Doug Hazen, /30/05

> I've bought many teas from Rishi over the last ... oh, 2 1/2 years or so.
> I've liked some, didn't like others. But the kinds of tea I don't like from
> them - e.g., green teas, green oolongs - I've since found I don't like from
> any other dealer either. I've liked a number of their black/red teas and
> their oolongs, including their standard grade Iron Goddess, which I assume
> is the one you got.
>
> I know Michael had a bad experience with them. However, I've met some of the
> Rishi people, and corresponded extensively with others (though I have *no*
> connection with the company at all), and believe them to both completely
> honest and extremely dedicated to tea and to delivering high-quality tea
> (that is: what they believe to be high-quality tea, which is all you can say
> about any tea dealer) to their customers. Puer is, I think, by far the tea
> that Western dealers themselves are most likely to have insufficient
> knowledge of, and also by far the most likely that the dealers will
> themselves get screwed on. While this doesn't excuse their apparent
> ignorance in Michael's case - Michael *did* also got screwed - I do think it
> explains how it happened (even if one thinks it still inexcusable). Ask Mike
> Petro and other long-time Puer lovers here how many times they've gotten
> screwed on supposedly old/aged Puer, or would have if they hadn't been wary
> enough. I will also note that Rishi no longer carries anything like the Puer
> that Michael got - their Puers now are all young or relatively young organic
> cooked and raw teas. Maybe they learned their lesson on the (alleged) old
> stuff.
>
> In any case, it does seem a mite unfair to so completely condemn a tea
> dealer on the basis of one bad experience. If I applied that standard to the
> 14-15 tea companies I've dealt with, I'd never buy anything from any of them
> ever again, nor any of the tea shops I've bought from, nor any other tea
> dealers I'll ever do business with in the future, because they ALL have tea,
> including expensive tea, that sucks - meaning: that *I* think sucks (since
> you might think differently).
>
> Just my $.02.
>
> Doug



Doug,

And your $.02 is a rational analysis, and appreciated. Can't say that I've
had that kind of experience with any other dealer myself save one. Also,
since the poster did ask, I related my experience to add to the mix. I know
many people who buy and enjoy Rishi Teas. In the case I described, I think
they ought to have known better, and that they probably did. They are also
an Ameican company and can be judged according to American standards.

Nonetheless all your points are well taken. Whether bad behavior on the part
of a company is typical of the company or an anomaly comes to light in
discussions such as this.

Michael

This morning drinking a very soft, gently woody, slightly sweet, replete
with other complexities Bamboo CNNP 1992 Pu'erh form Jing Tea Shop. There is
an off note in the smell of the leaves in the pot, but that note is not
present in the smell of the liquor, so I dunno. This is a nice tea, and
quite convenient. Thanks Mike for the sample.

Listening to Talip Ozkan play Saz. Perfect with the Pu'erh. (If you're
Turkish, forgive me for not putting on the Umlaut thingie.)