Downy Tips Black Tea

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Pepper, Spices, Bread, Dark Chocolate, Leather, Malt, Oak, Toast, Wheat, Wood, Yeast, Yeasty, Apricot, Chocolate, Smooth, Thick
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Nicole
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 15 sec 7 g 38 oz / 1132 ml

Currently unavailable

We don't know when or if this item will be available.

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18 Tasting Notes View all

  • “So things are finally starting to settle down after the move… Almost all of the boxes have been unpacked and pretty much everything has been put away, even if most of it is just a temporary home...” Read full tasting note
  • “Thanks to Nicole for the sample! I put the whole 4.5g sample in my 100ml gaiwan. Water mostly in the 90-95deg range. Steeps starting at 10sec, adding a few each time, then some longer steeps (using...” Read full tasting note
  • “an ok tea when I smell the leaves dry, I smell pepper and spices. when I smell the leaves wet, the smell is intensified. when I smell the brewed tea, I smell pepper and spices. when I taste the...” Read full tasting note
    75
  • “GCTTB These look so nice. Long spindles of leaf, mostly a nice golden yellow, and dwindling to black. The brewed scent is all smooth chocolate with fruit and a bit of a malty edge. Taste wise, the...” Read full tasting note
    77

From Mandala Tea

This beautiful (spring 2014) black tea comes to us from the Wu Liang mountains in SW China, an area that Garret visited on his 2012 buying trip. Far-away from cities or busy roads, he was delighted there not just at the high altitude and the beautiful mountains shrouded in clouds and mist, but at how so many great teas are raised there.

Our Downy Tips black tea is one of the great teas hailing from there. The leaves were picked at just the right moment and the processing of the leaves into a black tea is perfect, giving this tea a big thumbs-up from us and the folks who have tried it in our shop, at our homes and theirs.

One look, one smell, one taste of this superb tea and you’ll be impressed with the complexity and balance of fruity and floral, chocolatey and woodsy. This one is a keeper – so smooth, so warming, so energizing in the gentle way that only great tea can be.

Like other black teas from this part of China, this tea will age gracefully, developing depth and complexity for 3 to 5 years!

About Mandala Tea View company

Company description not available.

18 Tasting Notes

493 tasting notes

i got my BF order very late last night. no matter when I’m very happy. really hate to go to mail jail.
Man, i wish i wouldnt be so stubborn and just make it per Garret’s suggestion.
I made it my usual gongfu parameters. 5g 100ml porcelaine gaiwan 200F
rinse/ 10/ 15/30/ 60/sec
with this method i probably go with 20 sec next time.
this tea has absolutely gorgeous dreamy leaves. long, wiry, golden silver, fuzzy.
complex, tasty. I’ve noticed some malt and wine. Yes, this tea is kinda Keemun-y to me. i maybe wrong trying to get the perfect cuppa. and i did get it.
Also few minutes after i experienced very strong sweet aftertaste like when i drink some puerh .
Garret, i promise to try it your way next time ;)

http://instagram.com/p/wOnLsdBwh8/

http://instagram.com/p/wOn67LBwm5/

http://instagram.com/p/wOqTMxhwkW/

http://instagram.com/p/wOqdBxBwlL/

Preparation
5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
Sil

drool…

Nicole

Nice pictures!

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100
790 tasting notes

I can’t be the only one who has tasted this tea… But it doesn’t seem to be in the database, so…

I wish I had tasted this generous sample that was included with my previous order before placing my Black Friday order… This would have been on the order without a doubt. Mandala has so many lovely teas of this kind that I will admit I find it hard to distinguish between them. Not because they are so alike, but because my powers of description seem to be so limited!

This smells (and tastes) like a deep, dark chocolate and a savory broth at the same time. Like an 85% dark chocolate but without the winey notes often found in that. My husband thinks I’m crazy – sitting here with my hand wrapped around the top of this tiny cup, exhaling so that the steam fogs my glasses and then inhaling the scent of this tea! There is a dusty hay note in the background as the steeping time increases and a roundness that reminds me of not very sweet fruits. Not a bit of bitterness or astringency.

I really can’t tell you how much tea I used – half of the sample. I think about 1.5 teaspoons. I should get a scale to be more precise, I know. I steeped in my little glass pot and tasted at 30, 60 and more seconds. I think I prefer 60 seconds but even up to 5 minutes and more, this tea is simply wonderful. And the leaves are beautiful! Fuzzy wuzzy twirls of tea!

Update: If I slurp like you are supposed to the most magical thing happens and I start tasting the floral notes! Amazing!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML
Sil

i don’t think i’ve even seen this one on their site before… so annoyed i missed on our their sale…stupid vacation

Nicole

Haha! I made my order on my phone while on a road trip in the middle of New Mexico because it just had to be done! And you were somewhere nice and warm so it seems like a decent trade off. :)

Garret

I love this black tea, for sure! I’m a bit obsessed with it, perhaps. I am so happy that you are loving it. You are the first to review it because it is a new tea for us. I tried a sample of it and said “gotta have it.” Sil… shoot me an email and you know I’ll honor the sale price for you. That’s what we do for people like you. :)

boychik

i was abt to have a cup. just got it last night ;)

Sil

Garret – I don’t mind waiting for the next great adventure from your company. I have a few black teas I need to restock haha

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