Rishi Tea

My oldest tea mixed with my other oldest tea, chamomile. I don’t mind either of these, but prefer them mixed. It is a neat indication that I have come at least a small way in my journey with tea. That I now know that there are unlimited options and that I don’t need a bunch of chamomile! I don’t think I will re-stock either of these, at least until I stop trying so many new teas all the time!

Method of brewing: gaiwan

Leaf to water ratio: I filled the gaiwan 50% with leaves, the rest water

Temperature: Around 205 degrees farenheit, I let the water just barely come to a boil and then sit for a minute or two.

Rinse: I did a “flash-rinse”, pouring water into the gaiwan and then immediately pouring the water out. I only did one rinse.

Steeps:
I steeped this tea for 20 seconds the first infusion, second infusion, and third infusion. For the fourth infusion, I steeped the tea for 30 seconds. This tea feels like it can go on for 3 or 4 more infusions before it starts to go flat in taste.

Tastes:
The tastes are ordered from most noticeable to least noticeable.

Mouthfeel:
The mouthfeel is as if you drank milk— slightly viscous. It has a slight dehydrating feel, not nearly as bad as coffee but I feel that if I were to drink a lot of this tea I would need to drink a glass of water.

Additional notes:
This tea feels like it would make a good desert-tea, for when you are craving something like chocolate.

A very nice dragonwell – slightly sweet and nutty with a nice vegetal kick.

Not bad. Earthy, licorice, mint and cinnamon. Unfortunately the vanilla wasn’t noticeably present, but it was still tasty.

Another great hong cha rishi

When I ordered my tea table I need a few more items in my cart to qualify for free shipping and this sounded interesting. I am a fan of dongfang mei ren so the description intrigued me, not sure what oriental beauty processing techniques entails beside the bugs biting the leaves. Either way the description is spot on I am regretting opening the bag just now a year or two after I ordered it because the dry leaves smelled a but dull. I am quite the tea hoarder fresh tea before I discovered my new addiction of puer which of course encourages such behavior, not to mention my short stint at a tea retailer that sold tea from previous years harvest in semi-aerated containers. So I have experience of smelling stale leaves.

Either way the tea still had some life in the leaves it produced a brew actually fairly close to a dogging mei ten but the terrior came through with playful astringency and mild woodines as well and remind me of tippy darjeeling in the past. The scent was very perfume floral and the after taste was a great sweetness that peaked just short of a puckering reaction only after I had swallowed the tea which is where I can see the cotton candy reference because cotton candy sweetness builds as well, not so much flavor but sweetness development I can see.

I probably wouldn’t buy again it being a lot of buds the brew was rather thin which won’t hold my interest and so unique in flavor I probably wouldn’t drink very often. Teas like this are much welcome interruption to my normal routine strange enough to be interesting but only bought about an oz so I won’t be forced to drink often. I never put much worth into hong cha baulking at the die of spending morethan $3-4/oz but rishi has chanhchange my mind with their hong yue and now this I regret not getting their li shan micro lot but there is always next year.

This sample was included as part of my March 2015 Steepster Select box, celebrating a variety of teas from China. I was happy to see this sample among the others as it is a bit like seeing an old friend whom you enjoy the company of, and can’t remember why you have been out of touch.

Steeped in accordance with the instructions on the packet (1 tsp/4 g per 8 oz, 185 F), in a small glass teapot so that I could watch the leaves dance over the 2.5 minute brewing time. Aroma is delicate and refreshing, Sweet Grass and Sunshine with a hint of nuttiness. The taste is wonderfully much the same. A very beautiful example of the green tea of the Hubei Province. Much tamer and more sophisticated than Yunnan greens, and no astringency like you find in many Japanese greens. A truly wonderful cup of tea.

Very nice- classic green tea style. Very tasty indeed! Smooth, nice aroma!

I had this again this morning.. Got some more sleep so I actually brewed it correctly :P
I did a 1min steep, increasing by 30 seconds for subsequent steeps.

The taste is very clean and roasted with notes of raisins and earth. I upped the rating to reflect how I feel about the tea today :)

Overall, a very nice and mineral-y oolong. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to, but I’m also at work and had a crazy morning, so it was only slightly warm when I got to drink it. Very clean tasting, but it was also kinda heavy. Tastes of earth, raisins, and roasty goodness. I think I have another wuyi that’s not quite as oxidized, so that might be the taste difference that I’m experiencing.

This used to be one of my favorite teas, always fresh tasting and a tea I enjoyed drinking all day long. Ordering direct from their site assured you of getting the freshest available. Unfortunately the sample I received in the March 15 Steepster select box just tastes a bit old and stale. Bleh. Maybe it is the packaging? Anyone else have this experience?

Drank this tea at 1:30AM since I couldn’t sleep last night.. My tastebuds may not have been awake, but here goes.
I brewed this at 175 degrees for 2 minutes. It comes out as a very light greenish-yellow color and smells very vegetal. The taste is only slightly vegetal, but has a lot of nutty flavors. I don’t generally like nuts, but this tastes like water chestnuts. I thought it kinda tasted like unsalted pistachios at first, but I think it’s more like those canned water chestnuts that people eat for some reason..
Anyway, I’ll steep this one again tonight if I can stay awake long enough. Overall, a good tea, but not my cup of tea due to the overly nutty flavor.

The second steep of this (2.5 min) was much more smooth and didn’t have the powerful nut notes. I enjoyed the second steep a whole lot more :)

Chai and green tea do not mix- I will say this with every review until someone forces me to admit otherwise.
However, this isn’t as bad as some of the rest- I suppose I’ll give it a D instead of an F… it made it’s attempt.

Nice roasted taste in this oolong and the leaf is rather beautiful as well. Not the highest quality from what I have tried in regards to an Iron Goddess but I do find this tea to taste quite fine and worthy of sharing with someone to introduce them to oolong teas.

This is my staple cold brew in the summers because it is very cheap. However, the rating goes toward the taste and its ability to preform as a tea. This tea does not appeal as a hot tea but taste very good cold. I cold brew this overnight so I can avoid the woodsy taste and extract a smooth rooibos flavor with blueberry accents. Overall I am pleased with thee flavor this has as the summer goes on and I drink a few gallons of it month.

I never sleep well before early morning shows. If I have to set an alarm I just don’t get sleep because I’m afraid it won’t go off. But I did this to myself. I asked for the early morning reserve so that I could walk with my dad to his gate. He arrived early as well cause he had trouble sleeping. I think it happens to everyone. We went to get scones and tea/coffee. I picked this one. My tongue is a lil burnt from trying to try the tea while it was still too hot. But it doesn’t take away from the good grassy flavor this tea has. It’s a calming tea. I must admit though that it is still not quite as good as it could be. The after taste is not what I usually like in a green tea.

I love Japanese green tea so much. When I saw this in the store earlier today, I immediately went on this site, and went through with the purchase after reading the reviews. I’ve had a lot of sencha and gyokuro, but, believe it or not, this is my first matcha experience. The sencha grassiness is there, but it seems as if the matcha may smooth the tea out a bit, as it doesn’t have the usual sencha bite. It’s not sweet like a gyokuro, just kind of a smoother, thicker sencha. I like it a lot. I think I’m going to go back and buy more tomorrow…I can see myself drinking this one often when I’m looking for the convenience of a bag…or sachet.

One of my favorite teas, I drink this all the time. It has a light floral taste (as is fitting) but is never overpowering. I find it a very refreshing tea for any time of day, and also a very practical one—you don’t need to brew it separately, since the leaves are rather self contained. I also use far less per cup than the recommended brewing directions—I find 4-5 pearls fine for a cup.

Ah-amazing. As a lover of all things coconut anyway, this smooth fragrant tea totally made my day.

Fruity, sweet & delicious! Definitely a spicy ginger kick, this sweet brew is practically a dessert unto itself!

With tumeric having so many healthy benefits, I was looking for all different ways to take it. I randomly found this tea at my local Coop and decided to try it. SOOO GLAD I DID! The lemongrass and orange really helps the spicy of the ginger. It’s definitely a full flavor tea but so yummy on a cold night or after dinner with a little honey.