Rishi Tea

Great tea, spicy, delicious calming

By chance came across this and was quite delighted, especially after having been recently reminded of coconut oolong in Kittena’s post.

Sadly, my packet had become victim to age. The coconut had begun to turn by scent alone, so I wasn’t going to risk steeping it. I remember having enjoyed this. Too bad. Happens, right?

A reminder to drink your coconut teas.

Sipdown of sorts because I tossed it.

And it’s a sipdown!

Really ancient in coconut years :)

However, coconut delicious with the slightest hint of pineapple. Maybe delicious enough to get me out the door to the laundromat in the pouring rain.

The first steep was really lovely with all parts accounted for in perfect balance : coconut, pineapple, bao zhong oolong. The second steep was ok, and the party was totally over on the third. DT’s Coconut Oolong has spoiled me with its eight or more steeps of coconut flavour. Still, the first one was really really good.

I was worried this was going to be another mouth full of clove which seems to overwhelm a lot of chai, but it isn’t. The pepper, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom are strong and hold up under almond milk and sugar.

Earlier this year I attended the Fancy Food show in San Francisco. Turmeric seems to be the ingredient/component of the year. It is everywhere. The awareness of the touted healthful properties are definitely being advantaged in many aspects of the food industry.

As a result of the visit we created a Turmeric Lime dressing for one of our Teahouse salad offerings. I also purchased some of Rishi’s Turmeric Ginger and a new released Turmeric Chai which I’ll review in a future note.

I have always been a fan of Rishi. They use high quality components all organic. You can trust that you are getting a worthy product.

The Turmeric Ginger is definitely an invigorating brew. The ginger is nice and strong and you can feel the burn in the back of your mouth and even down your throat. Truly a ‘blend’, the flavors are otherwise well rounded with nothing else standing to the forefront. Turmeric has a dusty flavor and thankfully, licorice, which I don’t favor, does not even make itself much known.

Enjoy this tisane and feel healthier for it.

Got this as a sample at the Midwest Tea Fest in the swag bag you get for attending. I usually give away the tea samples I get in these because they are almost always tea bags and nothing loose, and tend to be lower quality (broken leaf) teas.

I held on to a couple that I figured I might enjoy. Rishi has some pretty good loose leaf teas so I thought maybe this would be a good tea. And I should say that the leaves inside of the little pyramid shaped bag here are a mixture of whole and broken leaves. They are rather brown looking though, very dark, and don’t really evoke the idea of green tea much. The brew is the usual pale yellow green tea color at least.

The Jasmine aroma and flavor are nice, about what you’d expect. The taste of the tea leaves is not exceptional. I don’t taste really any vegetal or grassy green tea flavor at all, just a sort of drying astringent quality and a little bit of tart flavor aside from the jasmine.

This tea is about on par with the jasmine tea you’ll probably get if you order a pot at an Asian restaurant. It’s fine, might calm a hungry appetite a bit and pair nicely with some food, but on its own, it’s not particularly good tea and not something you’d probably want to sit down and just reflect on.

For what it’s worth, I’ve had better bagged teas from other companies, which is a bummer, because I like Rishi as a company.

Did not enjoy. Flat and old tasting. Bitter despite lower temperatures and brew times.

Second steep was much less bitter. However, but still flat and very old tasting. Third steep had no bitterness, but started having hints of mildew.

Yeah, so I have been continuing my green, white, and oolong days as I continue my acupuncture and Chinese herbs treatments. Surprisingly, the transition from black teas has not been all that difficult. I am not giving them up forever, of course, just for the time being to not contradict what is happening in my treatments.

The tough thing for me has been giving up milk, as well as black tea. I find myself craving lovely sweetened chais and good strong tea lattes. I predict I will be breaking down and having one or two some time soon. I do miss them so. I only hope that, when and if, I do break down, the milky cup in front of me will be worth it.

Back from my tangent to this fine tea. Very very lovely.

My first steeping was full of lovely heavy red wine— reminds me of Mondavi vineyards— and chocolate notes. These flavours dissipated in subsequent steepings, but the cups continued to be lovely. Many many steepings later, I am still enjoying the tea.

I had an orange blossom roll-on perfume from Bath & Body Works that I was obsessed with in middle school — so when I spotted this in my supermarket, I had to have it. Alas, it was bitter and grassy and made me very sad. I put it on the break room table at work, marked it “free!”, and someone else made off with it.

(Sept 2016: Wow, the Steepster Thief really doesn’t like this tea. Second review it’s eaten!

Thankfully, I found my written notes from this that I didn’t throw away, so here they are in point form:

- another Rishi sipdown
- smells very smooth and malty, slightly earthy like freshly wet soil
- not exactly “ruby” colour, more like amber, leaning towards orange
- very smooth, reminds me of a whiskey/bourbon type body, but less sharp and more rounded tones… still deep though
- pleasant and high quality, enjoyable to drink)

Drinking this for the second time: was at mom’s house the first and didn’t take notes. I do remember that I enjoyed it the first time too, though!

I’m still quite a new traveler of the oolong territory, but I think I like most of them. This tea is definitely one of the better oolong teas I’ve tried. The aroma is slightly malty and earthy, and reminds me a bit of dark chocolate and cherries (although maybe the tea description just influenced me to expect this!) I’m still not that great at picking out subtle notes in the aroma/flavour, but nevertheless the aroma is hearty and satisfying.

I find the flavour to be quite the same as the aroma: slightly malty, earthy, with subtle hints of other flavours that mix really well with each other. It is not overpowering or bitter, and overall enjoyable to drink!

(Sept 2016: The Steepster Thief has eaten my first review of this wonderful tea.)

Rather sad to be finishing this one off! I must say, it really grew on me, and I ended up looking forward to drink it every day at work. I love the balance of robust flavour that this tes has. Like dance partners intricately locked in a tight yet perfectly executed three-way tango. ( /creativity)

The most prominent two favours are the sweet and creamy coconut and the earthy oolong base. Then comes the pineapple as a very subtle yet perfect finishing touch that adds just the right amount of tang. It’s rare, in my opinion, that a tea is blended with such balance, where there is the right amount of each ingredient without any of them overpowering the others. I really enjoyed this one, and I hope to get my hands on it again I the future.

Tea Sparrow tasting #2!

This one brewed very very light in colour, I’m hoping the flavours will still be there. Aroma is of sweet coconut and is very delicate and nice. First sip reminds me of a slightly vegetal green tea, with hints of coconut. Need to let it cool more to taste better.

Getting more of the coconut as the tea cools, still strongly paired with the oolong base. Pineapple is lost between these two, as far as I can tell. Still, quite a tasty tea. Not overpowering with the sweetness or coconut, but has enough flavour to make it enjoyable.

I think I can taste the pineapple as the tea gets cooler and I can take bigger sips, but still is quite subtle between the two dominant flavours. It is a nice addition nonetheless and helps to fill out the flavour profile to completion. The tea is overall quite creamy and full-bodied, yet light and refreshing at the same time. Delightful.

Free sample from Midwest Tea Fest.
Jasmine, base tea doesn’t contribute much flavor, not astringent, thick mouthfeel. This tea is all about the jasmine.

A nice change of pace for people who like Yunnan teas, but want something a little different. Has the body of a Yunnan, but has a floral quality reminiscent of a good Ceylon tea, which it shares something in common — Assamica leaves. Personally, I think the bouquet makes it a poor candidate for milk, so I’d drink this straight.

Pouchongs retain a top spot in my lineup, as their low oxidation yields delicate flavors, uncluttered with the metallic after-qualities that darker teas can bring. This is a lovely tea with distinctly floral qualities. Rishi cites orchid and lilac. I’ve never smelled scented orchids, but this falls in line with other so-called orchid oolongs. Other florals are hinted, sans the headiness of actual lilacs.

It’s flavor is well worth exploring if you lean towards nuttier, pan-fired Chinese greens (e.g. Dragonwell, Melon Seed) — as opposed to grassier, velvety Japanese varieties (Sencha, Gyokuro). It’s nutty, green qualities are muted and rounded out on the first one or two brewings. Subsequent brewings bring out more vegetative aspects and heighten the florals in my trials. It’s here that a bit of “iron” comes in.

This is my 7th day with this tea, and I’m still experimenting with different temps and times (and oolongs/pouchongs in general), so it’s hard to recommend specifics.