Aged Chenpi Ripened Tangerine Pu-erh

There were lots of tea samples included with my birthday order, and this was the first one I chose to make because I knew that everyone present loved puerh. I used the entire sample because we had two great pieces of orange peel and I was using a large pot. I wanted to stretch the tea since we generally put away a lot of puerh when we get together so I kept the steeps a little on the short side to give us lots of resteeps.

The citrus is more an aroma than a taste. It is only lightly orange flavored. The puerh was earthy, not horsey, and never ever have I gotten a fishy puerh from Teavivre so I feel like I don’t even need to mention that it isn’t fishy!

I made two short steeps and then someone else made the third and steeped it a very long time in comparison. It was still perfectly good and not bitter at all, just a little heartier than my short steeps. I like myshu puerh a little on the strong side and we all enjoyed it.

As we drank it, ChelseaR remembered that she had ordered a sample of this once, and I notice that she has a review on here for it as well! I think being reminded of it and having it again has made her want to order more! She and my son usually drink unflavored shu.

Delicious tea, and thank you to Superanna for the gift and Mary Bao at Teavivre for the recommendations!

I bought a sample of this last time I ordered from Teavivre (which was far too long ago, by the way). Finally got around to trying it yesterday at work, now that I have set up a tea station by my desk. New job, new office, new tea station; it’s almost like a new start! :)

So, the dry leaf was woody with a light citrus component. You can tell it’s shu pu with your eyes closed. There was one honking great huge piece of citrus peel in there with the leaf, like about half a tangerine’s worth! The steeped tea smelt earthy with a hint of citrus. I have a pu with grapefruit that I unconsciously expected it to be like, but this one is way more subtle than the grapefruit pu. The liquor was dark, earthy and woody with the tangerine notes coming through to make it a light refreshing drink. It made a nice change from the usual run of teas that I have been making in the office.

Thank you Angel for this sample.

The mood struck me for some Pu Erh steeped western style which I almost never do, usually because I enjoy the ceremony in making tea traditionally. Today however I am making Christmas decorations as the craft bug has bitten and I have no time for tea traditions at the moment. Still need tea though!

As I open the sample pack I am impressed by the large pieces of tangerine peel, hopefully that will mean it’s got a lot of orange flavour.

Once steeped this has a mild yet sweet orange scent with some dry earth undertones.

Flavour is rich and dark with earth, dry wood, sweet orange and a light, creamy after taste. It is very orange in comparison to the actual strength which is about average thickness. The sweetness is a nice contrast to the dry earth tones and the melody lingers nicely in the after taste.

I shall keep re-steeping this until it’s completely spent, but at least it’s a comforting and delicious aid to my crafting.

Water: 8oz

Leaves: medium w/ tangerine pieces

Steep: 6m

Aroma: Sweet/Earthy

Color: reddish brown

Taste: Due to my previous brewing i decided to let this cup go for 6 minutes instead of the longer steep of 8m. what surprised me was the large pieces of the tangerine peel that was in the sample packet i received. The aroma of the dry leaf was sweet & earthy while on the other hand the brewed cup had a bit of a burnt/earthy smell to it. The color was lighter in comparison to the previous pu-erh & i could see the bottom of my tea cup. I should also mention before brewing i also gave this tea a bit of a rinse. As for the taste i really didn’t get much of anything in terms of flavor.

I enjoyed drinking this- I have never had anything like it before. The tangerine flavor was pronounced, but not overwhelming. Earthy with the citrus zest. I imagine it wouldn’t be a bad iced tea, even though I don’t typically use pu for icing.

I was very interested in trying this Pu-erh and received it as a sample to try out. I was surprised at how large the tangerine peel chunks were in this blend, and it smelled very sweet and full of citrus. I used half the sample packet and steeped for 8 minutes. The color was a smooth brown with a tint of blood orange. The tea was smooth and hints of cocoa with a very faint citrus aftertaste. The overall flavor was weak and i think I ended up with much more citrus peel than tea in my first steep so I decided to add the rest of the sample for the second steep for a stronger flavor. The second steep had a much stronger earthy cocoa flavor with a smooth citrus flavor coming through at the end. I should have started out with the full sample, or at least more than my original steep. I enjoyed the unique flavor this tea had it was a nice change to the everyday non flavored pu-er choices available. Yum Yum

Continuing with my slow exploration of post-fermented teas.

I steeped this twice, western style over two days. Broke off 6g of leaf and orange peel for 8os of water. I rinsed twice and then steeped for 1min in boiling water, and then a second steep for 6 minutes.

This is musty and earthy, with just a hint of citrus. Slightly sweet and quite smooth. A pleasant cup, but nothing remarkable or deeply nuanced. I’ll give this another try soon, gongfu style.

I ordered a sample of this in my last order because I’ve been curious about these tangerine puerhs. So neat, but also kinda gross-looking. Haha! Like, why would I want tea aged in a withered up tangerine? Well, now I know! The answer is, because the taste is awesome!

So, the sample I got had a good number of pieces of dried up peel in it. I guess I should have read the reviews because I was really surprised by the taste. It’s very charcoal smoky and I didn’t expect that at all! It’s like someone just fired up the backyard BBQ, or that smell you get from other people lighting up their fireplaces. There is a nice juicy sweet tangerine taste also, which gets better and sweeter in later steepings. Surprisingly, although I’m generally not a fan of this kind of smokiness, I wasn’t put off by it, but kept enjoying steepings. I think this one would be good for people who like lapsang. I also wouldn’t mind having more of this one, and I’m no longer afraid of the weird-looking tangerine puerh! Yay!

Sample 4 outof 5 from Teavivre. Thanks! I am spending the day at home catching up on life. Between my two jobs, I have had only a few days off this month and I am rarely home to enjoy them. Evenings are equally busy with visiting family and so on. Today is the last official day of summer and after a massive torrential rain overnight I am enjoying some sun and warm temperatures. It’s just after noon and I’ve already made two loaves of bread and a batch of english muffins which will be gratefully enjoyed throughout the week when I have no time to make dough.

So, here I sit with a cup of this. I was pleasantly surprised to see massive chunks of tangerine peel in with the puerh. I used half the sample in my perfect tea mug for a few minutes with water that (apparently) cooled to 96 before pouring. The result is a deep brown like a stout or dark ale. The aroma is musty and barnlike, but not in the usual pleasant way. It’s overpowering. Shoot. I haven’t made puerh Western style in a while…shoulda done some sort of a rinse first. I’m going try drinking this but if it’s too strong, I can always pour it out and try again with a re-steep. D’oh.

Huh. This has a totally different taste profile than the aroma suggests. I get smoke. No barn or hay. Maybe something musty if that ties into the smoke. It’s strong with a sense of bitterness like a coffee edge but not unpleasant. This is a very potent mug. VERY strong. I am tempted to add a bit of milk to dilute it because I’m not super interesting in drinking it as is. Which sucks, because this is my fault and this is my first tea of the day. I will not rate this currently because I need to try again under better circumstances.

All I can say for sure right now is that it is very bold and strong with a smoky edge. No sweetness. Whew.

I ended up enjoying this tea a lot, but not the first steep. I added some of the tangerine peel to this tea so it was very smoky in the first infusion. By the second infusion this smoke flavor was dulled and I started to enjoy this tea. By the third infusion the smoke flavor was barely a memory. By the fourth infusion it was nearly gone. Once this smoke flavor dissipated I started to get the base flavor of the tea, a nice ripe, slightly sweet ripe puerh. Thank you Teavivre for this sample.

I brewed this six times in a 160ml teapot with 6.5g leaf, 1g tangerine peel, and boiling water. I steeped it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, 30 sec, and 1 min. I think I could get about two more steepings out of this tea if I chose, maybe three. By the sixth steeping the flavor of the tea is somewhat weak, nearly but not completely played out.