Mandala Tea keeps coming out with excellent looking puers and I got a handful of samples that came with my tRuth cake, as well as from tea friends who also love Mandala Teas. I grabbed We Bulang Together and 108 Old Tree, so let’s give these teas a go.
Mandala Tea’s 2019 We Bulang Together Shou
We Bulang Together is 2019 spring material. I am drinking the 2019 loose material, but Mandala Tea has the same maocha pressed into cakes in 2020.
The leaves smell earthy and like a wooden bookcase. For both shous, I used gongfu style ratio of 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, steeped in boiling water. After a rinse, the leaves smell of acorns on the earthy forest floor.
First, Second, Third, and Fourth Infusion: We Bulang Together starts sharply flavored, with a rich bittersweet chocolate and nut flavor. The texture is milky feeling with a buttery lip balm finish. Some sips have a driftwood note, but overall very bittersweet chocolate.
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Infusion: This tea is fairly consistent in flavor, but at this point, it hits a sweet point as it is less bitter but more sugar and woodsy here. I did lengthy infusions for the sixth and onward (5-15mins) and We Bulang Together came out richer, but still sweet chocolate and wood, without much bitterness. The final infusions are wonderfully rock sugary.
Comments
We Bulang Together is easy to brew shou with pleasing tastes of chocolate and wood, with some flirtings with bitterness. It is a good shou for those that prefer their teas on the sweeter and chocolatey side. Again, this is the loose material, the cake version may taste a little different.
108 Old Tree Shou from Mandala Tea
108 shou is material from 120 year old trees in Mengku. In contrast to the previous tea, this shou dry leaf smells nutty. After an infusion, the leaves smell of milk chocolate with a hint of acidity.
First and Second Infusion: 108 has a high mineral note with tasting notes of wet rocks and sugar, before slipping into rich milk chocolate then fading to a light vanilla note. There is so much salivation with this shou and a lovely creamy texture.
Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: Opened up, 108 shou is rich dark chocolate with a hint of bitterness. The chocolate note here reminds me of Lindt dark chocolate truffles, with have a hint of bitterness, but overall sweet and smooth. As the tea progresses, it has some sips of minerals, salt, and bricks, but still holds on to a vanilla finish.
I am getting some tea drunk pep to my step from this old tree shou. As I drink 108, I am getting massaging feeling around the temples and throat tickles.
Seventh and Eighth Infusion: 108 Old Tree Shou shifted here to very sweet rock sugars and wet stones with some inky chocolate. The sweet rocky flavor lingers a bit after drinking, and the salivation element is still here.
Ninth Infusion: The final infusion is light and sweet with a bit of tannic. A nice conclusion to a good tea session.
Comments
I regret not drinking this shou sooner! Mandala Tea’s 108 Old Tree Shou is complex and has some wonderful tastes, leaning on the chocolate, vanilla, and minerals profile, with a bit of old tree tea energy to give you a pleasant trip. I found this set of flavors unique as the mineral notes are strong and vanilla is uncommon to find in shou.
(teas acquired as samples from tea friends or purchase)
