Whispering Pines Tea Company

OMG! Thank you Cameron B for the sample of this tea…and she tells me it originally came to her from Dexter so thank you both SO MUCH!

WOW, so apparently I LOVE Tahitian vanilla beans in tea. The two from Whispering Pines that include them are my favorites from this company so far and maybe 2 of my favorite teas of all time! The dry leaf is very beautiful here too, dark twisty leaves blended with shiny golden fuzzbuds…mmm. So rich and creamy. The vanilla evokes a marshmallowy sweetness. Super dreamy tea! I love it!!!

I’ve tried this one twice now and as a smores addict (it is one of my favorite treats), I am (sadly) not really enjoying this tea for the most part. The most prominent flavor/smell is that of a smokey campfire, so that part is absolutely nailed. Beyond that, I am tasting pine and strong cinnamon without any of the chocolate or graham that I would associate with smores. It is an interesting blend and I don’t hate it or anything, but it isn’t what I expected. It does brew a lovely autumn deep orange with clear liquor. It is very warming with the prominent woods and spice. The tea leaves themselves are long and look to be of high quality, but maybe it needs more marshmallow root and Fujian black? Just guessing here though. I also tried it with milk, but without the cocoa or other sweet notes associated with a dessert blend, I didn’t find it any closer to what I was hoping for. I’m going back to my trusty favorites like GO and Cocoa Amore, which are simply amazing.

I sip it slowly — savoring the delicate color and aroma. It is especially great when I am stressed and need to slow down

After reading reviews about this oolong, I knew I had to try it. Thanks to TeaTiff who sent me a sample, I finally was able to partake of this yummy tea! I haven’t much experience with dark or roasty oolongs so I don’t have a lot to compare this to, but I have to say this was quite an enjoyable cup. Perfect for fall! It tasted of cocoa, wood, and French Roast coffee, with some subtle hints of burnt caramel in there as well. As I slowly sipped, I couldn’t help thinking that the only thing better than this tea would be if it was accompanied by a nice piece of dark chocolate—85% cocoa. Mmmmm those flavors would mingle perfectly together! I checked my chocolate stash and to my horror realized I was completely out of dark chocolate (no surprise there…being a serious chocoholic, AND a pregnant one, means that I am perpetually out of the stuff. Bummer!)

Anyway, I did a second steep and it smelled and tasted like watery burnt coffee, so I definitely preferred my first cup.

Sipdown! 970. (Added all my samples from Sil to my cupboard… hopefully this number won’t hit 1000…) Anyhow, thanks Sil for sneaking out a cup of this one for me, since I was super curious about it. I can definitely see why you wouldn’t like it – it’s actually fairly jasminey. Nice jasmine, yes, but it’s not just a hint, either. Beneath the jasmine I can taste a hint of pine, and then jasmine appears again. The base is smooth and creamy, without a lot of distinctive flavour, which is ok.

Overall, this tastes too much like a jasmine green/white for me to bother ever purchasing. I love the idea of the pine needles, but they’re drowned out by the jasmine. It’s a nice tea, but just not distinct enough. I’ll see if subsequent cups bring out the pine notes more. Fingers crossed.

ETA: Enjoyed the resteep of this blend as well, but still too much jasmine. I think it’s possible that the jasmine and pine are complementary flavours, and I’m having trouble distinguishing them a bit, but there were times when I took a sip and definitely tasted pine notes – I would love more of that.

ETA again: On my third or fourth infusion of this one, and although it’s still too much jasmine, I’m really enjoying the creamy, almost cheesecakey(?) aftertaste. Sign of a good base tea, if nothing else :)

Oh my… with milk added to the cup, this tastes exactly like chocolate malted milk candy.

Smooth, rich and creamy and velvety – so good!

A super delicious vanilla tea!!

Working from home this morning because i haven’t been able to sleep well since we got back from vacation. So i’m exausted. The plus to that, is that since my other half is working nights this week, we’ll have a bit of time together to start putting the house back together lol my mother will be up in a week? and our spare bedroom currently has all our office things in it.
the other upside so this, is that my other half got up early to make banana bread, so it would be warm from the oven first thing in the morning. So a slice of that and a cup of this, and i was off to a great start this morning. Still meh about this tea, so the last of it is off to cavo so that she can give this one a try.

meh. Not going to need to restock this one after i’m finished with the quantity i have at the moment. This has that oolongy taste going on in the background that i prefer not to drink. It’s not completely off putting, so i’ll continue drinking this but it means that i like it less than other teas from WP :)

another one from the other night that i really am going to have to hold off reviewing. i lost all sense of time while we were out and wasn’t really paying attention to the tea. Not a good idea the first time having it lol

last cup of this today. Again, not much to keep saying about this one – it’s delicious but won’t be a permanent item in my collection…though i will reorder :)

I figured that i might as well splurge on having this one today since i had time for a couple resteeps and because it’s close to being finished. I really do want to keep on getting my cupboard in order – i’m thinking maybe a goal of 50 for the end of next year heh I enjoy this one, though with the discussion taking place about quality vs price this one comes to mind. I have a hard time justifying prices like this one tea, EVEN if it’s a tea that i can resteep and rather enjoy. Mainly because 9 times out of 10, unless i’m doing a puerh session, i don’t want resteeps. I want a different cup of tea. and secondly, there are other teas that are “nearly as delicious” that are half the price. So the majority of the time, i’m ok with those other teas. What i do like, is being able to splurge occasionally on more expensive, quality teas as a treat. So that i take the time to slow down and really enjoy them when i have them. This is one of those teas that falls in to that category. I really like it, but it’ll never be a permanent tea in my cupboard. Rather, i’ll rotate it in when i want a treat :)

i treated myself to this one last night. I’m trying to take my time drinking through the bit that i purchased since i’m not likely to be picking it up on a regular basis. Unless there’s a sale it’s hard to justify the price for a tea that isn’t travel mug friendly EVEN if it IS delicious. I need my teas to be able to handle travel mugs, if only because the vast majority of my tea is had via that means. Not the most amazing way to drink tea but there are limited options at work otherwise. Going to call it a new day now, and land my final count for Friday at 80. On the upside, i’m still at my goal for this month with a couple more days left in the month before i’m travelling again heh.

Final Count: 80

soooo what i have learned about this tea is that it needs to be had in a ceramic mug and NOT in a travel mug. In a mug, this is a delicious, cocoa-y tea that i adore. In a travel mug, i’m just not a fan of it. haha. There’s a sweetness to this one that i quite like especially when combined with the cocoa notes. I think i’d consider keeping this one around for special occasions to drink from time to time. mmm

I’m still undecided about this one. it was nice but i’m not sure i love it. Sadly, i drank this yesterday and shouldn’t judge until i can have it again when impressions are fresh.

The dry leaf is so cute to look at and scoop out of the package.

Tastes of sweet potato, malt, cocoa and some spice – delicious and smooth.

Very nice!

Another wonderful tea from Whispering Pines! This one has such a rich and deep aroma, like a damp mossy forest, tinged with a soft wisp of cocoa. And the taste lives up to the scent: golden smooth, with strong notes of cocoa and bread and honey. This is the kind of tea that makes me slow down and pay attention to each sip, because it’s just that good. And it keeps me coming back for multiple cups, too. I’ll have to take more detailed notes sometime, about the nuances in each steeping. For now, though, I’m just enjoying how delicious it is.

One of the best black teas that I’ve tried so far. I might not always be able to restock it, but I’ll be sad if I don’t have any around, that’s for sure!

I’ve had this one before as well and i am still enjoying it. I think this is closer to the bottom of the bag, so the spices are a little off this time around but the base of the tea makes up for that. Malty goodness blended in to a good chai. Just have to shake things up again so that the spices blend a little better. Still though, would love to be able to pick up all the teas i love in one order instead of having to place 5 orders just to get them all..