March 14, 2014

• Orange Pu-er Tea.

  Recently, an unexpected gift came my way.  As always, a gift is always welcomed, especially when it is in fact comes in a form of something edible or drinkable.  In this case, a box of Orange Pu-er tea.

  Skepticism shadowed the joy of this gift receiving.  Not for the reason behind the act of the gift giving, for the gift giver is a genuinely nice person, but for the impossible enjoyment of the gift itself by yours truly.

  Anyone who have spent enough tea drinking sessions with me knows that I am not a big fan of a full-on fermented tea, such as the many black/red teas one may find.  Only because I have never truly enjoyed that strong tannin-earthy flavor that usually comes with black/red tea, unless it is mulled with something equally strong in flavor, such as bergamot, cinnamon, mint, or vanilla.

  I have mentioned once, in my past blog on tea, that pu-er will never be a choice of mine.  I could easily pass this on to someone else to enjoy.  However, a gift is a gift, and a gift is only fully appreciated when it is had and tested.  And so I put a blind eye on the matter and decided to respect and prize the kindness of the gift giver, by testing it out at least once.

  The tea is packaged in a bright persimmon-orange square box, adorned with a single sketched picture of a citrus fruit.  English and Chinese descriptions at the back of the box detailed an explanation on its content, an ‘Aged’ Orange Pu-er tea.  This is a product from China, but due to my lack of understanding in Chinese language, I can’t decipher its many Chinese characters to understand where in China this tea comes from.

  

  Upon opening the lid of the box, I found a singular flat ball of an object wrapped in white paper and sealed with a dark red printed label sticker.  Inside this wrapping is a cracked and flaky whole skin of a dried charred tangerine, filled with pu-er tea.  The tea itself looks like what to be expected of any pu-er tea, blackened dried strips of tea leaves resulted from a long fermentation and aging, with a dark copper tint on the surface to reflect its predictable earthiness in essence.

  

  It is said on the description on the box that these pu-er tealeaves have been aged inside the dried tangerine for many years, to fully absorb the sweet citrus aroma of the skin.  One that I was eager to find out soon.  And so I took out my white ceramic tea set, a gift I recently received from one of my uncles in Taiwan.  I think it is only fitting to test one gift together with another gift, both for the first time.

  I took a couple of generous pinches of the said tea into the tiny teapot.  I filled it with boiling water, and watched as the liquid turned its bland regular self into a deep primal brick-brown in color.  A color, I reckoned, suitable enough as an ink color for my many fountain pens.  The tealeaves quickly collapsed to the bottom of the pot, while the few pieces of the dried tangerine skin floated still on the surface, slowly absorbing heat and moisture.  Couldn’t hold back my curiosity any longer, I poured some of the still-hot tea liquid into a cup and carefully picked it up to take a much anticipated sip.

     

  In an instant, I was disappointed.  Expecting a rush of citrus aroma entering my nostrils, it never did.  I was confronted, instead, with what I was dreading to revisit.  That gush of scent resembling the earth and all its glory.  To its defense, I’m being bias, for I’m more used to the gentler flavor of green tea.  This particular pu-er is actually not as heavy in its earthiness as those other pu-er teas I have tested in the past.  I’m guessing its extreme subtleness in citrus flavor has steeped deep into the overall aroma, enough to mask the usual earthy boldness to make it seem mellower.  This mellow quality, for those who used to the flavor of pu-er, would be considered as the sweeter and gentler quality of pu-er tea, allowing the drinkers to detect the mild aromatic citrus aspect of this particular product, differentiating it from a regular pu-er, and making it a highly prized and unique type of pu-er tea that is uncommon and special.

  So what’s my verdict?  This tea is NOT for me.  As they say, a rose by any other name, is still a rose.  This aged orange pu-er tea is still a pu-er tea.  Despite its distinctive quality and costly value, I’d still stick to my regular choice of oolong tea.  Once one is smitten, it is hard to untie the bind that one has with the one he is smitten with.  And in my case, I would happily be stuck with my oolong collection.

  • 9:39 pm
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