Little Tangerine, lightly roasted Taiwan green tea, 40g

Taste profile

Nose: Softly floral, yet warm aroma with a cereal underone. Hints of nori and nectar. Palate: Silky smooth body with a persistent, yet light and clean umami. Refreshingly floral overtone lightly tinkled with notes of dried tangerine peel, lightly roasted nut. Finish: Quenching, tints of umami and sweetness.

Infusion suggestion

closeup of the leaves after an ISO standard 5 min infusion

As said, this tea is quite flexible and tolerant in various infusion parameters. A good starting point will be 2.5g per 100ml of water at 85°C for 6 min in a thicker material infusion vessel. to better experience its glory, try 6g per 100ml water at 85°C for 1~1.5min (depending on personal preference) after a proper blanching. If you prefer a stronger presence of the aroma side of this tea, try using a higher temperature and shorten the infusion time.

*notes

The term Ganzai, if transliterated in the original order of the two characters, should be “tangerine boy”, where the character “zai” for “boy”, in its lingual context, is a very commonly used suffix for things that are small, or young, or cute. The tea bush indeed is much smaller than a tangerine tree, although no one can say for sure whether that is the reason for the origin of its name. So to translate it faithfully, and in the English lingual pattern of adjective before noun, we have finalised its name as Little Tangerine, rather than Tangerine Boy.

Ganzai itself is a popular name referring directly to the kinds of tangerine that are smaller than the other citrius varieties here that have the character “gan” 柑 in it. Note also that tangerine is not kamquat. While ganzai refers to a small version of gan, tangerines, by comparison, are even smaller, with a tighter peel, a smoother appearance and much more sour in taste. In this part of the world where there are also a few kinds of popular kamquats, the fruit’s collective name is 桔 or “kiat” in native Taiwanese.