Whispering Pines Tea Company

This was my mid morning cup. Delicious. Smooth. Just-right. I have acquired a nice variety of teas. Obviously, not nearly as many as othe Steepster-ites have, but very respectable. How in the world do people decide what to drink when??? Do things seem to disappear from view and then be re-discovered? It’s a dilemma, but a wonderful one to have.

Boy, this is becoming my Go-To tea. Brewed a full pot this morning. I have a dozen other teas in the cupboard, and another dozen little samples, but for the past week this is the one I want.

Ugh! I have a terrible cold. Really bad, and it’s aggravating my asthma. Right now I’d reach for Cold 911 from David’s Tea, but I’m out. Instead I brewed a pot of this tea. I’m still loving it. It’s warm and smooth and comforting on a raw throat.

2nd cup. Even better! I steeped it a little longer today, and the flavor is full bodied and smooth. I’m really liking this!

My package from Whispering Pines arrived today! I decided to try this one immediately as it’s a bit nippy in my apartment and I’m having a HELLISH day at work. This was great as a pick me up. As always, I can’t taste any particular flavor, but this tea strikes me as bold. Some teas seem weak or bitter no matter how you brew them. This one is just right, with a bit of something lingering in the corners of my mouth. I’m going to try a second steep and see how I like that.

ETA: Second steep was even better!

Mmm tasty. Very chocolately and fruity, with a bit of a red wine intensity. Sweet and smooth. A bit of baked bread on the nose.

I was worried I under leafed this initially, but an extra 30 seconds of steeping was all it needed.

Drinking this around room temp, since I got distracted by phone calls just as I finished steeping this.

I spent all afternoon with this one yesterday and it is my first pu-erh in probably 2 years or so. The only other experiences I’ve had were from David’s and a local store-bought one, both of which I PASSIONATELY DESPISED. Why would I want to drink stinky fish-dirt tea?!

Just wanted to give a background on my lack of good experiences with this kind of tea. The thing is, I love trying new things and I didn’t get how so many people love pu-erh when I absolutely hated it. I decided to give it another go. And this time purchase one that I had carefully screened for offensive fishy notes.

The dry loose (no cake on this one) leaves are tightly rolled, dried, almost powdery-looking. They are dark with lighter golden-brown hues mixed in. I don’t know how other pu-erh teas feel, but this one was heavier in my hand than the loose leaf black teas I am used to. It smelled a bit like a blend of dates and earth, but not in a moldy way if that helps (sorry!).

I brewed it with my lovely and delicate TeaVivre gaiwan and the steeped tea is a deep red-brown clear liquor. It is very aromatic with more of the prominent dates and earth fragrance- almost reminds me of piles of leaves after the rain.

The initial flavour is straight up walnut (with the shell and all) blended with a brown sugar sweetness. It still has the earthy background, but it makes it feel thick and full-bodied on the tongue instead of like a dessert. I followed the brewing directions exactly for this with 30/15/30/45/2 min/5 min and each time I was able to enjoy the walnut, brown sugar, earth combo, though it became notably weaker towards the end. I didn’t give this a higher rating only because I was desperately looking for the vanilla/cream/camphor notes described on the WP website and I didn’t find them. That said, I still really enjoyed it. Next time I am going to try Western style brewing and see if I can find those missing notes. As many of you know, I love true vanilla and even the faintest taste would be wonderful in a tea that is already a pleasant way to spend a rainy afternoon.

TLDR version: I used to think I hated pu-erh. Now I don’t. This one tastes like walnuts, brown sugar, and earth. :)

So the cold I thought I’d got rid of came back for a second swipe, and this time it’s a fair bit worse than it was originally. Yesterday I had a conference at work between 11.30 and 4.45 (with only a 10 minute tea break and no lunch), so I drank virtually nothing all day and unsurprisingly felt like crap when I got home. After a shower, which made me feel at least 1/4 human again, I made up a cup of this one. On its own it restored another 50% – the rest won’t come back until I finally shake this off.

I don’t usually drink my “better” teas when I’m sick because often there’s just no point. I found that I could taste this, though, maybe because the chocolate and fruit notes are so strong, or because it’s so thickly malty. Either way, it was A-MA-ZING. I’ve gone into the specific taste of this one a couple of times before (once very recently) so I won’t do it again here. The point of this note is purely to say “I drank this one and it rocked” and the fact that I felt better as a result is just a happy bonus.

It’s been a long time since I last drank this one, but it came to work with me this morning in my Timolino since I’m hosting an event away from the office until lunch time. As ever with these things, it didn’t go to plan. Tea is obviously a requirement in these situations!I added a splash of milk to my cup this morning, but it would be equally palatable without.

Initially, this comes across as quite a chocolatey tea; dark, almost bittersweet, cocoa-like chocolate. There are also some fairly prominent baked bread notes which remind me a lot of Second Breakfast – there’s an underlying saltiness that I also picked up in that one. The mid-sip is mostly malt, sweet and thick tasting, and it works perfectly with the chocolate notes. So far, so comforting. The end of the sip reveals a light fruitiness, which lingers into the aftertaste. It reminds me most of plum – juicy, a little sharp, a little tart. It’s a flavour combination that almost shouldn’t work, but somehow it does! You have to try it to see. Upon reacquaintance, this is still one of my favourite black teas. I’ve left my rating unchanged accordingly.

1.5 tsp, 3.5 mins, boiling water (212), splash of milk.

Another Whispering Pines sample! I needed a treat to make this morning at work even remotely bearable, and obviously I turned to tea in my time of need. I used 1.5 tsp of leaf, and gave it three minutes in water just cooled from boiling. No additions. While brewing, the scent is wonderfully savoury – I’m thinking rye bread, in particular.

To taste, it’s just as wonderful as I’d hoped. It reminds me of Butiki’s Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black (which I loved), and even a little of Verdant’s Laoshan Black (although that’s a relatively distant memory now). Initially, it’s quite chocolatey, although it’s an almost bittersweet dark chocolate/cocoa flavour. Then, in the mid-sip, the fruitiness emerges! Plum and blackberry are the descriptors best suited; a little tart, a little sharp, but with a wonderful juiciness that makes this an absolute pleasure to sip. In the aftertaste, I’m picking up mostly bread. It matches the scent almost perfectly, in a savoury, lightly malty way. It’s a wonderful combination of flavours – sitting here, it’s almost got me thinking of summer pudding. Or maybe craving is the right word, if I’m honest.

I’m sure I’ve said it before, but black tea like this makes me wonder why I bother with flavoured tea at all. This tea tastes vibrant and fresh, and is so utterly, perfectly smooth; almost like honey. Definitely one I’ll be needing to repurchase!

A delicious sipdown. Similar but different to the golden tips Dian Hong I drank right before this cup.

Notes of malt and chocolate, with a hint of pepper. This was almost too rich and desserty after another cup of chocolatey tea, but oh so tasty.

I will probably pick up some of this one of these days.

Chocolately and malty, a bit of fruit.

I think I’ve been spoiled with some really excellent chocolatey teas lately, because this is delicious but doesn’t stand out in quite the way I was expecting it to.

First off, I just want to say Happy holidays to everyone, whether it be Passover or Good Friday :D

This came in a big bag of tea that had samples from Kittenna, Sil, MissB, Cavocorax, Dexter, and OMGsrsly. I’m not sure who shared this particular tea but I am grateful to get another taste so thank you so much. I am enjoying the breadiness of this cup this morning. It also has nice honey drizzled fruit notes – I want to say plum and raisin to be specific. It’s like a nice comforting breakfast in a mug and comforting is nice right now since one of my dogs passed away this morning. It was a long time coming so it wasn’t a shock but it’s still been a crappy day.

I’m getting honey and fruits with a bit of chocolate and a touch of baked bread. It’s good but on the same note, it’s not as amazing as the hype had me believe. That’s not to say it’s bad, i just think my expectations going in were too high. Nonetheless, I am incredibly grateful to Christina for the chance to try this tea! 275.

This was a surprise sample in my swap with Tealizzy! She kindly included two extra teas that were on my wishlist. It’s been a while since I last had the Golden Snail base, but I do remember liking it (and really, it’s a Yunnan, what’s not to like?), so I’m happy to try this one even though I’m not a big chai fan. There are a lot of crushed spices mixed in with the base tea, though I don’t actually see any pieces of vanilla bean. Dry scent is very strong on the cardamon and ginger, which is not a good sign for me.

Happily, the steeped tea smells much milder and sweeter, and I can smell the vanilla and cinnamon now. Oof, the cardamon is strong with this one! A little too strong for me, as I don’t add sugar or milk to my teas. The clove is fairly strong here too, though I don’t mind that as much. I can taste perhaps a tiny bit of vanilla? And it’s a shame, the strong spicing is drowning out the base tea for me, which I know to be quite tasty. Oh well.

Another superbly wonderful tea from Whispering Pines. I’m adding my review here as I believe I have the old version. It seems sad to say that, because I’m enjoying this cup immensely. Still, seasons change and all that. Clearly I’ll have to try the new version to compare!

Anyway, the tea. I used 1.5 tsp of leaf, and gave it three minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk (just the tiniest one, though!) The scent of the dry leaf is wonderfully chocolatey, like opening a tin of cocoa powder and taking a sniff.

To taste, this is probably the nicest quality black blend I’ve tried in a good long while. The initial flavour is chocolate; quite dark and rich, but with a deliciously smooth, creamy edge. A mild fruitiness emerges in the mid-sip, initially cherry (chocolate covered cherry, anyone?), but ultimately turning more towards apricot. It’s light, fruity, and juicy-tasting, and the perfect counterpoint to the chocolate/cream richness of the initial sip. The end of the sip is heavily malty, with all the sweetness that implies, with a touch of honey. It’s also gloriously smooth. The chocolate flavour lingers in the aftertaste, making this an almost decadent treat. I consider my morning thoroughly brightened! This one is definitely going on my shopping list!

200th tasting note, and a lovely tea for a rainy day!

I’m very happy to try this sample from beelicious. Having enjoyed several WP offerings in the past, I knew I couldn’t go wrong with one of their black tea blends. This one has dark spindly leaves and a rich, cocoa-and-malt aroma. Brewed up, it’s harmonious and smooth, with that “fuzzy”, almost textured malty undertone that I’ve come to know and love. I can’t quite decide what it reminds me of yet—this is a complex tea that will take much exploration. There’s a lighter, fruity accompaniment to it as well. It’s a blend that is both invigorating and soothing, and while I might love Second Breakfast and North Winds just a little bit more, I enjoyed this one highly as well.

I was actually pretty impressed with this flavorful green tea. I’m not normally a huge green tea guy, mainly to the lack of flavor or the remnant flavors of grass. However, toss in some woodsy flavors and some berry-esque notes it makes for a tasty cuppa. I can say this one was my normal drowsy morning looking for something different, and i found this in a box full of samples i had received from a friend, and decided to give it a whirl. Well, leave it to the Breville to bring out the flavors at its precise timing and temperature and it worked so nicely. It was full of fresh scents and actually made me think of camping with this poured from a percolator. I didn’t even need any sweetener. Very impressive especially from a green. I don’t know if it was the pine needle looks or the crisp scents and flavors but it really works:)

Finally gave in and used my one-cup sample of this last night. I’ve been holding out for the sake of my wallet, but the temptation finally got too much! I followed the recommended parameters and gave 1/2 tbsp of leaf 3 minutes in water just cooled from boiling. While brewing, it smells amazing, like vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate sauce. I know already that it’s going to be a treat to drink.

It is, of course. From the very first sip, this is almost like drinking a cup of high quality melted chocolate (only less thick, obviously). It tastes wonderfully of dark chocolate, and is almost a little drying in its intensity, like cocoa powder. It’s saved from becoming too dry by the vanilla, which hangs around in the background and contributes a wonderful, rich, creamy-tasting depth of flavour. I wouldn’t say I get fudge, exactly, but definitely chocolate and vanilla, and enough of both to go a long way. After the initial hit of flavour wears off, I can taste a mild fruitiness that could well be the North Winds. It’s cherry, pretty much, and almost syrupy. It’s the perfect end to the perfect sip!

For a blend of black teas only flavoured with vanilla, this is exceptional. Definitely one I’d like to keep around, although for very special days only. If I drank this regularly, I’d probably drink nothing else. Utterly gorgeous stuff.

Small batch of Willow available now! http://whisperingpinestea.com/willow.html

Also a small amount of Mirkwood is also available now :-) http://whisperingpinestea.com/mirkwood.html

Sometimes I watch the fog floating on a hazy forest breeze. I admire the way it flows through the trees and over the mossy stones beneath my feet. The rain-kissed wind whispers in my ear. I can’t quite understand it, but I know it tells me stories of the willow groves from which it came. If I lie down and look towards the canopy, I can see the fog dancing with the leaves. It’s soft and slow, spending a little time with each leaf before floating onto the next, but always leaving a touch of itself behind — a memory that will drop to the floor, nourishing the ferns, wildflowers, and mushrooms. I believe my heart is a forest, and each experience is a limb of my infinite trees. I like the fog. I like the way it touches every one of my leaves and creates these nourishing raindrop memories — memories that I can’t help but replay in my dreams. Memories that I wish I could capture forever. Maybe with enough of them, the raindrops will grow a new willow grove. I can already feel them growing in my woodland heart. Perhaps the new willow trees need the fog. Maybe the fog needs the new trees to create new memories with. And maybe, if we’re all lucky, the fog will never get tired of dancing with the willows.

Willow combines all things that touch me deep in my soul. From morning walks with a cup of hot cocoa picking wild mushrooms to smelling the sweet aroma of maple syrup on my pancakes after that walk. The essence of the woodlands that formed who I am, Willow is one of my proudest creations. Willow is made with a base of North Winds and the addition of sweet candy cap mushrooms, which are known for their heady maple syrup aroma and sweet, woody flavor. Steeped, the aroma of Willow is complex, with maple syrup, chocolate, and mushrooms. The taste is smooth, sweet, and creamy, opening with identical notes as the aroma. The balance is absolutely perfect, with all notes showing up individually, but none overpowering each other. Immediately following the base notes come hints of stonefruit and oak. The addition of the strong maple note transforms the graininess of North Winds into definitive buckwheat pancakes with a touch of cherry preserves. Clean woody and maple notes linger past the finish, slowly fading into mushroom and oak. I highly suggest enjoying this innovative and unique blend in a big thermos while walking your favorite woodland trail. Breath life, sip inspiration.

Ah, The Mirk. I love this so very much. It is rich and deep and savory. As others have noted, its tastes brothy/soupy. It is definitely reminiscent of mushroom soup, slightly salty and very earthy. But not earthy in a dirty way (although I also enjoy that nice dirt taste as well – but then I’m a gardener).

There is a wee bit of tongue tingle and a nice bit of relaxation, but for me this one is all about the taste. This is perfect for sleety cold day going on outside my house right now. I’m oh so happy to be snuggled in my nook with The Mirk – pure comfort.

Edited to add:

http://instagram.com/p/xrYjVzQx-w/?modal=true

Black tea will always be my absolute favourite, and as I discover more Chinese black teas, they rise higher in my estimation. I bought this one from Whispering Pines in an effort to try more teas from Yunnan, which (of all black teas) seem to possess the majority of characteristics I really enjoy. High praise indeed! This one impresses from the moment the bag is opened. The scent drifting up is pure chocolate – so much so that I almost had to check I’d actually picked up a bag of tea. The dry leaf itself is beautiful – little golden black curls that really do look like miniature snail shells. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is a medium golden brown. Since this is to be my first cup of the day, I added a splash of milk.

The initial flavour is a beautiful, creamy milk chocolate. It’s pretty hard to believe that this isn’t a cup of cocoa, but I definitely made it with tea leaves! I’m reassured when a sweet maltiness emerges in the mid-sip, along with the wonderfully comforting flavour of baked break. Tea it is, and a wonderfully sweet, smooth, chocolatey thing at that! The maltiness deepens towards the end of the sip, becoming an almost treacle-like molasses flavour. It’s rich and flavourful; a real treat for the tastebuds.

See my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/06/12/golden-snail-yunnan-black-whispering-pines-tea-co/

As I’m on a roll with Whispering Pines teas at the moment, I decided to maintain the momentum. I received this as a sample with my last order, and, as I love Chinese black teas, I was pleased to have the opportunity to give it a try. The dry leaf is a beautiful thing; slightly downy bright golden swirls with brownish black edges, which really do bring to mind snail shells.

I followed the recommended parameters, and gave 1 tsp of leaf 3 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is a medium red-brown, and the scent while brewing is sweetly malty with an edge of grain.

To taste, this one is a wonderfully smooth delight. The initial flavour is chocolate (I’d say milk, as it’s quite sweet and mild), followed by a lightly bready note. Freshly cooked, warm, yeasty bread. The sweetness is maintained into the mid sip, where there’s a wonderful maltiness, and the almost starchy flavour of sweet potato. The flavour deepens in the aftertaste, and I can detect a slightly darker, bittersweet note that works as the perfect counterpoint to the initial sweetness. Now it’s more like dark chocolate dusted with dry cocoa, but there’s absolutely no astringency.

I’ve come to really appreciate teas like this, which tick all the boxes for me in terms of flavours I enjoy in black tea. There are others I enjoy equally, but this is a strong contender and one I’d be happy to keep around long term.