Name: 2024 Tangerine Ripe (Shou) Pu'er
Price: 85 AED
Availability: InStock

Why this tea

01
One whole Xinhui tangerine per piece
Not chunks or crumbs. The peel comes from Xinhui, the chenpi region in Guangdong
02
The aroma is the first thing
We've tasted tangerine pu'er before. None of them came close to the sweetness of this one off the dry fruit
03
Bright cup, not sugary cup
The orange sits over the shou rather than running through it. "Sunshine" is the word the farmer used, and it fits
04
Direct from a Xinhui farmer
Same family who introduced us to our Tieguanyin, originally from Anxi and now settled in Xinhui.

Our Note

We went looking specifically for a Xinhui tangerine pu'er. We'd tasted the format before and wanted to find a farmer doing it well. The one we ended up with is a woman in Xinhui who's been making these for years. She showed us how to brew them: pour the hot water into the small hole at the top, then circle the kettle around the outside of the tangerine to draw flavour from the peel as well as the leaves.

The aroma off the dry fruit was the thing that surprised us. We'd had tangerine pu'er before but nothing close to this on the smell. The cup follows the aroma in a different direction. Less sugary than the dry fruit suggests, brighter and cleaner. She described it as "sunshine in the cup," and that's the one we kept coming back to.

"Sunshine in the cup" is how the farmer described it. We haven't found a better way to put it.

What is Tangerine Pu'er?

This is one whole Xinhui tangerine, hollowed out and packed with ripe (shou) pu'er, then dried and sealed. Xinhui is the famous chenpi region in Guangdong. The tangerine peel from this area has been an aged-ingredient and traditional medicine staple for a long time, and wrapping shou pu'er inside it is a common pairing in southern China. The fruit and the leaf age together inside the wrapper, and the flavours move into each other over time.

Open the package and the tangerine aroma is the first thing you notice. The dry fruit smells very sweet, far brighter than most tangerine pu'ers we've tasted. The cup is more restrained. You don't get a sugary infusion, you get a clean orange brightness over the woody shou underneath.

Oxidation

Low

High

Stimulation

Low

High

Fermentation

Low

High

Body

Low

High

Tasting Notes

Bright orange aroma off the dry fruit. The cup is woody and earthy from the shou, with a clean orange brightness running over the top. Not sweet, despite what the smell suggests.

Earthy

Sweet

Citrus

Brewing Instructions

Amount

1 orange per 200ml

Temperature

100°C / 212°F

Infusions

Up to 20

Infusion Time

20-30 seconds

Needs Rinsing

Yes

Origin

Xinhui, Guangdong

Cultivar

Chazhi Gan

Elevation

100 meters

We went looking specifically for a Xinhui tangerine pu'er. We'd tasted the format before and wanted to find a farmer doing it well. The one we ended up with is a woman in Xinhui who's been making these for years. She showed us how to brew them: pour the hot water into the small hole at the top, then circle the kettle around the outside of the tangerine to draw flavour from the peel as well as the leaves.

The aroma off the dry fruit was the thing that surprised us. We'd had tangerine pu'er before but nothing close to this on the smell. The cup follows the aroma in a different direction. Less sugary than the dry fruit suggests, brighter and cleaner. She described it as "sunshine in the cup," and that's the one we kept coming back to.

"Sunshine in the cup" is how the farmer described it. We haven't found a better way to put it.

Aging & Storage

Keep the package sealed in a cool dark cupboard, away from heat, light, and anything strong-smelling. The tangerine peel keeps the tea well on its own, and both the fruit and the leaf age together inside the wrapper.