  Away from the strictly soft and collinear limit of QCD radiation the choice
of evolution scale in a parton shower algorithm is ambiguous and several
options have been implemented in existing Monte Carlo event generators for
proton-proton collisions. However, the resulting space-time evolution could
result in subtle differences depending on the particular choice. In this work
we quantify measurable consequences of the choice of the evolution variable and
show how the implications of such a choice propagates into jet quenching
observables. We develop a parton shower algorithm for a general evolution
variable, that includes as special cases the virtuality, angle, transverse
momentum and formation time. We study the interplay between the shower history
for different evolution variables and the phase space affected by parton energy
loss. In particular, we implement effects of jet quenching in the dense limit
and highlight the role of color coherence effects. We compare the results of
the different ordering variables to existing Monte Carlo shower implementations
on the parton level by analyzing primary Lund planes. Finally, we study the
sensitivity of quenched jets to the choice of evolution variable by confronting
our results for a certain key observable, such as the jet mass.
