Tangerine Blossom

Friends … please remind me NEVER to leave the house without tea again. I thought that today would not take as long – daughter was testing for college entrance. Apparently she did well as she was in there for almost three hours. The test is designed so that if you do not do so well you don’t “progress” thus the test is shorter. Anyway … I was without tea for what seemed like a lifetime.
It is so good to be home having this wonderful delicious amazing tea.
Previous notes on this one although I now know what kind of tea it really IS lol still please look at those Im too much enjoying this cup right now to express how wonderful it is.
AHHHHH TEAAAAAA SIGH

Wombatgirl sent me this one, and I’ve been curious about it since I took it out of the box. Tangerine blossoms. That sounds really appealing to me, so I didn’t really want to use it because then I wouldn’t have it anymore and the joy of expectation would be gone as well. I admit the latter is probably the biggest problem.

There’s a floral smell of the blossoms, slightly perfume-y and sweet with a surprisingly caramel-y middle. I seriously wasn’t expecting that! Nevertheless, there it is. Unmistakably caramel and honey, with citrus-y tangerine aromas surrounding it. This stuff’s aroma blows my mind! Or… nose, rather. Very very nice!

Oh my word! Did I just take a sip of tea or did I bite a tangerine? This is very tangerine-y in a very natural way. Not a hint of synthetic perfumeiness to be found here. It’s citrus-y and sweet, sugared even. Although there’s a lot of caramel in the aroma, it’s not really in the flavour. It’s more of a mild not too refined sugar here.

So there’s a lot of flavour added here, but it still manages to be a rather delicate little thing. This is a tea that requires a quiet moment of relaxation. You can’t just chug it while doing all sorts of other stuff. Well, you can, but it would be a crying shame.

It’s no secret that I’ve been rather pleased with the Russian blends from Kusmi (with one notable exception), and how they all had some varying amounts of citrus fruit in them. But they don’t really measure up to this. This tastes like what Kusmi tried to achieve.

This tea is an absolute beauty. Please, Steepsterite, if you like citrus fruits and something sweet but not cloying, do yourself a favour and try this one.

This tea is amazing. I’m just going to start with that.

This has been on my “to try” list for it seems like forever. The idea of a lightly flavored floral-citrus blend, and the fact that it is unique in being a red (i.e., black) tea created from white tea leaves, were very appealing to me. Fortunately Azzrian was kind enough to send me a sample, and so my wishes have been fulfilled. And this one, lucky for me, lives up to my expectations.

First of all, it smells wonderful, like tangerines with a light floral note. Like orange blossom water with the addition of a brightish black tea base underneath. Flavor-wise, definite yum. It’s such a light and bright black tea, but still distinctively a black tea. The flavoring is present but light and natural. This seems like a scented tea, like the tea was dried with tangerine blossoms (like how jasmine greens are made), and maybe it was. In any case, I am very much enjoying this cup and this will definitely go on my “to order (once I gain control of my stash)” list.

Wow. I’m loving this tea!

It’s very aromatic, and very flavorful. Have you ever tried orange flower water in anything? Did you like it? If so, you’ll LOVE this. Since it uses tangerine blossoms rather than orange blossoms, it’s a slightly sweeter taste, but it’s got that flavor from the blossoms that doesn’t delve into sour or bitter like using orange peel in tea can. When used too much, orange flower water can move towards perfumy, but while this tea does have an aromatic quality (and leaves the ghosts of tangerine blossoms in your mouth) it’s not too heavy; nor does it taste like you’re chugging your grandmother’s perfume.

It’s also got an aroma and aftertaste of boiling sugar. Not that the brew is particularly sweet, but there’s an aroma when you’re making candy and this also has it. Warm and sweet, (and possibly sugar cane-y, but I haven’t gotten the opportunity to sniff many sugar canes, so I may be wrong on that…)

My delight in this tea is also surprising as it’s fairly delicate. I’m a bold flavor girl, and this is not bold, but oy! It’s yummy. If it can hold up to multiple steeps, I’ll be in heaven.

This tea perplexes me. In reading the bit of information on the sample package, it would be easy to think that this is a white tea, but it is not. I brewed it according to package directions, using boiling water that has cooled for 1 minute, and then steeping for 2 minutes.

The flavor is excellent. The tangerine is strong here, but there is a nice balance between tea and fruit. It tastes sweet, juicy and citrus-y but not overwhelming. I like this very much.

This is so, so, so exactly what I needed today. I’m pretty sure I’m coming around with my bi-yearly bout of bronchitis and needed an amazing cup as a pick me up. This filled that spot perfectly.

Shang got put on my radar by the last tea box, with the sample of Jasmine White Classic that was in there, but this really cements my need to make a purchase once my cupboard is under better control.

I’m stunned by how flavorful this is while still feeling dainty and delicate. The tangerine blossom adds a sweet floral quality, and leaves ghosts of juicy tangerines dancing on your tongue. The floral quailty is immersive and fragrant, but not overwhelming soapy or perfumey. Like I’ve seen in a couple other reviews, this one very much seems scented (dried with the blossoms, like some jasmine tea), but whatever it is, it absolutely works. The base also has it’s own natural sugar sweetness, and is smooth.

What a luxurious, stunning cup.

Thank you very, very much TeaTiff!

wow, this is delicious. It says it’s a fermented white tea so what does that mean, no wonder people are confused because all black tea is fermented as far as I know. I think it means this is a plant that is normally used for white tea only but here it’s been fermented?

Anyhoo, this tea is actually a light red. I steeped mine at around 180 F for two minutes and I found it to be very delicious – definitely light bodied but very full and sweet in the aftertaste, not a trace of bitterness to be found. The tangerine is present but not overpowering here. I would for sure order this again, it’s really a treat and nothing like I’ve experienced so far in my tea drinking journey. I have been very impressed with all of the samples I got from Shang from their clean, sweet and delicate nature.

This is a white?! Two teas in two days that have shocked me in the same way. White that looks like a black, tastes like a black, and is even named a black (Tangerine Blossom Red Tea – red tea is what we consider to be black here). This is a thick, malty and slightly sweet tea with subtle floral notes – again so surprising considering the one minute steep time! I’d love to grab more of this to try it properly… if I love it this much severely underleafed, what will I think of it done right?

Thanks (I think?) to TeaTiff for sharing this in the 12 Days of Christmas Swap!

2 tsp in 16oz. – which according to the instructions is severely underleafed… I should have used 1/2-2 TB per 8 oz.

Here I am starting the day with a big bang that is this tea. I feel kind of like an idiot for not having ordered more of it (what I have is just a sample from the Shang Tea sampler), but then I got an ounce of their other black (or, as they prefer to put it, red) tea, so it’s all good. Next time I am totally getting a bunch of this.

BECAUSE it is sooo good and it reminds me of jasmine black tea but without the weird bitterness that can creep in sometimes with jasmine, plus there’s some orange-citrus-sweet lingering note in there. That of course is the tangerine part. Good stuff.

I’m bumping the rating up a bit because 89 from before didn’t do this any justice.

Apparently this is on my shopping list, so I must have seen it mentioned before and wanted to try it. Huh. I had no idea so that makes it even better to have now!

Definitely an interesting tea, it does not have the delicate flavor of a white tea at all, but still has some of the floral notes, thanks to the blossoms. I really liked it even better when it cooled off entirely, which of course doesn’t take long today.

The sweet citrus flavor is really nice without being strongly fruity, it’s pretty amazing. I’m glad I finally got to try this even if I had no idea I really wanted to!