Rishi Tea Iron Goddess of Mercy Oolong Tea - Organic, Caffeinated Loose Leaf, Artisan Ball-Rolled Tawianese Oolong - 16 Ounces, 50+ Servings

I’ve never understood the American infatuation with tea bags. Yes, its convenient, but the tea it produces is “weak tea” indeed. While it is uniformly consistent, it is consistently bland and uninteresting. Years ago when I went to England for the first time I had my mind blown by how good the tea there was. I’ve always preferred tea and didn’t drink coffee until my first job out of college. But the tea in England had a punch to it. It tasted fantastic and there were so many varieties and flavors. And when it was all done I returned to the States and the bland conformity that is tea here. Flash forward many years and I finally had to give up on coffee and resumed drinking tea again. I decided to get an English-style electric tea kettle and set about exploring loose leaf teas and preparing it like the English do. All of which led me to Rishi and there absolutely fantastic array of loose-leaf teas. I already knew I loved Earl Grey and the idea of mixing in lavender intrigued me. And let me just say, it’s a match made in heaven.If you’re a tea lover like me, then you will love the creamy rich flavor profile of Rishi’s Earl Grey Lavender. I take my tea with sweetener but no cream or lemon and the creaminess of the taste is absolutely delightful, satisfying, and long-lasting on the palate. Indeed, cream is unnecessary with Earl Grey Lavender. Lemon would be an offense. It doesn’t pack the strong punch of Irish Breakfast tea but is more of a smooth refined way to ease into the morning or a mellow end to the afternoon. Our local grocery chain used to carry it in the smaller tin (now redesigned in the paper container) but discontinued it. Thankfully Amazon has it in the much larger pouch with a re-sealable airlock to keep it fresh. I’ve tried many of the various Rishi flavors but this is by far my favorite. If you’re trying loose leaf teas then Earl Grey Lavender is a great place to start!

I order this tea on the regular... I Like that it's organic and high quality. It has a full-bodied malty flavor, leaves a nice lingering taste in the mouth afterwards. One of my favorite teas. Their English breakfast is also food but I like this one a little bit more, the flavor seems more full to me relatively speaking. Though if this one is out, their English breakfast is my second choice.

I bought the premixed London fog from the same company and was so impressed. I decided to buy this tea. It is the most aromatic tea I’ve ever had and when you open it, your transport it to a smooth and calming realm of delight. I can make my London fog now without any hesitation and they match any restaurant I’ve ever been to.

I have been drinking this tea for over 10 years after first buying it at Whole Foods. They discontinued it years ago but I have been able to buy it in bulk on Amazon. The flavor has been consistent over all of that time. As someone who is not a coffee drinker, this tea packs a lot of caffeine for that morning boost but also a lot of flavor. I recently switched from brewing it with a basket to using fill-them-yourself tea bags and found that the flavor was not as intense and I had to use more tea. The problem with basket immersion is disposing of the waste. I found that when I cleaned the basket it was staining our stainless steel sink. How you brew tea can make a big difference in the taste! I will seek better solutions than the bags (or better bags).My problem is that my wife loves the ice tea this tea makes and has become very spoiled. Every guest we have served it to loves it as well. We are going through a ton of this tea and the price has gone up over 50% in the past few years. I will continue drinking this tea in the morning but will be trying other cheaper teas to make our ice tea.

As others have mentioned the tea has changed fairly drastically in the last few years. So if you bought before 2014 beware. This version is much fruitier and lighter. So keep that in mind when ordering. It is essentially a completely different tea. I email Rishi about it and this was their response:-----Thank you very much for reaching out to us and sharing your thoughts on our Organic China Breakfast. Over the past few harvest seasons, we began to notice the overall quality of tea with our previous partnership change. The tea became more coarse and stalky which resulted in an astringent cup of tea. In 2013, we set out in search of a Yunnan black tea offering rich in flavor and diversity. Through our travels, we met our friends at the Wa Shan Ecological Tea Garden. We have been working with our friends at the Wa Shan farm to grow a black tea that creates a fuller body, with rich malty caramel notes and minimal astringency. We first introduced the Wa Shan Project to fellow Rishi enthusiasts in summer of 2014. Since the partnership and plants are in their earlier stages, we are aware and anticipate hurdles along the way, including the profile of the tea. We have been working with the Wa Shan Farm throughout the recent seasons monitoring and tasting the harvests.Your feedback is very helpful to us and our friends at Wa Shan to continue working to grow and share a unique tea experience. We completely understand the frustrations this may cause in your practice and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.Please do not hesitate with any questions or comments you may have. We are more than happy to help.Best,Laura

I alternate between Rishi Tea’s China Breakfast and English Breakfast. Both are good quality and taste great. I drink it straight but it would probably do well with milk and/or sugar/honey. It’s also quite economical. Highly recommend!

There is nothing to dislike about this tea.

flowery Earl Grey. There are NO cornflowers in this just oil for flavoring. It is very strong, so only use 2/3. I love Fortnum and Mason Earl Grey, which I am setting my standard at.