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I have been so busy this week that I sadly have not had much time to review new teas. I’m still working my way through larger amounts of some teas I have already reviewed, so finishing them has taken precedence for me. Even when I have had the time to try something new, I have unfortunately had to rush through it or have otherwise been forced to evaluate it under less than ideal circumstances. Such was the case with this tea.

After popping in to a local high school for a follow-up, I swung by a local cafe that carries Rishi products and ordered a mug to go along with a bowl of soup and half a sandwich. I then had to rush back to the office and time the infusion while in my car on the way back across town. Needless to say, this got steeped at least 1-2 minutes too long. The fact that I then ended up having to drink it in my office out of a cardboard to-go cup didn’t help matters either.

Ignoring the distinct cardboard aroma undoubtedly contributed by the cup, I was still able to detect distinct scents of toffee, molasses, chocolate, and wood. In the mouth, I again ignored the influence of the cardboard, choosing instead to focus on the mellow notes of toffee, chocolate, malt, cream, sweet potato, leather, toast, and molasses. I could tell that I steeped this a little too long because the finish was more tannic and astringent than it probably should have been, but it wasn’t unbearable. Also, I could tell that this tea was maybe a little on the older side. The aromas and flavors one would expect of a traditional Yunnan black/red tea were there, but were less vibrant than they arguably should have been. Again, it could have been worse.

At this point, I am not certain that I feel all that comfortable assigning a numerical score to this tea. The combination of the age of the tea, the overly long infusion, and the vessel from which I had to drink it all served to skew my perception of this tea. From what I was able to detect from it, I would expect this to come off as a woodier, maltier Yunnan black with decidedly heavy notes of molasses and sweet potato under ideal circumstances. I will be a little lenient here and give my first impression of this tea a 71/100. Should I ever get the opportunity to try this one again, however, I will expect a little more from it.