These are back at Yunnan Sourcing and were on sale the other day, so I bought 10 of them for a total of 250 grams. I had never bought these from YS, but have had them in the past from other vendors and enjoyed them. The ripe pu’er was straightforward, mellow, and good. I had placed half the tangerine rind in with half the pu’er and had broken the rind into smaller pieces, so that when it rehydrated, it would hopefully release more oils. I did a rinse and a 15-20 second first infusion with boiling water. The citrus usually takes a little while to get going, so I enjoyed the first infusion slowly while leaving the lid on the clay pot. I don’t normally do that, but I tend to break all the rules with these stuffed tangerines. Next, I went for 30 seconds. It was fine, but I still wasn’t getting what I was after. The third infusion, I did not fill the pot fully with water, but instead went about 75%. The leaves were completely covered, but I wanted to concentrate this round. I let it steep for 2 minutes. Ahhh, that;‘s what I was after. It was rich and smooth with chocolatey malty notes , sweet and a hint of citrus. Pushing this hard had no ill effects on the pu’er. There was barely a hint of bitterness, but it could have been the rind of the tangerine. Whatever the cause, it was barely noticeable and worked with the hint of citrus. Everyone’s taste is a little different, but I would suggest trying at least one infusion pushed very hard with boiling hot water to see what you think. If you tried it in the past and thought it was weak or watery, give it a long hot soak and see if it works better for you. I had this after dinner, and there was no noticable caffeine hit for me. I think the stuffed oranges/tangerines are fun, and while I don’t normally go for flavored teas, herbal teas, etc., I do like these stuffed tangerpurines. :)
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Citrus Zest, Cocoa, Malt, Tobacco
