Rishi Tea

Okay, I seriously don’t know how the third infusion is still just as strong as the previous two. This tea seems like it could go forever, which is nice because it is such as easy drinking type of tea. I’m going to see how far I can go with this tea tonight as I’m not yet tired of the flavor and after every cup I seem to crave another pot. Wow. I would have never guessed that I would have even kind of liked Silver Needle, but I really like it.

Okay, the second infusion is remarkably different and perhaps better than the first. The tea is now less sweet, but has a fuller body and a more buttery character. Very broth-like with slight vegetal notes (but at the same time, I wouldn’t really describe the tea as vegetal). The sweetness seems to hit through the middle of the sip rather than throughout like the first infusion.

The first infusion reminded me of a really good chamomile flavor, but the second infusion is so different and unique that I am going to HAVE to raise this rating. I think that Silver Needle may have a place in my cupboard after all.

Courtesy of the TTB 1.2

I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think I would like this tea but since I was using the TTB as an opportunity to try teas that I normally wouldn’t purchase, I grabbed a bit. The leaves are absolutely adorable – long, slender, green, and super fuzzy. After looking at several reviews to help me determine how to prep this tea, I pinched out around 2 TB of leaves and added water that was just under boiling.

The resulted liquid is pale gold, but lacking the notorious shiny hairs due to my superfine Chatsford infuser (I will be brewing these free next time…I want hairs in my mug too!) The scent is very light, slightly sweet and reminds me of hay with a hint of warm, dew-covered grass. The tea tastes pretty sweet and like warm hay, but it works for this tea. This is way better than I thought it would be as it is very flavorful and smooth with no bitterness or astringency. I’m not sure I would seek out Silver Needles in the future, but I would be open to it.

It wasn’t strong enough at 5 minutes the first time, so I steeped for 9 (2 tsp and 16 oz water). Added sugar and a little milk – WOW amazing. Adding a few points. This is good plain too, though; it doesn’t depend on sweetener to be very flavorful.

I re-steeped the leaves yestserday afternoon. I ignored the 5 minute steeping time, because I wanted the tea to be stronger than it was in the morning (and also, since it was the 2nd use of the leaves).
It was MUCH better. Not that it was bad the first go around, but it just didn’t seem flavorful enough for a chai. Anyway, this had a lot more spiciness (black pepper I think) and a little sweetness, and was very delicious. I’m going to raise it a couple more points.

Now to see sometime how it goes with milk/sugar…

The main way I’d describe this tea is very smooth, with different flavors coming out of each cup (sometimes more clove, sometimes more black pepper, or mint, etc.). I liked it a lot. I will have to see how it resteeps.

The best chai I’ve ever had was kashmiri chai that I bought from Benny’s Tee Laden in Loerrach, Germany. I haven’t had a lot of other chais, but so far none have compared.

This morning was just first try so I can’t really compare it to that yet. My first impression is that it is delicious. All the better because of being caffeine free. I had it straight, but will have to try with sugar, and maybe milk at some point too.

I think Rishi’s brewing suggestions (on the bag itself) might be off though — they are suggesting 2 TBSP per 12oz water. 2 TBSP is equal to ~10 grams, which is over half the bag. It’s $3.50/oz and with those instructions, you get to brew the tea just over two times? It wouldn’t seem incorrect if they sold larger sizes (say 4-6oz) for a lower price, but using that much leaf would be too expensive. I think they may mean 2 tsp, which seems to go more along with standard brewing parameters. Has anyone else noticed this?

I brewed a 36oz pot or so using just over 4 tsp. Maybe that wasn’t enough leaf, but it tasted fine to me.

So so sooo good!

This is a green tea that didn’t have that punch-you-in-the-face grassy taste… it tasted more like buttered toast. It still had a nice, crisp, fresh taste though. It was oh so smooth; no bitterness or astringency.

Full review with pictures here – http://mysteepedidentitea.blogspot.com/2010/07/rishi-teas-dragon-well-review.html

Wow, it’s been awhile since I had a few minutes to post something on Steepster. (Work’s crazy and we moved, too, but still on the East Side, lest I’d have to change my nom de plume.)

White teas are typically too frau-frau for me, so I picked this up for my wife, who typically gravitates more to green and white teas than I do (I’m more of a black-tea kinda guy). However, this stuff is good, and I’m drinking it as much as she is.

The peach thing nicely complements the white tea, which is kinda subtle on its own. (Try Rishi’s Snow Buds if you want the pure white stuff.) And Rishi’s Peach Blossom is equally good iced. With its relatively low caffeine content, this tea is a particularly good after-dinner tea that won’t keep you up all night. A nice tea if you want something fruity, but with more depth than your typical mass-marketed herbal.

Available from Rishi. http://bit.ly/axfcmg

Nice to be able to hang with everyone again.

mid afternoon mini monsoon calls for a nice milky, warm blend of masala chai! sure summer isn’t the typical time people think of undertones of cinni, cloves, carda… but then again my tea cravings are far from typical. so hah.

lovely with a steep brew and whole milk. and of course brown sugar!

yes, summer rain is now movie worthy! :)

Strong through 2 brews.

This is a pretty darn good jasmine silver needle! I actually let it steep for nearly 8mins (3mins more than the recommended max). I was scared this wasn’t going to taste good since I did that, BUT it actually was…it had a “chewy” kind of taste to it which gave it more of a personality to me. I taste the vegetal taste of the white tea very clearly with the jasmine lingering lightly in the background letting itself known. This is a very nice tea that I was able to try thanks to LiberTEAS.

Also, now that it has cooled off quite a bit it has a subtle sweetness to it and the chewyness is subsiding. Still yummy, if not better than right out of the tea pot!

way too minty! cute whole little roses i have fun squashing tho… wish it was more flroal and less minty. ALso more white tea-y, i could see a few needles it looked like but also alot of green tea

At first, I thought that this tea was overly subtle, punishingly delicate, and fleeting. The first steeps didn’t have that punchy strong glowing pale fruit juiciness, the hay and straw scents restrained, a faint bit of starchy squash lingering in the background. But as the leaves warmed and steeped, the soup settled into what I can only call a graceful, complex maturity. This tea has a very refined air to it, with quiet, but complex, soft notes of fresh garden herbs, warm dawn earth, and just-peeled tree bark.

Sometimes it takes a quiet mind and a patient palate to pull from tea what it has to give. I think this one requires that level of detail, as it has not been processed to beat you over the head with that full-of-juice, spring-like, dewy sweetness and flavor that comes on strong in the first steeps of so many silver needles, only to evaporate quickly and leave you with something grassy and plain. No, this tea has stamina and grace out in the seventh and eight steeps. A truly notable and sophisticated example.

Full blog post: http://tea.theskua.com/?p=151

Quick impressions:

Ginger and Soil. Planty, peaty, earthy ginger. Warmed in a terracota pot in the summertime. Unsweet ginger.

I like ginger so I like this just fine.

Silver Needle is my perfect early morning tea. The Osmanthus flower is not too sweet. But, as descriptions go, I don’t get the process similarity to jasmine.

been on a Chinese tea kick since WTE :)

Warm & Soothing on the way down. I’m impressed how they came up with this blend. Would go well with a campfire and cold weather.

This ranks as one of the best masala chai on the market.
I’ve tried blends from various tea shops and Rishi’s version wins hands down. It’s probably the extra dried ginger that gives it an extra kick.

Hmm, stands up well to my tendency to steep forever (doesn’t get too tannic) and drink hours later at room temperature (still has a flavor)… Need to do more tastings.

monday morning blues after quite a weekend: ze solution :::::: green tea powder? rushed out the door and didn’t have time to steep a tea so i tried this sample out.
while the flavor did not rival that of true loose leaf greens, this gave me a quick boost and made my mood a little more jovial…

good taste for powder. i can imagine that this would taste deeelicious sprinkled onto vanilla icecream! i guess i will save that for tonight’s dessert!

Smooth, full-bodied flavor: which I like. Other than that, not much stood out.

Tasted especially delicious tonight. I’m going to have to bump my rating up a bit. Gotta love a gift, especially when it’s tea! :)