I love pu-erh tea and thought that tangerine pu-erh tea sounded fascinating! I wasn’t quite brave enough to buy it sight unseen and taste untasted, but I selected a sample of it with my last Teavivre purchase.
When I opened the silver sample package, I found short brown leaves inside and something I hadn’t expected- big hunks of tangerine peel! Since the package stated that the tea was produced in 2012, I wondered if I was looking at five-year-old fruit remnants. The peel chunks were quite dry and looked almost mummified.
There also was a pleasant tangerine scent inside the package. This smell cancelled out any earthy and leathery pu-erh odor that might have existed.
I followed the instructions and brewed the tea at 212 degrees for eight minutes (the maximum recommended time). The brewed color was a deep golden brown. The aroma was fruity but nondescript.
The taste of this tea was dominated, but not overwhelmed, by delicious fruity tangerine attributes. The leathery and earthy pu-erh flavor was surprisingly subdued in the background but still quite present. This taste partnership was beautifully harmonious.
This is the first pu-erh tea I’ve ever had that I would describe as having a BRIGHT flavor. The entire blend was also surprisingly smooth with an equally amiable aftertaste.
The folks at Teavivre have produced another terrific pu-erh tea. If you enjoy fruity teas AND pu-erh teas, you should be satisfied on both fronts with this one.
Flavors: Fruity, Tea
