2020 tRuth shou is a limited edition, charity, and tribute cake by Mandala Tea. This shou puer is made up of Menghai material and only 200 cakes were pressed in November 2020. All proceeds for this tea goes to the Women’s Shelter and Support Center in Rochester, MN.
I purchased my cake in December 2020. I would prefer to let this shou rest longer, but since this a limited edition tea, I’m giving it a drink so you readers can get the heads up before it disappears.
Leaf and Steeping Method
The leaves have a soft earth scent with a slight hit of fermentation.
I used 1 gram of leaf per 14ml of vessel size, doing two rinses, and steeped with boiling water. After the rinses, 2020 tRuth has a chocolatey and sour paperback book scent.
Tasting of Mandala Tea’s 2020 tRuth Shou Puer
First and Second Infusion: tRuth drinks in thick and oily in texture, with a rich milk chocolatey taste. The finish is surprisingly sugary mineral rocky sweet. In the back of the throat is a bit of sourness, but overall dominated by the sweetness.
Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: tRuth steeped up incredibly dark and inky.
I’m at max intensity, but this tea is a bit watery due to recent pressing. The back of the throat sour has been replaced with bittersweet chocolate. 2020 tRuth has some abrasive clay earth notes, but the main notes are smooth chocolate.
Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Infusion: As tRuth steeps out, it gets sweeter and sweeter. It’s sugary sweet as the main flavor with a background of chocolate. This Mandala Tea shou is very easy to drink here so I’m left sitting around waiting for each infusion. I got a surprising number of reinfusions for such a young shou.
Comments
Snag this Mandala Tea shou for the tribute and charity, but on its own 2020 tRuth is a deliciously inky, chocolatey, and sweet shou that is easy to drink.
I’m personally going to let this shou cake settle down some more months before fully tucking into it, but 2020 tRuth has great potential with the dark colour and pleasing tastes, with low fermentation.
