Whispering Pines Tea Company

Thank you Mtchyg for this sample! I’m going to brew this Gongfu style. The scent of the dry leaves in a warm gaiwan is really lovely; it does have a very prominent note of dill, but it is the aroma of fresh dill. I imagine this is from the snow chrysanthemums. If you smell the fronds of a dill plant without cutting it, it has this faint and nice dill aroma that this tea reminds me of. The tea also smells mildly floral as well, in a way difficult to describe. It also kind of smells like candy Valentine’s Day hearts. The wet leaves after the first infusion have a much more lush and complex aroma. Still smelling dill and flowers, but also now golden raisins, a bit of anise, pine wood and dry prairie grass.

The first infusion is a very bold golden color that I have not seen before in a Moonlight White tea, and I’m guessing much of it comes from these bright golden-orange snow chrysanthemums that are pressed into the cake.

I should have expected as much, but the first infusion still surprised me with its strong dill flavor. It’s also mildly sweet and a touch floral. There are hints of cinnamon in the liquid aroma. As the tea cools I am tasting more of a subtle malty black tea flavor that I am used to tasting in a moonlight white, as well as a bit of woody, hay-like white tea flavor.

Oh wow, the second infusion, which I only infused for about 5 seconds, is a deep amber-orange color already. These flowers surely contribute a great deal of color to the tea. i am going to add a bit of water, as I think I may have used too much tea. This flavor is peculiar. More of the tea flavor is coming through now, and less of the dill-like flavor of the flowers. Again, the taste of the tea is like a malty, slightly bitter black tea cut with white tea.

Third infusion, I’m tasting equal parts of the tea and flowers. It’s a bit tart now, and the texture is slightly dry in the finish.

On the fourth infusion, the flavor has mellowed out a lot, and is more sweet and rounded, blending the flavors all together very well.

This is a unique tea, and while the Moonlight White base is detectable, I think it is secondary to the taste of the flowers mostly. I’m a bit of a Moonlight White fanatic, and I would say this tea is probably not a Moonlight White fanatic’s tea, since the tea flavor itself doesn’t really shine too much. It is somewhat muddled amidst the flavor of the flowers. This tea would be great for people who like to try something unique though, or anyone who loves the flavor of dill, and I can’t deny how beautiful that pressed cake is.

im on the 3rd infusion atm.. all is going well. the liquor is a nice reddish copper color. smells kind of like brown sugar being cooked slowly on top of a piece of wood. 4th infusion, this tea has a certain syrupy sweetness for me, toffee, a brisk woodsy feel. i dont get the same “rounded” taste/smell that i get from golden snail or yunnan gold tips. i pick up a strong molasses note, and i think black cherry or plum.. nice.

the dry leaf smells similar to to the brewed aroma but add fine dark soil and also “barnyard smell” (moist hay.) the look of the dry leaf does not have that cool blueish tinge that the WP photo shows.. they are light black to dark brown and some lighter brown on the bends.. looks a bit like a frizzy beard.

inside the pot: between 4th and 5th infusion leaves have almost doubled in size and are looking helter skelter, but before this the leaves sat more uniform with each other and kind of bended around the pot together.

as for caffeine level i cant tell really, i have a kind of tolerance. im drinking this at 7:43 yet i think i’ll be alright, so it couldn’t be too high.

my steeps have been improvised (no exact timing) though ive given generous amounts of time per steep.. lots of flavor to savor.

- nycoma

I just got this sample from Whispering Pines Tea Company yesterday! I am so excited to try the other teas I ordered (look for tasting notes on Port, North Winds, and 2013 Ontario Pu-erh coming soon). This tea is a smooth, sweet treat. I’d like to add a longer tasting note at some point but we are starting case rounds so ta-ta for now!

I brewed this based on Brenden’s recommendations!

Thanks LP for making this a gift to everyone :)

I thought this was a wonderful tea, I’m getting honey & woody floral perfume. Brews a lovely amber colour, and the taste is quite deep & nicely complex. Quite a range of flavours noted from the various reviews.

Ive never had these flowers in a tea before, and pretty bad at floral spotting in tea anyway, but I liked the added dimension. Seriously thick honey sweetness going on, for fans of bees for sure :)

Literally just dumped the lot it in the cup and on my second steep now. Super sweeeeeet!! theres a hint of something cinnamon or spicy in there, but not in the same way as some dongfang meiren, not as woody either. Nice, nice I like.

I pulled the chunk out first steep in case it was too strong, left it in this time. Really dark liquor. I also like how even with this much leaf in the cup, the aroma is so strong and dreamy, while the taste hasnt got any bad flavours. That is the mark of something I can drink a lot of. Also I drank this during a break from some 2007 repave. That was sending me to sleep, this one has given me a really soft jolt. Not harsh at all – probably that aroma!

Third steep now, still a deep dark amber colour. still a lovely taste. Good stuff! Just went to have to buy one for my ex’s daughter, its her birthday soon and she would love this – and the rub? $18 shipping when the cake is only $12 :’(

Still I bought some :)

2015 Sheng Olympics

This is my third time trying to leave a review for this tea. First time I got the filter turned on on my keyboard and couldn’t type anymore. 2nd time got interrupted and hit back losing my review. lol Lets hope the 3rd time works.

This tea is moonlight tea and chrysanthemum pressed together. First couple of brews the chrysanthemum is strong. Tea was very strong of chrysanthemum with a dill flavour. Not bad but since I love moonlight tea , I was disappointed that I couldn’t get much from the moonlight tea.

Infusions 3-6 more of the honey notes came through from the moonlight tea. I barely got any malt notes from the moonlight but supposedly this tea will age and the malt notes will come out when it ages. Chrysanthemum intensity came down a bit and blended well.

Overall, not a bad tea but I think I like moonlight tea on it’s own. Same with chrysanthemum.

2016 Sheng Olympics
https://www.instagram.com/p/BA4yZQFxYFa/
I was so glad that I had something like this to gift to everyone. This is a beautiful cake that is a type of tea that many have yet to try; moonlight. While it isn’t really considered a sheng, a gift is a gift!

Really looked forward to trying it after everyone said it was sweet tasting and notes of honey. I have tried this on two occasions now and the overall floral notes hit me as far too herbaceous for me to enjoy. The balance is wonderful though. Even though I don’t like the flavor, I am able to make remarks on other aspects. Visually this is one to own for sure. The scent is nice and does’t fade as much as you think it would over time. Break wise this is quite delicate and flakes easily.It is surely one to try if you are curious as I will say that the balance is nice, but if you don’t like the herb like floral taste it may not be for you.

My favourite of the 3 teas I ordered from Brenden, this tea is an experience.

Opening the bag you smell the spearmint and cedar leaves and you’re immediately transported to the forests of Northern Michigan. Steeping this tea smells like an evening campfire at the end of a long day of hiking. Removing the tea from the water I get a strong smell of spearmint.

Beginning of sip tastes of the organic Chai spice blend (organic ginger, organic allspice, organic cinnamon and organic cardamom). Midsip you get a hint of roasted cedar that is mellow and not overpowering. Finishes with a cooling taste of spearmint.

Fantastic tea made from wholesome ingredients. My first experience with tea from a small batch company. Wow, what a difference!

I don’t taste much of the oolong, but honestly, I didn’t want to with this blend.

The tea is currently available as of February 22, 2016.

Bonus tea from the Sheng Olympics. :) I drank this off and on for most of yesterday, and a couple of steeps this morning. I think the sample was about 6g, mostly all in one chunk, and I tried a variety of water temperatures and mostly short-ish steeping times (10-30sec for the first kettle full of water anyway). It’s an interesting tea – extremely beautiful dry leaf, wow, and quite a unique flavour. I’m finding it to be almost overwhelmingly herbaceous, with a strong dill flavour persisting throughout many steeps. So overall it’s hitting my palate as much more savoury than sweet. Interesting, but not really my “cup of tea” so to speak. :) Glad to have had the chance to try it though!

Sipdown 37/371!

Thank you for sending me this, MissB!
One of the very few smokey teas I enjoy, which is a huge compliment. This was the tea I reached for every time I fancied something smokey, which isn’t very often. It’s surprisingly delicate, but not weak. The smoke doesn’t overpower the base but rather works with it to create a seamless, delicious malty, smokey, chocolatey tea which I could happily drink all afternoon. I don’t get any citrus notes from this tea as others have mentioned, but I like it just how it is. Unfortunately, this is the end of the road for December and I for a very long time. I won’t be buying any more tea for the foreseeable future, but when I do I will definitely consider adding this to my list. It wasn’t one I drank frequently, but I thoroughly enjoyed it when I did.

The dry leaves smell fantastic, like chocolate almost. It was a real shock to me to be greeted with such a wonderful chocolate-y scent. The wet leaves are like somewhat nutty kind of, I think.

For this review, I did a few rounds of gongfu!

First infusion was awesome. So, so creamy mouthfeel!! I really enjoyed this one immediately. The chocolate flavoring comes through in the tea, along with that characteristic malty taste. I thought the smell was a bit neutral, but the taste is great. Very, very cocoa-y. I enjoyed this immensely. RATE: 8/10

Second infusion came out quite a bit darker, which might have been my fault. The smell was a bit stronger than the first time around too, it reminded me back to that chocolate leaf scent. The taste is less chocolate this time, more neutralized. I think I oversteeped this one a little, as it had a bit of a bitter aftertaste, but that didn’t take away from the overall experience. It was pretty good, if not a little neutral. Actually, thinking about it, the cocoa flavor from before now comes through as a more bitter cocoa, like dark chocolate. Very interesting. Second infusion was overall pretty good. RATE: 6.5/10

Third and final infusion tonight ended the experience with roasted cocoa notes, very yum. The bitterness from before has gone away and a more neutral roasty flavor has replaced it. Also, the color! Beautiful! Very reddened, so nice. That malt comes back too, but not as strong as in the first infusion (it was almost absent in the second one). This infusion’s flavor is very complex, and I am not sure how to describe it. Definitely very “tea”. RATE: 7.5/10

Overall, this tea was awesome! I love it. It was so tasty, and dynamic between infusions. Very interesting overall, and I will most likely buy more of it once I get done with what I’ve got. Very, very good.

Sipdown also from August.
Bye to this delicious tea.

Also sipped down this fall: Georgia Natela’s Gold Standard Black Tea – What-Cha
Drink (Don’t Eat) Grapefruit Sugar Scrub Tea – 52 Teas
Lone Tree – Mandala tea
Black Beauty – Gong Fu Tea
Dragon’s Well – Gong Fu Tea
Phoenix Pearl – zen tea
Nepal Silver Oolong – What-Cha

Dry – malty chocolate. Steeped- super malty and chocolate. Smooth. 2nd and 3rd resteep – more of very good taste. Very good tea. Never gets astringent. Hold its flavor well.

This is a good tea but not worth the price tag. I’ve had many yunnans for half this price that were comparable or even better.

Finally got to try this yestrday and it went for 6 hours at work which was great. The first thing that anyone should notice while steeping this is how highly balled up this tea is. For at least 8 steeps this stayed in its shell before opening.
This is the coffee ewuivlitant of tea for sure. Wonderful roasted notes with as deep flavor as you like. Steep it 20, 45, 90, 300…. how ever many seconds you want and you will taste the difference. While this is a premium roasted tgy, I will say the one downfall is that it caused me to pee more often than normal. Considering I drink a lot and daily, it is something I notice.

Cocoa Amore is great. I could not justify buying it for myself, so I asked for an ounce of it as a present. My main complaint about most teas of this kind is that people describe them as tasting like cherries, by which they usually mean the combination of chocolate and almond flavors are evocative of “the idea of cherries” or “cherry cordials” which do not actually taste like cherries. There is a fruitiness certainly, but cherry is a very specific taste, and I have not picked it up in this at all. I would maybe buy it again, but it is so ridiculously expensive that it is really hard to justify such an exorbitant expense. I brew it probably with more tea, and for a longer time than you’re supposed to, I sometimes add a little milk but not always, though I do always add a touch of sweetener as it brings out the maltiness. The results are always pretty satisfactory, and I would recommend it if you feel like paying for it.

I am naming today Sample Sunday for myself. Even though I have a new Liquid Proust order I want to dig into, I feel the need to clear out some of the samples and small amounts of tea that I’ve accumulated either through purchases from fellow Steepsterites or with past orders as they are getting older and cluttering my tea space.

First up Whispering Pines that I believe TeaNTeas was kind enough to give me a taste of when she told some of her stash.

The leaf of this smells wonderful. It’s kind of sweet and hinting at cocoa possibly. The leaf itself is long and kind of curly. The first few sips leave me feeling a smooth feels in my mouth. This is not what I expected based on the name, I could add sweetener to see if I can find the flavor. However, it is quite pleasant with no additions. It is very comforting. I can’t really place any flavor other than smooth black tea. I feel lucky to have tried this.

Puerh Noob reporting! I got this lovely sample from Liquid Proust who included this as a surprise goodie from his 2016 Sheng Olympic.

This is very different from the shengs I’ve tried. Love the gorgeous leaf appearance and the sweet dill aroma of the dry leaves. Gave it a 3 sec rinse. Combined steeps 5/10 and then 10/15.

I was pleasantly surprised not to get that “sour” taste that I’ve come to expect from shengs. I quite like this! It’s got a very nice pine and dill flavor and the liquor has that silky smooth feel that I really like. Steeps 3/4 introduced a slight astringency that I’m sure will get stronger with later steeps. I’m interested in finding a way to bring out the pine.. it seems to be a flavor I crave! o.O I would keep brewing this but I started late in the evening and the 2 “cups” that I’ve just has just helped bring on that wonderful relaxed feeling .. so I think I shall pop off to bed and add to this review tomorrow evening. ;)

This is the first sheng that I want to buy more of! Thanks bunches LP! I would never have tried this one on my own… and it’s such a winner for me! :D

Really enjoyed this chai. Mellow and lightly spicy in terms of heat. The spices at the front of the sip were cardamom and allspice for me. Sage added depth. This tea is somehow grounding and comforting. Really lovely, and I can’t imagine adding sweetener or milk to it.

Finally after having this tea around for a few weeks and a cold that I could not fully shake I am recovered, so it is safe to open up the really good stuff. I’m brewing this tea gongfu in my small dark Tieguanyin yixing pot in the manner that works for my teaware and water.

The first thing that sands out to me about this tea is smoothness of the dark roast with a bit of lingering sweetness. While I personally would no call it as being like cocoa or caramel, I can also reasonably see where they are coming from. Beyond that I am not sure what else there is to say as I am one that generally tries to focus upon enjoying the tea as compared to trying to analyze it which in my opinion takes away some of the enjoyment in the moment. My final verdict on this tea is clearly a very good quality dark roast Tieguanyin, which are sadly becoming more rare as time goes on.

Sipdown of this precious. Haha, Golem. (A Lord of the Rings joke and I only watched The Hobbit…. ) I could have swore most of the leaves in the bottom of the bag were the tiny cedar pieces (and hopefully vanilla!), but the flavor is still AMAZING. Whoa. And I really need to search out some of the Anxi Ben Shan oolong base but it seems to be a rare one.

Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox – Round #5 – Tea #9
I just watched the third Hobbit movie the other day. :D Happy to see this one in the teabox to try! Oolong and Tahitian vanilla? sure! And boy is this an oolong fit for those elves. It’s like nectar of flowers… and fruit… and this lovely vanilla and this oolong is so smooth. The fruits sometimes seem like pear and peach and cherry. So so good & gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve tried an Anxi Ben Shan before… but I think I remember Ali Shan being very fruity and mostly pear. I’m not sure what these cedar leaves bring to the table, but nothing that doesn’t fit with this cup. I couldn’t think of a better name for this one either. I just love the creamy floral fruitiness of it.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 15 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 7 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep