Whispering Pines Tea Company

Brewed this tea gongfu this afternoon. Who would have thought that roasted cedar would make such a good addition with a blend but Brenden has used it a few times successfully.

The cedar in this tea gives it that evergreen feel and taste. The chai flavours are nicely balanced. I pick up cinnamon and cardamom a bit more than the others. Thank goodness ginger is toned down since I am not a fan of ginger. Overall, it’s blended nicely so that it doesn’t overpower the buttery flavour of the oolong. I also pick up a hint of mint on the finish of the sip.

It’s a really nice tea to have on a cold day as the spices are really warming.

I spent almost 3 hours last night scrolling through the reviews of this tea. It was like I was mesmerized by how many fantastic reviews there are…That’s why I can’t forget to take my adderall haha. I went to go order some of this tea and…….they are out of stock. I’m practically in tears now. Oh well guess i’ll just have to wait to try this one

Finishing off the sample I had of this. Sometimes you just have stock piles of tea and some of the smaller bagged samples get lost in the clutter. This is what happened here. But boy am I so glad I found it/remembered it because, once again, this tea is fan-freaking-tastic.

I say this as someone who likes Earl’d teas well enough but doesn’t really purposefully buy them. This is absolutely one I would (will) buy. The base is high quality. It lends a depth of flavor that is not matched in most EG’s.

Gong fu style yielded about 5 good steeps. You could stretch it to a few more but the flavor starts to become weak past that.

Yeah… so this is now by far my favorite Earl Grey style of tea.

Malty Golden Snails meets the citrus of bergamont oil? You wouldn’t think it (or maybe you would) but the match is amazing.

Thanks to Nicole for sending me this sample. Now I have to wait for it to come back in stock!

Trying this for the first time tonight. Wow is it a beautiful tea. Drinking this with my wife by the fire place this evening.

1st steep, 20 seconds: Wet leaves give off a strong dill scent. That is amazing! The color of the liquor is a golden orange. The flavor certainly has a slightly sweet dilly type flavor. So unique. And smooth too!

2nd steep, 10 seconds: The wet leaves give off the dill aroma. So fascinating. The liquor itself is a light tawny brown. The flavor seems to be less dilly and a bit more sweet. Wildflower sweet. Not cloying and not quite tart. A tangy sweetness.

3rd steep, 10 seconds: Strap in, baby. Dill is here to stay. And that is fine by me. I should mention this isn’t a dill pickle type of dill. This is more fresh picked dill from your garden. And even then, not overpowering but still definitely in the forefront. And in this steep, the sweetness seemed to finally be it’s equal, dancing along side it on my tongue.

4th steep, 15 seconds: This isn’t going to be too detailed probably from here on out. Why? This stuff is so smooth and delicious that I am drinking it faster than I can really think and type notes on it. The main thought I had from this round is that I would drink this all day long. No problem.

Well, I’m on my tenth steep of this (5 minutes) and it is still pretty flavorful. I might have to buy another cake of this.

i received this tea the other day. i open it up and i tell you the aromatics are great with the smell of the vanilla, white chocolate and i think cedar. i gong fu’d this and went about 8 infusions in, probably 2 too many, but it was still a good yield i thought. what i believe to be vanilla and cedar “dust” lines the inside of the bag and comes out fairly heavily as sediment, so use your strainer! im a big tolkien fan however i have yet to read the silmarillion or the lotr trilogy, terrible i know, but i dont mind since i have something to look forward to. ps. i’ve read the hobbit multiple times.. its a good ol book.

from what i remember the first infusion- to me, was one of the best (5 or so sec) it was light and floral and sweet in a natural sort of way. the second and third became more robust and unfortunately i lost some of that sweetness, but the tea in itself is so nice i was happy with what i got. to me it gives more natural sweetness (like a sweet water) than a floral sweetness.. i could be wrong on that, i must drink moar.

i used the recommended brewing tips provided by wp ( will have to mess with the stats.) i will try to flash brew this western style, and full infusion ws. im also coldbrewing the spent leaves to take everything out of this awesome tea.

i must add: i think there is a bit too much cedar in the mix for me.

Okay, yeah I really like this one and I’m too close to finishing it off. Western using 6 ounces, 2-3 grams of leaves, and following Brenden’s exact steeping instructions. So, so good. Curse my “budget”.

I’ve been having Earl Grey cravings and this really satisfied my need for one. It also turned out to be a uniquely light one.

When you drink it, there is no doubt that this is an Earl Grey and you would not notice a great difference between any other. But if you drink it carefully, there is actually a lot of subtle things going on with the taste.

The bergamot is the most immediate thing you smell from the dry leaves and the immediate thing you taste from the brew at three minutes at nice, boiling temperature. But as it goes down the throat, some tastes of malt, citrus, and cocoa roll in very slowly and nicely. The longer I steeped it, the more tea “chocolaty” it got in every steep. I followed Brenden’s recommendations precisely, but I also got more tastes as I let the leaves strain in my cup. There was a very slight butter and caramel note every once in a while, maybe closer to a very LIGHT sweet potato, but they were fairly subtle. The spices and honey are really the different tones of the citrus.

I can say that this was a light, but nicely balanced and almost oily Earl Grey. It’s lightness and subtlety make it unique to me. It kind of makes me curious what Earl Gold tastes like in comparison, if it is a chocolate orange as Amanda describes it. At least I have this chocolate orange for now.

This was actually one of the best blends that you can get for a decent price from Whispering Pines. Some of you might be under impressed because its lighter taste, but others might like it for the lightness as I did. And if you want to try Whispering Pines, this tea is a good start.

This is a black tea that requires attention. Very complex. In the first steep, I tasted prunes, caramel, what I imagine wet leaves to taste like, a subtle hint of pine at the back of the tongue and milk chocolate at the middle. It was dry at the end of the sip and sweetness lingered.

The second steep introduced pine gum at the front of the sip, but geez, I haven’t chewed pine gum since I was little so it could be my imagination. In the third steep the sharpness hit my tastebuds as dill!

I really enjoyed this tea. As I said, I will drink it when I can pay attention.

I tried it Western to see what I get. I knew that Gong Fu was probably better, especially for a caffeine kick. But it tasted just as good. I got the same array of tastes but in a blended form. The white grape taste that Brenden mentions also turns out much stronger, the same with the grapefruit note. More than likely, though, the white grape taste is what I taste as grapefruit. Still really like this one.

I hesitated to get this one at first though I was immediately attracted to it. I’ve started a quest to look for white teas, and I nearly got the Glendale Silver Needle because of how rosy it was, but, I’ve also yet to be satisfied with a Pu-Erh. Amanda and Haveteawilltravel’s notes had me convinced that I might otherwise enjoy this for the price. I did, and I gotta say it’s pretty unique.

Followed the steeping suggestions save one extra five second rinse. Pepper corn and light citrus like tangerine are in the tastes. But they are so strong that they really fall into the category of flavor. Twenty seconds, and it has a very present dill taste with more florals, citrus, and honeyed sweetness. The next two are more herbaceaous and malty, but still spicy, and I get the grapefruit taste Haveteawilltravel is talking about. I expected it to be more of a hint, but no, I actually tasted grapefruit changing back and forth from tangerine. It gets sweeter to me in these two steeps because the honey and light citrus tastes remain with the spiciness. Later on more fruity, but not as sweet and very near being vinegar like in texture and taste. This is past the minute and thirty second point, and it can probably go on. I’ll stop for now.

I would say I feel like I got my money’s worth for this tea and it is definitely a Pu-Erh that appeals to me. Yunnan Moonlight Whites are actually my favorite, and as with any of them, this tea gives me a really controlled but enduring energy flow. I’m just not sure how often I’d drink it.

The tasting notes of peppercorn, dill, citrus, and a bit of the honey sweetness are all highly discernible and not flavors I’d all want over and over again. Like I said before, they are so strong that they are practically flavors. I’d be surprised if someone, even if they don’t drink tea that often, would not taste the strong spiciness, herbiness, and fruitiness this tea has. I’d recommend this if you’re exploring white tea and pu-erh because this shows a dimension to the teas that you may or may not imagine.

Final cup of this today. Figured it was a good one to get one more sipdown in before the weekend hits. I need one more after this one and then i need to weigh my cupboard and hope i’ve reached my february goal haha.

Another one from this morning. Always need a straight tea to get me going in the morning. One more week to reach my sipdown goal for february so i need to pay attention to my smaller quantities of teas as well. It’s looking good though since i’ve been good at not really ordering any teas or just picking up enough for a cup or two.

started the day out with this one a few hours ago and it was a good choice. I have some green teas i need to drink today to continue on my drink the cupboard/samples journey so i wanted to make sure i started the day with a couple solid blacks. this one hit the spot!

this is a delicious cup. It reminds me a little of some of the TTC teas, with that sweet, almost honeylike profile up front….on the tail end i get more of an almost cocoa like, malty goodness. I am a fan of this one. I brewed it western today for a couple cups…next time i’d like to try a gonfu session as i think this one would work really well that way.

Again, thank you Brenden for letting me sample this!

I agree with LuckyMe and HaveTeaWillTravel entirely. It tastes just like a Mi Xiang Dan Cong with a slight Da Hong Pao sweetness. Followed the instructions exactly, and get most of the notes described but in fainter amounts. This could be due to the leaf amount I used, but the same consistencies are there. Chestnut, butter, and a bit of toasted coconut are in the first two steeps at five seconds. Almond is in every one of them including a taste really close to butternut squash. Mineral and oak are more in the next two at 10 and 20. Still almond like with barley and a bit of oak at 25 and 30. 45, I kinda get the white wine he was talking about or a light beer like taste without the sweetness. Oak and mineral are more obvious to me. Finally at 1 min and 30, and about the same but smoother and fuller bodied, yet otherwise very, very mellow.

Well, I quite enjoyed this tea. I’m really picky when it comes to Da Hong Pao because of how certain tastes, like oak or sugar, can dominate the cup. Here, it is incredibly mellow, relaxing, but focusing. I sampled this to see if I would like it enough to get an ounce, but I like the sample amount that I have. Doubtless worth a try to see the variety of forms Da Hong Pao comes in.

More for pickier tea drinkers and supertasters than newer drinkers. Some might like the nutty mellowness of it, or they might be bored. Yet that really needs to be decided after I try it Western.

Oh hello, 2012 Huron Gold Needle. It has been a while. A couple of years even. I’ve taken a pretty substantial leave of absence from puerh so this is me jumping back in. I have a decent supply of high quality stuff from a few years ago that I should really get back into so here we go!

205F, 5 second rinse, 10 second steep- A nice golden brown color emerges. Almost like a brown ale but a bit lighter perhaps. The flavor is lighter as well which I appreciate. I’d rather my puerh have a lighter nuance than a heavy, almost basement-esque quality to it.

Second steep, 10 seconds- Whoa, talk about a difference in steep color. As soon as the water hit the leaves it went to a dark tawny port color. Much darker in one second than in the entire 10 seconds of the last steep. This has a tang in the back of the throat when drinking. Kind of like a juicy sour fruit leaves but without the fruity flavor. It isn’t a negative for me as it gives it some interesting texture and flavor. Yeah, whereas I find some teas drying this one generates a juicy well rounded mouthfeel. Fairly light overall.

You will have to forgive me for ending the review short. Two reasons for that. One, I always have to monitor my caffeine intake so I’m usually not going to be doing 7, 8, 9 steeps of something. And two, today is the first day of Christmas break and I have 3 kids, the youngest being 13 months old. As you can imagine, I don’t have a lot of time to just sit and type at my leisure without him getting into things or needing something, usually my attention. So, with that being said, I bid you farewell until next time.

Today, I am drinking this tea. I am actually not here for a review. It is more of a tribute to Brenden and Whispering Pines. As I’m sure some of you have heard, his inventory had a flood hit it and he is trying to recover what he can but he seems to have taken a pretty substantial loss. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’m posting a link that you can go to in order to help Brenden get his company back on its feet. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/whispering-pines-tea-company-flood-relief-fund#/

So, cheers to you and to Whispering Pines. I hope to see the company recover soon so we can all order and drink those delicious teas again but even more importantly, so Brenden can continue his job and passion.

Received this cake in the mail yesterday so I’m spending some time with it this morning. The leaves separate from the cake fairly easy so that is nice.

10 second rinse.

First infusion, 30 seconds. The tea is already a deep cherry mahogany color. The flavor had the familiar ripe puerh notes but there was a hint of bitterness for me. That was a little surprising since I don’t remember reading anything about bitterness in most people’s reviews. Onward!

Second infusion, 15 seconds. The bitterness fades a bit but is still there in the middle and back of the tongue. I can however see what people are meaning when they say a smooth airy quality. This is a very light feeling tea that glides over the mouth and down the throat.

Third infusion, 30 seconds. Okay. There is the sweet spot. Warm, creamy, slight chocolate notes. Again, just reeaallly easy drinking. Found myself swallowing/gulping rather than sipping on this steep. Oops heh. The color of the liquid appears as a hazelnut brown.

Fourth infusion, 45 seconds. The color has lightened ever so slightly here. Still in the same color zone but just… lighter. This steep is much like the last one. Smooth and creamy. Picking up scents and flavors of cocoa.

Random thought break. I’ve taken to listening to “nature sounds” on Pandora or Spotify when I am able to brew gong fu while I am alone. Things like, “Rocky Seacoast” and “Babbling Brook in a Sunny Field at Noon.” Anyone else do this? I find it sets such a nice mood, relaxes me, and fully immerses me in the oneness of the tea drinking experience. Could be I’m just a super nerd though… Nah… heh.

Fifth steep, 2 min. While following along on the website for the steeping suggestions with this tea, my mind went, “45 seconds to 2 minutes? Whoa, really?” But my silly mind apparently doesn’t know what my heart knows by now. Trust Brenden with your tea experience. So I did. And, of course, this 2 minute steep is actually one of my favorites so far. Yes, it is getting a bit lighter but it is allowing other flavors to develop on the tongue. Or maybe the same flavors are there but because it is lighter they are playing a different song in my mouth.

Hey speaking of playing a different song, I’m now listening to what is titled, “Torrential Thunderstorm,” but the thunderstorm in question sounds off in the distance, in the background, and at the forefront is the sound of pouring water. Like, a storm drain emptying continuously into a shallow pool of water. It should be titled, “Water pours steadily, as if poured from a vessel, into other water while there are some faint sounds of thunder in the background.” Probably not as catchy as “Torrential Thunderstorm” though.

Steep 6, 5 minutes. Also, probably my last steep on this one before I have to go and pick up my son from preschool. Color on this one looks to be a deep orange-brown. And yup, flavor is getting a bit thin, watery. I see now what people mean when they say this is a bit of a light steeper. Not in a bad way. Certainly the lightness contributes to its airy quality while drinking.

Overall, a nice first session with this. It didn’t blow me away as much as maybe I had expected based on some other reviews but I did find it enjoyable and something I would love to spend more time with to see what other discoveries I can make with it. But maybe next time, no more “Torrential Thunderstorms.”

Thank you Brenden for spoiling me at my request! And I KNEW I should have snugged some Jabberwocky for myself. Oh well. Callooh callay there’s only three before it goes away.

But I knew I had to at least try this tea. I hesitated with this one because Ben Shan is a green oolong, and green oolong+spices is a risky mix because green oolongs have delicate flavors and are usually buttery or floral if strong. But I knew that the cedar would be the central actor for this tea, and Brenden’s description are telling.

Brewing, started out with three minutes and I get the evergreen he writes about. The Ben Shan itself is on the greener side: green oolongs are really just creamier, fruitier and often more floral green teas. At least to me, or that’s what they are like to a newer drinker. This indeed has the creamy, slightly buttery and floral background. But they are the back ground, and thus the canvas. The chai spices are the paints and hues, with the spearmint and tulsi dripping into the foreground like dew on the eventual cedar. There’s even a little bit of a caramel texture going on, but again, that’s the cedar beginning to open up.

The second brew at four minutes continues the first one’s tastes with a more noticeable cedar, tulsi and spearmint combining into a very distinguishable eucalyptus no matter the palette. Quite green, and very, very fresh. Like a breeze from the Upper Peninsula without a doubt.

And finally, the third brew at five minutes and beyond, and the cedar with the oolong take over. So fresh, and crisp. It becomes the same lingering eucalyptus as Rivendell, but with a spicier finish. Technically, this tea is done but I can brew this even more for the notes of the cedar.

I am very glad to have tried this tea. The cedar, mint and tulsi blend incredibly well with the chai spices. My main criticism is that the oolong fades a little bit too much for me in the background, but the oolong really shouldn’t be that strong for this blend anyway. The other big hesitation is price and I’ve unfortunately had green chais pretty similar to this tea, but the cedar makes the biggest difference. Personally, I prefer the Harvest Chai to this one, but I do like that I get the best aspects of Rivendell save the vanilla in this cup.

This tea is for mint lovers hands down. Actually, it’s like turning an Altoids into a tea and drizzling it with honey.

This tea could not be better than it is right now. It’s a warm (30 degrees) windy winter day here in Minnesota. I warmed up a cup I had made of this a few days ago before I ventured out for a walk after listening to some Bear’s Den music.

I came home, ate a piece of ma’s meatloaf, sat down, and drank this divine liquid. I love it when food pairs with tea. I sat in the rocker for about 30 minutes just listening to the dance of the air and snow particles.

This tea has notes of cocoa and minerals. It is sweet and earthy.

I’ll be honest. I can’t drink shou everyday. It’s like chocolate cake to me. I can have it once or twice a week. It’s rich and is a lot to take in.

I’ll enjoy the last 8 ounces of this while listening to Winter Winds by Mumford and Sons. Simply having a beautiful moment right now. Super grateful. Thank you for this sample, Brenden!

I celebrated the full moon last night with this gorgeous tea! This is truly a unique and special tea. There is no question why it was used to catch fairies. The wrapper is yet another beautiful design from this company, and it complements well with the cake itself. The tea beeng is an array of spectacular colors of silver, ebony, and brilliant orange. Honestly, the tea’s beauty is what had me hooked on trying it. I gave the cake a sniff and took in some dry grass with a slight tang in the background. I warmed up my gaiwan and placed a hefty chunk inside. I sat for awhile and enjoyed the full moon. There was some clouds covering the sky, but it was still simply incredible. While I gazed at the moon, I could smell the magic from this tea already begin to fill the air. I lifted the lid and let all the aroma spread through out my tea room. I was picking up strong notes of grapefruit, flowers,and nectar. These platinum leaves were crisp and sweet with citrus scents and smoothed and woody with a herbaceous undertone. This was going to be a treat. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The liquor was a deep and vibrant orange. The steeped leaves moved into a sweet tang with an alcoholic white wine finish. The grapefruit scent had been replaced by a fresh tangerine. I took an inhale of the sweet liquor and took my first sip. The initial sip was super sweet with potent citrus scents filling the air. This such a good feeling tea. The flavors are crisp and sweet and remind me of a summer fruity drink. The drink begins stevia sweet and moves into a crisp sparkling tang. The tea clears the head and lifts the spirits. This brew has an almost detoxifying feeling. The drink moves progressively into a strong heavy body of syrupy sugarcane sweetness. I didn’t detect the grapefruit taste until later steeping. These silver leaves lasted for a long time, and they continued to yield a heavy orange liquor with fresh sweetness. The leaves unfolded and my gaiwan was full of a flowery arrangement. The qi was long lasting and quite powerful. The feeling was an uplifted sensation with lots of energy and giggling. This is a perfect tea for any gathering, and is likely to bring a lot of laughter. I noticed that if you add more leaf the brew becomes heavily sweet; if you use less leaf the brew moves into the more grapefruit and tangy tones. This is a wonderful tea, and it’s beauty alone is enough to show off. I’m so happy to have been able to try this.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BA6L3lbzGTc/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

https://www.instagram.com/p/BA6MafszGUk/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

There is absolutely EVERYTHING to love about this cake. The wrapper is gorgeous. Once you open it, your eyes get to feast on a confetti of fabulousness. This cake is so gorgeous, you’ll have a hard time breaking into that beauty. But DO it because a mouth party awaits.

Moonlight Sonata is a blend of The Hobbit’s moonlight white and snow chrysanthemum. When I first heard about this tea, I wasn’t sure I was gonna love it. I should know better by now.

This? Well basically, it tastes like candy y’all. Reallyreallyreallyreally GOOD candy. Like honey flower candy. It is nectary and golden delicious lovely florals. There is some stonefruit, but to me the honey is the thing here.

I’m not generally a white tea drinker or even a lover of the snow flowers – but this combination works so beautifully. And that is the bottom line here – simply EVERYTHING about this tea is beautiful.