Ancient Emerald Lily

Tea type
Green Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Corn Husk
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Fair Trade, Organic
Edit tea info Last updated by Rishi Tea
Average preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 4 min, 15 sec 15 oz / 451 ml

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From Our Community

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20 Want it Want it

  • +5

26 Own it Own it

  • +11

56 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Brewed it this morning. Tasted floral and of corn. Still quite delicious. Brew it once, then stop. Does not hold up to re-steep. Well, for me at least. I do not know why This came out in a...” Read full tasting note
    89
  • “I’m a bit at loose ends tonight because my evening activity, a hockey game, doesn’t start until 9pm central. So I’m waiting and kind of being unproductive. So I thought I’d do something...” Read full tasting note
    85
  • “The leaves of this tea are so big its hard to use a teaspoon to get them. So, I used my fingers and used about twice as much tea as I did the first time I drank this. Then I steeped for 6 minutes....” Read full tasting note
    78
  • “Hrm. So maybe this whole work tea experience isn’t working out quite as well as I hoped! So I figured I’d finish off the sample that takgoti sent me, and try some Ancient Emerald Lily at work (I...” Read full tasting note
    87

From Rishi Tea

This unique green tea is hand harvested especially for Rishi Tea from Yunnan’s old growth forest tea trees. Emerald Lily has a brisk, fresh flavor that is well balanced with aromatic notes of wildflowers and toasted pine nut. Green tea from Yunnan’s old growth trees contains a higher content of polyphenols and natural tea antioxidants than other green teas.

About Rishi Tea View company

Rishi Tea specializes in sourcing the most rarefied teas and botanical ingredients from exotic origins around the globe. This forms a palette from which we craft original blends inspired by equal parts ancient herbal wisdom and modern culinary innovation. Discover new tastes and join us on our journey to leave ‘No Leaf Unturned’.

56 Tasting Notes

89
260 tasting notes

Brewed it this morning.
Tasted floral and of corn.
Still quite delicious.

Brew it once, then stop.
Does not hold up to re-steep.
Well, for me at least.

I do not know why
This came out in a haiku.
Refrigerator.

Well, being honest, this is in homage to a shirt/hoodie Auggy found.
http://typetees.threadless.com/product/623/Haikus_Are_Easy_But_Sometimes
I wants it.

Anyhow, I ran out of what I had of this, but they had it in Williams Sonoma so I grabbed a tin. I find myself craving it somewhat often, so this is going to be a tea that I replenish for sure. I like it a lot. Giving it a ratings bump.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 6 min, 0 sec
Angrboda

Angrboda hearts this.
Haiku review is clever.
I fail at haiku.

Or something.

teaplz

Your posts are awesome
They make me feel warm inside
takgoti: tea god

takgoti

You all are lovely
Though I am no deity.
Haikus make me think.

Fred

I like this tea too. its crisp and sweet but not overpowering.

East Side Rob

Amazing to think how many different teas can come from the same ancient tea trees. http://www.rishi-tea.com/store/ancient-tree-tea/

Takgoti, the Golden Yunnan I’ve been raving about comes from the same leaves. Kinda cool if you think about it. (Although I’m not sure that if you don’t think about that would necessarily make it less cool, if you know what I mean.)

takgoti

@East Side Rob That kind of stuff still blows my mind a bit. I know of very few things that are so versatile.

LENA

that shirt is pretty sweet. i think i might need it too!

takgoti

I want so many of them. It is ridiculous.

gmathis

Few things amuse me
More than kindred minds that like
To tinker with words.

Sal—-OOT!

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85
911 tasting notes

I’m a bit at loose ends tonight because my evening activity, a hockey game, doesn’t start until 9pm central. So I’m waiting and kind of being unproductive. So I thought I’d do something semi-productive and try a new tea!

Such pretty pretty leaves. Curly and colorful and pretty. I’m a little stuffy so I’m not getting much of anything off the dry leaves, but as soon as I poured hot water over them, I got a poof of sweet greeness. It reminds me a bit of Jade Cloud, but sweeter.

Oh but the taste. It’s a bit like Jade Cloud – a lot of the same tastes, but tweaked and rebalanced until this is so much better. It’s sweet and there is no salty/briny taste at all. And the aftertaste has a light nutty flavor. Not faint nutty, but a lighter colored/tasting nut.

So yeah, overall this tea is very similar to Jade Cloud. But better. Mmm.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 4 min, 0 sec
jennlea

Better than Jade Cloud?! I am almost out of my tin of Jade Cloud so maybe I will restock with Emerald Lily instead.

Auggy

It’s pretty similar in taste to Jade Cloud, just smoother and a little sweeter and less of an edge at the end. It’s very good!

teaplz

WHEE! Another score for the teaplz tea swap! :D Glad you like this one, and now I really want to try Jade Cloud. I hope I sent you enough of this – the leaves are SO wiry.

Fred

I agree this tea is pretty good. Sweet enough to be good but not too sweet, and not very veggie like in flavor.

Auggy

@teaplz – Yes, this one was a total win! And I have many cups left so no worries! And Jade Cloud is good but this is better!

takgoti

Apparently this is going have to go on the crack list, too. I’m gonna need to have some tomorrow.

Auggy

Mmm. Crack.

Ricky

You guys are making my Rishi / Samovar shopping list larger and larger. It’s getting longer than the list of items I want from Santa. Ahh, I might as well just combine the two.

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78
429 tasting notes

The leaves of this tea are so big its hard to use a teaspoon to get them. So, I used my fingers and used about twice as much tea as I did the first time I drank this. Then I steeped for 6 minutes. The tea was unbelievable and I’m not usually this ecstatic about green teas. The tea had a nutty and orchid fragrance and had a nutty toasty taste with a slightly floral aftertaste. I’m going to start not following directions and experimenting until I get the tea the way I like it. This cup was great.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 6 min, 0 sec
Cofftea

“The leaves of this tea are so big its hard to use a teaspoon to get them”… exactly the reason I have a digital scale:)

LadyLondonderry

And exactly why I’ve decided I need one!:) Some of my very favorite teas have ginormous leaves, and measuring them is quite a guessing game.

Dan

I have one ordered but its not here yet.

LiberTEAS

When the leaves are too big for me to use a tea spoon, I pour them out into the palm of my hand to measure them. LOL

LiberTEAS

Oh… and I now wish I would have ordered this when it was the Steepster Select. Not that I need more tea…

LENA

I often use the “pour into my palm” method. I still haven’t decided on which scale to buy. I tend to think of all the teas that I could buy with the money and not the scale. :)

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87
187 tasting notes

Hrm. So maybe this whole work tea experience isn’t working out quite as well as I hoped!

So I figured I’d finish off the sample that takgoti sent me, and try some Ancient Emerald Lily at work (I have a tin of this as well).

I think the problem is actually my Flavia machine’s water. I’m not sure having the water run through the same spout that produces coffee and hot chocolate and various types of tea is such a good thing. Or maybe it’s just the water that tastes bad…

Anyway, this tea, which is one that I found in the past to be very enjoyable, pretty much fell flat today. None of the flavors really stood out. There was a weird, almost mineral-like taste, and the formally nutty notes were really harsh and unpleasant. The lower water temperature I used really caused the tea to lose a lot of its astringency, which was definitely pleasant. And as the cup cooled, there was definite green-sweet peeping through.

But overall, the cup just wasn’t as good as I’ve had in the past. Tea is probably 99% water, so I have a feeling the water might be the key to my problem. The next step is going to be boiling some water in the microwave and then letting it cool to an appropriate temperature. Or I might test another tea, like Adagio’s Gunpowder, and see how it stands up to these icky water conditions. I don’t want to be ruining tea with bad water.

Looks like the hot water kettle + bottled water might just end up being the more viable option…

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Ricky

Aww, poor teaplz and your bad tea experiences. There’s always the option of bringing a cup of tea in a thermos, that’ll get you a morning cup of tea =]

Even though I have a kitchen, I think I might bring an electric water kettle as well and leave it by my desk. I was just wondering how I would separate the tea leaves. I mean I’d technically have to head to the kitchen to clean it… so that eliminates the whole purpose. Then again I could have oolong and green which would work for multiple steeps. Decisions decisions.

Angrboda

Coffee flavour does rub off something awful! We’ve had that problem at work too, where the thermos pots used for my tea and the coffee are the same colour, so the lids have sometimes been switched around in spite of them being labeled. I have to make a whole new round of tea then, because if it isn’t noticed before I start pouring, the whole lot just tastes of coffee. It is not pleasant.

Auggy

My water at work is nasty, especially heated, so I feel your pain. I used to bring bottled water to make tea but found that it made it taste a bit flat. (Apparently distilled water doesn’t make the best flavored tea – there was a site that did a great post comparing teas made with distilled, tap and filtered water – they also did another one with brewing vessel materials – glass, iron, clay. Really interesting but I have no idea where it was so boo). Anyway, now I bring a refillable water bottle to work every day with filtered water from home. I feel a bit like a dork doing it but it makes for happy tea so I’m happy. (I also have an electric kettle here for my tea so I’m pretty sure I am a dork). Anyway, it all boils down to what ends up working for you which can take some trial and error to figure out. Good luck and may you get it all perfected soon!

Auggy

(Wow – long comment. So sorry!)

takgoti

Oh dear. I’ll second Auggy – I’ve made tea from bottled water before in a pinch and it does not work well. Not that I want to encourage you to set up camp in your office, but a little Brita pitcher might be a good way to go unless the sink is…you know, all the way over there. Either that or Auggy’s water bottle idea is made of win as well.

kingly311

I think it may not be your water, because I’m using deer park bottled water, and I got the same result with this tea. I had a very similar reaction. Perhaps we need to brew it longer, like someone here suggested. 3 minutes was definitely not enough.

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85
6105 tasting notes

Enjoying some of this tonight, although it tasted better before drinking H&S’s Bangkok Blend… best not to pair a weaker, more subtly flavoured tea after a stronger one. My bad. Anyhow, this is a bit old now, but thanks to *Alphakitty*’s careful double-bagging, it’s not contaminated, and the flavour is still light and sweet. Not edging towards bitterness at all, which I find some greens can do as they age. A nice, relaxing cup of tea.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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89
470 tasting notes

My cat like to sleep on a hay bale in my neighbor’s lawn, and he always comes home smelling of sweet, fresh hay. It’s such a nice smell, and one I associate with warmer weather. And it’s exactly what I smelled once I poured this tea into a mug! Hay, a bit of fresh-cut grass, a hint of floral orchid. They really ought to make perfume that smells like specific teas.

There’s no actual hay in the taste (which I suppose is a good thing) though I am getting a tiny bit of grassiness. It’s mostly nutty and floral-tasting, with hints of hazelnut (or maybe pine nut, it’s very faint) and orchid. It’s a very clean, crisp tea. For some reason it makes me think of spring in a cup!

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 6 min, 0 sec
TeaBrat

this sounds nice!

Angrboda

Awww kitty ♥

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91
172 tasting notes

The scent of the dry leaf is comforting and inviting, hay and dried grass not unlike many white teas. The smell of the leaf while brewing is even more promising, the hay is still there along with a nutty and buttery scent, and I didn’t know it was possible but I’m actually smelling sweetness, and a little bit of a floral scent like faint and fleeting traces of jasmine.

I should also mention that the leaves of this tea are gorgeous. The taste is more complex than expected, first and foremost it’s nutty, but there is also quite a floral taste and a sweetness reminding me of a green oolong, and it finishes with a mild buttery-smooth flavor.

This is a very nice, soothing cup.

Scatterbrain

I think this one’s right up your alley, KS.

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68
323 tasting notes

Sipdown!

Erm… I’m 90% sure that this came from Rachel, but it was so long ago who knows. If it was someone else, I’m sorry!

Pale kind of spinachy-flavor with a little bit of nuttiness. It’s good. I like it. Not in love, but I’m on my second steeping, so that counts for something :)

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95
174 tasting notes

Today this tea seems more nutty and a bit creamy. I’m tasting the corn notes that others have referred to, but it’s not like roasted corn or corn on the cob, more like corn bread. I’m not getting much floral notes in it, they’re so slight I barely detect them today. With the second steeping and it cooling down it’s becoming more creamy with a slight mouth-feel.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 45 sec
TeaBrat

this one sounds good, I’ve been wanting to try it

Invader Zim

It’s worth trying, but it’s one of my favorites so I’m a bit biased!

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81
236 tasting notes

What beautiful leaves: long and fluffy with colors that vary from white to pale green to olive green and smelling of hay! When dunked in water they develop a light floral fragrance, almost an orchid but lighter and sweeter. There is a very, very slight vegetal but nothing objectionable. The taste is true to the fragrance with the addition of the very slightest nutty note. It is not a sweet green tea, which surprised me but it is quite nice.

Much thanks to takgoti for this wonderful tea!

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 3 min, 15 sec
Suzi

Sounds lovely!

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