep Eight: 2:45
No real flavors present although a light golden color. No notes taken, by this time I was absorbed into a movie (Red Tails – GREAT movie!)

Overall I was surprised to find I did not get any of the chocolate notes as in the description but was not disappointed! I think I will allow this to age quite a bit and re-visit it later on.
I did enjoy it very much and there were some wonderful flavor notes and a few surprises even once I began to think it was past it’s steep-ability!

A nice tea with mellow flavors through out that over all remind of me my favorite season! You can’t beat that!

On another note. My husband at first said it smelled fishy. Again that FISHY word but I proved something to him and myself.
I said rather than fishy think of it as MUSHROOMY!
He disagreed so I made him go get an organic mushroom from the fridge!
He took a bite and said OMG your right!!!

I think the two flavors are similar in some ways but distinctly different enough. Plus for most mushroom is more palatable to stomach than “fishy”.

ALSO he drank with me the entire time! I was sooooo shocked and happy!
:)

TeaBrat

sounds lovely!

Azzrian

Thank you :) It was.

Hesper June

Isn’t just lovely when they (the men) do that?
I am so happy that you had such a lovely tea and such a nice time with your fella:)

Kiaharii

I wish I could get my fiance to drink with me. He’s usually pretty good about trying new teas that I steep but he always says they just seem like hot water. headdesk I can’t wait until I get my puerh order in and then we’ll see what he says. :)
Woo comment problems.

Azzrian

I hope that it works for him Kiaharli! He may need a more kick in the face flavor palate!

Thank you Hesper June! :)

Scatterbrain

Sounds great.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

97
drank Black Pearl by Mandala Tea
807 tasting notes

Quick note – watching a movie – but I am sucking down cup after cup of this stuff – its SO good! Malty yumminess! Good with rock sugar too!

TassieTeaGirl

Watching pirates of the Caribbean curse of the (insert tea name here), by any chance? ;)

Kittenna

Black Pearl makes me think of Pirates of the Caribbean, which makes me think of Johnny Depp and makes me really REALLY want to watch the (first) movie! Except I left my DVDs at my parents’ place when I moved (and although I’m heading back soon, I have noooo idea what box they’d be in… :( )

Kittenna

Nice, TassieTeaGirl! We totally posted that at the same time!

Daisy Chubb

6 degrees of Johnny Depp : Tea Edition

ashmanra

Have you seen Chocolat?

Azzrian

LOL you girls are a hoot! Thanks for giving me something fun to wake up to. :)

TassieTeaGirl

Ha! Nicely done ladies! :)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

97
drank Black Pearl by Mandala Tea
807 tasting notes

I am exhausted and the day is only half over considering I got up at a reasonable time today. However I know I will have my second wind around midnight so I have a ways to go.

So I began my day with this tea by accident. I had ordered two yixing pots from Mandala and one was called Black Pearl. Instead of that I got this but I am not unhappy about it. I almost ordered this with my yixings and other offerings but took it out of my cart to stay under my budget. You see the black pearl tea in the 4 ounce quantity is almost the exact same price as the yixing pot! Needless to say I wrote Garret and said I would keep this tea and get the second yixing soon. So happy accident. The best kind!

The first thing I thought when I saw the tea was “wow those are some big balls”. Okay if you are done laughing – they really are large when compared to say gunpowder green or jasmine pearls etc. So I now have a very immature and yet affectionate name for this tea.

I had two steeps this morning then ran errands, went to our tiny local Asian shop, grabbed some Pad Thai noodles, some siriacha sauce, ube ice cream, and white rabbit candy. No really knock out teas there but its not like I need more tea.

Then I came home, seasoned my yixing pot which is now soaking, and am having my third steep.

The tea is awesome. Toasty, chocolate notes seem to be what really grab me. I also enjoy the malty notes and the grain notes as others have mentioned. It has more than endured three steeps and I project can go at least 2 if not 3 or so more.

I stepped 4 pearls in my Kali Tea cup with infuser (8 ounces).

First steep 1 min, then 2 min on steep two, steep three I was distracted by several things, my daughter’s soup I was making, neighbors dog loose, a fire truck showing up down the road at another neighbors, (hope she is okay), etc and so on.

This steep got a good 10 minutes or more and it is SO rich SO yummy yet it is not astringent, nor bitter! WOW!

Perhaps I won’t be able to get those other steeps since I totally over steeped this one yet on smelling the leaves they still seem to have far more to offer! The leaves now have a lovely vegetal aroma to them! The following steeps will be interesting indeed!
More to come if I remember to note more.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec
TeaBrat

This is a great tea! Happy you got your order.

Azzrian

Yeah I agree Garret is awesome and I am sure he will kick himself for the error but it was an honest mistake. This tea is so worth having. :)

Garret

uggghhhhhhh!!!!! I cant believe that happened!!! I saw black pearl and I immediately thought of the black tea. I apologize! But… I am so glad you enjoyed the tea!!! I bought these black pearls during the last couple trips to China and I love love love love them!!!

Azzrian

Oh yes I do enjoy them and will prize them as well! They are lovely. :) Don’t worry about it Garret – I was confused at first where the other Yixing was and then saw the tea and realized the confusion lol kind of funny really.

Thomas Smith

What tea are you seasoning the pot with/for?

Azzrian

Seasoning for Shu – will do Sheng in the other yixing when i get it.
I used Bu Lang Gong Ting from Mandala to start the process.

Kittenna

Azzrian – are these like the Fengqing Black Pearls from Teavivre? Also – I love white rabbit candies!!! I can eat a whole bag (probably) in one sitting, but I haven’t had them in a while. Perhaps when I’m visiting my parents in a couple weeks I can convince them to get some :D

Azzrian

I don’t know I don’t think I even have those – if I do I have not tapped into them yet. Unless I did and forgot about it. I really don’t think I have tried these yet.

Thomas Smith

Shu Puerh seasons so nice and easily and you don’t really need to work about pot material as long as it’s an fixing pot rather than a terra cotta mimic (shape and size is still important, though). I didn’t realize how lucky I got with my first Sheng pot, though, until I tried seasoning three more pots for gifts and found a lot of issues depending on material. Wound up keeping one and only use it for tea that’s 20+ years old since it’s a great pot but doesn’t work well at all for younger tea.

Thomas Smith

Gah, stupid autocorrect. work=worry, fixing=yixing

Azzrian

LOL yeah I knew what ya meant but yes auto correct can be a pain sometimes!
How many pots do you have?

Thomas Smith

Currently just 9 yixing pots since I season and give some away as gifts and am down to my personal use ones (I just sold two other personal use ones, which I won’t list here). 100mL Zi Ni Squat Modified Shi Piao for loose, small leaf Shu Puerh; 220mL Zi Ni Shi Piao for larger leaf and compressed Shu Puerh; 220mL Duan Ni Rounded Shi Piao for young Sheng Puerh; 110mL Zhu Ni pearl-shaped pot for traditional style Tieguanyin; 180mL Zi Ni Rong Tian for Fenghuang Dancongs; 180mL aged coarse Zhu Ni Rong Tian for Da Hong Pao; 180mL “Black Zhu Ni” (I think it’s just very dark Zi Ni, really) Rong Tian for roasty Wuyi Yancha, Shui Xian, and Rou Gui; 110mL thin-walled Zhu Ni Rong Tian for non-roasty Gaoshan Oolongs; 150mL Qing Hui Ni Shi Piao for 20+ year old Sheng Puerh (paired with matching cups).

Azzrian

Well you are WAY WAY ahead of me LOL I am still a youngin when it comes to yixing but learning all I can :)

TeaBrat

I only have two right now – for wuyi oolongs and for sheng, but I need one more at least for shu. I am not quite as advanced at Thomas, here. :D

Azzrian

I just have the one still lol getting one more from mandala on payday for shu and maybe another for oolong but I think THINK I will stop there. Then again I have said that about teas before too :)

Thomas Smith

Ultimately it’s best to just have ‘em for the teas you enjoy by yourself on a very frequent basis. I’m kinda bummed how little I use my Gaoshan pots (just sold one for the roastier Gaoshans that I drink more frequently). I also wish I used my aged puerh pot more, but that’s an issue of supply rather than demand ;p
I definitely recommend matching the shape to the tea, though. Rounder with a higher lid clearance for teas that will expand or (more importantly) have a greater amount of light aromatics to retain; more squat and larger volume for allowing settling and opening of compressed teas while retaining temperature.

@Amy: So says the person with more than 10x the reviews on here, hahaha.

Azzrian

Now that is some sound advice! I never thought about shape before! Thank you!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

Being brave tonight and trying my first mini tuocha, courtesy of Amy oh and helpful advice from both her and Garret!

To begin with… I am in love with this rice-scented bit! Dry, there was a bit of an indication of what was to come, but once the boiling water hit the tuocha, my mouth started watering. It smells so good! So I’m very excited :D I can also smell a nice earthiness. I wish it would cool down faster so I could drink it….

I started with a ~15s rinse with boiling-ish water, and then a first infusion of about 30 seconds. The tea is pretty dark from just that short amount of time, so I’m glad I didn’t go with 45! The aroma is still earthy and rice-scented, yum.

…I’m too impatient to wait to try it. Hmm. I have no idea how to describe this flavour. A bit earthy, a bit rice-like, with a nice aftertaste/aroma of the scented rice. It’s really too hot for me to enjoy quite yet (although I’m sure people drink it this hot, I like my teas cooler.) It is actually a touch light on the flavour, so I might try 45 seconds with the other tuocha (but we’ll see).

Ok! It’s cool enough to try now, and it’s really lovely! Earthy but with a strong rice scent. I’m still getting used to the flavour of pu’erh, but this is quite nice and easy to drink, especially with the tasty flavouring.

I’ll try another couple infusions a bit later; time to head out for that run! Hopefully I don’t get a tummyache :D

ETA: Definitely got a tummyache while running. Unlikely caused by tea though, probably by the bag of cheese puffs (organic and gluten-free!) I ate alongside the tea :D Anyhow, second infusion for about 53 seconds once I finally drained all the water, is quite dark and has the same aroma as the previous infusion. I’m going to wait until it cools to try it out, but am anticipating the same yumminess as before :D Also, I noticed that the leaf is very interesting-looking! There’s green leaf pieces in there! Is that the flavouring herb?? (Also, glass teapot not the best idea for this pu’erh… my cup contains many floaties. I should have strained it through a secondary strainer, my bad.)

Ok, tea cool enough to drink. More earthy, less fragrant rice-y, but I still enjoy it. I think pu’erh is a taste I haven’t quite acquired yet, but I’d have to say that this one is pretty good for “beginners” because of the additional flavouring which helps to counteract that straight earthiness. (Also… I think pu’erh will be a much easier taste to acquire than either beer or coffee, neither of which I will EVER enjoy straight. Blech.)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec
TeaBrat

yay! you did it. I agree the rice element makes it fun to drink.

Missy

Yay! I’m glad you tried pu-erh. I finally got brave enough to order some. I think Mandela will be next on my list for my venture into pu-erh.

CHAroma

Beer is disgusting. I honestly don’t know how anyone enjoys it…

Garret

The green leaf that you see in with the ripened pu’er is indeed, the “rice scented leaf”, an herb that gives that special aroma. There is a woman who has an office across the street from our shop who only drinks this tea. The only time I can’t drink it is when I am fasting. Makes me think too much of the smell of basmati rice cooking :)

Kittenna

CHAroma – I entirely agree!

Garret – It definitely made me crave all things rice, so I can see why drinking it during fasting would be difficult!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

I sampled this – quickly – at the end of a day – a few weeks ago and never logged it so I RE-tasted it today and have a little time to jot down my thoughts…

This is slightly sweet and floral but a bit black peppery and pretty PINE-e.
The after taste is a bit bark-like but more like pine-needles…with a hint of sweetness.

I do like this white pu-erh.

Bonnie

Sounds good! I like white bud puerh even iced. Refreshing!

TeaBrat

I have some of this tea from Verdant I haven’t even tried yet. what a slacker!

Garret

I sourced this tea myself when in Yunnan. This particular crop is going to really deepen in flavor over the next couple of years. The piney-ness will soften and aroma will turn a little sweeter and syrupy. The flavor, too. I am just about to open the crates of this tea and store them in the vault with the other pu’er teas here. I keep them sealed for the 1st year and then store them as pu’er for the duration of their lovely little lives! Thank you for the review!!!

Bonnie

I just ordered Verdants because the sample was fantastic and you can steep it endlessly. I was amazed!

Garret

David (of Verdant Tea) and I are great friends. We just spent 4 hours together on Sunday sipping and talking tea. Such a joy to know another great importer of teas. Great guy!

TeaEqualsBliss

I didn’t know you (Garret) and David were friends! That’s wonderful! It really DOES make sense that you are because – from what I can see – you share some of the same customer service fundamentals, business sense, and tea/farmer/education appreciation!!! Excellent!!! You and David are but great!

Garret

awww, shucks, thanks for the kind words about mine and David’s companies! We enjoy it whenever we can get together because we are both so passionate about the tea. Sometimes we talk, other times we just sit, sip, smile and giggle :) You should join us sometime!

meliorate

White pu-erh sounds interesting, I’ve never encountered that before. Aged white tea?

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

92

Many people have said they aren’t fond of certain Jasmine teas – I certainly fit in that category…at first I thought it was because I just wasn’t a fan – but over the last 2 years or so – I have noticed – I am just very picky when it comes to Jasmine’s – I guess! So…here’s what I think of this one from Mandala…

Before and After infusing I could smell a little Jasmine in addition to a little something else…it sort of smelled like Apricots or something like them! The pearls UNpearl near perfectly.

This is a very mellow, sweet and smooth, near buttery-textured Jasmine. It’s NOT soapy AT ALL and it’s not overly floral tasting either. It has a pleasant aftertaste and as nice and even from start to finish!

This is right up there with all of the things I look for in a Jasmine.

High remarks and ratings from me!

TeaBrat

this is a very nice tea and I don’t even like jasmine. :)

Garret

I don’t want you to think that just because I own Mandala Tea I am happy to hear this. It reaffirms for me how great our source is for our jasmine pearls. Green jasmine is not a tea that I ever really cared for. I find most of them overpowering (likely to make up for low quality green tea and/or artificial scenting). But when my connection sent me a sample of these 5 years ago, I was pretty excited. And despite having hundreds of teas at my disposal, I find myself enjoying these pearls a couple of times a week. They work great in controlled steepings and I also enjoy them in the tea glass style of brewing, too, where they stay immersed in water for hours, sip down halfway, add more water, sip and on and on! I’m really happy you enjoy them, too!!

CHAroma

Went to add this to my shopping list and it’s already there! :D

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

84

A little something to cleanse the palate? Ok! YAY!

This has a sweet yet hay-like taste to it. It’s sort of grain-E but in a satisfying way.

It has a natural hint of sugar…not really cane sugar or stevia but perhaps more of a coconut crystal type sugary taste to it. That’s the part I like…the hint of that little something that sets it aside from the others.

Nice!

Bonnie

Buzzzz! Lots of tea! Coconut really? Is it piney?

TeaEqualsBliss

Well, not coconut persay, but coconut sugar or coconut crystals (a natural sweetener). It’s not really pine-E, no…MAYBE a sweeter pine needle type and not a woodsy one…if that makes sense :)

Bonnie

Yes. Some white jasmine’s are sweet pine needle or sap scented to me in a good way. I look for it!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88

I forgot I had this sample until I went digging around in my stash the other day – anyway thanks for this one Garret!

I don’t believe I’ve ever had a light roast red robe before so I was eager to try this one out this morning. I used my xiying teapot that I have reserved especially for wuyi oolongs. This is how you know you have fully entered the realm of tea nerd-dom! lol.

My first two steeps of this were very light. I only used a pinch of tea but the teapot is pretty small, about 6 oz. After a quick rinse, My first two steeps were around 30 seconds. I got a very light yellow colored infusion. The flavor of the tea reminds me of peaches, with a light mineral quality and just a tinge of roastyness from the charcoal. It is very delicate compared to the darker roasted red robes (or da hong pao).

Steep #3. I have noticed now that the wet leaves smell absolutely incredible, like roasted fruit. I decided to go for a steep of 1 minute. The infusion is still very light but the longer steep seems to have brought out a sweeter, thicker flavor in the tea. Compared to the photo on Mandala’s website my tea liquor is still fairly light and does have a bit more of a floral quality than a darker red robe. Still not sure I used enough leaf.

Steep #4 – 3 minutes. This is my favorite infusion so far. More fruit notes coming up in the tea. Lots of minerality in this one which seems a bit earthy and almost sparkling.

This is a really nice tea, I think I may prefer the darker red robes, or maybe that is just what I am used to? I will definitely use more leaf the next time I try the experiment. This was neat, I’m glad I got to expand my horizons a bit. :)

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 0 min, 30 sec
ScottTeaMan

I’ve never tasted peach notes with Da Hong Pao, but mine were darker roasted. OK, seriously…….another tea to go on my Mandala list!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

86
drank Wild Arbor Buds by Mandala Tea
4843 tasting notes

After posting about the Wild Fresh Buds from In Nature this evening, I know that I had tried a very similar looking tea from Mandala tea, but, when I looked for it on here, I couldn’t find it. I don’t know if somehow it got lost in all the updating that is going on, so, I decided to post about it again… so consider this a backlog.

This is a sweet, mellow Pu-erh. Here is my full-length review of it: http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/04/08/wild-arbor-buds-white-pu-erh-leaf-buds-from-mandala-tea/

Geoffrey Norman

I’m always fascinated by the Wild Arbor varietal. It’s not even a Camellia sinensis…but still “kinda” tastes like tea.

CHAroma

Really interesting post! I know exactly the burs you’re talking about, hahaha. Do you think someone who normally doesn’t like the dark puer type tea would like this “white” version?

TeaBrat

CHAroma – you might want to ask check out some raw pu-erhs, like this one, much lighter and sweeter than the dark shu variety : http://shopmandalatea.com/raw-pu-er-tea/250-gram-mandala-silver-buds-raw-2011.html

Garret

Hi, everybody! CHAroma, we’ve had many customers who have not found black pu’er to be their cup of tea. In the shop, I’ll brew up some green pu’er for them as a green tea and some become instantly obsessed. Of course, there are variables one can play with in the brewing process, but black and green pu’er teas really are two completely different animals, for sure.

CHAroma

Cool, thanks for the information!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

95

Top o’ the morning – a nice bit of sheng for me today. I am definitely feeling perkier, more productive and happier. Hope to get some more of this from Mandala tea soon. :D

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Anny Oxidant & the Tea Bullie

Glad you are feeling better!

TeaBrat

Thank you. :-D

Missy

Good to see you are feeling better. :D

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

95

Thank you Garret for your generosity in sending me this sample. It’s always
difficult for me to review raw puerhs because I know often times they can
benefit from aging and will improve over time.

1st steep – 2 minutes: This tea is certainly ready to drink now which is great
for a raw pu-erh. It’s a lot more delicate and a bit sweet compared to other
shengs I have had. I’m picking up on a light camphor note and the orchid, yum! Clean and delicious with only a tiny hint of a sour quality (common with young
shengs). It will be very interesting to see what age does to this cake but I
don’t know if I’d want to wait 10 years to drink this. hee hee!

2nd steep – 60 seconds. This cup is a bit lighter due to the shorter steeping
time. Compared to the Mengku gifting raw it is quite delicate and light. I can
almost taste the pristine mountain air in each cup. Interesting that this is a
high altitude tea since it reminds me ever so slightly of an oolong. It’s even a
bit… buttery? I kid you not. how delicious.

3rd steep – 90 seconds. Flavor is still going strong. I really like the fact that this tea isn’t really bitter like some shengs I have tried. Now that the leaves have opened up I’m getting more vegetal notes with this one.

It’s so good and really a great value for the cake. I am getting one as soon as the tea budget allows, which will probably be next month if I am good.

Rating is based on my personal enjoyment factor which is very high!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

I’m with you! Who can wait?!

TeaBrat

I have some definite impulse control issues – ha!

ScottTeaMan

here here.

Garret

Oooohhhh… I thought you’d enjoy that! I look forward to being able to get you some of the cakes that are getting pressed this week of that new mao cha that I got on this last buying trip!!

Tea is the one thing that makes me want to be immortal. I stand in my pu’er vault and I see all these cakes of tea, and I wonder “is it possible that I’ll still be alive and making my own tea when this cake is 50 years old?”

Here’s to good food, working out, tea drinking, meditation and a nice pour of organic tequila to keep me rockin’ and rollin’ for another 50 years. 95? That’s totally doable!

May you each live long and healthy lives!!!!

ScottTeaMan

Thank You…….you too!

TeaBrat

Thanks Garret! This was so nice!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

I’m not even a big fan of jasmine tea but I finished off the rest of this sample today and it is making me feel a bit cheerful! One of the better jasmines I have had, nice and relaxing and not too strong or perfume-y.

ScottTeaMan

You liked Teavivre’s too…….didn’t you Amy??

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

I got this as a free sample from Mandala Tea and was by and large cursing my luck because I don’t really like most jasmine teas, I find them to be overdone and soapy and perfumey.

As far as jasmine goes this is on the better end of the spectrum for sure. I used a small handful of pearls in my infuser mug and it was fun watching them open up. I love the aroma of this and wish I could take a bath in it. I was holding my nose up to the steeped leaves and found it very relaxing. When I am feeling wealthy there’s a jasmine shower gel I like from Lush called Flying Fox and I find it sooo soothing.

The tea liquor is a light yellow and it smells nice sitting alongside me this afternoon. Good for a relaxing moment. Oftentimes jasmine upsets my stomach even though I love the way it smells, so I’ve been trying to take small sips of it here and there. It’s very light and sweet and the jasmine is fairly sublte and not too overpowering. I am picking up some light vanilla and creamy notes which is making this nice. Those of you who are really into drinking your jasmine need to check this one out.

As always I am grateful for the sample but probably won’t buy any… I do have anxiety at work sometimes so I’ll have to see how I do with it. Might be good for medicinal purposes, hee! :)

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 45 sec
Cheryl

“It’s not you, it’s me” : )

TeaBrat

ha. I actually thought this and the Teavivre jasmine pearls were both ok.

Bonnie

I have a LS with popped Jasmine flowers and they mellow the flavor a bit. Can’t taste any floral either.

Garret

Hi Amy! Had I known you weren’t into yasmin I’d have never sent that to you. We sell a ton of them to other shops and all over. I included them last time because I saw a reply that you had made to another who had reviewed our jasmine pearls stating that you hoped to try them someday. No more jasmine for you, I promise!!

TeaBrat

Ha- Garret it is not your fault! This is one of the better jasmine teas i have had so consider that a compliment! :)

ScottTeaMan

May this tea calm your anxiety. :))

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

93
drank Black Beauty by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

Sipdown!
I am done with this today and I will miss it, I should have gotten more in my last order from Mandala. I was impatient and had to have more of the Xiaguan FT Flame Raw before it sold out.

Anyway this tea is rich and indeed almost chocolatey, I like it when there’s soymilk added to it also. Will definitely pick up some more in the future. :) See previous notes for more info.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

93
drank Black Beauty by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

This is a lovely tea from Mandala that I’ve had for a little while but haven’t had the chance to post a review on. I was also having problems grabbing the larger photo for this so if anyone can get the one from their site feel free to replace it. :)

I decided to go with one long steep at 4 minutes although you can also do shorter steeps with this one. The tea is a lovely reddish brown. This is very impressive if you like sweeter, mellower teas. The predominate flavors are caramel and chocolate. The tea is medium bodied and has a lovely sweet finish with no astringency present.

A great one to sip on plain as it doesn’t need any additions. I don’t know which is my favorite black tea from Mandala, they’re all yummy!

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

I see a definite order from Mandala in the near future-some good Pu-erhs and Blacks.

Garret

Amy! Thanks for another great review! You’re a doll :)

Scott! I’d love to help you with an order from us. You can always email me at [email protected] Alot of times, I have some things that aren’t even up on the website yet or ones that we have available only in the shop because of smaller quantities. IF you are into sheng pu’er, I’ve also got some nice mao cha’s that I brought back from my last trip to China. I’m here for ya and I look forward to serving you!! Enjoy!!!

TeaBrat

Garret – I look forward to seeing what your new stuff is!
Scott – you should do it! Mandala is awesome!

Garret

Amy – Have you tried mao cha before? I will set aside a little of this gu shu cha (old tree tea) and some ye sheng cha (wild tree tea) mao cha that I found on this last trip. I bought tons and am having it pressed into cakes. We won’t see the cakes until August or September, but at least you’ll get to taste what went into them!!

TeaBrat

I’ve had only one mao cha in the past, it was from Silk Road Teas and I liked it! =)

Garret

I have sipped much tea with the man who owns silk road tea when I was in China this past trip! Love that guy! Though he and I are 20 years apart in age (this time around) we have much in common, besides tea :) I am going to make sure you get to try some more mao cha!!! It’ll be fun to send you some things that I sipped in the farmer’s homes!!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

92
drank Black Pearl by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

Sipdown!
I am now done with this stuff but I need to get more – so smooth and delicious! :) See previous notes for more info…

Matt

Dang everyone is doing the pearls today

ashmanra

Number five! And isn’t it yet ANOTHER tea company? LOL!

TeaBrat

Great minds think alike!

Garret

Love me da black pearl! I’ll be heading there again in April to buy many many more. I think we have enough of this current buy from this April to satisfy our customers til then! Though, i must admit, we are selling way more of these than ever before. Must be your reviews, Amy!!!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

92
drank Black Pearl by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

Sipdown!
I have enjoyed this a lot, I did not have a ton left so I decided to mix a little of Verdant’s Laoshan Black in with this. I am definitely getting more at some point. There always seems to be too much month left at the end of the money, har de har har…

I was at the gym for 1.5 hours last night and am really sore – I hope to survive the day!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Garret

David at Verdant Tea and I are good pals so I think it is excellent that you combined one of my teas with his! Perfect! I hope he sees this post!!

Nice job on the workout. I hope you got some good stretching in, too!

TeaBrat

Thanks G! I am trying to take good care of myself in the wake of relationship obliteration – boom… POW! Need to love myself now!

Garret

What I want you to do is to keep taking care of yourself no matter what you are going through :) Self-love is the absolute key to this whole trip, I am convinced. When we do that, we break down the barriers and realize that there is no separation. Loving ourselves is the very best thing we can do for each and every living being. Self-love transforms how we see all beings. Ohhhhhh…. yes….. Just began reading Tara Brach’s book “Radical Acceptance” – fantastic. You would adore it. Just a feeling I get :)

TeaBrat

Garret – I’ve had that book for years… :)

Garret

As you say, great minds think alike :) Gee whiz, isn’t that wonderful?!?!?

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

92
drank Black Pearl by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

This is my tea of the morning, oh this stuff is so good!

Very chocolatey and malty, hoping it will wake me up soon… it’s hitting the spot with our early morning fog. see previous reviews for more details.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
Scott B

With all that fog, I picture you living in a lighthouse.

TeaBrat

Sometimes it feels that way. ;-)

Garret

HI Amy!! Too funny that out of all the teas I have at my disposal, this is the same one that called to me this morning. We didn’t have fog this morning here, but I was on the way home from my niece’s CD release party in St Paul, MN very early this morning and there was fog on the ground out in the fields and a moon shining down through my moon roof. When I got back to my village, I put on some fresh water and brewed up the same black pearls! We may not be in the same place, but at least we get to share the same tea at times! Emaho (how wonderful)!

TeaBrat

Great minds think alike!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

92
drank Black Pearl by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

I got this tea from Mandala earlier in the week but I’ve been waiting for a quiet time at home to try it. Beautiful hand rolled pearls! I love the artistry that goes into these things.

It’s recommended that you use 2-4 pearls for 8 oz. of water — I have an 18 oz. teapot and put in 7 pearls.

My first steep for 60 seconds yielded an orangish-brown clear liquor and at this point the pearls are mostly unfurled. This is a delightful tea that’s sweet and a touch malty. I am also getting hints of cocoa and brown sugar in the finish. BF says this is another tea that reminds him a bit of miso.

Second steep was for 2 minutes, the color looks quite the same but Mandala says the tea will start to reveal itself over multiple infusions. Here it has gotten a bit more buckwheat grainy, with more malt. I like the depth of the second steep but the first was nice too, hmm. Difficult to say which one is better.

I was going to steep this a third time for 5 minutes but the well-meaning Mr. Tea decided he was going to help me with the dishes and tossed out my leaves. That experiment will have to wait another day.

I liked this one a lot. Another good offering from Mandala and lovely to look at.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Sounds beautiful. I love malt too and cocoa!

Azzrian

I am with Bonnie – this sounds devine!

Garret

Amy!!! Did I tell you that I procured another whole bunch of these during my recent trip to China? I thought them very delicious and am pleased as punch that you are enjoying them too! I gotta tell you that it makes me really happy to have you enjoying the teas that I am finding when I am there. Makes me want to go again sooner :)

TeaBrat

Garret – you must have excellent taste! I am enjoying them all, had the Black beauty the other day but still need to do a proper review. :)

ScottTeaMan

Leaf toss…:((.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88

After lunch tea – I am really enjoying this on such a nice sunny day that we are having… if you’re a fan of oolongs you might like this. It says some of the same nutty and floral notes but a slight bit more vegetal. I think I will need to try cold brewing it sometime…

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 30 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88

I have had two cups of this yellow tea this afternoon and it’s a nice relaxing tea, which is soft, sweet and forgiving. I also discovered this is good when you add two cardamom pods to it (forgive me for not being a purist). I got two great steeps out of it, I like it better when it’s steeped around 5 minutes or so. It never got bitter even with a long steeping time. I upped the rating a few points today.

See previous notes for more info…

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 5 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88

New experiment here for me – I’ve only had two other yellow teas, one was from Upton and I wasn’t too keen on it, the other was from the Vital Tea Leaf and was very good. I’ve liked everything I’ve had from Mandala so far so I figured it was worth a shot.

I followed the instructions pretty carefully & used about 1 tsb of leaf in a 10 0z. cup. The tea liquor is a very light yellow (almost clear). I was pleasantly surprised to get a light floral aroma here. This is very pleasant, a bit reminiscent of a dragonwell. Some light nuttiness and a clover like flavor are what impresses me about this, as well as a hint of sweet corn. This tea is a bit light for my personal tastes but I have no doubt it’s a very quality tea. I think this will need to be cold brewed to see what else I can coax out of the gentle character, and perhaps I will use a bit more leaf even next time around!

Anyway this will be very nice to have around when I’m in a mood for something mild. I can see this would also be a nice choice on a day when I’m feeling sick because it’s nice and delicate.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 15 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90
drank Simao Summit by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

I just got my new order from Mandala Tea. I must admit I was in a panic thinking the bamboo raw pu-erhs would be gone soon. But I also had to get some other stuff. :) Garrett was very nice, shipped my order promptly, included a nice note and samples. Terrific customer service from these people, I can tell you!

First steep: 2 minutes.
This is what the Chinese would call a red tea and my tea liquor is a beautiful, dark reddish color. The flavor coming from this is very molasses-y and chocolate-y and some malt. I was thinking it would be similar to a golden monkey, perhaps. But it is different.

I like the slight astringency to this and it also seems to have a bit more “heft” and depth than some Chinese red teas I have had. I could definitely see craving this in the morning, but it also makes a nice after lunch tea. There is a bit of sweetness in the tea liquor, but it isn’t a precious kind of sweet. It’s more a dark chocolate kind of sweet.

When I first steeped this up I was thinking ho, hum, another sweet Chinese red tea. I like them but they all start tasting the same after a while. Then I crave the richness of something like a Ceylon. This sort of brings both worlds together for me and melds them into a super tasty, happy tea infusion.

Second Steep: Five glorious minutes.
Not as hefty as the first steep but still full of flavor. I am picking up on the slight briskness a little bit more. Still lots of molasses but perhaps a bit of spice as well. Clearly I need to gong fu this one to pick up on more subtle flavor changes. But this has been quite an enjoyable and even a bit surprising afternoon cuppa.

Sometimes I wonder if I give too many teas high ratings? But my ratings are subjective and are based on my enjoyment of the tea. As you may have noticed, I really like tea! :)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 15 sec
ScottTeaMan

Zero “likes” then all of the sudden two. You beat me to it again KS! :))

Amy how much leaf did you use? I find that for me, most teas can start to taste the same if you drink them enuff. I mix it up I find that if I have heavier foods some greens and Darjeelings aren’t as good after the meal. I think a nice black (red) tea like this can be the best thing after a meal.

Azzrian

This sounds much like the Shang tea I reviewed this morning! YUM Mandala is another place I have wanted to order from!

TeaBrat

@ Azzrian – it has similar flavors to the Shang tea but is not as sweet and has a bit more heft
@Scott – I used about 2 tsp. of leaf. And yeah I have to mix things up a lot or I do get bored very easily (short attention span??)

ScottTeaMan

Hehehehe…….Was 2 tsp for your 12 oz?? mug??

Scott B

Amy-I wonder if I keep my reviews too clumped together. And I am finding it quite difficult to hand out a 90 rating myself.

TeaBrat

2 tsp for around 10 ounces. I tend to use more leaf than most people I think.

Azzrian

Bummer my free shipping code is not working – will wait till Im not so tea cash poor lol

TeaBrat

@Scott B- but what about Candy Cane Lane? heh heh!

Scott B

@AmyYep, I think it’s the only one-and I did it from memory.

@Azzrian – If you contact the company and tell them your free shipping code does not work, they might give you a new code. Worked for me once-albeit with a different company

Bonnie

Give the ratings you want to. Afterall, who’s grading you?

TeaBrat

Wheeeeeeee!

Angrboda

Your rating system is fine. I do it the same way you do, and base the rating on my subjective experience of it on that particular day. I feel I can be more honest that way. For the same reason I’m also not afraid to use the lower end of the scale, although I’ve noticed that a lot of people tend to avoid it. But if my subjective opinion and experience with something everybody else is praising to sky only really feels like 20 points to me, then 20 points it gets. As long as you feel like you’re being honest it’s totally fine whichever way you do it. :)

TeaBrat

@Angrboda – thanks. :) Most of the time any plain tea that comes from a quality source is bound to make me happy. When I give out bad ratings it’s usually due to a lousy flavored tea.

Garret

Tea – one of the things I tell my customers and tea class attendees is this: One can weigh out their tea to the gram, have water that they draw from the same source, at the precise same temp as the day before, using the exact same tea implements and steeping times and it can be sometimes be an entirely different tea experience. Wild. And yet, not so wild, given that the energy of the day is different, the atmosphere is different, WE are different. I love tea. I love the various experiences that one single tea can bring me. It helps to deepen my awareness of my world, of myself, of others and gets me to stop judging it all.

ScottTeaMan

Couldn’t agree more Amy-lousy flavored tea INDEED.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.