Today is new to me vendor, Intergalactic Tea. They carry some unusual puer blends that are my jam. But let us start with something easy – a chenpi shou. Lately, there has been a chenpi drought, not many new chenpis have come out and my stash is dwindling. Some mornings I just need orange shou to start the day. Tangerine Dream Machine is an aged chenpi bulang shou, which is a good pairing.
I am a sucker for cute wrapper art.
Leaf and Steeping Method
The square has a sweet orange scent. I used one 7 gram square, in a 90ml gaiwan. I like to ratio my chenpi teas a little heavier as the orange takes some of the tea flavors out.
After a rinse, the leaves have a zesty citrus scent with a background of rich earth.
Tasting of Intergalactic Tea’s Tangerine Dream Machine Chenpi Shou
First, Second, Third, and Fourth Infusion: Tangerine Dream Machine has a smooth, quickly dark and rich, and earthy shou. The citrus comes out at the same time adding a bright, zesty orange flavor. The texture is creamy too. As this tea steeps, the shou becomes more prominent as a bittersweet chocolate flavor, being a shou version of Terry’s dark chocolate orange.
Fifth and Sixth Infusion: Tangerine Dream Machine is moving on slow incremental changes between the gongfu infusions. By the final infusions, the shou is settling to be more minerally, but still bittersweet chocolate. The orange notes are still holding on adding some zest.
Comments
Tangerine Dream Machine Chenpi Shou is ready to drink – no mention of how old, but the chenpi and bulang are settled to only being lightly bittersweet. It is a good, constant steeper, great for daily drinking on the go. There’s no chenpi orange to smash and you get a more consistent flavor between mini bricks.
I got a few more teas to explore from Intergalactic Tea, so stay tuned!
(tea provided for review)
