Rishi Tea

This is my first White Peony experience outside of Shang Tea, owned by Zehua Shang, who specializes in white tea, has won pretty high awards for his White Peony, and farms the tea himself, so his tea is direct from the source to the customer. Thus, beware of my bias.

That said, I’ve never felt compelled to purchase Bai Mudan from any other vendors since Shang’s is top notch, and even better I live near the store so I can go and purchase it firsthand and enjoy some tea with the awesome employees. This Rishi white tea only landed in my cupboard because I was at a local grocer to try samples of some loose teas they had in bulk bins. I saw this and thought I’d give it a try since I could sample it very cheap this way.

After a steep or two, the leaves are very green and smell perfumy. I drank the first steeping before starting my review, so my review will start with the second. I am brewing this Gongfu style. This infusion is more yellow than the last, which was a bit pale.

The aroma of the liquor is lightly floral and I’m picking up hints of camphor, to my surprise. The flavor is smooth and lightly green with just a touch of nectar-like sweetness. There are very subtle green and juicy notes like a fresh cucumber. As it cools more and as I get into the third infusion and beyond, there is a copper-like mineral taste, subtle, but there.

The flavor overall is somewhat soft though, bordering on too soft, even after allowing the tea to cool some. I know not all teas are created equal, but I’m using the same amount of leaf I always have with White Peony. I think perhaps I’ve been spoiled on amazing white tea and now that I’m trying one from a less-specialized vendor (meaning their company doesn’t have a specific specialty for white tea), I am seeing now why so many people claim that white tea “tastes like nothing” to them. Indeed, if this white tea from Rishi is more indicative of what white tea is like outside of the high-end vendors, I can see that white teas can be very subtle. I have had a few silver needle teas from sources other than Shang Tea and some were very lacking in flavor or depth, while others were quite robust, so I guess the amount of flavor in white tea can really vary.

While I don’t think this White Peony from Rishi is particularly complex or thick in flavor, I do think it is good, and I think that for the mid-range loose tea market it is a good offering. If you aren’t looking to pay top dollar for your white tea or are looking for the convenience of being able to purchase it at some grocers nearby (currently I only know of Whole Foods selling this, but there may be others), this tea is worth the money. The flavor is pleasant and mild. It was a pleasant experience to drink it, and biases aside, I feel happy to have drank it.

I purchased this tea while I was in western New York on vacation this summer. I desperately needed a good cup of black tea to get me going in the mornings, because for once in my life, I hadn’t packed a suitcase full of my tea from home (we flew this time, and I had limited space in my luggage for tea canisters and such). Anyway, this tea was delicious during my vacation, and it is delicious now.

I am very partial to Yunnan black tea, and this one met my expectations. Smooth, malty, robust, with that nice little peppery bite to it—mmmm love it! On the box, the description states that it is “Malty and rich with a mellow, jammy sweetness and subtle accents of plum and raisin.” Yes, yes, and yes! All of the above! A very nice cup of tea, indeed.

Now I just need to try this side-by-side with Gong Fu’s Emporer’s Gold and see how it compares. I will try to save the last teaspoonful I have remaining for just that purpose.

Yerba mate is a little the same color when I steeped it. I get a lot of peach and Valencia orange as fresh as hand zested citrus. And the first was so elegant and sweet after all if fifty seconds on the pot of clay. Some of the brews are less and less but the nice smell and small batch just reminds me how well yes it is that, and the importance of that is that. I might not be saying anything to someone without a 3-4 oz xing-yi from shou-Shang. I’m probably sleep depriving from skipping water in favor of thus hydrationable you know ..
So mauve too much of a good thing is hazardous too your health, I won’t be finishing this bag anytime soon. Bit. Of a quandary, quite a quite a quagmire . What points I set out to address have since been absconded by dat creativity., by teh reinvention of a classic. Again . Too with being honest I’m more a fan of the store where I get the peach blossom tea: Delhi urban bodega. I could spend all day scouting out new hangs to make and people watching, then ride the subway for an hour to get here and it’s still totally bank. These little treats I give myself get a little pricey, but that’s why I graduated from the school of pharmacy and dealt with the constant torture by pharmacy tech books For them I take a day off, play a game of thumb war, oh dadgum Sam-€ you won, I’ll just keep on tea bagging and stirring.

This has been one of my favorite tea experiences! The first cup I made was a sensory delight – notes of smoky sweetness, dried fruit, autumn maple forest, and even an umami sort of meatiness making for a rich mouthfeel – it was strong and complex, but perfectly balanced and also refreshing. Somehow I have never been able to recreate the strength and depth of that first cup, but I’ve enjoyed each brew nonetheless (ok, maybe just a bit the less, but still a favorite!)

Lot 1036361

Queued post, written June 22nd

This one also came from Auggy and if the LS I wrote about earlier was really more of an afternoon thing, then this is the one I should have chosen for the smoky wake-me-up in the morning.

The aroma is quite earthy, reminding me a bit of puerh, actually. Not nearly as much earthiness as in puerh, but something along those lines.

It’s really quite smoky in flavour, but also with a little sweet honey in the aftertaste along with that hay note. There isn’t too much of that hay, actually, which is the note that I don’t really appreciate much in Yunnan blacks. That’s the second Yunnan I’ve had where it’s been there but not super prominent. Either Auggy has a good idea of how much or little of that hay note I like, or I’m learning to appreciate it more than I used to. It’s not strong here, but it’s there. The primary note in this tea really is the peppery smokiness.

I found this quite enjoyable. I suspect if you enjoy shu, you might like this one as well.

I really liked Rishi’s regular Earl Grey because it had a very robust taste and the flavor was just loaded with bergamot. Therefore, I was quite excited to try the Supreme edition of their Earl Grey after I read that it contained “a smooth liquoring Keemun and a bold flavored Yunnan with 100% natural essential oil pressed from real bergamot citrus fruits.” I’m a very enthusiastic fan of both Keemun and Yunnan. (Getting a nice discount on this tea helped too.)

When I opened the package, a strong bergamot aroma with a fresh quality filled the room. I steeped the black leaves at 212 degrees for 5 minutes. The brewed color was a dark amber/gold. The finished odor also was fortified with bergamot.

The taste of this tea was similar to the regular Rishi Earl Grey that I drank and enjoyed semi-regularly for a year. But, that was my gripe with this blend. At a price of roughly $1 more per ounce than Rishi’s standard Earl Grey, I wanted…no…EXPECTED…something in the quality to elevate it from the basic (cheaper) product that I will be going back to the next time I order Rishi Earl Grey. Nowhere could my searching palate locate the Yunnan or Keemun infusion. I could taste black tea but that part of the flavor was unexceptional. Ironically, there also was a twinge of astringency that I didn’t encounter with the lower grade blend. This attribute remained with the strong aftertaste.

Do I like this tea? Yeah, but (surprisingly and perhaps fortunately) not as much as the lower-priced edition. Rishi’s bergamot in both offerings tastes fresher than several other Earl Grey selections that I have experienced. Rishi also seems to supercharge the bergamot presence in their teas.

This is the first time that I have ever subtracted rating points from a tea due to price. However, I feel that it is my duty to do so for two reasons:

o significantly higher price of this version (when compared to the very good basic offering)

o absence of enhancement over the basic Earl Grey (to justify the cost)

I will recover from this disappointment. I don’t mind being humble. I will continue to enjoy Rishi’s no frills Earl Grey.

Purchased at Wegmans. Tried it at the recommended steep time but wow, was it really fishy and malty. Drank it gongfu style and was much better. Probably wouldn’t purchase it again but if it was offered I would drink it.

Picked this up at Wegmans. Steeped at the recommend time and wasn’t a fan of it after trying it three more time to see if it would grow on me but it didn’t. Decided cold brew it and I definitely prefer that flavor but I wouldn’t purchase or drink this again.

I picked up a box of this Rishi Yunnan Golden, identified on the box as Dian Hong, from Whole Foods out of curiosity. It was on sale for $6.99 for 50 grams, usually going for $10.99. According to the reviewers at Amazon (many of whom are irate), Rishi has essentially doubled or tripled the price of their teas since abandoning the metal tins in the supposed name of the environment. Reminds me of when the ice cream companies told us that they were reducing the half-gallon carton size so that we could store our ice cream in the door of the freezer. (Right, and I have some nice land for you down by Alligator Alley…)

And now, at last, for the tea. I may have had elevated expectations from the appearance of the gorgeous dried leaves, which include tons of golden tips. Somehow the final brew seems a bit blunt and brisk. Did I oversteep or overleaf?

I’ll certainly try again—I have another 46 grams…

second infusion: I decided to try these same leaves one more time… The brew was slightly better, but still not very good. I debated adding cream for about half the glass but then ended up just tossing it into the wind—I was sitting on the deck.

There are so many rave reviews for this tea that I can only surmise that my batch is a dud. I noticed that the infused leaves are quite small, so it looks as though the crispy golden tipped dried leaves disintegrated in hot water.

It’s a nice, full but mild (not bitter) black tea, that’s easy and pleasant to drink straight. I got two 16 oz mugs from it, and probably could’ve steeped a much weaker third mug from it if I’d tried.

This is my mid-afternoon tea today and when I opened the bag I could smell a nice blueberry scent. I drank it after a wait time of 5 minutes. This tea did not deliver in the sharpness taste of the blueberries I was hoping for. Love the color, the smell straight from the package but would not order this tea again. If you are looking for a mild blueberry taste this tea might be for you.

Rishi continues to impress me with the quality of its teas. This one is a very good Jasmine Pearl. Richly scented, with a silken texture.

What a stressful day. This is one of my dependable go to teas when I need something easy to sip.

Today’s cup had a new floral note to it when it cooled down, among the usual, malty, fruity flavours.

Always a happy tea for me.

I am back from my vacation to Mexico, where there was an excess of delicious food, gorgeous beaches, great shows, a whole lot of relaxation and tonnes (maybe a touch too much) sun. But not a decent cup of tea to be found.

So I’m tucking into this old favourite as my first proper cup of the week. This is a perfect every day dian hong – rich, malty, sweet potatoes. Exactly what I needed after a week of Twinnings bagged tea.

My sweetie and I went to the same resort this year as we did last – Bahia Principe, which I think is one of, if not the largest resort complexes in North America. We left in -30 and stepped out into 30C and high humidity and I could just feel my skin drinking up the moisture. The resort was excellent, as before, with amazing buffets & restaurants and perfectly kept grounds. We spent a good amount of time in the cool jacuzzi (adults only) and splashing in the waves in the ocean. It was pretty windy all week, so not ideal snorkelling weather. I got a bit of a sunburn on my shoulders and collarbone but otherwise ended up with a really nice tan. After even a mild winter, there’s something absolutely magical about laying out in the sun on the beach.

I stopped drinking alcohol recently because the unpleasantness of my allergy symptoms were starting to ruin any of the enjoyment that I was getting from drinking, but I didn’t really miss it this trip. I drank a lot of alcohol-free mojitos and ate my money’s worth in churros, chilaquilaes, seafood and cake. I think I had at least 15 different types of meat and seafood, and I also got to try some interesting things, like huitlacoche, which consistently makes it onto lists of the world’s most disgusting foods but was actually very pleasant and didn’t stand out in the dish it was in.

I pretty well skipped shopping and excursions this trip, in favour of lots of lazy lounging and reading. My sweetie sent me for a massage on our first day and it was lovely – I dozed off and slept through most of it (I was relaxed!).

I caught a show on our last night which was really impressive – very Cirque du Soleil-esque, with some impressive surface juggling, acrobatic dance, fire spinning, and awesome light effects, including a performer with a hula hoop that created patterns in the air.

My travel day was pretty difficult. I woke up with a lot of neck pain that made it very difficult to move, and ended up being sick on the flight (I haven’t had a problem with motion sickness since I was a kid) and having lots of panic attacks. I’m still not 100% today, but loads better than yesterday.

So today I’m going to do laundry and drink tea and rest my neck. It’s been a hell of a few weeks, with moving and then immediately going on vacation, and I’m looking forward to a bit of nesting and being at home.

I think I’ve updated my address with everyone who was planning to send me stuff, but if you need my new mailing address drop me a PM.

To start off my first full day in my new place, I picked out a comforting old favourite. This tea is incredibly reliable and tasty. Rich malt and sweet potato notes. It’s a pretty straightforward and middle of the road Dian hong, but I love it.

So yesterday was moving day, after a lot of angst and stress about getting things sorted, culled and packed. We hired movers, which is one of the best choices I have ever made, ever. They were done in three hours, a task which would have probably taken all day, or even stretched out over multiple days of stress, sore backs and strained interpersonal dynamics. Since the move was done by noon, we were able to get most of the house unpacked, which has been amazing.

We still have to get rid of a few things at the old place, clean it and hopefully sublet it before the end of the month. But, I am extremely pleased with how well the move and unpacking has gone.

My new place is pretty great. We have a massive kitchen with tonnes of cupboard & counter space, a dishwasher (YES!!), and everything is just really beautifully finished and high quality. We have a bit less storage space overall than at our last place, but we’ll figure it out, and the neighbour noise is going to take a bit of getting used to after living in a concrete, pretty sound proof building for a while. Over all though, I’m really happy with this place, and I hope to stay for a good long time. It’s nicer and cheaper than my old place, which is a winning combination.

And then this coming weekend, I’m off to Mexico for a week. I’m really looking forward to a week with my sweetie, away from the cold, with all the churros I can eat. And also looking forward to just having a chance to relax, because all this moving stuff has been hectic.

Drank this again yesterday morning. It’s probably not the best Dian Hong out there, but it’s one of my favourites right now. Just so easy to drink, and consistently good.

Ugh this is so good. What a perfect first cup of the day. I gulped it down fast while I was baking. Malt, sweet potato and fruit today. Then I resteeped the leaves, though my mouth is full of scones, so I can’t really tell how good the resteep is.