Tangerine Blossom

Shang Tea is my favorite tea haunt, so I am not sure particularly why I haven’t reviewed more of their teas. It may be because I have a sentimental attachment with Zehua Shang’s teas. They were the first teas that led me into the world of high quality loose leaf tea, and with the exception of one tea they have, I have loved every tea they sell. The one exception is simply due to a matter of tastes too, not a fault of the tea’s quality.

That said, let’s get on with reviewing this very unique red tea (what black tea is called in China). It’s made from Da Bai tea leaves the varietal used for true white tea in Fujian province. If I’m not mistaken Shang is the only teamaker in the world (or at least in the Western market) who makes Tangerine Blossom tea.

Despite the name, I’m not sure I would describe this tea as citrusy. The note I get if you brew it strong is almost a licorice or cardamom flavor, not far off from the scent of orange blossom water, but completely lacking the bitterness of orange blossom tea (my sole nemesis at Shang Tea who I try to get along with but fail miserably). It’s also mildly floral. The red tea base is very mild and forgiving. It’s mellow and slightly sweet, a bit nutty. It isn’t earthy or dry or bold like a lot of other red teas. It’s closer to what you’d get with a golden needle. The infusion is a rich amber or deep gold depending on how you brew it. There are subtle notes of pepper in the finish. You could brew this tea very dark for a very bold and zesty tea or very light for an incredibly relaxing and subtle floral tea.

This tea is unique and there is simply nothing else out there like it. If I had to pick one tea from Shang Tea that you just have to try it’s this one, for just that reason. I know it’s not his prized White Peony that is definitely his most precious baby to him, but it is his best-selling tea and probably the customer favorite. I guess this just appeals to Westerners’ preference for bold flavors. Delicate and light do not hit our palates here enough for everyone to appreciate the beauty of white tea.

This is only my 7th perfect 100 scored review out of nearly 100 reviews on Steepster.

My favorite brewing method is Gongfu style in a gaiwan, 3.5g/100ml/194F for 15 seconds, then add 15 each time.

I really liked this tea and feel it would also appeal to those who enjoy Jasmine black teas as it shares some characteristics with the more fruity, candy like style of jasmine that I enjoy.

The dry tea of my sample has dark tightly wound leaves with some golden tips. It smells a little like orange starburst candies( a creamy almost vanilla tone mixed with a soft sweet orange), mixed with a creamy green floral.

I brewed 1 TSP in 150 ml of 95°C water.

The broth is a pretty golden red orange colour.
http://instagram.com/p/rpiWJwGK_i/

1 min: a floral tinged orange that tastes a little like a sweeter more candy like orange blossom toner. It smells and tastes like orange blossom water over dissolved dark brown sugar. It is very smooth at first. As it cools a tart malt note appears underneath and it finishes with a bready note created by the malt, tannins and a mild astringency.

1.5 min: A candy grape like note is mixed into the scent. It is slightly more malty. The overall taste is of orange blossom water over a hint of honey and less brown sugar.

2 min 10 s: The candied floral is evolving into an almost candied jasmine note. The sugar and honey notes remain. The malt is fading.

3 min: Orange blossom water over honey and very light malt.

4.5+ min: The tea smells like candied rose petals. The malt, floral, and honey tones are well blended into each other.

All together this is a really enjoyable tea for those who enjoy sweet floral teas!

Thanks Nicole for the chance to try this tea. I really enjoyed it!

Another sample gone. I’m sad that I don’t have anymore of this tea. It’s really good. Soft fruity notes with a twist of citrus. I think I’m even catching a hint of honey. Maybe even a floral note…. and a touch of hay. It really is a lovely tea :)

From HHTTB2 (or is it 3?)

I was really excited to try this one, because I love all things orange. All of the amazing reviews on here make me feel bad for saying that I didn’t like it at all. Like, didn’t want to finish the cup. It smells weird and tastes weird. :(

I was feeling like a nice black tea this morning (I miss all of my Yunnans!) and I thought I’d try something new instead of drinking one of the few teas I brought with me from home. So out this one came! I actually think this was one of the teas we sampled in-store, but I’m not positive on that… Anyway! The leaves are dark, medium-sized, and twisted. I didn’t see any flower petals in mine, but it was a small sample size, so that doesn’t surprise me. It smells very sweet and floral, like some kind of flower-scented candy! Somewhat similar to the Violet I tasted yesterday, actually. I considered steeping it for 3 minutes, which is my usual time for black teas. After poking around on Steepster, I saw that the average was 2 minutes and decided to go with that! God, I miss my electric kettle something fierce… :P

The floral in the brewed aroma has toned itself down, which I appreciate. It still smells quite sweet, almost vanilla-y. There’s a little bit of citrusy something in there, too, tangerine I suppose!

Hmm… I’m not sure about this one. I do like the base tea a lot, it has that nice almost chewy grain flavor that I’ve found in all of Shang’s teas so far, which I adore. There’s a little bit of citrus in here, but I find the floral element to be quite overwhelming. I am not a huge fan of floral teas in general, and I think this one is just a little bit much for me. I would probably enjoy this more with either less tea used or a 1-minute steep, unfortunately I only bought the one sample. This probably isn’t one that I’ll purchase, just because I’m not a floral tea person. I’ll try some shorter times for the resteeps and see how they come out! :)

Not going to assign it a rating because I feel I’m biased and I don’t want to drag its overall rating down for people who do like floral teas. :P

HHTTB Round 3

Definitely malty. And it tastes better than it smells, but not something I’d want again. It had a distinctly fruity undertone, but I couldn’t decided what the fruit was. It was just alright.

Astringent. Just okay. Sweet smell but mineral taste.

Sipdown!! (143)

Thank you Kat_Maria for sending this my way. EvaGrimm described this as candied fruit and though I certainly feel like that is an apt description, I would just like to add that this is also quite floral. It almost reminds me of a Jasmin tea (as those tend to taste like candied flowers) or Dammann Frere’s Violette. Not a bad cup but also not necessarily for me. I am grateful for the opportunity to have tried it though :).

T&C TTB

I love it when a tea tastes like it smells and this is one of those teas! It’s very fragrant and tastes tart yet sweet like a piece of candied fruit.

Thank you for adding this to the tea box TeaTiff!

I received this as a surprise sample in my swap with TeaTiff. Thank you for including this.

When I was adding my samples to my cupboard when I received this a couple months ago, I didn’t notice how highly rated this was. It’s been sitting in my cupboard generally unnoticed. But I’ve gone through most of my black tea samples in the last couple days and am down to the last ones. This one smelled slightly of grape to me. The taste of this is very VERY similar to jasmine. I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if I didn’t know that it’s tangerine blossoms. There is a little bit of a citrus tanginess to it. This is really good, but I really love jasmine and have never been disappointed with a jasmine tea. I find a lot of flavours are hard to get right (banana, peach, lychee), but I find jasmine is hard to get wrong, or so it seems. This is like a good jasmine tea with a little something extra.