I procrastinated for years to get white tea stuffed into an orange. Finally, I purchased some off Teavivre when they had a sale and I had a lot of points. Tangerine Peel White is from Fuding, known for its excellent white teas. When I am sick or feeling off, my tea of choice is chenpi shou. Oolong or black tea stuffed into an orange is also banging. Just shove all tea into oranges!
Confusingly, my tea says “White Peony” on the wrapper but the product listing and bag say “Shou Mei” grade.
Leaf and Steeping Method
The leaf looks like it got obliterated when stuffed into a tangerine. Each orange is 15 grams.
Either way, I go heavy on leafing tea stuff oranges as you lose some weight to the orange, which does add flavor but not as much as the tea. My ratio is 1 gram per 12ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped at a boil.
I tend to use the whole orange and drink the tea all day. However, I don’t have all day to drink this tea, so I broke it in half. You can opt to use less peel, but I like to use it all. As I tore the orange in half I can smell the orange. No rinse here as I just didn’t care.
There is lots of debris in this tea, so use a filter!
Tasting of Teavivre’s Tangerine Peel White Tea
First and Second Infusion: The flavor is of candied oranges packed with lots of floral orange blossoms, then ends with a pithy sharp, medicinal leaning citrus taste. Weaving in the floral orange and candy is notes of driftwood and straw.
Third and Fourth Infusion: I steeped Tangerine Peel White stronger and got a medicinal woody and dried orange (some weird stuff I’ve purchased in the bowels of Trader Joe’s) with a medicinal back of the throat bitter pith note. The pithy peel lingers after drinking.
Fifth Infusion: I likely could get another steeping, but I did this one for 10 minutes as I feel the flavor was fading fast. Tangerine Peel White isn’t a bombproof orange tea like shou – this got quite bitter. This white tea tastes like 1000 angry bitter oranges with axes attacking my tastebuds. With the bitter, this white tea leaves a strong medicinal weird taste in my mouth.
Attempt 2: I went a lower ratio closer to regular white tea brewing, so 1 gram per 20ml. I steeped for 1 min to start as the colour was pale.
Tangerine Peel White was very light tasting, with more orange upfront with mineral and driftwood, but lacked that floral orange blossom with higher ratios. The resteeps were also light and bitter. I wasn’t a fan of the lighter infusion as the bitter was a mix of bad white tea and orange pith.
Comments
Teavivre’s Tangerine Peel White says 2010 harvest but that seems off. The orange was supple and oily when I tore it in half. I could see the tea aging slower in a tangerine and it does have a medicinal flavor. A few reviews on Teavivre’s site also feel the same. Whatever year it is, I’ll judge it as it is in the gaiwan.
I really like the early infusions – Tangerine Peel White starts off classy, sweet, and lovely. It gets bitter quickly and fades fast. My guess is the white tea, being so smashed up, brewed strong and fast but the youthful orange flavor still has more to steep.
That said, off to age and be forgotten for some years. Teavivre’s Tangerine Peel White tea has potential and a good price. If you love orange teas it is worth a go – Teavivre has lots of great sales. I would say their Fuding Shou Mei Mini White tea cakes are a better purchase as the quality is better.
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