Rishi Tea
Edit CompanyPopular Teas from Rishi Tea
See All 355 TeasRecent Tasting Notes
This is quite a decent, middle of the road pu’er.
It’s great, because it’s so widely available and there’s definitely nothing offensive about it.
I would not be compelled to stock up on this or age it, however, because it just seems so flat and uninteresting for the price. I don’t find anything to explore or think about or watch grow.
I would, however, use this for blending. It forms pretty basic, thick base for blends, and will stand up even if you put in lemonade for a twist on the Arnie Palmer.
Well, you might say, why not just have this around to drink in big mugs on cold and stormy nights? I’d say, good point, except that I find this tea really heavy. I can feel it weighing down in my mouth. It’s not at all weightless, like really fine exciting pu’er, and that heaviness starts to make me feel sick after a while. I never make it through more than half a mug before I quietly say…blehck…to myself and make something else.
For me, it’s just not worth spending the money unless I’m using for a blend. And even with blends, I have to work to cover up the inescapable heaviness in the mouth.
So all in all?
Good for blends
Very widely available (getting pu’er to the people!)
Not offensive
Pretty darn boring
Ultimately leaves a heaviness in the mouth that makes want something else to wash out the aftertaste
When I lived in Northern China, there was a green tea from Lao Shan (Mt.) that I just loved.I was sad to come back to the States knowing I wouldn’t be able to get my hands on Lao Shan anytime soon. But then, my local tea shop had Rishi’s kukicha, and I was so excited!
This tea is rich and beany, while still being sweet. It’s not murkily sea-weedy, nor is it astringent. True, it does not have the depth or complexity I found in my favorite Chinese green tea, but it certainly filled that gap in my cupboard!
Now I’ve found Lao Shan elsewhere (Verdant Tea, for one) I do not know if I will be re-stocking this anytime soon. It is pricier for something that’s not as complex, but if I ever see this at a tea shop? I will definitely get this as my default green tea.
Great hot, also delicious iced. Nice in a big pot or in a gaiwan or just floating in a glass.
Nice, idiot proof green, that offers so much more bean and butter and yumminess than other greens widely available.
I should start out by saying that the Rishi Tea Genmaicha I have is very old and probably stale. Sometime in 2004, a friend gave this to me as a gift after overhearing me rave about how much I like genmaicha. It was a wonderful, delicious gift, and I managed to use up about half of it before I had to move. Eight moves and later, I finally unpacked it and have been drinking it again.
Even when stale, this tea is amazing. It’s the only genmaicha I’ve seen where some of the rice has been popped. (You can see what look like miniature pieces of popcorn in the blend.) The scent out of the bag is grassy and nutty. The first few seconds of brewing it bring out an intensely nutty scent (yes, like sesame or peanut). After that, the toasted rice and green tea even out, and you’re left with an intensely flavorful and balanced cup of genmaicha.
I’m especially happy with this tea because it is so forgiving of brewing mistakes or bad brewing practice. If I accidentally over-steep this tea, which sometimes happens, it develops the taste similar to green tea blended with mugicha (roasted barley tea). It’s also pretty forgiving of steeping with water that’s too hot.
Preparation
Bleh! This tea is so drying and astringent, and incredibly smokey!
It’s widely available in tea shops (at least throughout the midwest), and while I commend Rishi for getting sheng pu’er out to the general public, I wish they’d found something of higher quality. just giving sheng pu’er an unnecessarily bad rap..
Really.. the main flavor is smokiness. It’s like a punch in the face that leaves my mouth and throat achingly dry, so I never really want more than a few steepings.I basically only like to use this tea as an example of what the market is currently widely offering. I make this one first for my friends at a tasting to set a benchmark. It really shows off how yummy and sweet and well-behaved my other shengs are!
Really.. the main flavor is smokiness. It’s like a punch in the face that leaves my mouth and throat achingly dry, so I never really want more than a few steepings.I basically only like to use this tea as an example of what the market is currently widely offering. I make this one first for my friends at a tasting to set a benchmark. It really shows off how yummy and sweet and well-behaved my other shengs are!I think of this tea like a rambunctious teenager. It still needs time to grow up and mellow out before it’ll be worth drinking. Then again, do I really want to invest time and money into aging this? I have other shengs that are younger than this, and they are already pleasantly drinkable, hinting at the promise of greater things to come. No matter how long you age something, you’ll never end up with something fantastic if you don’t start out with interesting material. Even if this were dirt cheap, I wouldn’t buy more for myself or ever recommend this to someone else. And it’s actually not that cheap. I feel like this will just grow into a flat, smoky, musty old sheng. If that’s the kind of thing you like (don’t set your bar so low! how about Smokey with hints of nuts? or aftertaste of apples? or a little bit of mint on the sides of the tongue??), then I guess this is what you want.
Has it really been twenty days since I last made a tasing note? 0_o The usual end of semester stuff has been causing me a lot of stress and I haven’t really been trying any new teas. This is another sample I got from Meghann I believe. I don’t get to try many Rishi teas as they charge an arm and leg for shipping to Canada so it was a nice surprise when I was rummaging around for a random tea to try and dug this out of my Cupboard.
Despite the hibiscus pauses to shudder it really isn’t all that tart – or at least not beyond what I’d expect out of a fruity-tasting tea like this. And TeaEqualsBliss is right, it does sort of taste like (warm) KoolAid although the white tea also manages to impart an interesting light, floral aftertaste. This is another tea I’d like to experiment with having iced I think.
Preparation
Steeped it a little longer and a little hotter this evening without the addition of matcha. Smooth, balanced, and toasty, but the surprise is the dry finish. The fullness of the matcha masked this aspect this morning. I’m sure the longer and hotter steep has something to do with it too.
Preparation
Mmm, nice and toasty. Hearty flavor for first thing in the morning, like a bowl of oatmeal. Today I shook up my leaves with a pinch of matcha powder I bought from the bulk section of Whole Foods last night (I’m so lucky that Austin is home to the flagship store!) to give them a nice dusting. The matcha powder enhanced the sweetness of the rice, but got rinsed off by the second steep. A comforting tea for sure.
Preparation
Made myself a green tea latte this morning with the steam wand on my espresso machine (oh, I love being done with college!) by steaming milk with two teaspoons of sweet matcha and a half a teaspoon of regular matcha (to cut down the sweetness and increase the green-ness). I poured it out in my new spring green mug, full of velvety rich green foam (I also love being a barista!), and it was bliss.
I upped the rating slightly, but only because the intention of this product is to make tasty treats such as green tea lattes, lemonades, or baked goods, and not so much to whisk in a bowl to drink straight.
I’ve been wanting to experiment with matcha powder, but damn, it’s expensive! I found this at Whole Foods for a modest price (compared to other choices), fully aware that it was cheaper because it is blended with quite a bit of sugar. My hope was that it would be a nice instant tea to take along with me in a water bottle. I thought, “What the hey, it’ll be just like the matcha we have at work. If nothing else, I’ll make tea lattes and baked goods.” And I was right. I tried it in water, hot and cold, and was severely disappointed because it was way too sweet for me.
However, steaming it in milk on my espresso machine recreates how I fell in love with matcha in the first place, yum! I’ve also had quite a bit of fun making matcha short bread and even some gnocchi with matcha powder. Although my experience with matcha is very narrow, this one is too light, sugary, and not matcha-y enough. Next time I will splurge on pure powdered leaves.
I thought I would be finishing off Sample Week with this one, but it turns out I’ve had it before, although it’s a decupboarding, it doesn’t count for Sample Week.
Apparently I wasn’t best pleased with it when I had it before. Too spicy and grassy and with a funny feeling in the esophagus like the heat of alcohol, and I said I couldn’t figure out what the supposed muscatel was supposed to be like. (I know it’s a sort of dessert wine, but I don’t like that sort of stuff so I don’t know what it tastes like)
There’s a strongly wine-y aroma to this cup. The first time I described it as honeyed, and I don’t disagree with myself on that, but it’s definitely wine-y this time. Hot wine, some sort of sweetening agent and something floral-y spicy. Mostly the fruity, tangy wine though. Very grape-y. NOW I get what the muscatel is supposed to be covering here!
The flavour is exactly the same. It’s smoother than the first time I had it, from what I can tell from the first post I wrote, but it’s tangy, wine-y and grape-y and it has retained that alcoholic warmth feeling as well.
I’ll stick to the old rating of this. I don’t really like the alcoholic note, and it feels like drinking warm wine. No thank you.
I’ve said it many times before, so I don’t think there’s really any huge need for this disclaimer. I’ll throw it in anyway for new readers, those who forgot and just for the sake of good order.
I don’t care much for Darjeelings. To spicy and grassy and prickly in all the wrong ways with a sour aftertaste and a tendency to get bitter at the drop of a hat. It’s not a case of not liking it at all, it’s merely the fact that I’m not a fan and wouldn’t choose it out of a selection.
That said, it was shared with me, so I will try it. I have never been sent anything that I have simply refused to try at least once. Often against my better judgment and sometimes with surprising results. If people share something with me, I believe I owe it to them to at least give it a go. If then I don’t like it, I have at least tried and not just blindly dismissed it.
So I have in front of me a cup of Darjeeling and I’m not harbouring any great expectations, which makes me wonder if it’s better to go for tea types that one is not generally that fond of. No risk of disappointment. Only lucky chances of pleasure.
The aroma of this cup is very honeyed. Sweet and thick, it almost makes me expect the liquid to be extremely sticky and viscous and it puts images of golden syrup and liquid honey in my head. Equally as strong as the honey note, there’s a whole little meadow of wildflowers in here. It’s not as if it has been scented, it doesn’t have that dusty sort of quality to it. It’s more like living growing flowers visited by bees. And so we have neatly tied it back to the aforementioned honey note. See what I did there? There’s a touch of hay-ish spice to the aroma as well, but it’s very little and drowned out by the honey and the flowers.
Okay, so far so good.
When people talk about muscatel notes and ‘the champagne of teas’ I always end up imaginging it to taste of grapes. I’ve never yet really been able to find a grape note in anything, but I have found strong raisin notes in Assams on several occasions, so I suppose the association is not that far of. That said, muscatel. I’m not sure how to actually truly find this note because I haven’t the foggiest of what it’s supposed to taste like. Don’t tell me ‘Muscat wine’ because I don’t know what that tastes like either. I don’t generally like alcoholic beverages all that much. Red, white, rose and champagne is the extent of alcoholic liquids I can drink. Those I like. Others, not so much. And I definitely can’t tell the various grape types used in the wines I do like apart. I try paying attention when having it, same as I do when I have a cup of tea, but it’s not even remotely as systematic.
Anyway, the tea doesn’t actually taste like grapes that I can tell. It’s extremely spicy though, almost peppered, and that is a long lingering aftertaste even after just one sip. There is, however, also an almost alcoholic note to it, the sort of feeling of heat in the esophagus that you get when drinking alcohol. I don’t like that.
Then there is a more haylike than grassy flavour, which sort of adds to the spicyness of it, and unfortunately also provides that sour note that comes through on the aftertaste.
At least it hasn’t gone bitter, although there is a the hint of vague astringency in it. It could be worse, but it’s not necessarily good either.
It’s not as bad for me as earlier flushes of Darjeeling tends to be, but it’s not really good either. I simply fail to see the appeal in this tea type in general in spite of all the hype about about it. And I still don’t know what the muscatel note is supposed to taste like.
I often wonder how many people who use the word “muscatel” have ever actually tasted the real thing.
I think it varies. I believe people use it for a specific note they recognise, but it may not be the exact same note for everybody… Sort of like if you take an average Yunnan, some people will say it has a pepper-y note while others think the same note is more pseudo-smoky.
Nice. That’s a great explanation of the whole art of tasting if you ask me. Thanks Angrboda!
Hope you do not mind the comment, but muscatel is an interesting comparison. I have had the grapes and muscatel/moscatel wine often. First, I think there is no wine that tastes like fresh grapes though, or like raisins though, all those tastes seem pretty different to me. Grapes are one thing (and even though grape flesh has one taste, grape skin another, grape seeds other), raisins other taste, wine other, and then it varies wildly from grape to grape.
Muscatel grapes are rare in that they are used for wine but can also be eaten normally like table grapes. Wine grapes taste awful usually – they tend to have very thick skins (that is what gives interest to the wine). Muscatel grapes got thicker skins than normal table grapes so I think the muscat comparison might be more sort of a grape skin or raisin ( raisins taste more like skin because obviously the grape flesh has lost a lot of volume) sort of taste. Muscatel wine, hmm that is hard, sort of like Madeira or Sherry maybe :), which OK will not help much.
Wayne, my father is into whiskys, and one of the things he has been taught during tastings and has since passed on to me is that if just one person finds a note, even if it’s really bizarre, then it is there. Because we can’t discuss other people’s smell/taste sensations. It makes a lot of sense, really, but I had never even considered it before he told me.
Cteresa, I know it doesn’t mean grape – grape, but that’s still the association I tend to get. Can’t help it. :)
Madeira or sherry, nope don’t like that if it’s not in food. :)
Madeira and sherry, but ah, they can be on food as well :) Depends on how you use it – for example I like to add a splash of Port to a lot of apple cakes and crumbles. And a lot of spirits can be used in other dishes – there is a steak sauce which is supposed to take madeira. It has its own smell, but yeah, you might as well try to smell Muscatel wine – you would not have to drink it.
You are right about the notes. There is one particular tea I like very much but would never be able to describe its tastes till I read blender´s description and they were right, it sort of tastes like roasted chestnuts. I suspect sometimes it is just the power of suggestion, though might be some elusive subtle chemicals. BTW just checked what McGee says about muscat grapes and he calls it flowery and citrusy with terpenes.
About your dislike for wine and alcohol, I read somewhere humans tend to have an instinctive dislike for foods which go through fermentation or similar processes. We tend to overcome that dislike with familiarity with one particular type of fermentation (LOL, tea tea? rooibos?) though we might still dislike other type of fermentations like very ripe cheeses or alcohol fermentation. I like wine, but I am familiar. I just tried a very highly rated melon tea and sort of loathed it because the melon tasted “fermented” to me and fermented melon is out of my comfort zone – fermented grapes taste or even fermented apples would be OK for me probably!
My alcohol tolerance seems to be going down. I’ve never liked beer (ew!) and I’ve been able to take strong spirits straight up, but I have been able to enjoy them when mixed with something fruity and sweet. I can’t really have that anymore. But I’ve had wine since I was in my early teens, gradually learned to drink it under supervision of parentals. Started with a little in a sherry glass and eventually graduated to a proper glass. Just a few years ago I could drink more wine than I can today. These days it’s one or two glasses with a meal and that’s it. After that it just stops tasting good to me. I’m going backwards on this.
Come to think of it, I think I know why. My doctor once prescribed me this absolutely vile cough medicine which had some 34% alcohol in it or something like that. It fits that this should be the turning point for me.
And funny, you should mention cheese. :) I’m picky about cheese as well, mostly like the milder ones. I like those a LOT though. :)
I’ve never been able to take strong spirits straight up.
Gah. Wish I could edit comments.
One or two glasses of wine with a meal and after that stopping to taste good sounds absolutely perfect and just good sense and the historical way people drunk in my country (of course, one or two glasses of wine or an appetizer, with every meal, twice a day. But out of that, tsk tsk, frowned upon, though I guess it started changing mid 20th century with whisky becoming popular and so on).
And associating a taste-smell with discomfort can totally kill the joy on it. There is one fruit I dislike eating because of that. Reading tea reviews I find it interesting that so many americans tend to associate cherry flavours as cough medicine, an association I would never make!
And regarding cheeses, I like best the ones with a LOT of character, but then again I like a lot almost all kinds of cheeses.
Yes, that’s true! Where I live cough medicine is typically licorice flavoured. In herbal medicine licorice root is supposed to be good for air ways and throat as well as mildly disinfecting (I think. This is just off the top of my head), and I always thought it probably wasn’t a coincidence that manufacturers used that particular flavour in cough medicine.
My father says the cheeses that I prefer taste like sticking your tongue out of the window… :p
LOL at the cheese flavour analogy :)
In the south of Europe liquorice is usually not so popular as a flavouring – I mean aniseed sort of is for a few specific things and drinks. but liquorice itself is probably a northern European thing. Particularly salmiakki, oh my.
Ah salmiakki, that’s om nom nom nommy. Although my boyfriend, who’s english, claims it has nothing to do with sweets. :D It does seem to be a largely scandinavian thing, though. We like stuff that’s salty. Since meeting him I’ve learned to use a LOT less salt in cooking as well.
For us aniseed isn’t the true licorice flavour though. Licorice root is more what we associate with proper licorice. Aniseed is just something with a pseudo-licorice flavour. Like fennel.
I actually did a little research into licorice flavor recently. (From an upcoming review for It’s All About the Leaf.) Thought this might tie into the conversation a little – hop you don’t mind me butting in. :)
There are a few ways to get licorice-like flavors. There is the traditional licorice root, but anise, star anise, and fennel all contain similar flavoring agents. All these plants contain the chemical compound anethole which provides that signature flavor. And while all are similar, there are subtle differences. Licorice root is sweeter, anise is more aromatic, fennel is milder, and star anise has a bit of a bite.
That is so interesting wombatgirl, thank you! I think we do not use liquorice tastes enough to really be able to tell apart too much. I think anise is the ones I like best because it is the one traditionally used here, and I like it in small ammounts on the traditional things it is used.
One of my colleagues like these little pure licorice tablets. They’re 100% raw licorice with no sugar or anything added. Very strong flavour and a little bitter. First time she offered me one I disliked it so much I had to spit it out. But then they sort of grew on me. Strangely addictive, those things. Now I feel like sending you some. :D
It’s been a long time since I had any, come to think about it. Strange, really, how aforementioned vile cough medicine, which was packed with licorice flavouring and licorice extract didn’t turn me off licorice at all, now that we’ve discovered it’s probably at the root of me liking alcohol less and less…
I ruined this tea the first time I tried it with what was apparently too-hot water so for a while I thought it was no good. I decided to give it another go and accidentally let the boiling water cool for what I thought would be too long. I don’t play with exact temps but cooler water is better for this one, for sure.
Very silky, light and sweet. Not quite as nectarine and syrupy as the “Yellow Buds” but more translucent and sweetly floral. Very impressive and I wish I had bought more.
Mmm, good evening my savory little kukicha. I bought more of you and a pretty little glass spice jar with an airtight seal to keep you in. First loose tea I have ever restocked in my collection, you are the first inductee into my ‘standard stock’ of tea. Looking at those pretty creamy key lime stems as I walk by the kitchen makes me happy. :)
Preparation
Bought some at the bulk section of Central Market. I was intrigued by the beautiful parakeet yellow-green stems and the description of a creamy, low astringency, umami brew. It smells like… God, does anyone remember the crackers ’Munch’Ems’? They were delicious, thin, salty, buttery, savory crackers I loved as a kid. The leaves smell like Munch’Ems mixed with onigiri wrapped in a big sheet of nori. The tea itself is light, creamy, and no astringency to speak of. Not something I am in the mood for every day, but when I want it, it hits just the right spot. P.S. Rishi’s instructions are 1 tbsp for 3-4 minutes, but I used only a teaspoon for 1.5 minutes the first brew, and 2.5 minutes the second time.
Preparation
Guh this smells sooooooo good. It tastes sooooo hibiscus-y :( I really want this to live up to the delicious smell, but it just doesn’t.
Oooooh, this tea. This tea, this tea, this tea. I am halfway through my cup and still not entirely sure how I feel about this tea. When I opened the package from Kristin (thank you!) this afternoon, I immediately opened this one and smelled it. And then again…and again. I love the way this tea smells.
I made myself wait until this evening so I could try the caffeinated ones earlier and it is a nice cup to round out my day with. It’s tart, but not too tart, sweet, but not too sweet, and just…juicy. That’s the word I’m searching for. Juicy.
I think I like it, there’s just a hint of something that makes it not 100%
Preparation
Not a bad jasmine pearl. Not perfume-y, not over-strong, but just nice, mellow, and very jasmine. I’m having quite the trying day with my work, and this is helping me get through it. All is better with a large pot of Jasmine Pearl tea.
And as much as I try not to shop at Whole Foods (while they’re good in so many other ways, they discriminate against larger employees in some of their benefits. And as one of the fluffier people, I tend not to like that), I will be going there to get some more of their loose-leaf Rishi teas.
Agreed. Well put.