Rishi Tea

This was first High Mt. Oolong and I saved it until I bought my first gaiwan/yixing. Still on the hunt for a yixing but I finally bought a gaiwan from rishi so here we go. I can completely understand after steeping it why they suggest and thankfully I saved this for a gaiwan. I followed rishi steeping instructions and the first steeping was fairly light but smooth the second I got hints of passionfruit. The third, fourth and subsequent infusions were exceptional smooth and floral followed by ….. Five minutes later a head rush buzz that forces a smile on your face. By far my favorite part about this oolong is the buzz it gives you lol( for that matter just about all rishi oolongs give a buzz but this one especially). All and all its a delicate, calming experience and definitely what I would call a “home tea” meaning only brew it at home when you have time to brew it correctly and enjoy the full experience(aroma, flavor, feeling). I would not recommend brewing this western style or in a tumbler on the go you will miss the subtle joy of this guy. That being said don’t buy it and and reserve it (for 3+ years like me lol) just because it is a “Reserve Tea”. I can only wonder what it could have been if I had opened it earlier.

-Preface
Wasn’t sure about this concept an “earl grey” oolong, in fact it was in my stash that i stowed away and forget about. Stumbling about the bag I saw the “expiration date” was nearing (purchased a bunch of rishi tea when i first was introduced to tea 3-4 years prior) so I figured now was a good of time as any to try it.
-Review
After just one steeping in im gaiwan I was hooked. I never actually tasted real bergamot oil before only artificial flavorings and scents or somethings other earl greys have included random citrus as a cheaper substitute(orange, lemon, etc). This stuff is the real deal you get that unmistakable zesty bergamot flavor and relaxing scent with the creamy smooth mouthfeel of the oolong. The oolong by itself is super high quality the leaves are big vibrant green and whole pieces but with the inclusion of the best bergamot essential oil you will find. I am a traditionalist(no flavors artificial or natural, no fruits inclusions, no rooibos/herbal etc) but this is one non-traditional tea I will most certainly purchase again. If

this one is interesting. the buttery mouthfeel seems inversely proportional to the body/flavor, which is exquisitely delicate by contrast. as the tea cools down i’m getting an unsweetened honey note from the nose! directly upon steeping however, this smelled more strongly of corn. i appear to be getting that note a lot from green teas lately. interesting! this one is perhaps more of a wheatish-corn (a silhouette of corn husk)….something strawlike. i was reminded of my beloved bunny’s Timothy hay when i smelled the dry leaf. i imagine he would like this.

color of the tea liquor: a light golden hay. identical in appearance to many white teas, in fact.

the dry leaf is a very pale jade with furry white tips! (think the most desaturated color of jade you can get, like a white-grayish green…) reminds me somewhat of a Silver Needle in the way some of its tips appear to be covered by a silken peach fuzz.

speaking of jade, look at this tea set!
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Jade-Teapot_11574769/showimage.html

the overall impression is one of subtlety. Rishi’s Emerald Lily is subtle in the way Golden Moon’s White Persian Melon & Coconut Pouchong were, in terms of the liquor’s weight, taste, and color. would almost never guess this was a green! it’s what i’d call sylphlike.

i plan to resteep this one for sure, as the leaves haven’t quite fully unfurled. looking forward to that!

someone award Rishi for perfumista tea company of the year in creating masterful herbal blends. this is a burst of sunshine! the dry leaf is a delectable, invigorating and splendorific mélange of rich, golden, super lemony ginger. the aroma is outrageous, and a truly beautiful composition. as the Rishi website puts it, this tea is ‘remarkably bright’. Indeed!!

from this i definitely smell lemongrass, ginger & zesty citrus oil….you know how orange or lemon essential oils (well any essential oils, really) can be so potent your eyes widen from the experience? well, you’d be hard-pressed not to experience that here. if you love citrus as i do, you’ll appreciate the way it is masterfully incorporated into the blend. it’s difficult to stop inhaling it!

the taste is another matter. as i’ve had this before under the guise of Rishi’s Turmeric Lemon, i remember it being somewhat unpleasant with the earthy, dusty turmeric appearing to take center stage after steeping. not the yummiest thing to drink, although i certainly love it in different curries. one thing worth nothing is that the ginger hits you right at the back of the throat, with a zing! so there’s no doubting its freshness.

turmeric boasts of a number of health benefits, so that’s why i’m drinking this. my only wish is that the lemon, ginger & citrus oils could eclipse the turmeric flavor better, but i’d say Rishi did a really good job with such a fussy spice. nothing a hearty squeeze of lemon & a tablespoon of honey can’t fix!

I got this tea as a Christmas gift and I wouldn’t have picked it up myself with Hibiscus in the name. Overall though it’s quite tasty. Even with the hibiscus it still has a nice fruity flavour. The hibiscus is strong but the other ingredients seem to round it out and make it less tart.

I thought I knew what good tea was until I had 4 cups of this tea! Wow!

Delicious tea. Really enjoyed it. Tasted too good to be natural!

I’m not into peppermint teas I prefer spearmint but I surprisingly really love this especially the chocolaty roasty note

My tea doesn’t say Ancient on the box but it’s organic Golden Yunnan. Don’t know if it’s the same as this but think so. I made a mistake in picking this up. With the name Golden Yunnan I was thinking it was very light like a green tea. I don’t like a lot of black teas and this one is quite strong. It does have that rich raisony/plum flavour (which it said on the box! I just had tunnel vision.) I agree with all the reviews but it just doesn’t agree with me so I don’t want to give this a too low rating. Maybe I will grow to love it or can use in a swap.

Here’s hoping tea box

Thankfully the lavender is not overwhelming. It is a nice addition to the bergamot, a slight sweetener. Three base is fairly light, not not weak. I added some milk and that made it even better.

Loving all the EG that I have trying lately :D This one smells delicious, strong bergamot note. It’s funny since a few weeks ago I didn’t know what bergamot tasted like and now I love it. The taste is smooth and creamy. No astringency or bitterness. As usual I use a little stevia to sweeten. Yum yum yum! Thanks to Naylynn for the wonderful sample!

I’ve drank this tea several times now and have decided to start experimenting. I found my preference is to rinse before steeping and add a bit of honey. As for what the rinsing does, I’m not quite sure, but I read somewhere that’s what you’re supposed to do with pu’erh. Adding honey brings out the rich, malty flavor and does well to minimize the fishy/earthy flavors that I noticed upon earlier tastes. After I finish this box I will probably try a different pu’erh try get a feel for what else this type of tea has to offer.

This is my first review. Yay for being a tea newbie! I picked this up yesterday as am impulse buy while doing some last minute Valentine Day shopping.

I followed the directions on the bag for the most part, bringing the water to about 200F. I was surprised by how dark this tea brewed up (5 minutes steeping time). It can easily be mistaken for coffee! I closed my eyes and took a deep inhalation. Kombu, kelp that’s part of the base broth for miso soup, instantly came to mind. The taste is quite nutty, like toasted sesame seeds. I’m not blown away by this tea, but I find it to be quite savory and good with an afternoon snack.

Trying the Kukicha again – This time with less loose tea, although I kept the steep time and temperature about the same. (A little cooler, because I was distracted.)

Again, I am in love with the fragrance of this tea, both loose and steeped. It reminds me of Gyokuro- rich and fresh and creamy. The flavor was also much better with less loose tea. This steep completely lacked the bitterness that I had noticed the first time I made it. It’s smooth and has a subtle richness to it. Definitely a new favorite.

I also did a cold resteep for 2 hours, and it was excellent. Very sweet and delicate.

The fragrance of this tea is delightful – The dry leaves smell rich, fresh, and sweet, and the richness is enhanced in the scent of the leaves once steeped. The mixture includes stems in addition to the leaves, which is interesting.

The flavor of the tea is rich and buttery, with light hints of bitterness. I followed their recommendation for the amount of dry tea to use – they recommend using 3 times the amount of dry tea per cup compared to most of the other green teas I have seen and tried (1Tbsp vs 1 tsp- maybe because there are also stems in there?). This resulted in a very strong flavor. They also recommend brewing longer and at a higher temperature than I usually have success with for green teas. (Their recommendation on the box is 3 minutes at 185.) I ignored their suggestions for steep time and temperature, going cooler and shorter, but I think and even shorter steep may be beneficial. I think I may experiment with using less tea than they recommend, and significantly less steeping time in the future.

That may also help bring the price per cup down, which was a concern for me. The 50g packet was about $17, which wouldn’t be too bad at 1 tsp per cup, but is a bit much if you follow their recommendation of 1 Tbsp per cup.

Overall, I think this tea is worthy of experimenting with for now, as the flavor and fragrance suggest potential. But I will hold off on making any recommendations until I’ve spent some time figuring out my preferred brewing method.