Rishi Tea

Did someone put cream in my tea? No, it’s still as black as night.

Super smooth and creamy in the mouth. Nice, but not overpowering, earthiness. Really great.

Thank you GOD! Tonight when I prepared this tea, I was very meticulous. I pulled out the tea scale, thermometer and the spring water. I waited for the water to come down from 93 C to 85C (I live in CO, so H2Obp is 93ish) and poured the water into my vessel so the leaves floated for a bit before being completely submerged. As I was pouring, the aroma was creamy, like pie. Exactly three minutes later, I decanted and took my first sip. It was like dessert: sweet, smooth, like liquid candy.
I never want to run out of this, but I cannot wait to drink more tomorrow =)

I steeped this one longer to see if I could make it into a morning tea instead of the afternoon-ish tea I accused it of being with a 3min steep. Mission accomplished. It’s still a very sweet Yunnan, making me think of figs and raisins, but the extra minute let this tea develop a little chewiness to the body and made it stand up nicely to a small dash of half & half and sugar. Now on the Yunnan spectrum (light and sweet Samovar’s Yunnan Golden Buds on one end, rough and tumble Andrews and Dunham’s Series 4 on the other), it definitely clocks in more on the A+D S4 side of things. It’s still not quite as heavy or as thick as the Tiger and there is a very strong fruity taste to it that does make it feel overall lighter than S4, but it is still quite tasty. However, as far as Yunnan morning teas go, I think Samovar’s Breakfast blend still has my vote since it seems overall smoother, even without additives and at a 4min steep.

The husband has given me a cold. I’m dying. No, actually I just wish I was. So with my sinuses going crazy, I need tea. And tissues, but I’m gonna concentrate on the tea here. Not sure if this is the best time to try a new tea but I have enough to try it several times so I’ll live if my first tasting is less than perfect.

The tea smells very tea-like. Go figure. Very Yunnan-like. Again, go figure. But it is a little lighter and sweeter smelling than the typical Yunnan. It’s making me think of buttered raisin bread.

Wow, the taste is very sweet, light and fruity. A lot like the smell actually. Very smooth and with a hint of a prickle of dryness at the end. Obviously a Yunnan and a nice one at that. Not stout enough to be a morning tea but a little too stout to be an evening tea. So we’ll call it an afternoon tea… A very middle of the road Yunnan with Samovar’s Yunnan Golden Bud – light, sweet, airy, almost delicate – at one end and Andrews & Dunham’s S4 Yunnan – stout, a bit rough, sturdy and brisk – at the other. The light sweetness of the taste makes it connected to Samovar’s YGB but the pleasantly prickly end makes it connect to A&D’s Yunnan. So in the middle but with a slight lean towards Samovar (there is more sweetness than prickle). Nice, if a bit undecided.
2.3g/6oz

The end of another sample – I’d love to try more Rishi tea one day, thank you LENA for giving me this one. I got three solid steepings (@ 5min, 6min, 7:30 min) out of the last bit of leaves and they held their flavour well although I noticed that there was a floral note that became progressively more prominent each time I steeped.

I gave it a bit of a longer steeping, but instead of the orange/citrus flavour becomming more intense (which was what I had been expecting), the tea as a whole seems to have developped more body and substance. There are also slightly more floral notes present – likely from the jasmine blossoms.

The taste of this tea isn’t at all tart or sour so it’s in no danger of venturing into Tazo’s Sweet Wild Orange territory thankfully. I think I am picking up some slightly floral notes but they’re very subtle much more so than what I’d expect from all those jasmine blossoms in the tea.

The oolong hardly looks like it’s even there in the dry tea, but it really unfolds a great deal as the tea steeps so that in the end it’s taking up much of the space in my strainer.

The resteep (@ 4:30 min) was nice and strong too, and I think this tea could probably handle another one or two steeps after this if I felt so inclined.

Thanks for letting me try this tea Lena, this is the first Rishi tea I’ve been able to get my hands on and it’s a fun one!

When I opened the little tuperware container the sample came in I was instantly hit with a wave of sweet orange. It smelled very much like fresh orange juice, or maybe orange Froot Loops, like some people have suggested, lol. It’s interesting that the most prominent component of the dry tea seem to be jasmine blossoms, but yet they don’t seem to add very much to the scent.

When I added the water however the odor changed to more of a lemon scent. The curled-up oolong leaves, which when dry looked rather disapointingly small, unfurled and took up a surpring amount of space in the strainer.

The taste is like orangy-lemongrass with the oolong coming in rather subtly. As the tea cooled it got sweeter too, almost like some sugar had been added to it. Or, you know, if it was secretly made out of Froot Loops. ;)

An incredibly refreshing rooibos that would be just as excellent chilled as it is hot. The lime has a cool refreshing aspect which compliments the ginger’s spicy warm flavour.

Today, I steeped two cups of this to get in the zone. There is a ton going on over here, test taking, appointments, planning, scheduling, applying, so much and I needed to focus.

First cup, add cake, unwrapped, not that it is important, but I really must say that I LOVE using the Golden Moon steeper mug for this (link: http://www.goldenmoontea.com/Whole_Leaf_Steeper_Mug_With_Te_P84.cfm) I only use it for rinsing the pu-erh, because the cup can get very hot if you are drinking out of it. Nonetheless, I rinsed 25 seconds, at this point it was a little too light and a little too wet-dog, so another 25 second rinse – no dog, liquor is almost black and looks thick. Finally, one 30 second infusion, no additives, hot, no dog again, but the earthy, chewy thickness I have grown to love and enjoy. Drank that cup in near 3 minutes.

Second infusion, 30 seconds, liquor dark and thick, same earthy aromas and flavors. Finishing up the cup now. I’m officially, in the zone.

Ahh Holiday weekend, which means I woke up this morning and really needed some tea.

Rinsed the cake, 40 seconds. I find that rinsing it for shorter periods actually does not get rid of the raw natural wet dog smell and flavor, so I have to go for a longer rinse. Anyway, after my rinse, I steeped another cup for 20 seconds. The liquor is dark, not transparent, thick soupy black. The tea has a natural, but not fishy or dirty, smell but it is woodsy and rich.

Drinking this really helped to settle my stomach and was a great boost to start my day.

As an aside, I have been drinking some teas I got from a local shop, there is no online description which I can find, so I requested information from the company. Hopefully, I can get the info I need and then can I post away about them soon. I just wanted you all to know so you don’t think I’m slacking over here :)

Had this again this weekend, made a cup for a friend yesterday and knew that I was done with all of my individual pieces and could crack open a new can. :] The aroma of the wrapped nests of tea all collected in the can is fantastic; it is natural and earthy and almost leathery, a little smoky and sweet like molasses. If I had smelled this tea right out of the can like this before, I would have had no hesitations about the tea. Furthermore, if I had smelled the tea unbrewed as I had today, I would have thought that the tea in the can was completely different from the tea in my cup, based on smell.

Like I said, I brewed a cup for a friend yesterday, got a 10 second rinse and then four infusions out. See previous review for how that was. PS, friend enjoyed the pu-erh. What is new and noteworthy is that up until today, I had been brewing each cake of tea for a cup, never had I tried to make a pot out of it. Today along with Madison we did just that, with a ten second rinse, we did a two minute infusion for a pot of tea (one of the two people Beehouse pots, 22 ounces I think). We infused this three times. (Infusion times per pot varied).

Each time was significantly lighter than when you brew for the cup, but there is a difference. When you brew for the cup, there is the dark liquor, with the nutty, earthy aroma, the taste is what we have come to expect and love and the heavy, coat-your-mouth feel dominates. When brewed for the pot, you get the nutty and earthy aromas, you get the natural, slightly smoky, sweet taste, but the mouthfeel has diminished if not disappeared all together. When brewing for the pot, it becomes smoother and thinner, lighter might be a good word, but not in flavor, just in texture. Sure, you are watering the tea down, by actually adding more water, but the flavors are not compromised.

Interesting, very interesting.

No particular reason why I wanted this, I just felt like giving it a try.

First I rinsed the cake, 40 seconds allowing it to unfurl. The 40 seconds may be a bit long, I understand, but it got rid of the soil, earthy, fishy smell. Then I steeped the cup I was going to drink for 20 seconds. The liquor is very very dark, cannot see through it at all, there is the slightly earthy aroma still, but you do not taste it. The flavor is very light, but it is the mouth feel that is impressive. There is a slight sweetness and an earthy, rich tea taste. This flavor comes across as light, but the tea itself feels heavy, almost like it can coat your mouth, a viscosity not common in tea, but more often in thick juices or milk. Though this mouth feel is not offensive, it is difficult to describe.

Would not want to waste a perfectly good pu-erh cake, so I steeped one more time, 30 seconds, the liquor is much lighter now. The flavor nor the mouth feel seem to have been changed, they are still light, sweet, and earthy, with a thick mouth feel.

Going to infuse a fourth and probably final time. Will update if anything changes :)

Overall, this is very good, and for my first pu-erh cake, I am impressed. I cannot wait to try more pu-erhs.

Tried this tea this evening with Madison, so far so good, I have some more to try for myself in the upcoming days, but definitely have to say that this changes the pu-erh game, if you will.

I have had bad experiences with pu-erh, I have had one great experience, and one “meh” (if you know what I mean) experience. I feel this can be another great experience if I give it a few finishing touches. Will try again and repost/report/update.

Great quality tea, just personally did not care for. Had a very grassy taste to it.

Another phenomenal chai from Rishi. Spicy, sweet just plain delicious. Great for a night cap seeing as how it doesn’t have tea in it using Rooibos and Honeybush instead.

Phenomenally good as always!

I cannot say enough good things about this tea! Warming and delicious it’s the best chai I’ve tasted. Can’t wait to try the other ones that came with the sampler

I made this iced to take on the road today – using several steeps, 16oz of tea from 1.5 grams (about a teaspoon and a half) of leaves is a pretty great deal. Sweet, fresh, but also slightly toasty; not like roasted oolong toasty, but sunny-day dry grass toasty. Nice, and refreshing, and good at many temperatures. I think I slightly prefer it warm, but it was good chilled too.