Rishi Tea
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Spent a good portion of this evening descaling the Zojirushi and I was too lazy to boil water the old fashioned way, so this is my first tea since the unknown type of genmaicha I had at the sushi bar at lunch. Since it’s so late and I’m tired, I didn’t want anything with caffeine, which, in my pantry, REALLY limits me. But I haven’t had this one in a while and it sounded good so I went for it.
Months of being forgotten about has not been detrimental to it. It’s still good. Sweet but musty/musky – very similar to a diluted honey in taste, though not as sweet. Doesn’t have the depth of a plum honey (which is usually the type of ‘honey’ taste I find in teas that say they taste of fruit and honey) but a more clover honey. Not overly complex in taste but really nice. I like it.
Preparation
Must. Order. More. Tea.
I have such a small hand full of oolongs and greens now which is sad because that’s pretty much what I’m going to have in the evening. In fact, I have enough leaf to do one, maybe two more cups of this tea.
So the big question: do I order more Rishi so I can get more of this only Chinese green I love? Or do I go somewhere else to get new teas and just suck it up for a while and be Jade Cloud-less?
These are the tough choices in my life.
But on the plus side, kitty-girl is happy and drugged up and the lump wasn’t a tumor. Woo!
I won’t lie, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with Rishi so far. This is one of the ones I ordered, but I have yet to drink it. It’s on the queue for tomorrow.
Doi. I’ve been doing math all day, it’s the math’s fault. I totally meant to say YAY! about your cat. You must be relieved.
I really, really like this tea and would be sad if I ran out so I don’t envy your decision. Good news about the kitty!
Yep, kitty is doing great and we are relieved! YAY!
@takgoti: Math is evil. This tea is good. Though I will say that I have enjoyed it more after it has gotten a little older. When I first got it, I got a saltier taste from it but it seems to have mellowed a bit that makes me like it even more.
@jennlea: I’m hoping to find a tin of this in the store so I don’t have to choose!
@Jillian: Why no Rishi? I’ve only tried a few of theirs and this is my favorite. The other two are decently good.
Because shipping costs are evil. It’s $20 minumum to get a package from them shipped north of the border. Hmph.
After wasting pretty much my entire day doing no work but instead reading through the site Texts From Last Night (thanks takgoti, I totally blame you!) tea has been the most worthwhile thing I’ve done today.
I’m actually liking this one more as it gets older (seems less salty which is something that can keep me away from Chinese greens). I keep thinking I don’t really like this tea so I don’t drink it. Then I figure I really need to use the tea so I can use the tin. So I make some and realize that this is actually really good and I should drink it more.
I’m performing a test. Today, I had some of CTG’s super-awesome Keemun at work and it was just okay. Not the stellar-ness that I love so. What’s up with that? So I looked around a bit and noticed that CTG suggests using 200° water. Well, at home I use my Zojirushi set on 208°. But at work I use an electric kettle and, in my impatience, usually end up using water that has just finished boiling. Could that perhaps be the difference?
The logical next step would be to try the CTG Keemun again at home with the Zojirushi but otherwise using the same parameters. So naturally, I pulled out Rishi’s Keemun. Okay, not so logical but in my defense, I’ve had horrible luck with this Keemun. Though I keep it at work so perhaps it really isn’t the tea’s fault but rather my work tea-making set up. Maybe if I try this at home with the Zojirushi, it will be awesome. (Afterwards, I’ll try out the CTG Keemun again. It’s Friday. It’s not like I actually need sleep.)
You know what? It really is better. The smell is very malty. Strong. Faintly sweet. Tea-like (go figure). Not overly complex, but not as flat as I recall from the last time I had it. The taste, though, that’s the big difference. The flat, cardboard-ness is missing from it, giving it more depth. Oh, it’s still not as complex as CTG’s version but it’s not bad. There’s a little malt, a little sweetness, no real toasty but there is a bit of an acrid ending that I think is the Keemun smoke coming through. That ending does edge unfortunately close to unpleasant but all in all, a much rounder flavor that what I was getting it work with boiling water from an electric kettle.
I’m still not in love with it, but I no longer feel like it is torture drinking it. I’m adjusting up the rating on this one a bit to reflect the better result from Zojirushi-dispensed water.
Preparation
It could be just me but it seem like smallest aspect of steeping can have the largest effect and even more so with high quality teas. I have yet to try a Keemum but after reading this I am giving it some thought.
This tea just doesn’t get a lot of attention from me. Mostly because it is my emergency backup tea that I keep at work. It’s good enough to have when I need tea but not good enough that I crave it enough when I’m at home. This is also a tea that, for me, benefits from a longer steep time. It keeps the note (of what I think would be the pine) smooth and not as tart tasting (though if I let it cool too much, there can get to be a little mouth-pucker taste going on). I think this would qualify as a medium bodied tea, though probably edging a bit towards thin. A bit earthy but more tree than dirt tasting earthy (and I think I’d go for more dirt because I think that’s a bit of what I taste with cocoa-tasting teas… maybe). Anyway, a good enough tea to have when I need something, but there are happier Keemuns out there for me.