Rishi Tea

I love this tea. Seriously, it’s my go to Japanese green tea when I’m looking for that “Special” cup of loose green. I sometimes have the daily “house” sencha from Ito, which is amazing, but this is a cup of complexity.

I definitely felt like I was getting my daily allotment of green vegetables on this one. A little overcooked-tasting, maybe, but if you like strong greens, this one’s for you.

I was absolutely shocked and amazed when I opened this month’s Steepster Select box (the box we receive in April is actually May’s box. Confusing, I know, but I’m sort of glad that they do it like this, because it makes me feel less pressured to get my reviews for all three teas done within the month’s time frame. Not that I have to do that. But, I like to. I guess I’m a little OCD when it comes to reviewing tea.

Anyway, as I said, I was absolutely shocked, amazed, astounded, delighted, overjoyed and excited to find Yellow tea in this month’s box! OMG! This one tea made up for the fact that there were teas that I was less than thrilled with in the past. I love yellow tea… it is my precious! MY precious!!!

And this is amazingly good. Sweet, fresh, and delicious. Sweet fruit notes, floral tones, crisp and refreshing, I just want to bathe in this stuff. I want to make myself super small, curl up in a ball, and plunge into my Yixing mug and never leave this tea.

A rating of 100 isn’t high enough for this tea.

Ah… my precious!

Of all the teas – yellow is my favorite. I don’t drink it very often (as you might notice from my tasting notes) because it is so precious… I tend to hoard it and only treat myself to it every once in a while. I really need to get myself out of this tendency… I deserve yellow tea more often. :)

This tea reminds me of spring at my gramma’s house. The room where I would sleep, just outside the window, there was a beautiful honeysuckle vine that covered that corner of the house… and when the windows were open in my room and the winds would blow (it was So Cal, so there was usually always a breeze) I would be treated with the most delightful aroma imaginable – honeysuckle and fruit tree blossoms! (she had a lot of fruit trees in the back yard too!) This tea smells like that… and tastes like it too.

I love this tea.

Very well made, high quality ingredients and a good comfortable taste. Nothing too original or out of the ordinary, but a very good Masala to return to at any time. Compared to Samovar’s? Not as good. Still recommended however.

Uncharacteristically in the mood for a mellow tea today. This one was sweet, vegetal and roasty. Everything a dragonwell should be.

I absolutely love this blueberry tea- the scent is just overwhelmingly blueberry! Blueeeeeberryyy goodness. I love the freeze-dried pieces of blueberry. I won’t lie and say that I cannot taste the (organic) rooibos, but I actually like the taste of rooibos so this is fine. I do seem to be the only reviewer who could make it out though, so perhaps it’s in my mind. Do be mindful not to oversteep this one or it quickly veers into medicinal territory- berry teas tend to do that to me.If you’re getting a hint of the cough syrup, tone down the steepage. I love the Rishi flavors, I really do. Mmmmmm.

Apparently I cannot see tea without doing my best to buy some of it. Tonight, I picked this one up. Honestly, I got it because the dry leaves smelled like Samovar’s Jasmine Peach Bai Mudan – and thus also like Kasugi Peach gummy. But brewed up, it’s not as similar. Sure, there’s peach. A lot of peach. But the smell has a little sharp, almost alcoholic edge to it. Perhaps the tangerine?

Where Samovar’s version of a peach-flavored white was Kasugi Peach gummy all grown up, this is more straight gummy. I don’t really get the tangerine except maybe as an added edge to the taste. The peach taste is pretty much the same in the two teas but this one doesn’t have the smooth, soft edges or the subtly fuller taste. Which, while disappointing, is pretty much what I was expecting. It’s not a bad tea and I’m pretty sure I’d like it more if I hadn’t had Samovar’s first.
3g/6oz

This is great, I just ordered it at a local cafe. A great oolong with a lasting mouth-feel thats really enjoyable. Ordered it at a cafe, but will definitely look into ordering some to bring home.

Mannong’s white buds are first rate. There’s an extraordinary soft mouth-feel with a slight honeysuckle sweetness that grows with subsequent infusions. After a fre steeps, let the leaves rest overnight and re-steep in the morning.

Rich and sweet. Excellent with our without cream.

Having a great cUp of wuyi oolong

Bleah. Got this in a swap from TeaEqualsBliss and I made it up for the husband who likes rooibos more than I.

Even he’s not digging it. He’s drinking it at least – I couldn’t have finished an entire cup of it.

Hi everyone! just thought I’d drop in to say that I’m drinking this right now. This is the first cup of tea that I’ve had in a WHILE. I mean, I’ve been drinking tea and such, but I haven’t been logging it. I’ve tried Samovar’s Lapsang and Golden Buds, a tea from Palais des The, and a few others that I just haven’t had the time to input into my logs.

Sorry that I’ve been so absent! I miss you all!

I don’t have much time, but this one is pretty much delicious in every way. Take the smooth, succulent grassy notes of a deep-steamed sencha, then add a candied, floral sweetness explosion at the end of every sip. Refreshing without tasting fake or false or cloying. There are actual sakura blossoms in here, which let me tell you, make this tea one of the most visually pretty I’ve seen in quite some time. Herbaceous, light, the literal translation of spring in a cup.

Heart you all!

Smells amazing, taste was best with a little organic cane sugar. Look forward to trying this one as an iced tea.

Thanks to Soccermom I got to try this tea last night. I was excited to relax with such a deep purple steep of tea. I love the scent of this tea. The cinnamon and plum together are very calming/warming. I needed warmth after the cool rain that came in last night.

The taste of this tea is first plum, than cinnamon, and a bit of hibiscus on the aftertaste. I really like how mellow the spices are in this blend. I enjoyed this more when it was steaming hot, then when it cooled down (I forgot about it while I was reading steepster notes and checking email). I could see having this several nights a week and look forward to purchasing more my next trip to Whole Foods. Thanks again, SoccerMom

I continue to taste mostly mint. And..a little bit of onion? That can’t be right. Not sure where that came from, it’s not like I have onion tea for there to be residue of in the mug.

Very strange.

My green for the day! Minty!

I really need to get more green teas….

This was my green tea for the day. (Well, technically my Jade Lemonade was, but this was my, I dunno, “normal” green tea for the day) I used less hot water this time but my impression remains the same “there’s spices other than mint in this? REALLY?”

I keep meaning to try this and then forgetting about it’s existence, so I had put it at the very front of my tea cupboard so I would remember it. Naturally, this mostly meant that it fell out every time I opened the cupboard, but today I finally noticed it before anything else.

The list of STUFF in this is a little insane. For a moment I couldn’t find the bit where it actually said “green tea leaves” and was all like “holy crap it’s just mint and spices that usually go in chai! and anise!” But yeah, then I saw it, so…crisis averted!

I was distracted while making this and used water that was too hot, which is kind of a bummer, but I’ll get it right next time! I’m not sure if it’s because of that, but the mint is TOTALLY dominating this tea. To the point where I’m like, is there REALLY other stuff in there? By really concentrating, I can sort of notice a spiciness and a vague sort of sweetness (could be the anise!) around the aftertaste but that is IT.

As the tea cools, I am starting to get more stuff. I’m not entirely sure that I am capable of telling ginger zing apart from mint zing and once you add pepper to the mix you can REALLY forget about it, but there is definitely zing going on, and I’m starting to get other spices as well. The cardamon definitely, and more sweetness. And, oh yes, there is definitely a peppery aftertaste here.

Well, in attempting to analyze the flavors in this cup, I have basically gone through the entire thing without figuring out whether I actually like it or not. (I mean, beyond just being a mint tea and therefore unlikely to be terrible) I know I am DEFINITELY gonna have to try this at the right temperature considering how much it changed as it cooled though. I shall tentatively give it a smiley, because it’s not like I DIDN’T like it.

Making a pot of this in my new Breville One-Touch. That thing is worth every penny peeps! I still love this blend. I have a full review of it posted on Teaviews. The puerh is largely overpowered by the flavor profile so even if you don’t love puerh (I really don’t), you should still give this one a try and buy an ounce next time you shop with Rishi.

I’ve reviewed this blend on Teaviews and ran through the 1 oz sample they sent me for review purposes in record time. The cup brews up very dark…almost coffee dark in color. The puerh is almost a non issue in this blend, but it does offer a rich earthy tea base (though not too earthy). The licorice (a flavor I don’t normally care for) blends spectacularly with the puerh, vanilla, and mint flavors. I found myself playing peek-a-boo with cinnamon and chocolate notes. Also, the mint in this is very fresh. Rishi seems to have a great source for fresh mint to use in their blends. I have already re-purchased this item——and I can’t help but wonder if this would be good when blended with a bit of Rishi’s Ginger Puerh?? I might have to try that.