Mandala "Wild Monk" Tea - Mao Cha

Not the best tea I have had but for some reason if I had to give it a name, WILD MONK would be apt. I have to say thank you for the offering though. It is unique!

I had to use cheese cloth and some plastic to tie it up to steep the tea as I lost the strainer to the pitcher. I don’t know if it altered the taste or not but grandma says it doesn’t.

time for a full review:

when I smell the leaves dry, it smells musty and nice

when I smell the leaves wet, it smells smoky

when I smell the brewed tea, it smells smoky and spicy.

when I taste the brewed tea, it tastes quite smoky and very spicy.

this tea has a peachy after taste

many thanks to mrmopar for this awesome tea :)

Sipdown of the 2012 batch.

Tastes different from the cake form. Some notes seem stronger, in some way, but other notes (like the light smokiness) seem to have disappeared. Still pleasantly sweet and crisp. I think I prefer the cakes, but this is still very good!

from the (Mostly) Unflavored TTB

This started out with that tastes like smoke but isn’t smoke taste, kinda metallic, and quite smooth and creamy, a little sweet.

It ended up just being a really nice tea to drink.

I did lots of short steeps, starting at 10s, finishing up at 2m.

It’s been a long day at work, this afternoon off and on particularly frustrating and stressful, so I didn’t always pay the best attention to this tea. But I definitely enjoyed it, and I’ll drink it again.

(From the Unflavored Traveling Tea Box)

Tea of the morning. I’ve been sipping on this one for hours now. It’s so pleasant and… clean. It steeps into a light liquid – much lighter than I was expecting. The taste is slightly grassy at first with citrus-y notes following and getting stronger in later steeps. The sweetness of this tea took me by surprise, but I have enjoyed it from cup to cup. Even in later steeps as the lemon/citrus flavor becomes more dominant there is still an overall sweetness to the tea. Very refreshing and calming.

Thanks Sil for sharing this with me. Someone must have had a particularly mouth-watering review because it was on my wishlist.

So my first cup of this was knocked over by the child and spilled all over my computer desk. Thankfully both laptops were saved! Yikes. There are seriously 2 safe spots in the entire house – she can reach everything!!!

My second cup is much better; I could drink it! It’s sweet and smokey and just a little bitter. I’ll have to try a lower temperature for the last bit, but I enjoyed trying this!
Thanks again!

I had this tea yesterday. This was a sample from Dexter3657. So far every tea I’ve tried from Mandala has been outstanding. This was no exception. The taste just blew me away. I just brewed with boiling water (rinsed twice) then 10 sec. Did about 30 sec on the next few infusions. It’s hard to remember clearly from yesterday but I do remember it being juicy, full in the mouth. There was a delicious sweetness that would hang on the tongue after a sip. It was a bit buttery, smooth with just a bit of astringency (which I enjoy so much with green teas). I didn’t get much smoke flavour from this one- perhaps a tiny bit in the first infusion or so. The smoke flavour is the one thing that takes some getting used to. I was using the small Chinese cups and every time I would pour I would drink it down so fast.
It was also very distracting. I was doing my work from home on the computer and every time I would take a sip, it was so good ; it took my attention away from my work. I noticed on some of the comments here Garret said he could see colours better when drinking this tea. Well, what happened to me (other then the great calm energy rush) was I could see things in a new way (like through the eyes of a child). I felt like grabbing my camera and heading out for a creative pursuit outside. Alas, I had work to do. Have to pay those bills. I’ll keep this tea in mind on a day when I plan on doing some photography. It really gets those creative juices flowing and lets me see things more creatively.

Thank-you Dexter3657 for another fine sample!

Mao Cha is what they call a young pu-erh. For some people it may not agree with the digestive system as it can be too strong (elimination, upset stomach). Really the key with this tea is to use a small amount of tea leaves (ancient tea trees are very rich) and wash the first two infusions for a few seconds. Also keep the water cool like under 190 degrees. If you do not do those two things it will become extremely bitter and astringent. This tea has a nice spicy smokeyness. If you can follow these steps it is a enjoyable tea very unique unlike most teas. I do not think most tea drinkers will ever drink this everyday but that does not mean its bad or worth trying.

I have been spending a great deal outdoors lately watching my baby bears in the mountains. This tea is great for the morning to warm me up and bring a smile to my face.

I ordered this loose maocha and a cake on the last Mandala order I got. I have put the cake away but I wanted to sample it in its current state. This tea has an assorted size of leak in it. By volume it is heavier than lots of other puerhs I have tried. I was surpised at how little it actually to to get 9 grams. Might be the thick burly leaf in it.
I got down to business with this one in the yixing. I gave a flash rinse and opened the to to smell the aroma of the wet leaf. This is spicy almost like that little burn wasabi or hot mustard can give in the aroma department.
I steeped this for only about 5 seconds before pouring.
This tea has so many notes it is crazy! You have buttery, pine, sweet, bitter ,floral.
It is velvety but strong, floral with some bitter, citrus y and lots of flavors. You will get the tongue numbing with this one!
This is a rock on dead on fine sheng. I really look forward to this one when it ages.