Angel sent me this sample a few weeks ago. I was very curious to try this out when I saw it on the website. I was so excited to open this up! I had never tried a tangerine peel white tea… not even an orange peel tea, though I have seen them in the past viewing tea sites, chats, and blogs. So I used a very small clear glass teapot for this – approx 200mL. Upon opening this up, I poured the contents into the teapot. I saw two large pieces of dried, tough, dark orange tangerine peels mixed with fluffy white to medium green leaves that were small to medium sized. Some pieces were smaller I am assuming due to the packaging and me opening it up so excitedly! The scent of the dry leaf was fragrantly sweet but not overly so.
Brewing this tea – I didn’t use a timer but it was under 1 minute (approx 40 seconds). I loved observing the tangerine peel and tea leaves unfurling and dancing in the water. The brew was a light to medium yellow with a citrus scent. YUM! I love citrus. I did two brews only for this tea as it is late. (Just watched Copa America – Argentina vs USA! Messi is amazing!) Talk about tangent… anyway, the taste of the first brew was light, delicious, citrus with a mild walnut/nutty taste to it. I also detected a trace amount of floral tones to it. Maybe its just me. I love the sweetness this imparts with a hint of astringency toward the end of the cup. The second steep was a lot lighter. I steeped for 1 minute. Perhaps I could have gone longer but I am always wary of doing that. I don’t want to “burn” the tea. The wet leaves had a sour/sweet citrus scent. The liquidy goodness was still good but at this point the acidity of the citrus prevails – but not in a bad way. There is a hint of metallic-ness to it just like how some oolongs give me that flavor. Almost reminds me of lemon and water. The first steep was my favorite for sure. Good overall! I need to look up how this tea is made. I love the picture – I can imagine the tea being packed in that tangerine peel. I will definitely be trying my second sample of this soon.
Flavors: Citrusy, Sweet, Tangy, Tart
