Whispering Pines Tea Company

We already know he’s a tea prodigy and does things like no one else does.

He decided that dried mushrooms should be incorporated to tea…and that’s exactly what he did, as if it should have been done all along. Cause this is what you’ll think of when you taste this little marvel for the first time: where have you been all my life oh mushroom tea!!

Don’t think this resemble Mirkwood, his other mushie tea, cause it doesn’t…not even one bit.

Mirkwood is more brothy and savory. This is desserty!

Candy Cap Mushrooms, who knew??? They smell like maple candies! My whole kitchen smelled like candy after I opened the pouch, to the point that it got me worried, I sure don’t want my tea to taste that sweet.

But just like all the blends he creates, this tea offers the perfect balance. Dried fruits plus woodsy and cocoa notes. The star here though: natural maple goodness. And no worries, this ain’t Aunt Jamaima type of fake sweetness. This is gloriously tasty, with only two ingredients: Premium Chinese black tea and mushies.

Having said that, I don’t taste mushroom so please mushroom haters, don’t deprive yourself from this little gem. This variety brings sweetness, woodsy notes and layers of complexity. No damp or earthy funk.

Brenden sure is Michigan’s National “Teasure” , he likes to think outside the box and it pays off. Bravo!!

Pics:

http://instagram.com/p/yaozePQh6k/

http://instagram.com/p/yarxVTwh-1/

http://instagram.com/p/yasoxHQh_2/

Such cute little tea leaves! Like golden snail but silver instead (bet you would have never guess that from the name, LOL). Super grassy tea, this almost punches your tastebuds with the vegetal flavor. Delicious! But be careful not to oversteep or walk away from the brewing leaves for too long or it has a tendency to take on a bitter aftertaste.

Thank you, Veronica for sending me some of this tea!

First thing you notice about the dry leaf is that it smells really chocolate-y. I was definitely surprised at the depth of this tea. Very full bodied with cocoa & malty notes and a slight bit of bitterness in the finish. Bittersweet chocolate? yummm. I actually enjoyed this one better with soymilk. If I had another sample I would probably steep this for only 2 minutes which might yield a smoother cup. Anyway I’m really glad I got to try this. It’s quite a good morning tea, however will not rate for now. I had to use some nasal spray earlier which might be affecting my tastebuds.

Happy happy birthday to meee! First tea of the day yayyy!

[side note, I may have underleafed this time. mehhhh]

Oh Elderwood, you.

Drinking this cup by cup and listening to the Hobbit audiobook on my decade-and-a-half old cassette/cd player combo while making Lembas bread. I love having days off from work. :D
The vanilla is incredible in this blend. They give something delightfully sweet to the creamy milk chocolatey goodness of the base blend. There is also a bit of oak and conifer that reminds me of the name of this blend.

I steeped this western-style, for 3 mins, 4 mins, 6 mins with much success in a 16 oz porcelain teapot. Elderwood is the best of the best out of Whispering Pine’s Vanilla Dreams Collection, IMO. I urge anyone to try it. Wait for a sale, it’s worth it.

This was pleasant enough but not really remarkable to me, particularly not after playing with golden orchid, Cocoa amore, and port. Those are a different type of tea of course but they are so rich and deep. This just didn’t give off the same strength. I think I might need to use far more leaf than I normally would to really enjoy it.

It is warm and spicy and fruity. I like all of those things. But I’m thinking it is an easy enough thing to find, which is why this one just doesn’t stand out to me.

Golden Orchid has such amazing reviews on Steepster, I think it would be almost impossible for any tea to live up to the hype. And honestly, for me it didn’t. It was very good: strong and malty with distinct chocolate notes and a hint of vanilla. It also re-steeped beautifully. But I found myself craving a bit more of that sweet vanilla flavor than I was getting. I did notice in Brandon’s description that the vanilla tends to sink to the bottom, so maybe there wasn’t enough in my sample? Or maybe I just had over-inflated expectations. Anyway, this was very good, but not something I’ll be rushing out to purchase tomorrow. Thank you to beelicious for the sample!

I’ve been meaning to review this one for ages! I got it from u/RedSpaceMagic on Reddit months ago. It’s perfect for this morn— er, afternoon after helping host a bonfire party.

Now, I love Whispering Pines. They have tons of truly unique blends. I’ve seen ingredients on their lists I’ve never seen anywhere else, and I’ve liked everything I’ve tried so far.

This blend is no exception. Although I would have never mixed rooibos with lapsang, I think it works! The rooibos isn’t strong enough to leave that weird aftertaste in my mouth, so I’m happy. The cedar is also a very nice touch. It reminds me of the fresh cut logs used in Carolina barbecue. I know those are usually hickory, but it’s a similar scent. The clove could be a tad stronger, but then again, I got this tea second-hand. It might be more noticeable in fresher batches. And the smokiness, it’s very well balanced. Again, I’m getting a sort of bacony, briskety smoke, but I love it.

This is definitely something I’d get again. It’s hearty, warming, and wonderfully smoky with just a hint of spice. Now I kinda wish I didn’t have like 3 ounces of Adagio’s lapsang to get through!

I had to have all the mushroom teas the minute WP put them out. So unique! This one is completely different from Mirkwood. The minute you open the packet, you smell the super sweet aroma of the dry leaf. I love the look of the dry leaf with the little pieces of mushroom in it!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/97273956@N03/15742661414/

That sweetness translates into a sweet maple flavor, with notes of malt and wood. I gongfu-steeped this and the flavor transforms from this super sweet maple note into more of the notes of the base tea coming through. The tea tastes more fruity, with notes of cherry and plums.

This tea is ridiculously sweet…no need to sweeten, for sure! Absolutely delicious and unique!

I’m sipping this down this morning, after much hoarding :( but it’s the perfect morning for it! It’s sunny out, the flowers are beginning to bloom, and it’s Saturday after a long week! What better way to celebrate than with this delicious tea! I slightly overleafed as I would not have had enough left for a final cup, so today started out a bit stronger in the malt department, but still oh so good. Less honey notes today too and a bit more fruit, so when I order more of this, I will remember to keep the 3 min steeping time but use a bit less leaf :) I am sad this is out, but I see WP was having a sale……..not that I should order more right now, but I am considering it :) see previous notes on this tea!

Thanks to Brenden at Whispering Pines for this free sample!! I have had this sample for a while, but it hasn’t felt like the day to have it yet. Today, though, feels like the day! Time for the Jabberwocky!

I read the poem, which I actually didn’t know before having this tea, right before making it. I love it! (forgive me for not having read it sooner!) It made me even more excited to try this tea :)

The dry smell is super chocolatey and malty, strong, usually the dry leaf of black teas doesn’t have much scent to me, but this one definitely has a good one! I followed Brenden’s steeping suggestions of 3 mins with 205 degree water. The steeped smell is grainy, malty, a hint of dark chocolate.

As for the flavor, wow, this is a great black tea. The inital flavor is very bready and grainy, some malt, then the honey notes hit!! Wow they are strong and delicious! There is also some fruitiness that I found in Second Breakfast, probably from the Ailaoshan black tea that is in both of them. As it cools, this fruitiness leads into the aftertaste, and it’s definitely cherries. I love cherries! There are also some deep dark chocolate notes at the start of the taste before the honey notes hit. I am not getting too much eucalyptus yet, but there is a faint cooling sensation when I breathe in after the sip, so I think that is it. Wow this is delicious, so comforting. And I definitely feel the caffeine in this lol! Edit – I feel the caffeine alertness, but also an immense sense of relaxation and happy feelings. :D oh and I didn’t mention this tea is smooth smooth smooth. Soft and caressing. So freaking good.

Overall, this is a superb tea. It’s so good. Man, if I could drink black teas more regularly I would order this forever. Oh and also if I wasn’t on a self-imposed tea buying ban. Ugh I just tried to reason with myself and the boyfriend to allow me to order this…no dice. :(. I will be ordering this in the future though. Like, 99% sure. Brenden, please re-blend this after the last bag is purchased. I need it in a month or so! Also, thank you again to Brenden for this free sample! I have found the magic in this tea too!

A wonderful lazy Saturday. The boyfriend and I went to lunch and I mailed of a TTB. Came back and cleaned up a little, only so I could make a new mess in the kitchen. I made my first attempt of “Vicks Shower Disks” using the recipe found here http://beingfrugalbychoice.com/2012/03/homemade-vicks-vapor-shower-disks.html. And I just threw http://www.alexandracooks.com/2008/05/20/i-love-david-archuleta/ in the oven and thought that this tea would complement them wonderfully.

Sadly this is the last of this wonderful tea. This one always reminds me of home. It is for sure going on the re-order list!

I know I’ve not done a tasting note on this tea before, but I do distinctly remember having it around the time I got my Whispering Pines order. This isn’t the type of tea you can really do a backlog on, though, so I waited until now so my tasting note would be more accurate.

This is a great example of a yunnan, I feel like. The dry leaf was so fuzzy and tightly curled, and the smell emanating from the back was all starch and sweet potatoes. I followed the steeping parameters recommended by Brenden and it yielded a gorgeous honey brown liquor.

The taste mostly honeyed wheat with a starchy mouthfeel. Mostly it reminded me of the crust of a loaf of freshly baked honey wheat bread. Sweet, but also savory. This is a very filling, warming cup.

After the leaves are steeped they unfurl and begin to smell almost fruity- specifically like the raisin notes of an assam. That could be because I smelled the Harmutty Assam tea earlier this morning so that scent is fresh on my mind, but I really do get that note from it. And I really like it.

This is quite, quite good. I don’t like it as much as I enjoyed the Jabberwocky, but having a straight Yunnan does allow me to see the characteristics it lends to that blend. Still, I did find it really warming, and as the cold weather will be around for a while yet I’m sure I will be drinking this again soon.

Just finished a mug of this – it’s been a white tea kinda day, I guess.

This was nice – smooth and soothing on the throat, with medicinal pine and rosemary notes and overarching creaminess balanced by a hint of cereal-ish grainy flavour. I enjoyed it hot, but it was even better cooled.

Gongfu w/ added in rosemary!

More tea & herb pairing experimentation during my Gongfu sessions! For this tea, I was looking to exaggerate a flavour note that I find naturally present in yabao which I really enjoy; and that’s a nice savory and herbaceous rosemary note! So, I added in a sprig of unbruised rosemary to my gaiwan along with the tea, and I steeped the two together.

I found this a very successful experiment; I could still taste other elements of the tea like the cedar and corn silk notes that I usually find present but the rosemary was definitely amped up and more of a present flavour throughout infusions! It took an infusion or two to really brew out in a strong way, and it did peter out somewhat quickly as well but it totally achieved the goal of boosting that quality of the tea! It was such a soothing, calming session with a lot of emphasis on the savory/herbaceous qualities of this tea – still some needed sweetness (creamed honey, some florals) from the tea itself to keep some nuance and diversity in the cup, but just… wow!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxsASYPBz-C/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTyO71LjZwU

Midday cuppa from today.

I’m on a big rosemary kick right now; teas with rosemary, rosemary in my cooking, rosemary infused hand lotions and lip balms…

I mean, there’s no real reason for it at all; it’s just one of those phases you stumble into and they just kind of roll with. So, I think I subconsciously gravitated towards this one today because it’s got those strong rosemary undertones to it. I know there are other flavours present for sure but today those were the ones I focused in on, and nothing else.

Song Pairing: https://youtu.be/HNnNLBteKeo

Mix this song and the cup of tea, and you have a very zen/peaceful and relaxing online Christmas shopping and sing-a-longs. Good thing the only person around to witness it was the cat.

Iced, with some honey.

Really into this iced cup; to me it came out especially rich tasting on this particular afternoon and had some really brilliant notes of cedar wood, pine, rosemary, and lemon all with that gentle, soft honey sweetness in the background. I was so impressed with how strong it tasted, in fact, that I let my boyfriend try it! His sense of taste/smell is pretty shot and in general he struggles tasting/smelling most things, not just tea. So, normally straight white teas are a no go for him. For once, he could taste the tea though!

…He just hated it. More for me though, right?

Lightly sweetened with brown sugar.

This is pretty smooth and silky, and it makes for a really nice evening tea. It’s got some nice woody notes to it, hints of herbs, and a lovely hay note. The brown sugar is a tiny little fleck of sweetness alongside an otherwise savory and herbaceous tea.

Peaceful.

This is a queued tasting note.

Gong Fu Session; stream of consciousness style review.

Rinse to wake up the tea leaf.

5 Sec
- Rosemary, cedar, corn silk, hay
- Really smooth
- Lingering Finish

7 Sec
- Really, really herbaceous
- Sweet body notes; honey
- Cedar/wet wood, hay

10 Sec
- Picking up some umami
- Wow… SO MUCH ROSEMARY
- Finish is sort of woody
- Creamed honey

12 Sec
- Basically a rehash of last infusion
- Still enjoyable albeit no new developments

15 Sec
- Repeat of flavour
- Really “feeling” the tea on the front 1/2 of my tongue
- Lingering taste and mouthfeel

25 Sec
- Strong herby/rosemary note is deteriorating a bit
- Finish is woody/salty
- I’m craving more body sweetness

35 Sec
- Final infusion because I’m growing bored and not getting much new

Cold Brew!

Not the most flavourful cold brew in the world, but it makes for better sipping while catching up on Big Brother than straight up water does. I feel like I actually tasted a lot of the herbaceous/rosemary like notes in this one than anything else. Pretty smooth, and pleasant.

Anyone else watching Big Brother right now? Who do you think is playing the best game? Who will win? Who do you want to win? And who deserves to win?