Rishi Tea

Thank you Ubacat for sending this to me in our swap package. Always happy to try new teas. This is one that I should like, but I thought it was a bit strange for a Yunnan black. It’s pretty fruity, lighter than most that I’ve had. Interesting but not quite to my tastes.

’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #37
I knew just by the sight of these leaves that it would be a nice one. It looks like the leaves were picked in an elf forest or something! All twisty and different colors… well, tea colors, not rainbow colors. I’ve tried a couple Earl Lavenders lately, and this is my favorite. All of the elements fit together. The black tea is the perfect base, the lavender is the right strength. I just could have used more bergamot, but what is there adds a lovely brightness. This is the second tea I’ve tried from Rishi this week and I love them! I’m taking the last couple of teaspoons of this out of the teabox.

Drinking this tea is like being enveloped in sheets of honey scented silk, suspended between two gracefully bowing flowering fruit trees. It overwhelms in pure nectar ambiance before dissipating into something more grounding and organic, like fresh nectarine pits drying in the humid shade of august.

Smooth and delightfully less intense in taste.

Refreshingly drinkable, a positive that allows its top notes to enjoy well deserved glory.

This oolong was my first and my inspiration to explore the rich world of tea.

A nice addition to the Rishi Offering. Astringent, scents of ripened apricots cradled in a musky wooden box. Subtle and fleeting sweetness beckons additional sips.

A nice basic light green tea. There is nothing that stands out about this tea. Its light and refreshing.

This is a nice Jasmine Green tea. It has a pleasant sweet jasmine aroma, its probably a 6 out of 10 in terms of intensity. I like to use this tea for making Jasmine Rice and putting it in keemun black tea every now and than. Its good for relaxing. Its not the best jasmine I have bought but its organic and not expensive. Can’t go wrong if you like Jasmine scented teas.

Decent Chai blend, not the best but average. I do like how this is a caffeine-free version.

Yuck. This herbal is a strange mix of sweetness from the licorice, heat from the ginger, and bitterness from the lemon and orange peel. I think what comes off as bitter is supposed to be tart, but the aftertaste is all bitter.

’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #26
Steep #1 // just boiled // 4-5 min
Steep#2 // just boiled // 4 min
Oh I like this one, even though I don’t usually like ginger unless it’s in a chai. I think the ripened pu-erh overpowers the ginger anyway… it’s either the ginger or the pu-erh itself that is very sweet. I love the deep duskiness of the pu-erh… it kind of tastes like raisins. The second steep of any pu-erh is always just a little bit better, deeper yet sweeter. There is a lot of this in the teabox, so I’m taking a couple teaspoons out for later!

I so wish that there wasn’t any hibiscus in here, otherwise it would be the perfect blueberry tea. VERY flavorful!

This tea is ok. It smells amazing. As soon as I opened the package my entire kitchen smelled like blueberry muffins. Once it’s steeped there’s lots of blueberry flavor, but unfortunately there is also a strange medicinal note and it gets stronger as the tea cools.

I had no problem finishing my cup, but this isn’t a tea I will reorder.

Sunday Sipdown #1!

Now that I have another Yunnan black tea in my cupboard, I tried the last of the leaf of this one this evening. It was milder and sweeter in comparison to Simple Loose Leaf’s Yunnan Breakfast Black.

Anyways, one more tea taken care of in anticipation of receiving my massive RiverTea order!

It’s taken me a while to appreciate how rich and thick it is. I’ve learned to move beyond the bitterness/astringency that sometimes pops up, and really notice the malt and cocoa notes underneath. I steeped this twice but I think I was a bit hasty with the second steep, as it’s a tad weaker.

This is close to being a sipdown, but I have another Yunnan tea in my cupboard to try.

Happy Friday, everyone!

I’m really excited, because I got some GREAT news last night – I may have a steady freelance gig for the next few months, starting next week. I still have to do some negotiation, but I hope to sign the contract before the end of the day.

Oh, and ALSO: The Balzac’s Cafe in the Reference Library changed their lineup of teas, and one of the new teas that they’ll be stocking will be Silver Linden tea! Unfortunately, they don’t have any yet, and the cafe person didn’t know the vendor/manufacturer’s name, but STILL – do you have any idea how hard it has been for me to find linden tea locally? I am so excited.

Anyways, this tea. The first time I brewed it a few days ago, I overleafed it despite my gut telling me that the instructions on Rishi’s website were wrong. Today, I went with my gut, and did a leafing of around 1 tsp per cup.

The tea is still astringent, but it’s much more palatable this time. The leaf itself is quite tippy, with the tips being golden and visible when dry. Brewed up, the liquor is a nice deep brown, and has a malty, bready flavour. This is the kind of tea my mother would like – just give her plain old Orange Pekoe, none of this fancy flavoured business!

A nice, straightforward tea to start the day. I feel more comfortable rating it now.

Thanks again, ubacat!

I got this tea from Ubacat last week and was pretty excited, since I’ve heard so much about black Yunnan teas. When I made it today, here’s what happened:

- I look at Uba’s instructions to use 1 tbsp (tablespoon) per 8 oz and think to myself: That can’t be right.
- I look at the Rishi website, and they say the same thing! 1 tbsp per 8 oz, boiling water, for 4 minutes. I think to myself: Weird, but if the tea company says it, it must be right.
- I brew up the tea, using 3 tablespoons (approx 9 teaspoons) of tea for my 24 oz bubble pot.
- I smell the tea, which has a lovely chocolaty aroma. I relax somewhat.
- I pour out the tea, which is deep deep orange, and see the coffee-like blackness of it collected inside the cup. I tense up again.
- I take a sip.

Holy moly. Either the people who make these instructions have TONGUES OF STEEL or they need a proofreader, stat (I hope it’s the latter, because if so, hey, that’s what I do as a freelancer). Because man, this tea is ASTRINGENT. There is no possible way they can seriously tell you to steep 1 whole tablespoon of this for 4 minutes for a single cup.

I am definitely reserving a rating for now. There’s no possible way these steeping instructions can be correct – I really think they meant teaspoons here (and therefore, only 1/3 as much leaf as they say you need) so I’ll reevaluate once I steep according to my gut.

These mini tuo cha sell at my local food co-op for $70/lb which is pretty cheap. I bought 4 or 5 minis just to give them a try. They are not green but have oxidized black and they are hard as a rock. A whole one is too much for me because of the number of steepings, but for two people they work. Needed a cold rinse because of the dusty dirt, and a cold rinse can get rid of slight fishy flavor as long as the tea isn’t completely wrecked. Dark red and smoky cup.

I see mini tuo chas exactly like this everywhere, and I suspect a lot of them are from the same exporter, sold in bulk and labeled as needed. Mine are not whole leaves, but small broken leaves compressed together, probably leftovers from larger cake pressings, would be my guess. This is not premium pu-erh and not what I would want to serve to impress a new drinker. The few I have are sitting in the cupboard and I will remind myself to drink them when I am in a rush and don’t feel like taking the time to break leaves off one of my better teas. Recommended for people who know they like pu-erh, can take the dark stuff and are going camping maybe.

Another Sipdown, this one from Lee. I wish I had more to say about it, but I drank it hours ago, so really, all I can say is I enjoyed it. Lightly roasty…

Another one from Lee, the flavor of Phoenix Mntn Dancong initially freaked me out the first time I tried one. Heavy with incense, with a tart finish, I’d never had anything like that. Over time, Dancongs have grown on me, & this one is nice. Roasty & floral, with an incense after aroma & long lingering grapefruit mouth, even after the cup is gone.
Sipdown! 383 to go!

I am trying to drink up all my lower oxidation teas to make room for 2014 spring teas. This tea was something I was planning on opening and just drinking through but I was pleasantly surprised.

The dry leaves smelled fresh and vegetal like any good taiwanese oolong should. I was surprised because A. this was a cheap purchase from amazon as an add on to quality for free shipping and B. four seasons is literally picked 4x/year so in theory it can not posses half as much aromatic oils of other gao shan that are barely picked 2x/year.

I brewed it at work but still loosely gave it the gong fu of 45 second (+15-20) and near boiling water. After drinking the first steeping I will 100% be keeping this around my cabinet indefinitely. The cup was super oily even after a rinse which clued me into the quality. The liqueur had a fairly heavy body for a green oolong and a smooth slightly creamy slightly sweet profile which immediately reminded me a lower quality Ali Shan. The buzz I received after 9-10 steepings was pretty intense, it gave me the gao shan grin and focused energy to actually make work enjoyable.

All in all another great buy from rishi, I have come to learn most of there high end oolongs (dan cong fragances, gao shan) are vastly overpriced still good not worth the money but their lower end teas (tky, baozhong, jade, wuyi) are budget worthy staples to be daily drinkers.

This is kind of nice. It has a light fruity floral taste. Slightly peach flavored. Slightly citrusy. Nice without sugar. I’m guessing this could make a great cold brewed tea. It isn’t super impressive, but it isn’t totally boring either. (Great endorsement, right?)

I did not like this tea, as it was too acidic (tannins). I had it at a friend’s house, so it’s possible that it was brewed too hot or too long or something like that. It was okay after I dumped a bunch of honey and milk in it.

Dry, the tea smells strongly of coconut. Steeped, it tastes lightly of coconut rice. It has a starchy back ground and sweetness to it that is rice like. The oolong is okay, slightly floral, but nothing too exciting. I’d reach for this out of a selection of Rishi, but it would be one of my last picks if I was choosing from my cupboard.