Indie Teas

Most people don't know this but herbal tea is really tea at all (at least technically). Herbal tea does not come from the Camellia Sinensis plant and because of which it is not a "true" tea. Of course, it doesn't mean that herbal tea isn't good at all. Herbal teas are very interesting and are great right before going to bed since they don't have any caffeine. Today I am reviewing Rishi Tea's Organic Cinammon Plum tea. This particular tea was a 2009 World Tea Champion so I'm expecting good things.

The Nose and Color: Immediately after opening the packet you can really smell exactly what this tea is going to taste like. It smells exactly like advertised. Plums with cinnamon on top. It is a really unique smell that I enjoy a lot. It smells so floral and enticing. If someone ever questions why you like tea you should let them smell this and change their mind. The color is a very bright and beautiful crimson purple. This tea looks beautiful and would make for a great display tea. 

Tasting: At first you can really taste the plums and it has a lovely sweet cinnamon finish. I taste a slight licorice undertone which add some nice complexity. There are definitely some other flavors here but I'm not quite sure which spices they are. 

Food Pairing: This soothing herbal tea would go really well with a fruity scone or muffin. If you have it at night though I would not recommend eating anything with it since the flavor is very strong.

Price: $9.00 for 3.7 oz

Summary: 94 out of 100. The nose, color, and taste were all wonderful with this tea. This is a really great exotic tea to show off to your friends or those that really aren't into tea. Herbals are really great before going to bed so this may be a good way to relax to put you to sleep.

Today, I'm trying out Rishi Tea's Organic China Breakfast. It's one of the many teas I got that were first place winners in the 2009 World Tea Championship. This particular tea is of the Dian Hong style which is known as a "Yunnan Red" and is typically a high end gourmet tea. 

The Nose and Color: The color at first steep comes off as a dark red and over time becomes darker and more brown. There's a nice yellow hue around the edges which I typically have seen in black teas coming from China. The leaves are small and look chopped. I always think the darker the tea the stronger flavor it will have and this one doesn't seem like it will disappoint. At first sniff it smells really rich and strong. I'm expecting a good kick from this tea with a lot of flavor.

Tasting: Very interesting malty taste. It reminds me of some dark coffee. It's really pointed and is strong like I suspected. A good breakfast tea of course but it's the afternoon right now as I'm drinking it and I'm not really feeling it. The flavor is a little too strong for me and I'm not enjoying the malty, chocolate component on my palate.

Food pairing: Breakfast foods of any kind would go really great with this tea. I suggest something hot such as toast, eggs, or english muffins.

Price: $3 for 1 oz.

Summary: 88 out of 100. A good tea that just didn't suit me all that well. I've learned it takes a lot for me to like a black tea so I'm a little biased. The price is pretty good for the quality of the leaves so I would recommend it at the very least to expand your palate.

Also known as Bai Hao Yinzhen, Silver needle is a very common type of white tea commonly referred to as the highest grade of white tea you can find. Today, I tried out an organic silver needle from Rishi Tea. White teas are completely unoxidized and are typically low in caffeine and produce wonderful light tastes. This particular silver needle comes from the Fujian province in China.Image provided by Wikipedia

The Nose and Color: The tea leaves look like mini green beans with a interesting fuzziness on the outside typical of many silver needles. As soon as I smelled it I thought of hot soybeans. This really makes me want to eat some edamame. The color is really light with a yellowish hue. 

Tasting: Very well rounded taste. Surprisingly, it tastes a little sweet to me. No astringency whatsoever and goes down really well. A little grassy component on the mid palatte but not a whole lot. Also I get some dirt, earthy notes but it's a nice subtle taste. 

Food pairing: Definitely some great lightly salted edamame would go really well with this tea. [Update] This is totally weird but I was just drinking this tea and I started eating some peanut butter straight out of the jar (what? I'm in college. I'm allowed to) and it started accenting the flavor of the tea very well. Try it some time and tell me if it happens to you too.

Price: $8 for 1 oz.

Summary: 91 out of 100. This tea is very well made and I like the organic aspect. It tastes and smells wonderful but it's also kind of pricey. I wouldn't really recommend buying a lot of this unless you're absolutely in love with it. Aside from the price though it's definitely one of the better silver needles I've ever had. 

The "organic" Whole Foods-esque trend in food has come to tea as well. Many people think that if they get some regular loose tea that it is 100% organic. Then many are confused when some tea vendors say their tea is organic and others aren't. Let me break down the differences for you so you will no longer be confused.

• The most important difference between organic tea and regular tea is that organic tea is not cultivated with the use of pesticides or fertilizers. It is 100% naturally grown and nurtured. 
• Organic tea usually involves some type of natural nutrient-rich mulch and compost that helps to enrich the soil around it. This takes more effort on the part of the growers.
• Because it is more nutrient rich, organic tea leaves contains more antioxidants and catechins that health experts rave about.
• Typically, in blind taste testings organic tea is found to taste better then regular non-organic tea. 

Am I saying you should only drink organic tea no matter what? No, not necessarily. It's up to you. If you are willing to spend a little extra money then go for the organic. Regular tea still has the same health benefits and tastes great just like organic tea. The way I see it is that as long as you are drinking tea you are doing something right. Hopefully you now know a little more to make the right decision in the future.

I've been meaning to try out Rishi Teas for quite some time and they definitely didn't disappoint with this Jasmine Green Tea. Rishi Tea has a good reputation of getting high quality tea leaves directly from the source and caring a lot about its product. In the 2009 World Tea Championship they won 28 awards and had 11 1st place finishers. This Jasmine Green tea was one of those 11 first place finishers. Some more info on the sample set I bought can be found here.

The Nose and Color: This tea gave off a beautiful flower aroma with gentle undercurrents of green tea. It's an extremely relaxing and soothing smell. The leaves were really thin and expanded slightly post-steep. The color was silvery yellow and got lighter and lighter after multiple infusions. 

Tasting: It tastes like you are drinking a flower. It sounds weird but it's delicious. There is a really great balance between the green tea flavor and the jasmine flowers. In the first steep the jasmine is more pronounced and after more and more infusions the scales tip in the other direction as the green tea flavor comes out even more. Usually the best teas change after every infusion without going flat. This one didn't although it got a little lighter. If I had steeped it more then it probably would have had just as much strength as the first steep. There was very little astringency and a nice smooth, rounded finish. 

Food pairing: This is a really delicate tea. My suggestion would be to make sure whatever you eat is really light and it won't overpower the taste of the tea. Some nice fruit would go really well with this. I would recommend mango. 

Price: $3 for 1 oz.

Summary: 93 out of 100. I loved this tea from start to finish. Beautiful nose, beautiful color, beautiful taste. Girls will especially love tea. This is the perfect tea to give to someone who does not like green tea. It will instantly convert them and make them wanting more and more. I highly recommend it to anyone. As always trust you palate.