Rishi Tea

Unusual Keemun (the pine notes make themselves known), but quite good after working with it a bit. Has a refreshing “light” quality that I really like.

Interesting Keemun. The package label says “fresh pine” which is definitely there, but I am not used to it in a black tea! Need to spend more time with this.

Jasmine loveliness has once again captivated me with her precious floral complexities, this time with a sweet autumnal hue.

Go away, I’m drinking tea. White tea.

Ok, it’s Jasmine tea. Shut up.

After the crazy, interruptive, picky-people-filled day I had today, I wanted – no, I needed something good. Something sweet and light yet solid and grounded. Comforting. I was itching for some Downy Sprout but since I am out, I grabbed this tea. Fantastic tea was needed so urgently, I was even too impatient to wait until the water hit 175°, so I did 180° and just kept the teapot lid off.

This gave me exactly what I was looking for – dark, rich, sweet but substantial. Seriously awesome. I think I could drown in this tea and die happy. It’s only two more points but the serious awesomeness of this tea demands that I give it a 100.

3.5g/6oz

Oh this smells good. Seriously seriously good. Thick and sweet and rich and nectar-y and a tiny tiny hint of green and floral but mostly rich, dark yum. The smell reminds me a lot of Samovar’s Downy Sprout. So yeah, I’m excited.

Oh this tastes good. Seriously good. No. Awesome. Sweet and rich with a hint of solid-ness underneath. Sort of… bake-y but not as strong as Thomas Sampson’s bake-y. Where as TS is biscotti and mistake brownies, this is soft, warmed dinner rolls. Slathered in a honey butter – but not really honey (which is good because I’m not a fan) but more of nectar. Nectar butter. Is there such a thing? Because yeah, that would be awesome. There’s also a hint of greenness to this – just a hint – which makes me think of Silver Needles. Except I haven’t had a SN that I liked – it just tasted like boiled soybean water. This however, is like smelling freshly steamed edamame. So similar taste but this one? Done the right way.

Yeah, really good. Love it. Sweet, rich, thick, delicious. Love.

2nd steep: 3 minutes – Sweet and lovely.
3rd steep: 4 minutes – A little light. Must try 5 minutes next time.
3.5g/6oz

I walked in to the office after a brisk little walk and my colleague mentioned she helped herself to the tea on my desk. Totally cool! She LOVED it. She had never tried it before but I always keep a stash in my desk!
This tea is like nectar. I like to brew it strong. I think that when you brew it strong you are really extracting the body of tea found in ancient tea trees. There are nice fruity notes in this tea. I taste peach and nectar and the love of the ancient trees.

A really great tea. It is not an overpowering Pu-erh, instead it has a delicate earthy quality. It reminds me of the smell of the Pacific Northwest Rainforests—sort of a mix of wood, moss, and rain. The aroma is earthy with a slight fishy hint. The taste, however, is purely earthy (a definate plus in my book since I am not a huge fan of fishy tea). Perhaps the best part of the tea is that is absolutely lacks any bitterness that so often destroys Pu-erh. About the negative aspect is that the small cake separates into very fine pieces that went through my infuser.

Also, I like the fact that it is organic, which removes that nagging doubt in the back of my mind if my drink is laced my chemicals.

I said, " I need to make tea." Then magically my colleague fills my cup with Gokubo! My favorite kukicha, ever!

I can not drink any other kukicha after drinking this one. There is a wonderful citrus note and no astringency. It is rich and sweet and pretty complex. The infusion color is a beautiful rich green color.

This tea is truly a treat. I just made some with my friend and we can’t help but smiling at each other. It is so delicate yet rich with flavor. The dry leaf is emerald and full of oils. The wet leaf aroma has notes of evergreen and you can just smell the rich, milky umami. I will be re-steeping this at least two more times.

I like this Gyokuro because of the differences in the Yame growing area. The Yame area uses different fertilizing than the Uji area does. The Uji area also tends to use the Goku bushes which naturally take in a lot of nitrogen. They then use very concentrated fertilizing practices to pump up the plant.
The fertilizing practices in Yame are different and the tea tends to have less of the super umami but does have a nice range of complexity.

This is the tea that turned to on to Japan. This shipment has really nice complexity and balance. It is a blend of a few primo varietals. Nice umami, nice color, nice chi. Mr. Nishi-san is one of my heros.

It had been a while since I had made our current lot. I had forgotten how great this batch is. This lot is made from many grades including some pu-erh palace. It has great complexity and very nice body. The leaf size is very small because it is made up of higher grades but delicious. I will put away my 2005 lot and enjoy this lot, now!

This tea is so mild for me that I can’t really taste any of the notes that others have tasted. I guess its an ok tea, but it just doesn’t do it for me. The plus is that I only bought an ounce of it from my health foods store. So when its gone I don’t see me buying any more of it.

Honeysuckle! YES! That’s gotta be it! :) I can smell it and taste it after realizing just what it was I was smelling and tasting.

This is a cute little diddy! yea…I called it CUTE!

It’s warm and fuzzy…cute lil leaves with a matching taste and scent. Lovely. Delicate.

I think I can taste a little apple-likeness, too…interesting.

It does remind me of spring and that is EXACTLY what I need on these COLD – bitter-COLD winter days in the snowbelt!!!!! YAY for Rishi Ancient Yellow Buds!

One of the few white teas I can tolerate. They usually taste like hay to me, but this one is nice.

Very good for a white tea (I don’t much like white tea as it reminds me of an infusion of hay) but I have to drink it with honey for my allergies, which makes me very sad. (;_;) I don’t like sweeteners.

malty, strong black tea flavor. your typical black tea. though, it is making me feel really jittery and anxious- like i do when i have coffee. how strange.

giving this a low rating for the coffee-nervous feeling =[. I’m not a fan of feeling jittery.

malty,robust flavors and not bitter at all :)

Thanks to Ricky for a sample of this!

I was genuinely scared of this one, though I had no reason to be. The only other pu-erh I’ve tried was another Rishi one, their Pu-Erh Blood Orange, and it was really, really good. But I’ve been holding off on this one for awhile nonetheless.

I’m sad that I waited this long, because this is fantastic. The mint is the prominent smell, but the taste is a wonderful blend of mint, creaminess (from the vanilla), and cinnamon. There are some minor cocoa notes, too. I don’t really get any earthiness from the pu-erh, though.

Might at least buy a sample of this next time I make a Rishi order.

not too bad. i bought this on a whim because i ran out of matcha! =[ I added this to some fresh lemonade for a delicious mid afternoon drink :)

FRUIT LOOPS!

:) It sounds scary… but it’s actually a good thing! You have to try it to understand. I’d frown on it in a hot tea I fear, but I find it to be quite awesome in an iced tea! I have this in my fridge quite often, I love it!

FRUIT LOOPS!

In the past I have had this tea, and found it to be… meh.

But today it was brewed for a tasting at Whole Foods… and our barista brewed it lightly, and very specifically. I actually really enjoyed it!

I’m still very much a purist with my green teas, but if the brewing instructions are followed closely, and you lessen steeping time a bit, I highly recommend it to the fan of a good blended green tea.

I still think this one smells like fruit loops! It even has that cereal type taste in addition to all of the citrus! I must say that is the draw for me with this one. I am having one last cuppa before sending the rest to friend! As it cools it does smell more and more like citronella! I wish there were more actual oolong in this but it’s alright! :)

Yup! I just had some…see my previous reviews! :P

Citrony…good cold, too! YUM!