Whispering Pines Tea Company

Pulled this one out again today after a long hike in the woods with rental dog and other half. Sadly, i’m not getting the depth of flavour that others are, even though it’s still an enjoyable cup. I’m hoping the second steeping will open things up and make for a tasty treat.

Final Count: 144

My first tea from the Pu TTB!
The dry leaves are tippy and medium brown to gold. It’s a very creamy shu with mineral, moss and cocoa notes, and it gains a bit of fruityness as it goes on. A nice young ripe that could definitely benefit from further aging

This tea is really solid. I was drinking with it with a friend whom I’m trying to get into tea, so I decided to do one of my favorite blacks. We were talking and all of a sudden he says, “I feel really relaxed…Like abnormally relaxed. Is that the tea?”

I laughed and said, “Yeup, that’s the tea!”

I proceded to give him some of my tea in hopes that he’ll get into it and share with his friends and family.

Tea is good!

I am so happy to have this tea back in my cupboard. It is rich and smooth with clear vanilla notes. The chocolate notes from the base tea are not astringent.
One of my favourite teas!

Mmmm this tea was so good, vanilla and slight chocolate notes that feel like a warm hug in my mouth!
Sipdown today, but I think they are having a cyber Monday sale…

Wow, this tea! It is a very comforting cuppa. The vanilla is very smooth and pure. I get a sweetness that lingers, which is a likeness toward the cherry notes. The cocoa notes develop slowly and almost “roll” onto my tongue.
I feel like this tea has a lot of layers.

Resteeped for 5 and 8 minutes per the website recommendations. The third steep was starting to lose that wonderful vanilla, but it was still delicious

Love the darkness to this tea. It is perfect for those mornings without much sleep and need something sweet but not fake sweet, but also earthy. Everyone has those mornings right?!

This is a very good for me to ease into the world of pu’erh. I am still developing a taste for the earthiness and fermentation. The cocoa nib adds body and depth to this tea without overwhelming the pu’erh taste. I don’t know much yet about this kind of tea, but to me, the base would likely be a little sweet on its own.

I resteeped this for 5 and 10 minutes per the websites recommendations and both steeps were just as delicious.

I believe this sample was old or suffered from Ziploc flavour loss. I received it in a swap and, do to my backlog, waited far too long to sample it. It wasn’t the delight that every other Whispering Pines tea I’ve had is. It’s flavour was so light that I refuse to give it a rating at this time. I will eventually try a fresh sample and use that to determine a rating.

Got this as a sample from an order I placed at the end of last year. This is a very interesting-looking tea, and the dry leaves are fuzzy little twists that expand impressively upon brewing. A little bit goes a long way, and I found that just a small pinch can make for a satisfying cup. The leaves give off a golden color in the cup that tends to settle toward the bottom. The taste is malty, baked-goods-esque, with quite a luscious feel and a hint of cocoa. It’s a very comforting tea, and the maltiness is not as imposing as Golden Snail—it feels a bit fresher and more delicate. I can see this becoming one of my all-time favorites, especially in autumn and winter.

This has got to be the version I have, as mine has orange peels in it.

I think it might maybe be from Bonny? Foolishly I didn’t write anything on the bag. And that is indeed my horrendous scrawl, so I must have shared it out with a few people.

This is actually pretty good! The smokiness of the black tea actually holds its own with the MULTITUDE of cloves in there. I’d say it’s a lapsang souchong with touches of something else. Pretty decent. Really nice with milk, but I’d prefer some maple whipped cream. ;)

In other news, New Job is Best Job. Friendly, fun to organize, they feed me. Yay! As it’s union, it’s still only temporary. Once the job listing goes live I’ll be able to apply for it. :D So excited.

Not sure what notes I’m getting out of this. It’s somewhat malty. There’s a note I just don’t like, not sure how to describe it.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 3 min.

Cold brewed this as an iced tea and it is really good. The taste of the cocoa is really strong and the puerh is good too. There is really no bitterness present. There is some fermentation taste but with the cold brew it doesn’t seem too strong. This is without a doubt one of the best teas I have ever had cold brewed.

I steeped this overnight in a 32oz Lupica Handy Cooler with 4 tsp leaf in the refrigerator.

This is good tea. If memory serves me the puerh base of this is the 2012 Huron Gold Needle. The puerh tea component of this is sweet with little in the way of bitterness. The cacao component gives a nice chocolaty taste to the puerh. They mix well. What surprised me about this is that there was a strong chocolate note from the cacao even in the tenth steep. I expected chocolate for only the first few infusions but the chocolate lasted well into the tenth steep.

I steeped this ten times in a 120ml gaiwan with 10.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min.

This is the 2015 harvest.

Prepared with gongfu sessions, with a ceramic gaiwan. No rinse. I first followed the website steeping times (20, 15, 30, 45, 75), but I prefer winging them.

I appreciate the dry leaf aroma most after letting the leaves sit in a heated gaiwan. First there were sweet potatoes (very sweet and without the skin, like they were mashed – a first for Chinese sweet potato teas with me), and then spices such as clove and black cardamon.

I was a little sad to make the first infusion. These leaves are pretty (I admit – the picture on the website partially contributed to the purchase. Sucker for good pics.). Cute little curly things, gold and black intertwining on each leaf. Well, now they’re simply brown. That’s alright. A black pepper aroma arises. After another infusion or two, the wet leaf releases raw hot cocoa. Gaiwans are good for these snails.

The liquor color is a beautiful orange-gold. I recommend drinking this from a white cup. Full-bodied, smooth, thick. Sweet with a touch of bitterness from a sweet potato flavor, which appears throughout the session. I pretty much only discern sweet potato, with the exception of some chocolate and wet wood in the aftertaste. Overall, this has a warming and cozy effect, simultaneously energizing. It helps me put up with the cold (although, winter is unbelievably mild this year – still).

Eh, sweet potato. I’m not that much into it and Chinese black teas with this note. I still much like this one.

This is a nice unique take on the classic DHP. I’m always on the lookout for quality DHP, for there are so many sub-pars out there. However, this was unique and not nearly as roasted as most DHP. I opened the package and revealed some mostly green twisted knots with some darkened spots. I poured these grassy leaves into my Cha He and gave them a whiff. They gave off a light mineral and oak scent. I was picking up some faint roast with grassy tones of ivy. Lastly, I noted some crisp sweetness that lingered in the background. I poured a generous amount in my warmed gaiwan and gave it a shake. The warmed leaves was such a peculiar scent. The leaves gave off this warm buttered squash aroma, along with a light roast. This was such a new and delicious scent! I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The steeped leaves aroma spread in so many different directions. I was picking up warm butternut squash, crisp grassy tones, smooth coconut water, and sweet nectar. This was an extremely aromatic brew. The flavor began as slightly herbaceous and sweet. I was picking up some faint barley and oak. The brew carried a full body with a lot of flavor. The taste was smooth and lasting with a lingering sweetness in the aftertaste. The leaves give the mouth a heavy oily feeling. This brew has a very nice warming qi that circulates throughout the body. I noted some astringency present in later steeping that complimented some pleasantly sour tones. This DHP has a lot of mouth feeling and tongue action. This is a brilliant combination of greener more luscious tones that blend well with the roasted yet sweet flavors. Personally, this is a very nice DHP and is quite a unique take on such a typically roasted brew.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-9MsPkzGUU/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Bought two ounces of this with my order. It is quite good. Getting some malt but not very much. This is a good thing because I don’t really like notes of malt. Getting some notes of chocolate in there too. Can’t really say about sweet notes because I added sugar.

I brewed this once in a Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.