Rishi Shu Puerh 125 Gram Cake

This is my first puerh cake. I was kind of excited to get it. I only dabble in pu from time to time, but this one was Fair Trade Certified and affordable, and I had been in the mood for some shu-pu, so I went for it.

I use 5-6 grams for a 5 oz pot.

I put the leaves in a heated yixing to enhance the aroma. Smells like pork, a bit more bacon-esque than the sweet, sausage notes I sometimes get from puerh.

This tea wasn't very good. It wasn't offensive, not like many of the mini tuo cha I've stumbled across, for example, but it was rather bland. Rishi's description of "smooth and mellow" is accurate; there is little to no astringency, but it is completely lacking nuance or complexity.

I'm a little disappointed it didn't turn out better, but not surprised. Puerh is not Rishi's strong suit, in my opinion, which is a shame, since it is about the only Fair Trade Certified pu I've seen.

Rishi's Jade Cloud

It's been a while since I've talked about one of my earliest tea passions, Fair Trade, but the conversation on TeaChat today has inspired me to get off my ass and finally post this review. (I took these pictures three months ago).

There have been two recent changes with Rishi's line of Green Tea Retail Tins. 1) They've been packaging the tea with an inner bag to increase freshness (pictured), and 2) The tea gardens in Hubei, China where they source the Jade Cloud and a few others is now Fair Trade Certified.

Jade Cloud is harvested in the early spring using organic farming, grown at high elevation in tea gardens situated in natural pine and bamboo forests.

The aroma is nutty, sharp, vegital--asparagus perhaps.

The tea is mellow but has a pleasant and rich mouth feel and a desirable, low-level astringency. Nutty up front followed by a slight sweetness, which becomes more apparent in subsequent infusions, and a vegital finish. It tastes like it smells. As my palate is more accustomed to Japanese green tea, I'd say the overall flavor and strength is comparable to a good asamushi.

Rishi's Moonlight White vs White Peony

I have long been curious about the differences and similarities of these two teas, and though I have had them both frequently in the past, I thought a side by side comparison would be a fun learning experience.

The number one difference is price. The White Peony is only $4 an ounce vs the Moonlight White's ridiculously high, in my opinion, $22 an ounce. The Fair Trade Certification can account for some of the price difference, but I would be curious to know how much of the price increase makes it back to Yunnan.

The prices for the retail tins are more comparable, both about $7, but the Moonlight white is only .6 oz vs 1.1 oz of the other. While you may pay the same, you will get twice as much with the White Peony.

The next noticeable difference is the leaves. The Moonlight White is comprised of large, whole leaves:

While the White Peony is more bits and pieces.

After that, the only real difference is that the White Peony is Fujian and the Moonlight White is from Yunnan.

The Moonlight White has a cleaner, less complex aroma and yields a more delicate. lighter brew that will share many flavor nuances of other Yunnan teas. Quite simply it tastes like it comes from Yunnan. If you prefer dian hong as I do, I think it is likely you will enjoy this tea.

The White Peony has a thicker bouquet and mouth feel and an over all stronger flavor, the latter I think can be attributed to the smaller, broken leaves. Smaller leaves equal more surface area equals a stronger cup. It shares similarities with other Fujian bai cha.

Both teas are equally sweet and better when consumed hot. I noticed that as the tea cooled, some of the flavor diminished.

Which of the two a person will prefer depends on two factors. 1) How much money does that person care to spend, and 2) which province do they prefer, Fujian or Yunnan.

I am partial to the Moonlight White as long as I can buy it in a retail tin and can avoid the online price. My preference for Fair Trade aside, I have always loved teas from Yunnan, and as little as I drink white tea, I don't mind paying a little more for it.

And after all, bai mu dan can become fairly common, so a white tea with refreshing characteristics is a nice change of pace. The only real question is, are you willing to pay the extra money for it?

A note on brewing: if you haven't tried gong fu-ing your white tea, I recommend giving it a try.

Choice Tea

I had been aware of Choice Tea for some time now, since I started getting involved with Fair Trade a few years ago, and I had seen their teas at Whole Foods, but I never got around to trying them. So I was delighted when they offered me a few samples, and of course I chose all Fair Trade teas.

Original Chai

"A loose blend of 'ready to brew' spices and fine black teas." The description doesn't give one much to go on, but it tastes like a fairly traditional blend, cardamom, black pepper, and what not. The spices are evenly chopped and distributed with the tea. In a tea with multiple ingredients, smaller, homogeneous pieces help provide a consistent brew from one cup to the next.

I prepare it with equal parts milk and water, using my People's Brew Basket with a chopstick shoved through it (these baskets are quite versatile; I use it to sift matcha one day, prepare chai the next). Its creamy, a bit of pepper to it, but moderate. On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate this about 6.5 or 7.

Ceylon OP High Grown

This one comes from the Thotulagalla Garden in the Uva District of Sri Lanka.

The dry leaf aroma is fresh, not overly aromatic, but I better than I expect for having spent the last few weeks in a cellophane wrapper. The liquor is brown-orange, which makes me think of crayons when I was a child, the two colors, red-orange and orange-red. This seemed a relevant observation when I wrote it down in my notes.

Taste: It is a Ceylon, which in my opinion equals bland, but this is one is better than most. In spite of the ubiquitous "tea" taste, there are pleasant notes of fruit, and the tea has a natural sweetness. Again, Ceylons are not my thing, but this wasn't a bad cup at all.

And if you just noticed that Ceylon and crayon rhyme, you're as silly as me.

Classic White Peony

My only complaint about this tea is that I only had 1.5 grams of leaf to play with, where as I typically use at least 3. The website does not specify where this tea comes from, but I'm fairly sure it isn't Fujian, as there are no Fair Trade projects there that I am aware of.

The aroma is different, I can't place it, not Fujian. A bit of melon that makes me think of sheng pu. I wonder if this is a Yunnan white. The tea itself is light, not as bold as bai mu dan that I'm used to. Their is an intriguing evanescent astringency, almost an after thought.

Dragon Well and Gunpowder

I drank these two a day later side by side with a pair of gaiwan. The origins of the Dragon Well aren't listed, but the Gunpowder comes from Jianxi. These two interested me because they only FTC teas of their respective types I've come across.

The Dragon Well has a light, fruity aroma, while the Gunpowder's scent is fuller, stone fruit perhaps.

The Dragon Well tastes light, moderately fruity, a tad sweet. There is a hint of something that makes me think of something that reminds me of honey. The Gunpowder is more astringent, but not overly so. Words like "woodsy" and "pine" come to mind.

Himalayan Green Tea.

I am not at all fond of tea bags, but the rep. from Choice specifically asked me to review this one, and I'll drink anything for a good cause. Not only is this tea Fair Trade, but 10 cents per box is donated to help save the Himalayan Kingdom.

The problem is one can't go from fresh, Japanese sencha one day to tea bags the next. You need a decompression stop along the way. Perhaps a nice cup of Chinencha. I will refrain from describing this tea. If you still like teabags, I encourage you to buy a box and try it yourself. Tea drinkers closer to myself already now how it turned out.

Whew! That was a lot of tea.

Final thoughts: This is the icky ambiguous part. These teas are good, but I've have gathered enough experience to know that there is better tea available, so how to be honest but positive. There should be weight classes for tea vendors, like in boxing or wrestling. When I put it like that: Choice Tea is a clear contender in their class, better than the competing teas you are likely to see on the shelf next to theirs.

Ancient Green Tuo Cha

A final addition to sheng week, this sample came to me from Rishi; my rep was kind enough to honor my precocious request.

Ancient Green Tuo Cha

Origin: Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China

Year: ?

Vendor: Rishi-Tea

Price: $22/4 Tuo Cha

Organic, Fair Trade Certified

This is a rather unique puerh, completely unlike any other that I have tried. The tuo cha is comprised completely of buds, something I have heard about but have not seen before. The aroma is free of the typical smokiness that I've experienced in other young sheng. There was a bit of ambe-rish honey that was very familiar, but I couldn't place it.

I'm still trying to get the hang of gong fu-ing tuo cha. I rinsed twice, 10 s each and steeped for a minute.

This was more similar to a white tea than a puerh, very mild, a tad sweet; a bit of astringency creeps up in later infusions. What interested me the most was the amber-ish honey. As soon as I tasted it, I knew what it reminded me of, a very high grade of dian hong, like the golden needle. I very much enjoy dian hong cha, so it was a nice surprise.

This is an odd tea. Had I not known what it was, I would never have guessed puerh. I am very curious what this would be like after several years. I am not sure what benefits it would gain from aging, but interesting as it was, I don't think its ready yet.

Extreme Gong Fu

Our Fair Trade event to promote Fair Trade Certification was this past weekend. I wish I could say it was a wonderful success, but with vendors not showing up, product not being delivered, and employees calling in sick, the event as a whole never picked up momentum. I do appreciate the vendors from Beantree, What's Brewing, and World of Good who did participate and help us out.

Even though things didn't turn out like I planned, I had a lot of fun. I of course demo-ed tea. I chose Rishi's Ancient Tree Teas and African Rooibos. The thing about trying to demo tea is I only know how to brew tea in small amounts, 5-8 oz at a time, not entirely suitable for serving tea to hundreds of people. I suppose I could have found a way to brew a large quantity of tea and stand there with a carafe and a smile on my face, but where is the fun in that?

I felt gong fu was the way to go. Not only did I hope to draw people in by showing them something they hadn't seen before, but it was also quite practical. Short steeping times meant I could still brew tea in small amounts, while still ensuring that there would always be tea available for sampling. Using multiple gaiwans gave me flexibility to move between teas and offer a variety, and if one tea in particular wasn't exciting anyone, dump the leaves, rinse, and move on.

This also meant that I brewed tea non-stop for four consecutive hours.

Tiring? yes indeed, but it was also rewarding. It was like having spent months studying for an exam, then acing the test. I had been practicing gong fu at home for quite a while with the aid of a digital scale and a timer, but this weekend that wasn't an option. I had to use The Force and feel my way through it, eye-balling how much tea to use, guessing by color and aroma how much I should increase the brewing time from one steeping to the next, and trying to keep it all straight in my head while brewing three different teas simultaneously. Blending the various infusions into a sharing pitcher helped, I think, with the end result.

And the customers were fun. It was a pleasure to serve what was for most of them their first puerh. After the first day I settled on Puerh Maiden and the Jamaican Red Bush, a shupu and a fruity rooibos blend, as the two best sellers. These two are on opposite ends of the flavor spectrum, so it was kind of cool to see which one a customer would respond to. I am pleased that even though the rooibos was the over all favorite, I sold just as much of the puerh.

My favorite question was, "Why doesn't my Celestial Seasons taste this good?"

My favorite pronunciation of rooibos was, "Roo-bee-us."

My best moment, a gaiwan in each hand; I was kind of proud of that.

My stupidest moment, scalding my tongue with tea after the first hour. I couldn't taste anything for two days.

Where is all the Fair Trade Oolong?

Over the last several months I've noticed that all the new Fair Trade Certified teas that I've seen tend to have new-fangled flavors and are clearly meant, in my opinion at least, for the average American tea-drinker. Which is all well and good; its wonderful to see FT reach a larger consumer base, but what about me? Does this mean that all the wonderful tea I buy is picked by children and exploited workers?*

I got to thinking that perhaps with higher quality tea, working conditions are intrinsically better, and the need for programs such as Fair Trade is not as pressing. So I asked around, and Benjamin Harrison, one of the three founders of Rishi-Tea, was kind enough to give me a detailed and candid answer and gave me permission to post it here:

"FTC and quality do not go hand in hand, much like Organic and quality. You can have both but it’s not automatic. For us, finding Organic that hit our quality requirements (which is our guiding principle above all else) was a huge challenge. We spent years looking and developing relationships at origin to do so. It wasn’t until 2003 that the quality of Organic tea really started to catch up with the rest of the market. A lot of FTC products are “commodity” products from depressed areas, where the product is subject to macroeconomic forces (largely export markets) and/or where there isn’t a domestic market for high quality production. This usually comes at the expense of the producer and quality is in many cases a moot point. Rather, FTC is a system that tries to level the playing field on an economic scale. The market for mass produced cheap tea will never go away so long as consumers want cheap teabags and cheap bottled drinks. Quality is needed for those products but quantity is required to support that market demand. Hence, FTC sends something back to the producer but doesn’t provide any incentive to produce higher quality product.

This, of course, is not always the case and high quality products can be produced and go hand in hand with FTC. Our teas from Yunnan are a perfect example of this dynamic. This origin produces very high quality teas and has for a long time, in part due to a rich tradition of producing tea along with the fact that Rishi Teas from this project are made from a wild and semi-wild tea trees that offer a unique flavor profile that is quite appealing. The FTC premiums paid on these teas have gone a long way to helping to develop infrastructure (roads, schools, waterworks, etc.) that help the standard of living as well as help the producers get their teas to market. This is an extremely remote part of China so one of the biggest challenges in the past has been actually getting the tea to market. The premiums have also gone towards programs to help protect and maintain the trees and the land in the region. As you know, economic development is a double-edged sword. It provides access to market, creates wealth but also attracts others looking to take advantage, develop the area for tourism, etc, etc. For the most part, our FTC project in Yunnan has been a huge success, almost to our detriment, such that Rishi has been challenged to get enough of Yunnan tea to support our own growth and maintain price stability. What’s not lost on us, though, is the larger fact that this is what we wanted to see happen. The origin doesn’t exist just for Rishi, and the farmers and producers there are now making a lot of money. Moreover, they’re in an increasingly improving situation: they have access to a growing domestic market, a growing international market and demand exceeds supply.

Working conditions at our projects, non-FTC and FTC are very good. People work their butts off, as most farmers do. But they make good money, are looked after by the managers of the projects and enjoy better than average living standards. There is no small amount of pride on the line on how a manager’s workers appear. If they look bad it reflects on him/her. And in many cases, there is a larger sense of community in place that helps maintain and improve working conditions. At the same time, I don’t want to paint a picture of rainbows and butterflies. It’s still in most areas the 3rd world and has a host of social problems in the towns, inadequate infrastructure and struggling economies. But tea production is one of the best agricultural jobs to have in China and provides good paying jobs to a lot of people who would be otherwise destitute. So if you’re concerned that we’re making tea in a Nike factory, our model is anything but that.

There are less than 5 FTC tea projects in China that I am aware of (maybe as few as 3), and Rishi has been instrumental in developing 2 of them. One big obstacle is politics. FT projects are based on democratic principles and of course this does not sit well with the Chinese government. But they tend to look the other way when they see that it does more the economic vitality of a region than they can provide on their own. In other cases, there is simply no need since the farmers make more than enough money to need or want Fair Trade premiums. This is one reason why there is no FT oolong – oolong teas command such strong prices every year that the producers make plenty of money."

Thanks again to Benjamin who has helped me better understand the situation and feel better about my purchases. For more information about Rishi's Fair Trade projects in China, check out an excerpt from this interview with Joshua Kaiser:

“In India,” Josh explains, “you have hundreds of Fair Trade projects. Then you go to China, which has the world’s largest tea production, and there’s just two [Fair Trade projects] and these are just right now in their pilot stage. They’re [TransFair] actually just monitoring how we’re developing and how we’re working with people to get an idea of how they can even introduce the Fair Trade project in China. There are so many areas of China that desperately need this Fair Trade compensation that we’ve been doing all we can. Because there are so many tea projects in China, especially where the working conditions are not good, not clean and it needs this sort of third-party sourcing.“We go to these areas,” Josh continues, “to buy our teas and interface with the people who grow our tea, but also to monitor how the Fair Trade funds are being spent in the area. Basically Fair Trade funds have gone into water-purification systems, hot-water shower systems, an agri-training center and to send the first college student ever from this village to study Agricultural Science.”

This specific tea project is the cooperative called The Jing Mai Ancient Tea Association, an elected group of leaders from each village in the area’s ancient tea forests who preside over the group and vote on how to best spend the money. They come together and discuss everyone’s needs, then go back to their village and consult with their communities. To be clear though, Josh says, “Many of our products are made by small holders and they don’t have cooperatives.” A family or an extended family group will have ten acres of tea that they pick and process. Typically the women pick the tea and the men handle the processing.”

* I want to make it clear that while I strongly advocate Fair Trade, I am not trying to imply that any tea without the label is using exploited workers or unsafe working conditions. I do think it behooves us all to be more aware fo where our products come from, particularly in light of the recent recalls on Chinese goods. It benefits us, and it benefits them.

All pictures were borrowed from Rishi's Travelogue, because I just couldn't stand not having any pictures at all.

My First Puerh

Rishi's Ancient Mini Tuo Cha was my very first puerh, long before I knew anything about puerh, or had heard the terms sheng or shu, or had even seen a puerh cake. Back then this was very exciting, sexy stuff, harvested from ancient trees in Xishuangbanna, Fair Trade Certified, and pressed into miniature cakes. If you were still drinking Twinnings only a month before, it doesn't get much better than all that.

But after a while my knowledge of puerh grew, I became a little more experienced, and about the time I bought my first yixing pot and started experimenting with gong fu was when I stopped drinking it. Now that I have a broader, well, moderately broader, idea of what is a good or a bad puerh, and in honor of Fair Trade Month, I thought it would be fun to go back and revisit it.

Tea: Ancient Puerh Tuo Cha
Origin: Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China

Year: ?

Vendor: Rishi

Prices: $28/lb. ($.25/piece)

Organic, Fair Trade Certified

Each tuo cha is about 4 grams, give or take .1 grams. I put two pieces in a 150 ml yixing pot, rinsed for 10 seconds, and steeped the first infusion for...I forget, 30-45 seconds sounds right. The first infusion was about what I remembered, not unpleasant, but nothing exciting. I though I had over-steeped the second infusion, the liquor was almost black, but it turned out okay. Thick mouth-feel, a slight nuance of cocoa, then a tad bit of astringency.

Over all I'd say this tea was average. Every other shupu I've had is either much worse or a lot better. I think its a good pu for beginners, but experienced drinkers will probably want to pass on it.

Fair Trade Month

October is Fair Trade Month!

This is my second year to be involved and to coordinate a Fair Trade Weekend for the store, where we do various demos on coffee, chocolate, sugar, and tea, while trying to raise general awareness in the area about the existence and benefits of Fair Trade Certified goods. This year I am also planning an event for one of our other stores to coincide with ours, and while so far it seems to be mostly a learning experience on how to do it better next year, all in all I am pleased with our progress. This year there is more vendor involvement and lots of new items we didn't have last year. Let's take a look.

Honest Tea

They are my favorite bottled tea company, dedicated to offering bottled tea without all the sugar and calories, and they have the distinction of offering the first Fair Trade Certified bottled tea, Peach Oolong using tea from Makaibari.

Pomegranate Red Tea with Goji Berries: I liked this one. A lot. Though I'm not often a fan of flavored teas, this one was enjoyable. Moderately sweetened, it could have had less or no sugar and been fine, but it was not overpowering, and I could actually taste the Goji berries.

Just Black Tea/Just Green Tea: The just black tea was kind of average. Props to Honest Tea for offering unsweetened, bottled tea, but this ones is not very exciting. However, I am completely fascinated with the Just Green Tea. I want to know how they made it taste like that. Did they simply boil some tea leaves for a fort night and bottle what was left, or what. This stuff was inexcusably vile. It went beyond bad green tea, which I've come to expect from RTD teas, and into a whole new level of suckiness.

Sorry, Seth and Barry.

Third Street Chai

Chai mixes don't compare to the real thing, but as chai mixes go, these are rather nice. Not quite the best mix I've tried, but a solid second best. Of the four we carry, I think I like the Honey Vanilla the best. I have not tried it hot yet, only cold.

Zhenna's Gypsy Tea

A line of iced tea mixes, each tin contains five silk tea pillows. Sounds cozy.

Goji Berry Pomegranate: Goji berries have been big this year; I've seen them in a variety of products, including a barbecue sauce. Unfortunately you can't taste the goji berry in this, which may be because there is only one berry per tea pillow, or because the only thing you can taste is the large amount of lemongrass they added to it. I have a small appetite for lemongrass, so I wouldn't say this tea was a waste, but it was a disappointment.

Blueberry Acai: This one was much better. A rooibos blend not quite as good but similar to Rishi's blueberry rooibos. Pleasantly fruity and tart and a more balanced blend.

That sums up most of the new teas. If you were wondering, the Ben and Jerry's Fair Trade Certified Coffee Heath Bar Crunch was also delicious. I'm sure I'll talk about Fair Trade some more this month, but in the mean time, if I didn't leave enough links the last time I talked about Fair Trade, check out this video, Fair Trade: The Story.

Lochan White Tea Samples

After I wrote a review on Rishi's Silver Needle, Ankit Lochan was kind enough to send me a package of white tea samples, which I received a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, with half of my department on vacation, and my grocery manager in Houston, I had to work through most of my regular days off and haven't had a chance until now to sample them or write a review.

To the Lochans, thank you for the tea, and I apologize for the delay.

I've never been proficient at identifying and describing the characteristics of white tea, but I will do my best. I used the same parameters for each tea: 3 g/8 oz/5 min, brewed in a kyusu.

Lochan Silver Silver Snow Buds

2nd Flush 2007

Darjeeling

I rushed this one a bit. Over all it was okay. The color was strong, but the taste was sort of watery; I should have brewed this one longer. There was a slightly unpleasant, artificial taste, that had me checking to see if my water was the culprit, but it wasn't. I have some leaves left, so I plan to try this tea again.

Giddapahar White Tea Needles of Jade

2nd Flush 2007

Darjeeling

This one was my favorite. The color was very strong, like a 1st flush Darjeeling. It has the characteristic white tea smell, a clear Darjeeling taste, and a mild astringency in the back of the throat. This is the first and only Indian white tea I've had that I would hold on par with bai hao yinzhen in levels of uniqueness and enjoyment

It also came with a toy surprise.

Doke Silver Needle

2007 "Special Edition"

Doke is an interesting garden started in 1998 by Rajiv Lochan on a plot of land that others said was useless. Nonetheless, Doke started to prosper, and Rajiv shared the profits with the local community through the development of the Indus Foundation, a non-profit organisation promoted by Lochan Tea. Its main goal to promote education and primary schools in a way the will most benefit Indians. As a supporter of Transfair USA and Fair Trade Federation, I'm pleased to see a grass roots project such as this.

The Silver Needle was enjoyable, similar-ish to the snow buds in color and in that I should have steeped it longer, but kind of sweet. Over all a decent tea but not super great.

Locahn Wiry Delight of the Himalayas

2006

Darjeeling

The wiry delight is my second favorite of these four. Good strong color, and a pleasant fruity smell I can't place. It is kind of tart. Very good. I like the unique appearance of the dry leaves.

While some were better than others, all of these teas were enjoyable. Thanks again to the Lochans for the samples.

Puerh Maiden

I am not an experienced or educated puerh drinker. I mostly have a clinical understanding of puerh with no knowledge of the finer details. Bill has been helping me with that, and thanks to his efforts I'm getting better, but I have a long way to go. So, you know, consider yourselves warned.

Puerh Maiden vs 'Nissan' Aged Puerh Maiden:

Six to eight weeks ago I had planned to mail Bill a sample of this tea, because I was curious what he would make of it, and because I had a free sample that I received for a cooking class anyhow. I took it to work with me, planning to stop by the Post Office on my way home. I never made it, and the puerh has lived in my truck ever since.

This last week I got to wondering what two months of Texas summer heat and rain and humidity had done to the puerh. For the mere silliness of it, if for nothing else, it was clear that a taste test was in order.

Puerh Maiden is an Organic, Fair Trade Certified shupu from Xishuanbanna, Yunnan, provided by Rishi. It is hand harvested from ancient tea trees by the young women of the Dai ethnic group, and was traditionally offered as part of their dowry, hence the name.

I used 5 g/150 ml, three infusions each, 5 s rinse, 10 s, 15 s, 20 s.

Maiden Puerh from my cabinet: The dry leaves have an earthy aroma with hints of cocoa and a smidgen of sawdust. The first infusion was good, very smooth, but not a lot of complexity, enjoyable...I wish I knew better words. The liquor of the second infusion was much darker; I was concerned that 15 s was too long, but it was just as pleasant as the first. By the third infusion the chocolate aroma became more pronounced, kind of sweet, like a baked moon pie or smores without the graham crackers.

Maiden Puerh from my truck: The aroma of the leaves is heavier, thicker, reminded me of Swiss Miss, and the leaves are a tad darker. The first infusion was quite a surprise. Several weeks in my truck had not hurt it at all, it aged it. It was smoky with a thinner mouth feel, similar to the aged shupu I've previously tried. The second and third infusions yielded similar results, but the thinness decreased.

I must say the puerh from my truck performed better. Who knew?

Steaz Energy Drink

"Organic fuel for the mind, body and soul." Yep...this is going to be a fluff review.

We got this in not that long ago. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, just another new item, but tonight as I was leaving I noticed a shiny Fair Trade Certified logo. My interest was piqued, a FTC energy drink? So I dropped a can in the wine-chiller and gave it a go.

The ingredient list is a cornucopia of buzz words, acai, yerba mate, green tea, enough to make any fan of Oprah all giddy in the britches. The price isn't that bad, $1.99 for a 12 oz can, and it tastes much better than a Red Bull. Can't say I'll be craving in any time soon, but the flavor was pleasant enough. None of the ingredients stood out; they just sort of meshed together without complimenting one another, but have you tasted a Red Bull?

Its a decent enough beverage, but energy drinks have never been my thing. The thing that excites me are the ingredients, FTC Ceylon green, Guayaki yerba mate, part of Fair Trade Federation . It please me to see Fair Trade products expand to every day items. I'm waiting for a Fair Trade Snickers bar. Waiting, but not holding my breath.

Oh yeah, here's a link: Steaz

Dian Hong

For those who don't know, dian hong refers to black tea from Yunnan, China. Dian = Yunnan, and hong = red, as in hong cha or red tea, what we in the West call black tea, not the stuff from Africa. Dian hong is a relatively new tea that began production in the early 20th century. In my opinion this is some of the best black tea on Earth, more character than most Indian tea, more depth than an Assam, more body than what you will find in Fujian. What sets this tea apart are the rich golden/khaki buds. The more buds present, the more smooth, sweet, and less astringent the brew will be. Golden Needle (Golden Thread, Yunnan Pure Gold) is comprised of nothing but buds, a very unique tea, and possibly the most superb cup of black tea you will find.

Given my love for this tea, I though it would be fun to do a blind taste test, choosing five samples from three different vendors, Rishi, Adagio, and The Republic of Tea (TROT because I could get some for free). I was surprised by the results and by how difficult it was, tasting different teas that were almost identical, trying to catch the nuances that set them apart, and in the end I had to rely more on gut reaction than my uneducated taste buds to rate them. This was a good learning experience, one that left me with more respect for those in the business that have to evaluate dozens, if not hundreds, of samples and pick out the best.

I had my wife measure out two teaspoons of each into small, paper bags, lettering them from A to E, so that I had no way of knowing what I was drinking. At the time I didn't think it mattered to be honest. They were all teas that I had before, and I was sure I could tell the difference just by taste. I was wrong, and so were all of my guesses as to which was which.

A - Rishi's Golden Yunnan (Xishuangbanna)
B - Adagio's Yunnan Jig (Kunming)
C - Rishi's Golden Needle (Xishuangbanna)
D - TROT's Golden Yunnan (They wouldn't say)
E - Adagio's Yunnan Gold (Kunming, I think)

I rated them in order of best to not-so-best, C, E, B, D, A.

C and E were clearly the best, and in a class by themselves, both being made of nothing but buds. They were incredibly smooth, and posses a taste and aroma that reminds me of honey. B, D, and A were very close, malty, no bitterness, low astringency. TROT had the best looking dry leaves, lots of buds.

Of the three vendors, Adagio is the least expensive. The jig sells for $19/lb. and the the Gold is only $46/lb. Rishi sells their Golden Yunnan for $36/lb. and the Golden Needle for $108/lb. TROT sells their Golden Yunnan for $80/lb. They were all great teas, with marginal differences, so based on price alone, go with Adagio. The two from Rishi are Fair Trade Certified and Organic, so those are the ones I pick.

I had a lot of fun with this, and I am looking forward to doing more tastings like this in the future.

Masala Chai (Rishi Tea)

Tea: Masala Chai, Organic FTC
Origin: Rishi Blend
Year: ? (I'm guessing 2006)
Vendor: Rishi Tea
Price: 8.99/4oz tin or $32/lb.

Chai was my very first tea, and my favorite for some time, as I progressed from the syrup-y crap served at Starbucks to the much better and more authentic loose leaf versions. I tried every kind of chai I could get my hands own, looking for the perfect blend. Now I don't know if Rishi's Masala Chai is perfect, but it is mighty fine.

Chai is the word for tea through out South Asia, East Africa, and the Middle East, and masala translates to spice. Masala chai is traditionally a blend of strong black tea, like Assam, and spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, peppercorns, star anise, and cloves. It can also be made with tissanes like rooibos or yerba mate.

This is a traditional blend, using cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and black pepper. The tea leaves are a dian hong from Xishuangbanna, harvested from ancient tea trees.

I used these instructions on Traditional Style Chai. It really helps to have a sauce pan with a spout, like the one pictured, or it is easy to make a mess when straining. I bought this one at Target for about $15. I got to use it once before my wife comandeered it for cooking; now she lets me use it every second Tuesday or so. The straining holes on the lid were too big, thus the ghetofied People's brew basket with a chopstick stuck through it.

For just me, I cut the recipe in half, using 2 tbsp of tea, 3/4 cup water, and 1/2 cup milk. I get better results with whole milk, but of course you can use anything, though I have found that it isn't as good with soy milk. Toss it all in a sauce pan, brink to a boil--be careful not to let it over boil, and let simmer for five minutes, sweeten to taste (2 tsp of sugar is enough, in my opinion).

Overall I give it a 4. Quite tasty and creamy, you can actually taste the nuanced spices, something you can't do with powdered or liquid concentrates. The only negative thing I can say about it, is it could use more pepper; however, I am a pepper fiend, so take what I am saying with a grain of salt.

Fair Trade Certified

"Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do do it." -Ghandi

For me the most important thing about my tea is simple: is it Fair Trade Certified. Most of the tea/tea ware that I buy comes from Rishi, not because the quality of their tea is excellent, which it is, and not because their tea wares are some of the fines in the world, which they are, but because they have one of the largest selections of Fair Trade Certified (FTC) teas. I choose to support companies that share my priorities. See also Silver Tips Tea.

True, if you taste in tea is as eclectic as mine, it is not always possible to purchase FTC tea. There are only a smidgen of FTC puerh or green teas, almost no white tea, and no authentic oolongs. Still it is important to me to do what I can when I can. I can't comfortably use tea as a way of appreciating an other's culture, if I am exploiting them in the process.

Which is how I stumbled upon FTC, not by exploiting foreign labor, but by seeking to explore China through tea. I thought I liked tea, but I had no idea until I saw Rishi's Travelogue on their FTC project in Yunnan, China. I was in love. It was a new experience, knowing the people who grew my tea, seeing their faces on the side of my tin. It drew me in. No more mass-produced blends of English Breakfast or what not. This was personal.

Sounds great, what the hell is it?

In the U.S. all FTC products are certified and monitored by an independent, third-party company, Transfair USA. They are part of an umbrella corporation, Fairtrade Labeling Organization (FLO), which includes Canada, Japan, and 17 European countries. FLO establishes Fair Trade criteria and makes annual visits to producer groups to ensure that the benefits of Fair Trade are reaching the farmers.

The Fair Trade Principles include:

• Fair price: Democratically organized farmer groups receive a guaranteed minimum floor price and an additional premium for certified organic products. Farmer organizations are also eligible for pre-harvest credit.
  
• Fair labor conditions: Workers on Fair Trade farms enjoy freedom of association, safe working conditions, and living wages. Forced child labor is strictly prohibited.
  
• Direct trade: With Fair Trade, importers purchase from Fair Trade producer groups as directly as possible, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and empowering farmers to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
  
• Democratic and transparent organizations: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers decide democratically how to invest Fair Trade revenues.
  
• Community development: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers invest Fair Trade premiums in social and business development projects like scholarship programs, quality improvement trainings, and organic certification.


• Environmental sustainability: Harmful agrochemicals and GMOs are strictly prohibited in favor of environmentally sustainable farming methods that protect farmers’ health and preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.

Like tea, Fair Trade is another example of how my job in specialty grocery facilitates my hobbies and passions. I have been thankful for the opportunity to support Fair Trade not only as a consumer but as a retailer. I believe in this with all of my heart, but having taught classes on Fair Trade and participating in events, I know that are many skeptics. If you have questions, or you would like to know more, or if you just like clicking on all the links, I will leave several for the cynical, the curious, and the obsessive-compulsive.

Basic FAQ Advanced FAQ Social Benefits Producer Profiles FTC Tea & Herb Program More Pictures by Sean O'leary Where you're going if you don't buy Fair Trade