Whispering Pines Tea Company

OK, so I keep trying Taiwan teas, and I just can’t seem to get into that style. I can appreciate this one but I can’t say that I like it. The wintergreen flavor just didn’t seem to go well with the other flavors for me.
Nose; Wintergreen — lots of wintergreen, sweet potato, honey, oat straw
Palate; Wintergreen and lots of it, slight sweet potato, oat straw tea, blueberry, honey, somewhat bitter and tannic.

Well, I think this is my favorite black tea….it is amazingly complex, but very subtle, so one has to give it time and attention to really get everything from it. That said it is also a nice sipping tea if you don’t want to think that much about it. VEry much like a Wuyi yancha in character.
Nose; honey, sweet florals — violets, clover, cocoa, sandalwood ( very light ), vanilla, mushrooms, leaf mould, forest after a rain — ozone.
Palate; Very interesting , slightly full mouth and throat but not as much as say a Dian Hong, clover, alfalfa hay, vanilla, oak moss, mushroom, sassifrass, honey, ginseng, huckleberry, and a somewhat mineral character.
Yeah all of that is there and probably more!

A shou for coffee drinkers, I found this one to be pretty bitter a few short steeps in and pleasantly bitter. After 4-5 steepings the bitterness gives way to a very deeply creamy, almost chocolate richness that is very satisfying. This one can go the distance.

I received this as a sample from Whispering Pines and loved the tea. Sad to say it is not available or I would have definitely bought more of this tea. Loved the malty rich flavor caramel flavor.

GCTTB

I pulled this one from the box to try out, since i’d like to get through some of the samples quickly so VariaTEA can come pick up the box whenever. I wasn’t sure what to expect since i didn’t bother looking anything up prior to drinking it. This is rather pleasant…feels like maple..and then sort of turns in to a lovely mild black tea. Ineresting tea nonetheless. glad i got to try it.

Thank you steepster for introducing me great tastes of my favorite drink, tea. In my culture our people drink the black tea from the black sea region of Turkey. In the markets I see many different brands and tastes of the other wonderful tea kinds. This is good because I taste every single kind , getting the taste in its best form.

One of my favourite teas currently.

Very strong taste that is consistent for the entire steeping session.

I did a 5 second wash with ~3.5g, 90ml at 205F

This steeps extremely quick when it’s prepared enough. A proper wash lets it hydrate and open up. First steep takes a little longer, about 10 seconds for a proper cup, but the next 5-10 steeps after that can be done in as little as 5 seconds.

I recommend leaving a seed inbetween each steep session. Just a little bit of water left in the gaiwan (or whatever tea receptacle you prefer) that will absorb a healthy amount of tea. The seed will mix with the fresh water for each steep, which gives you a very quick but very rich taste. The seed will not affect longevity of the tea, so you don’t have to worry about having less infusions out of it. But on the plus side, each cup of tea will be incredibly rich and strong which is A+ in my book.

Flavours are pretty similar to what’s posted in the profile above. Cacao, cocoa, creamy (extremely creamy. This tea feels like it coats your very being in warmness and smoothness), roasted nuts, brandy, a tiny bit earthy. A hidden hint of cherry if you brew it strong (when it goes to dark dark red in color).

Smelled amazing, but the taste was just a bit off!

Presentation: The packaging was was very nice, sealed foiled bag with nicely written label. Brenden always leaves a nice note to his customers thanking them for their business. The leaves are a lovely golden color, many of the trichomes still cover the leaves.
Scent: Sweet, and Malty.
Flavor: The flavor was smooth, sweet and malty. It carried notes of caramel and was quite flavorful. It is very similar to Whispering Pines Golden Snail black tea that they offer.
Brew Method: Western: I weighed out 0.33g/oz of tea leaves with the brewing temperature set at 205F. I did two brews of this tea one for 3 minutes and the next for 5 minutes. My only concern was that the instructions on the packaging said to brew them at 212F, when in the past other golden bud black teas from Whispering pines would instruct 205F. The tea is great and I would recommend it for a tea lover’s cupboard.

I’m finishing up the last of this today and am more than a little sad about it. The base for this tea is incredibly rich and full and really makes this the best Earl Grey I’ve tried to date. The bergamot is not overpowering but it’s there; neither is the tea itself so bold that it overwhelms the aroma and flavor of the bergamot oil. Truly one of my favorite cups lately.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 195 degrees + 22 minutes

Oooo, yum, yes for chocolatey puerh. Steeped this multiple times throughout the day and it was very delicious. Occasionally, the fishy notes of the shou peeked through. The vanilla for me though was absent.

On my first try, I did not like this. It was toasty, the flavor seemed strong, and I wasn’t a fan. Disheartening as it would have been my second oolong to try, neither of which I liked.

And then, about a week later I tried it again. And all of a sudden I really liked it. It still has a toasty flavor. All I can think is that I was not in the mood for it on the first attempt. (I am extremely mood driven when it comes to flavor.)

I have since been trying to ration myself, draw out that single ounce as long as possible as the price makes me feel a bit guilty. not too much however. My husband had an addiction to hard drives (very very long story) and so far my tea doesn’t even approach his cost. :)

Anyway definitely staple quality. And the first non black to be labeled so. :)

It seems the rating system won’t allow me to use fractions or decimals. I actually use about 1/2 teaspoon to around 8oz of water. Those leaves are rolled up really tight and expand hugely while steeping.

I used around 5g with 90ml, 185F approximately.

Started this off with a quick wash. Because these leaves are small and numerous, they have a large surface area and will steep /very/ quickly, so gotta be fast.

The first thing I noticed is the absolutely incredibly sweet aroma. There was a very strong ‘butterscotch’ scent that came from it. Smelling the leaves directly was a strong buttery vegetable smell that contrasted the sweetness though.

Steep times were as follows: 5s, 7s, 8s, 10s, 12s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 33s, 40s, 55s

first steep was a rather sweet, creamy, buttery vegetable taste. There is a strong floral flavour underneath the main taste.

Second steep has a stronger taste of everything. Much stronger floral taste. Seems that this tea is pretty sensitive on steep times.

Third steep. I swear these are like little baby silver needles — massive amounts of ‘hairs’ floating in the tea resulting in that tingling sensation you get with silver needle. Creamy vegetal flavour with a strong floral hint. Current trend is an increase in the floral portion of the flavour.

Fourth steep. Tea remains creamy, vegetal flavour begins to fade whilst the floral remains strong.

Fifth steep. Took a close whiff and it still smells like butterscotch. The vegetal flavour is very faint now with floral being in the lead adopting a rose-like taste to it. The tea itself is now getting sweeter, which is interesting.

Water temperature drop between fifth and sixth steep. Guessing it’s around 170 or 160F now

Sixth steep. The lower temp did a charm. Floral flavour isn’t so strong and the sweetness is enhanced instead. This is my favourite cup of this tea so far.

Seventh steep. This is what I love about white teas — after several steeps the flavour just changes into something wonderful. Vegetal flavour is completely gone now, instead a really sweet fruity taste is coming out. Taste is somewhat similar to a mixture of apricot and plum, without any of the sour, bitterness, nor tart. Can’t smell that butterscotch flavour anymore but man, it’s almost like some sort of fruit juice now.

Eight steep. The creamy, fruity flavour is really strong now and it’s wonderful.

Ninth steep. Fruity flavour is now accompanied by an awesome creamy honey flavour. This tea just won’t stop giving me surprises. Keeps making me drag the rating slider to the right haha.

Tenth steep. Can’t believe this tea reached this point. Fruity and honey, can’t complain.

Eleventh steep. Jinxed myself, finally out of flavour here.

Wrapping up, the after taste is very very light and in a way, feels like your mouth is ‘aerated’. It’s like a nice mouth refresher. I still am impressed this tea lasted through so many steeps (and had full flavour until the very end!)

I do want to stress that this tea is one of the more sensitive ones when it comes to temperature and steeping times. I have used hotter temperatures and I have used longer steeping times, both of which made the tea to taste absolutely awful (I would rate it 20 out of 100). But when done properly it’s a quick, refreshing little cup of tea.

Meh. Clovey. A little soapy. Not terrible, but I prefer the classic (and cheap) Russian Caravan for a smoky tea.

mmmmmm sorry to see this one go. thanks evol ving ness this was a tasty time this afternoon. Steeped it a couple of times and enjoyed the brew thoroughly each time. Chocolate, vanilla and puerh! so nommy.

Final Count: 95

Sample from Evol Ving Ness i was really looking forward to this one…but man, the smell of the anise in this one was just too much. It doesn’t come through in the brew really – that i found to be relatively flat and uneventuful. The aroma though is just LICORICE! in yo face ANISE! Just not for me it seems. thanks though evol! love trying new teas