70

Earlier in the day, I decided to make a pit stop at one of the few places in my hometown that serves halfway decent loose leaf teas and avoid weekend work for a couple of hours. Noticing that this was on the menu, I was immediately intrigued. It had been awhile since I’d had a pu-erh of note, so I decided to make this one my first tea of the day.

The tea shows a lovely dark brownish amber with subtle ruby highlights in the glass. On the nose, the ginger is immediately evident and does not smell artificial in the least. It is obvious that this is the real deal and not ginger flavoring. I also detect subtler aromas of earth, toast, pungent herbs, and a rather heavy, almost caramel maltiness lurking beneath the ginger. In the mouth, the earthy spiciness of the ginger immediately pops, while subtle notes of herbs, toast, earth, and caramel malt develop around mid-palate. There is just a trace of a light smokiness too on which I cannot quite put my finger. The finish is relatively smooth and long with hints of earth, toast, and of course, ginger.

In the end, I rather like this tea-I tend to be something of a fan of most Rishi products. I am, however, going to grade it rather conservatively. First, I tend to like my pu-erh teas without additional flavoring agents natural or otherwise. I guess I just prefer to experience the complexity and earthiness of pu-erh on its own. Secondly, I find the aroma and flavor of ginger to be just a little too heavy in this tea. While it is pleasant and provides a little bit of a kick, the heaviness of the ginger obscures the actual aromas and flavors of the tea. So all of this being said, this tea is enjoyable, but to me, it seems a little one-dimensional. Still, I would not really hesitate to recommend it to fans of spicy and/or herbal blends.

Flavors: Brown Toast, Earth, Ginger, Heavy, Herbs, Malt

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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My grading criteria for tea is as follows:

90-100: Exceptional. I love this stuff. If I can get it, I will drink it pretty much every day.

80-89: Very good. I really like this stuff and wouldn’t mind keeping it around for regular consumption.

70-79: Good. I like this stuff, but may or may not reach for it regularly.

60-69: Solid. I rather like this stuff and think it’s a little bit better-than-average. I’ll drink it with no complaints, but am more likely to reach for something I find more enjoyable than revisit it with regularity.

50-59: Average. I find this stuff to be more or less okay, but it is highly doubtful that I will revisit it in the near future if at all.

40-49: A little below average. I don’t really care for this tea and likely won’t have it again.

39 and lower: Varying degrees of yucky.

Don’t be surprised if my average scores are a bit on the high side because I tend to know what I like and what I dislike and will steer clear of teas I am likely to find unappealing.

Location

KY

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