Rishi Tea

Needing more caffeine right now than this tea can provide..

I like this one more and more each time I drink it. It just defines oolong to me. Will probably order more once my sample’s through.

Nothing particularly mindblowing, but a very comforting tea.

My second Rishi tea and my first wuyi oolong. This tastes very strongly of roasted barley to me. I can taste a bit of the raisin sugar flavor in the aftertaste, but not elsewhere. Very earthy and roasty, which is how I like my oolongs. This isn’t wowing me, though.

Not sure why, but I can taste more pu-erh in this today than I could before. The scent of the dry leaves it still to die for; I had planned to drink another black tea once I got to work, but I opened my bag and the smell of this screamed “drink me!” I like that the citrus is a bit more muted this time.

My first pu-erh experience, and I’m kind of underwhelmed. This is really good – the blood orange taste is definitely prominent, and I love blood orange – but I can’t really taste pu-erh. I’m not sure exactly what it should taste like, but I was expecting a very heavy, earthy taste. Right now I taste a bit of that at the very end of my sip, but mostly just blood orange and citrus.

It does taste pretty darn good, though. Just tastes more like a flavored black tea than anything else.

Haven’t been able to have near as much tea as I wanted today and now that I have time, for some reason I wanted this. Smells very lemony when dry and more tangerine + lemon when brewed up but the taste is pretty much lemongrass. The edge has been taken off by the osthmanthus and citrus, which are more of a feeling to me tonight than an actual taste. Not a delicate tea but fresh and I’m enjoying the citrus-ness.
6.1g/12oz

I’m a sucker for anything orange. So just based on the name I knew I had to get this one. Sadly, I’m a bit brain dead tonight so I can’t really pick out lots of goodies from the dry leaf. But it smells fun.

Post-pouring, I can smell the lemongrass but I can also smell something that reminds me of my perfume (which has notes of things like Bergamot, Grapefruit, Mandarin and Orange – it’s yummy). Sipping is… wow. The front taste is definitely the lemongrass but it’s quickly followed by some nicely juicy and dark citrus tastes. And I say ‘dark’ because it’s a pretty concentrated flavor. The lemongrass keeps a nice, fluffy top note going on and (I’m thinking) the osthmanthus (or perhaps the lemon myrtle since I don’t know what that tastes likes) gives it a sweet end note, with the citrus hitting in the late middle. It’s almost borderline too phlegm-producing herbal with the strong citrus but that lemongrass saves it and as it cools, that heavy citrus lightens up to a more clementine taste.

This is really actually very good. Light but flavorful, good citrus flavors (that don’t remind me of Froot Loops – always a plus) and pretty darn refreshing. I think this would probably be pretty summery and awesome as an iced tea. This is an herbal I’d be happy to add in my rotation for nights that I need tea but it’s too late to have caffeine.

Some music pleasantly complements a particular activity like marching, dancing or running. Some music fades nicely into the background, setting the mood for a nice conversation.

But some music requires your whole attention. Sometimes it intrudes: the 5th movement of The Firebird nearly killed my while driving to Philadelphia. Sometimes it sulks: I was initially disappointed with Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill Live In Seattle because I didn’t hear the guitar at all. Then I stood right in front of the speakers and it made sense…

Um, about the tea, this tea is like Live In Seattle. If you’re not paying total attention it tastes like warm tap water. It will not complement any food. But if you pay very close attention, there are a whole variety of flavors just on the edge of perception. There are wisps of grass and wet leaves and there is the presence of flowers (it is jasmine tea after all).

Basically, this tea is like potpourri in foggy redwoods. So it complements the weather in Northern California at the moment. Maybe it will play nice with something after all.

So, it took me a few cups to decide, but I’m really kind of digging this tea.

For some reason they don’t really explain on the website, but this is a Ryokucha, which apparently means it is blended with machta powder in addition to green tea leaves. This makes the tea a bit stronger and, um, green-er, preventing the citrusy yuzu from completely overpowering everything else.

The only problem is the packet is rather small (50g) and so the recommended preparation instructions (1 Tbsp tea / cup) mean that I’m almost running out already!

Very nice tea, nice nose. Slight tannic aftertaste, but not bad.

Wow, apparently I am the first person on Steepster to rate this tea.

So: very light and fruity. I think I’m still feeling the caffeine from the chai 10 hours ago, so this was a nice nighttime tea. Perhaps not the most stunning or spectacular thing in the world, but quite drinkable and pretty much exactly what I wanted from a lemongrass blend.

I don’t normally have milk in the house, and I don’t normally put milk in my tea.

But I made a recipe the other day that called for some milk, so when this packet of tea came, I figured that this was as good a way as any to use up some of the leftovers.

I followed the directions on the package to steep the tea in boiling water and milk over the stove. The flavor is very good, and the milk makes it very rich and appropriate for the weather we’re having (even though I’ve not actually been outside today except to get the package of tea from UPS). I think that the package directions make it a bit too strong, though, possibly because the tea starts steeping before the water is boiling and continues steeping while stirring in the sugar. So next time I will try it with a bit less tea and steeping for a bit less time, and perhaps I will like it better.

Very pleasant, exactly as described. The mint is perfect – gentle and sweet, not overwhelming.

A very flowery oolong – if you like that sort of thing! If I’m in the mood for something floral… osthmanthus is the one for me. And the oolong base is good, and very crisp.

However… as far as osthmanthus goes… I prefer the Osthmanthus Silver Needle to the Osthmanthus Huang Guan Yin.

Osthmanthus Huang Guan Yin: Good. Osthmanthus Silver Needle: AWESOME.

Ohhhhhh YuzuCha… I needed a Japanese Green. This was the right choice.

I hate to admit it, but I had no idea “yuzu” existed before I experienced this tea. But now I’d really like to see one for myself! I hate having an ingredient in something, that I am unable to acquire and try on it’s own, for the sake of flavour comparison.

Anyways… the tea is lovely. A glorious sencha, and the yuzu adds a flavour that’s… citrusy? I’m not sure citrusy is the right description. It adds a very pleasant sweet yet tangy note to the yummy vegetal profile natural to this sencha.

I enjoy it on it’s own but… it would be WONDERFUL PAIRED WITH A BAKED FISH methinks! :)

For having so many roses in this, this is surprisingly minty, though not overwhelmingly so. It’s pretty, just like the leaves. Smells minty but soft.

Taste-wise, it’s soft and a little minty and a little floral. Not overly complex but things blend nicely and there’s a good fresh mint flavor left in my mouth after each sip. I definitely prefer this softer mint flavor than something that is so overwhelmingly mint. I enjoy the softness created by the jasmine and rose (though I can pick out the rose a little more but maybe that’s only because I can see the roses in the dry leaf). Sometimes I get tartness from things with mint in it – like an aftertaste of cooked greens. But this one doesn’t have that and I appreciate that.

Shared some with the husband – he’s been craving mint lately – and he gives it “a high 4, maybe even a 5” star rating (of 5) saying that it’s smooth with a minty, flowery smell and a nice, creamy mint taste.

Very good blend. Actual Osmanthus flavor, unlike some teas I know…..

Made a pitcher and finished this off. Personally, I find white tea better iced than hot and this tea is no exception.

First cold brewed tea of the year. I always prefer my white tea cold rather than hot. This particular tea retains it’s sweet taste cold or hot. But cold there seems to be a sort of melon flavor, as opposed to hot which is somewhat nectar/honey flavored.