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I steeped this one again. Used a bit more leaf ( maybe a tad too much) and slightly lengthened my steeping times. It did much better this time and did not weaken at all. I did notice a bit of bitterness in the first two steepings that I did not notice last time. I still really like this tea and I am glad it did not weaken like last time.

I really wish I had a palate that would allow me to truly describe this tea, but I do not. Yes I know this pu’er is “composed of low grade tea leaves and stems”, but still, this tea is everything I love about pu’er. It is extremely bold and the taste is so amazing that, again, I really wish I could describe it. All I can really say is the taste is more leafy then it is earthy. This will sound weird, but the best way I can describe it is this: every time I sip this tea I imagine how a forest floor would taste in late fall after all the trees have shed their leaves. Goofy, but that is how I can best describe it! I really love this tea!!!

I want to steep this tea another time before I rate it. First off, I steeped this tea like every other pu’er that I have. Initially, I loved the color of the liquor which was a reddish-orange to me. The flavor was incredible, it was everything that I love in a sheng pu’er but really, really mellow. I felt like I was in love. Then steeping six. Maybe I messed up my timing, maybe I didn’t use enough leaves. I don’t know. All I know is after steeping six, the flavor was there, but it was really, really weak. So I steeped number seven like I would steep number nine, I steeped the heck out of it. Not as weak, but it was still weak. So like I said let me steep this again. As of now: steepings 1-5 I give a 97, steepings 6 and 7, I give a 50.

This is one of those times where I wish I had the ability to accurately describe the flavor of a tea. At first this tea has a very woody taste to it. At steeping four the taste goes from woody to, for lack of a better word, woodsy. At steeping six the taste goes from woodsy to earthy. The neat thing is, none of the changes were gradual, they happened all at once. Besides the above flavors, there is some very nice and complex undertones in the background. I really like this tea!!!

I am beginning to since a trend. Another Mandala pu’er, another excellent tea! The boldness of this tea is perfect. The initial flavor was earthy with an undertone of smoke. After steeping 4, the smoke taste slowly faded and was replaced by undertones that I can’t describe. Suffice it to say, the undertones were magnificent.