Having been inspired by Roswell Strange’s review of a kombucha, I decided to experiment with this tangerine peel (elsewhere called “chen pi”) shou cake by adding crushed fennel seed and dried hibiscus flowers. And it worked out nicely! (I commented on Ros’ review at http://steepster.com/roswellstrange/posts/453924 )
I combined 5 grams of the ripe gong ting cake (that breaks apart easily and is nicely loaded with large chen pi chunks) with 1.25 grams of crumbled dry hibiscus flowers and a large pinch (~ 1/4 teaspoon) of crushed fennel seed from my spice rack, in a stainless steel infusion basket. While the alpine spring water was heating up to ~95°C, I rinsed the mixture under a stream of hot tap water for 10 sec. The first and second infusion were 10 sec. and 30 sec. The next four infusions (after a half-hour pause) were again in 95°C water and increased stepwise from 15 sec to 4 min., 8 oz each time.
First steeping was a bit fennel-forward, but still the tangerine and puer flavors were in command, with a refreshing tang from the hibiscus! I would have liked a stronger and sweeter tangerine element, but won’t fault the ripe pu’erh cake for being what it is! I wonder what might have been the impact of orange blossoms, an aroma I fancy, but don’t have on hand. The chenpi is decidedly not like bergamot, which I do enjoy (per my moniker here), and it might be nice to play with hibiscus and fennel in other Earl Grey teas.
As might be expected, all flavors declined gradually in steepings #2 – #6, but they remained balanced and only the hibiscus was barely noticeable in #6. Consequently, in the future I’ll stick with these component proportions, but brew Western style in a larger (1 quart or so) teapot for 3 minutes. Might be nice with a little sweetener when iced. Thanks, Ros, for the inspiration!
I like where you were going with the additions. Sounds interesting!