Rishi Tea

So, before I get into this tea, I’ll walk you through my day and how this tea comes into play…

Today was pretty amazing…. Spent the day golfing and drinking…. So I’m a little tired from walking through the golf course and whacking balls, plus drinking alcohol just dehydrates you more…. So throughout the day I’m slowly losing more energy bit by bit…..

This was followed up by the Blues’ final home game of the season. Keith Tkachuk’s final game…. And what a game it was…. such an unforgettable night….. The Ducks are a pretty decent team, and have been somewhat evenly matched against the Blues….. I could tell it was gonna be a good night…. Huge hits all night…. Crombeen beat the snot out of Brown… This got the energy flowing… Then two of the rookies the Blues picked up this season… Eller and Junland… Eller’s 2nd goal of the season, assisted by Junland (he got two tonight) was reviewed for a possible high sticking… called the goal good… Energy just keeps building and building… Brewer gets a goal, I dislike him as a player, but whatever, it’s a goal, I’ll take it…. Energy is slowly building…. Ducks got a goal, my energy level is put in check for now… Ducks get another goal, now it’s 3-2… My energy slowly starts to fade… Blues come back, Andy Mac to Tkachuk to Colaiacovo, GOAL!… Walt gets an assist in his last game!… Energy comes rushing back to me… But then stays at bay because not much is happening with the game…. Then McClement gets a goal, I’m so hyped up at this point because we are leading 4-3… Not even 20 seconds later, Perron to Tkachuk to Andy Mac, GOAL!… Oh my GOD I’m going crazy! Big Walt has 2 assists! What a final night for him!… Then my boy Backes gets goal 6 to put the nail in the coffin of the Ducks! (6-3)… Oh man, energy is RUSHING through my veins… In the final minute of the game everyone stood up and just started chanting…. KEITH TKA-CHUK! KEITH TKA-CHUK! KEITH TKA-CHUK! KEITH TKA-CHUK! The buzzer goes off, the crowd goes WILD… Tkachuk picks up the puck from his final shift in his final hockey game…. I’m so full of energy at this point….. Everyone keeps standing and just applauds Big Walt for a few minutes as he takes a final lap around the ring with his kids….. He gave a few words and there was a tribute video to him and his amazing hockey career…. I’m floating on cloud nine at this point….. Thanks for all the memories Walt…

So, after my not-so-short babblings I’ll get to where the tea comes in…. So I get home from the hockey game and realize I’ve gone all day without tea! And I need to quit drinking because I have a meeting at work at 7am and I can’t be hungover… So I wanted to end the night with some nice tea…. But it’s about 11…. I’ve already got all of this faux energy from the hockey game… so I didn’t want to stay up due to the tea… But I didn’t want a chamomile tea that would put me to sleep… I just wanted to be able to enjoy a tea and ride out this natural high that I was on… So I decided to give this a go since I just got my first Rishi order in a few days ago….

This tea smells amazing in leaf form…. The blueberry is definitely noticeable… The brew is a deep almost maroon color… Man… did this tea hit the spot…. Naturally sweet from the berries, and caffeine free rooibos… Typically when I have had berry teas in the past, they have been somewhat tart… but not this tea… not tart at all for being fruity…. Definitely soothing, but not like a chamomile or other nighttime teas that will leave you snoozing…. This is just a nice relaxing tea without all the caffeine and stuff… What a great way to end my awesome day…. with an awesome tea…. I’m glad I chose this as the first Rishi tea to drink…… I’d highly recommend it…

(P.S. has a second steep to it, but not nearly as flavorful and colorful… but still good)

(P.P.S. Sorry for the extremely long blurb for this tea)

(P.P.P.S. I think I’m just doing this now to see if I can get on anyone’s nerves by taking up their entire dashboard page….)

(P.P.P.P.S. Ok, I’m done now… Time for bed, g’night)

Oh, I get it now.

Yum.

I finally got to try this tea with the proper amount of tea to water (i.e a heck of a lot of tea to not much water) and the right temperature of water and I get the flavors others are talking about.

The floral and fruit overtones. The not really buttery but the feeling that if it got a little closer to a cow, we’d be in sweet cream territory flavor.

I like this, I like this a lot. Thank you so much Lena!

Let my mistake be a reminder to us all – temperatures really matter.

The Sainted Lena gave me some of this tea the other night. It’s the first tea I ever remember putting on my shopping list. I’ve been wanting to try this forever. I’m in a hotel without anything but a little coffee maker, but I did bring my gaiwan.

And I thought – eh, it’s probably around 190, definitely not boiling, and I’ve got an appropriate vessel. I’ll give it a shot.

Yeah, well… maybe not the best idea. This is not the glorious “experience” others have had. IThank goodness I have a little more to give it a go at home, because I’m a little dissapointed. I know this tea from the aroma can be better.

Also – even though it mentions gaiwan brewing, this is not really ideally suited to it. At least not from my limited gaiwan experience. Big-leafed oolongs are great in a gaiwan, but I’ve been picking ancient yellow buds out of my teeth so far too. Blea.

Let’s all cross our fingers that my weekend tasting experience with this tea goes a lot better.

Picked this up today at Williams Sonoma it was on sale because the expiration is for the end of this month (or so says the bottom of the tin) and so I thought $6 what the heck I’ll either drink it fast or make iced tea out of it and then it will definently be used quick!

Opened the tin to the joy of peachy, tangerine scent what a fabulous smell for a tea! Steeped it up and the more it cools the more flavors I get I think the peach makes the tangerine stand out and it is a most delicious cup!

Update: bumping this one up a little because it is so delicious.

Resteep!

I let it go a little longer this time, mainly because that seems to help on resteeping. This holds up well to that treatment, and comes out slightly smoother but still rather flavorful. The perfume is still there, but much fainter, like a sachet of potpourri in your sock drawer. (What is it with me, socks, and this tea, anyway?! LOL)

Anyway, I timed the tea so it would be ready when my cookies were. I made some chewy molasses maple cookies, lightly spiced. They’re just a little crispy around the edges, and soft and chewy everywhere else.

It is heaven. Though, to be fair, these cookies would probably be good with a lot of black teas. I’ll be trying them with the aforementioned Molasses Chocolate Crackle next.

Homemade cookies/biscuits/cakes/whatever really do make EVERYTHING better. :9

TTB sample!

In the package, it smelled comfortingly familiar, if a little faint. I decided it was worth a try.

As soon as the water hit it, the comforting, soothing smell increased. I want to say it’s almost like your favourite perfume, smelled from far away. Wafting on the breeze, teasing you to come find its source. Except, you know, I was standing right over the mug, watching and waiting. But I digress.

It quickly turned a reassuring dark brown, as you’d expect. The smell never changed, the longer it steeped—-only the colour.

On first sip, it’s remarkably smooth and velvety. The flavour is familiar and more-ish, but not overwhelming. The slight aftertaste is nice, though. Like a lingering sigh of tea.

I’m a big fan of black teas, especially first thing in the morning. While there’s no way this could ever hope to replace my beloved Yorkshire as my go-to first-thing-in-the-morning black tea, it’s not bad! Not overwhelming, and not particularly surprising…but kind of like that comfortable pair of socks you had that you forgot about. And then found when you were cleaning under the couch.

Per Lena’s review, and a story from Cofftea yesterday, I think I’m gonna have to bake some cookies later on to try this again. I’ll update if I do. ;)

Huh, I was surprised by the general ratings. I notice a lot of steepsters find the ginger overpowering. This is where my liking to more mild tea’s came in handy. I used maybe 12 – 15 oz boiling water to just 1.5 tbsp pu-erh for 5 minutes. The ginger wasn’t too strong and what I enjoyed most was the sheer difference in taste (from green, black, and white, which is what I’ve been drinking most). I guess that’s why it’s called Pu-erh!

Anyway, the ginger is evident and I like it. Otherwise, I’m really not sure how to describe this Pu-erh. Instead I will describe how it doesn’t taste. It’s not musty, or down to earth. It’s not sweet or bitter. It’s not smooth, tangy, vegetal, or floral.

Citrusy? Maybe. Bold? Most likely. Try it for yourself. But I recommend reducing the tea to water ratio.

Mixed this with Teavana’s Strawberry Lemonade for some delicious iced tea. The flavors really complimented each other, making a refreshing, fruity, healthy cold drink. Strawberry Lemonade is much better when blended with something else.

Excellent blend of white tea and peach flavor. Very subtle and calming. A bit expensive though.

Imagine if you will, a tangerine basking in the hot sun, then splitting the rind of that tangerine with your thumbs, and smelling the fresh fruity flesh; that’s what this smells like! Sharp and tangy with streams of citrus that’ll light up your nostrils. The tea itself tastes less intense, which is a good thing I think! Its like tangy lemonade without all the sugar, so it’s much easier to enjoy (and with oranges instead of lemons…). wow, my tea descriptions are so graceful (/endsarcasm).

Don’t steep too long or takes on the taste of bitter rind.

blah! not for me at all. I couldn’t help but think about urine the whole time I smelt or drank this tea. Looks like many others enjoyed it, so don’t take my word for it. I’m new to white tea and this wasn’t a great start :(

Has it really been two years since I logged this? That’s ridiculous, because I drink it nearly every day. My last order from Rishi included a full pound of China Breakfast. I drink it strong (heaping teaspoon to 8oz water) with milk and no sugar.

It’s malty and smoky and chocolatey and rich, and has been my standard morning tea over the last few months. I’m almost through that pound, and tempted to order another, but I’m going to try branching out again for awhile instead. Samples from TeaVivre arriving soon!

I tried a dash of sugar in this today, and… it was TOO SWEET. I’m not sure I’ve ever had that happen with a black tea before. It turned into this weird sickly-sweet artificial flavor. Lesson learned :(

The second steep was still good though!

Yay! My Rishi order just arrived. It’s mostly samples, but I got 4oz of this because I already knew I love it (and it’s an amazing price for organic, fair trade tea). It is delicious, sweet, and full-flavored. Taken with a bit of milk, it’s likely to be my breakfast staple for awhile now.

A second steep at ~6 minutes is just as aromatic and tasty.

2.25g leaf, 8oz water

Finishing this sample so that I can use the tin for some of my new Den’s Teas! Yes, I caved on their novice sampler. But to be fair, this is totally worth drinking in its own right! Really delicious and strong and flavorful and not boring. Apparently this and Fujian Baroque are the highest rated plain blacks I have, so it’s possible I should move them higher; on the other hand… room for growth? Drinkable but very spicy plain, even at 3 minutes, but really super tasty with milk.

I saw a tin of this at Whole Foods this weekend and narrowly restrained myself from buying it – soon, precious, when I have less than 15 black tea samples to finish! (Note to self, don’t try to use the “less than” symbol – it will make half your note disappear!)

This is really delicious though (thanks Ricky!), and I will be buying some as soon as I can justify it. It has this sort of spicy background complexity that I think might be what people mean when they say Yunnan is “peppery.” This is just really interesting to drink, right down to the bottom of the mug. The flavor changes as the tea cools, and I am getting some malt this time.

A second steep at 6 minutes is noticeably weaker, but still good.

From the aroma I was expecting more fruit and spice than malt and chocolate, but upon tasting the smoothness is definitely chocolate. Very flavorful, but a bit harsh plain. A dash of milk improves it, bringing out the chocolate even more, and a bit of that fruit I smelled. I’m still not getting anything that I’d call malt, none of the rich bakeyness of an assam, but judging from Fujian Baroque and this? I love me some chinese breakfast teas.

A second steep at 5 minutes is smooth enough to drink plain, but visibly weaker (copper, rather than the dark red color of the first), so I wouldn’t expect a third out of these leaves.

Best silver needle I have ever had! I could steep it overnight and there would be not 1 hint of bitterness whatsoever!!

Yes I am giving this tea a rare 100!! I is simply amazing , it tastes like peach flavoured jolly rancher, dried apricots and honey with a light champagne finish.

Strong toasted grain taste to it. Got 3 steepings out of it.

One of if not the best genmaicha teas on the Planet. It tasted like roasted sesame seeds.