Special Dark

Special Dark is always special, but there was something extraordinary about it steeped in the new clay. The mineral of the clay is just amazing with this one. So happy that WE are enjoying our pots and finally giving them the love and care that they deserve. :))

I just keep drooling over additional fixings, & thinking, “if I had this one, I’d use it for (such & such tea)…” :)
I love them

Yup, going to have to make some Special Dark in a yixing pot, tomorrow.

You’re so right Dex, it’s really “Special”!!!

Terri, OMG, I do the same!! I am in such a yixing mood right now, it is dangerous.

Spencer, yes…JUST DO IT :-)

Hmm, so, now balancing the wisdom of taking a yixing to the office…which would mean a bamboo tea tray, too…

Yixing pots are very addictive . Glad you enjoy the experience;)

You can never have too many Yixing pots. Honest! :)

I seasoned my wee-est yixing with Wild Monk yesterday using the Tea Hobbit method – put it in the bowl of tea and put the bowl on a mug warmer for 3 hours. I may have a new yixing or two coming. I’m going to do a Special Dark pot, and a VANILLA DREAMS pot and one for shous that aren’t Special Dark. But right now, I’ve just woken up and am on my way to the kitchen to kickstart my day with my Dark Beauty cocktail and hope that today is better than yesterday

I hope so too…today WILL be a better day :-)

I did my VANILLA DREAMS pot last night!! 7 gr. of GO devoted to it, HOBBIT way, cause it worked so well with Special Dark. Will have my first shot this morning, yum!

I would love to see some pics of these yixings! Is there a discussion topic for that? Maybe I should start one.

Oh there are many sars “show us your teaware” or something like that….but you could totally start a new one!

I’ll see if I can find one that’s yixing specific to resurrect. If not, I’ll start one. I am so excited! I’m currently searching for one to house my special dark. And I think I’ve figured out which tea is going in which gaiwan.

Choosing the teas that match is the toughest part, congrats!! Show me the special dark one when you find it. Will it be a pot this time, or another gaiwan?

I will take pictures of my four pots later and post them :-)

Don’t you worry, sweetie pie. I plan to show you all of them, along with the teas I want for each one, to get your opinion. And I’m going to hope HoneyBelle gives her input, too! :p

I think I am going to stick with gaiwans, assuming I can find enough unique ones. I just like ’em.

Yes, pics pls. I would love to see them.

Well, TeaFairy, looks as though I will get my wish for Special Dark in a yixing today – working from home, due to a rough cough.

Sars, can’t wait to see them all, will be happy to give you my humble opinion :-)

Yay for the tea, boo for the rough cough Spencer :-(
Let me know how you enjoy your SD session :-)

Hope the cough passes soon, Spencer. Regarding a tray for the office, I really like this one http://shopmandalatea.com/tea-wares/tea-trays/bamboo-island-tea-tray.html, it’s nicely compact. Currently out of stock, but I think Garret gets more of them in now & again.

I’d really like a yixing for my really wonderful smokey teas…I’ve been eyeballing one for awhile, but I’ll need more play pal money to get it.
I’d also like one just for Dian Hongs…and for Jin Jun Mei’s…and…and…and…

I need a tea tray for work. I have a gaiwan there and I just dump into a coffee mug, but a tray for work would be awesome. I need to quit reading stuff.

Thanks to Garret’s recent sale, I’ve begun the journey into the mystery that is Special Dark. Have all you SD lovers discovered your own optimum brewing parameters for this very popular shou? I’ve seen a variety of brewing times from 30 seconds to 7 minutes. Dare I ask … Is there a consensus on brewing SD?

i like short steeps. but i like short steeps for every tea because i want to see how flavors change. couple times i made it long steeped like 5min but then cut it with some milk and maple syrup. it was delicious. i still prefer short steeps;)

And I prefer the longer steeps! :D

How long a steep do you prefer?

Me? About 5 minutes. SUPER rich and cocoa-y.

TheTeaFairy also recommends 5 min.
MzPriss from her tasting note appears to enjoy 7 min.

This is on my list for when (if) I make a Mandala order.

boychik, How much pure maple syrup do you use with what quantity of SD that’s been steeped for 5 min.? Thanks!

very little, i start with 1/2 tsp, then try to see if i need more. maybe up to 1tsp. usually i dont sweeten my tea.
im thinking now that if you brew 1tsp 8 oz 5 min its probably will be the same as 5-7g 100ml 30 sec

How about for TheTeaFairy’s: 12 oz. / 5 g / 212 / 5 min. Western brewing recommendation?

Sticking my nose in – I like 2tsp/12oz 95c 8 min – I do do a quick rinse first then just let it steep….

Well, I ordered the puer sampler. I blame (or thank) you guys. ;)

Dexter, I’ll have to try that. Less leaf, usually reduces the flavor & body. Does the 8 min make up for the reduced quantity of leaf? Does 95c reduce the bitter chocolate flavor? So far, most of the comments I’ve read about SD aren’t suggesting a rinse, which is commonly suggested for some teas. What do you find is the benefit of rinsing of SD? Thanks!

i always rinse any puerh including SD! quick rinse,few secs

I do too! SD is already a little “dusty”, I find it helps removing some of that.

OK, I’ll definitely rinse.

This is how I like it. I hardly ever use boiling water on pu’erh (or black for that matter) – I prefer slightly lower water temp. Garret is a believer in rinsing leaves before steeping, something about the rinse opens up the leaves and prepares them to be steeped. There was a huge conversation about it on here about a year ago (I will never find it now), but every time I drink Mandala tea I think about that, so I rinse. I don’t have anything scientific for you. Those parameters are how I make Special Dark and I LOVE it. 8 mins isn’t written in stone – the longer this steeps the darker and richer it gets.

Thanks Dexter I’ll have to try your formula. I ask because I’m trying to optimize the rich creamy dark chocolate flavor without increasing the bitter chocolate aspect.

Brewing parameters
As a primarily black tea drinker I’m used to seeing either of the following:
- tsp (g) / oz. / temp. / min.
- tsp (g) / oz. / temp. / rinse / min.

Being new to pu’erh I don’t automatically think to rinse if it’s not stated in the brewing parameters / directions.

i think i put in parameters that i rinse. i even put pause. i like to pause couple min after rinsing
rinse/pause/5/10/15 etc :)

Some people believe that you should rinse all tea – white, green, oolong, black, pu’erh. The instructor of the tea class I took in the spring rinsed everything.
I only rinse pu’erh and all Mandala teas. When I rinse, I don’t fill the vessel full of water, I just cover the leaves, give it a swish and dump it off – approx 5 sec. I also preheat my mug, gaiwan, pot – whatever I’m using.
I think we all just have “habits”. Some one told us to do that, so we do even if we don’t really understand why….
I personally don’t find Special Dark as being bitter chocolate, so I’m not sure my recommendations are going to help you. I think you will just have to play with it to find your preference. :))

Dexter, boychik, & TheTeaFairy, Thanks for reminding me about the importance of rinsing. To my surprise, it’s not listed on the SD package brewing instructions. However, Garret does recommend a 10-15 sec. rise on the instructions that were included with his recent Ripe Pu’er Sampler. Rinsing helped a great deal!

Dexter, I tried your suggestion: 2tsp / 12oz / 95c / rinse / 8 min. Both my wife and I found it to be too light for us. So far, 1 Tbsp. / 10oz / 212 / rinse / 5 min. appears to provide a good balance for us. I may fine tune this further. Time will tell.

Thanks everyone!

My S.D. farewell: https://steepster.com/looseTman/posts/399892

Oh wow, you actually made pu-erh sound good to me haha.

love love love this tea!

I picked this one up because of you and all the people you shared it with JustJames! :)

Fjellrev, this puerh is magic. One of the steeps smelled a little fishy but it never translated to the taste.

This is good stuff!

So different. I didn’t sample a lot of puerh but this one is very distinctive

omigoodness, this sounds delicious…wow! i love espresso & dark chocolate…i think the observation on farina is very nice… so more of a grain/wheat smell than earthy? i think i would really like this..

No earthiness, no mustiness, no mushroom or leather. Very unusual. I wouldn’t say grainy, very often I pick up like rye bread notes. Like hot cereal of wheat to me;). I picked 1oz only but when I run out of it will get more.

I need to pull this one out, it’s been awhile :)

fascinating! i’ve only had 1 pu’erh and it’s Chocolate pu’erh by Numi (lol..have yet to try my first cake!) & while it’s not my favorite kind of black tea, i do enjoy it, esp with the cocoa note. So you get a rye bread note from this one? wow…i love rye/caroway…and fennel, aniseed…lol i’m going off the charts here ;) so hot cereal/cream-of-wheat type smell? i normally think ‘grain’ when i think farina, but upon ur explanation, i must perfect my senses! :)

pyarkaaloo, we must convert you to pu’erh…….

yes, we must!

hahaha ;) i definitely would not mind that happening…something tells me Mandala’s Special Dark will do just the trick!

Sorry my writing is confusing. What I meant sometimes when I drink Chinese black teas I find rye bread notes but this Special dark is farina to me. We have to turn you to Special Dark side;)

That sounds lovely!

Cavo….it IS!

You just turned one of my favorite ripe teas into a poetic experience! Thank you for writing that up, my friend! Beautiful.

Yay! So glad you enjoyed it :)

a beautiful tea deserves beautiful language.

hahahahaha i seem to recall the box was largely for your brother :P

Shh! :D Yeah, they’re splitting what’s left. It’s just so good! Mandala has risen to the top of my ‘to buy’ list…

some fabulous stuff at mandala. I’m holding off, hoping for a black Friday sale so that it can be one of my tea orders for that day

Exactly! I hope they take PayPal. I haven’t checked yet due to No Internet. Gonna be another week or two before it gets connected!

garrett takes paypal :) If you’re shipping to canada and not a tea mule, he’ll invoice you after letting you know what the shipping price is to canada…at least that’s my understanding.

I don’t have a tea mule, sadly. And shipping across Canada would probably be just as much as shipping from the states!

Awesome, glad to hear that you love this.
Mandala website is not set up for shipping outside the US. They welcome international orders, you just need to email Garret and tell him what you want – then as Sil said, he lets you know what shipping will be and sends you an invoice from PayPal. Also, Garret in an amazing, friendly, knowledgeable, fantastic, awesome person. If you have any questions don’t even hesitate to email him.
I too am trying really hard to not put in an order with them. I need to try some of their black teas….

dexter – just give me a poke when you see some show up on my tasting thread. I’ll send some your way…i picked up a couple..

:)))

Thanks! Good to know. :)

I like a loooong hot steep and a lot of leaf for this one. KAPOW it gets dark! The serving size is supposed to be a whole tablespoon I think :(

Aw, I had a feeling I wasn’t using enough leaves.

:( Maybe you can get a tasty 4 oz cup with the last tsp. Let it steep as long as you can stand to!

I’ll try that, if I remember!

Yay! I’m glad you liked it! Congrats on the Turkish delight too- looks delish!!!!!

Loved it! Thank you soooo much!

My picture didn’t post….of the tea I’m getting frustrated with steepster right now

There I tried for the 7th time…maybe it’ll show up now

I know some people write their tasting notes in a word processing program and then copy into Steepster. I never have, but it is frustrating!

Would this be a good place to start for someone oh has never tried pu’erh?

*who

i think so, yes, because Mandala’s are very “clean” as far as pu erhs go from what i understand, but also full of flavors often associated with favorite black teas—this one for example to me tastes like darkdark, almost burnt it’s so dark, chocolate and espresso, with some bready notes, among other things.

my biggest piece of advice to someone new to pu erh is to RINSE FIRST, ALWAYS. as in, the first “steep” is really only like 10 seconds, and doesn’t have to be a lot of water, then pour it out and let the tea sit a moment damp. then proceed. my first attempt at pu erh i disregarded that, and i’m not alone apparently going by rating logs, and it compounded the weirdness which you want to avoid for your first foray into a new tea type, i think. even if a pu erh’s packaging doesn’t say to rinse, i always rinse now (and usually i don’t bother with any other tea type). also, shu pu erh like this one wants to be bathed in the hottest water possible. that was the other thing. and, for this one, don’t be afraid of tempering it with a little milk and/or sugar. i almost never put anything in my black tea so i didn’t with this one at first, but i love it even more with milk and a dab of sugar. it can definitely withstand it. also, pu erh is a good resteeper.

That’s great advice, thanks!

bourbon smoked sugar? OMG

Hah, I read sugar as cigar for some reason. Which would also be interesting…

The fact that you were able to turn melted gelato into a happy moment is magical (and, I would never judge you. ha! I eat ice cream sundaes for lunch, as you know…).
This whole note was so much fun to read…and I would never try adding milk or sugar to a pu erh, but you’ve got me curious now (and extremely interested in this particular pu erh).

also, I second TeaBrat….. bourbon smoked sugar?!

picked up the sugar during a Harney clearance sale over the holidays; i think they still carry it, but right now it’s back to full price (quite a lot for sugar…but yeah, really lovely sugar). it’s a finishing sugar, but i like a tiny bit in certain very hefty teas that can handle it (again, no judging! :). and yes DF, i like that you understand my need for an occasional ice cream-based meal. (:

i never would’ve either re: milk and sugar in pu erh except someone i quite admire, a longtimer here, Bonnie, mentioned she does it all the time. it gave me the courage to. with this one, it makes sense to me especially; this is like a little cup of espresso and a square of the darkest eating chocolate, with some leather/pu erh-y aromatic depth. i don’t do it with the lincang/phatty cake as it has a mint element and lots of library-ish and forest smells i think i’d lose if i did. experimentation! s’fun. (:

whatshesaid, no prob! seriously, my number one piece of advice is rinse first always. and yeah, mandala is a great place to start bc their pu erhs are sweet, rich, and not too funky. best of luck finding something you like! (and welcome back! :)

I milk and sugar in pu’erh too, especially if it’s a very dark one. No shame, it’s good! Sweet, creamy deep farm flavour? Get in!!!

Thanks :) it’s been added to my ‘to buy’ list!
Happy to be back!!