I received this great fruit basket from my office. They had these adorable tangerines in them. And it just so happens I had some tangerine tea!!!
The tea came in an actual tangerine! You don't make the tea in the tangerine, it is just stored in the tangerine.
The first time I made the tea I put the entire tangerine in the water- it was a fail. The second time I tried it, I scooped the tea out of the tangerine. It too was a fail. For some reason the tea tasted fishy to me.
Tangerine Tuxedo tea is supposed to be a thing in China and I really wanted to experience it. I read that they dry the tea in the tangerine at the same time as they dry the tangerine. The citrus infuses the tea. Well, I don't have fresh tea leaves, I decided to try the tangerine alone.
So, I decided to see if I could make some tangerine tuxedo tea too. Hoping to avoid the fishy taste. I first hollowed out the tangerine.
It was pretty easy to pull out the tangerine and the "shell
stayed nice and firm.
stayed nice and firm.
I didn't really know what I was doing. But I put the tangerine in the oven on a low temp - 200 degrees for about 2 hours and then just keep checking it.
Here is mine pictured with the one I bought. I thought I did pretty good. Now to decide what to do with it? Do I fill it with tea and "age it"? Do I put tea in it and brew it all together?
I think the second option is the most likely. Not sure I can age tea. Thinking back, I should have dried the tangerine with tea in it...it would not have had to be fresh black tea. But, I was afraid I would burn the leaves. I think I may try it anyway...that is what experiment is all about...trying new things.
Before and after.... now to add the tea.....
I took the dried tangerine and filled it with a scoop of black tea. I also took a fresh tangerine and filled it with a scoop of black tea.
I put in boiling water and let steep for 5 minutes....
I put the tea and tangerine in the water together.
The tea with the fresh tangerine is just slightly lighter in color than the tea with the dried tangerine in it. But, I have to say the taste was the still pretty much the same. There was just the slightest hint of citrus. Not overly noticeable, except I knew it was there. There was maybe a hint more citrus flavor in the fresh tangerine - but it was just a hint more.
Now, I am going to take a fresh tangerine and dry it with the black tea already in it and see what it taste like.
I hollowed out two more tangerines and filled them with black assam tea.
My dehydrator was set for 2 hours, but it took more like 8 hours...but I did not mind because the house smelled like tangerines.
They looked really pretty and smelled great when they were dried.
I prepared the tea the same way as before. Boiled the water and steeped for 5 minutes.
So, I tried this third way to make tangerine tuxedo tea...and I have to say I still didn't notice that much of a difference. I got hints of tangerine, but nothing special.
I have to say my favorite would be with the fresh tangerine would be the way to go. I got the most citrus flavor out of that tea...and I think that is probably just because it still had citrus in the tangerine. But, again it was still just a hint of tangerine.
I do like the idea of the tangerine being the vessel for the tea, but for the work involved I would want a lot more flavor. It is fun to play and experiment with though.