2018 Premium Xiao Qing Gan Tea (Pu Erh Stuffed Mini Tangerine)

Description

Tea + Green Tangerines + Time
Back in 2018 these little pu erh tea filled tangerines became so popular that it was hardly possible to source decent ones. Tea brands in China scrambled to offer Xiao Qing Gan as demand growth went off the charts. Thus, during the spring of 2018, we decided to produce our own Xiao Qing Gan from scratch. The main ingredients of this ambitious venture wasn’t just tea and tangerines, but also our knowledge, efforts, and time.

The best ripe pu erh tea for Xiao Qing Gan tea?
Together with Ms. Jiang, we tasted different Xiao Qing Gan teas and concluded that many of them lacked complexity. Moreover, the aroma tangerines and ripe pu erh tea wasn’t balanced. Some teas had a very aggressive citrus aroma, others were overly earthy or even had a fishy smell.

We came to the conclusion that the most suitable ripe pu erh tea for making Xiao Qing Gan was to select a ripe pu erh blend made for smaller and younger leaves and allow for less intensive post fermentation. This resulted in a ripe pu erh tea that was more complex and less earthy. In addition, we tweaked the processing method to allow the ripe pu erh tea more effectively absorb the citrus aroma.

In summer 2018, the fresh harvest of green tangerines from the Xinhui region of Guangdong arrived. Ms. Jiang’s team cleaned and hollowed out tangerines, and filled with our own ripe pu erh tea. Afterwards, they were naturally sun-dried, wrapped in paper, stored for further aging and aroma absorption until its release in 2024.