Whispering Pines Tea Company

Made this for work today, with a splash of milk added in after steeping.

By the time I got to drinking it, it was hours after my shift and I was already at home curled up on the couch. The tea had definitely gone cold, but that turns out to not be a bad this because now this tastes like the best chocolate milk I’ve ever had! Rich cocoa, cream, vanilla, and malt notes with some honey sweetness and flickering baked French bread notes at the tail.

Mostly chocolate though.

EDIT: And it turns out I’ve totally made the observation about this being great cold before. Plus one for consistency, I guess!

This is tasting note 2700! I missed 2666, which I’m definitely sad about because I bought the perfect tea for the occasion not long ago (Devil’s Mate). Boo!

There’s got to be a better way to word the “title” of this tea. As is, the way it’s put now is a complete mouthful and frankly quite stupid. For one, I had a really hard time pulling this one up in the search bar. Even cutting it down to “North Winds: Old Version” and “North Winds: New Version” would be so, so much better. I know we had a topic about this on the discussion board back in January, but the fact the title of this is still like this definitely is still a pet peeve.

Anyway, I bought this one back in November for Black Friday/Cyber Monday. I actually had forgotten when I purchased it that I’d already tried this before, though I just went back and read my review and it was favourable and I gave this a good rating too so I don’t know why it wasn’t as memorable. For the record, I’ve had this a few times since buying it as well – I just haven’t logged it, for whatever reason.

I like this one a lot though; it’s really consistent. Just like I remarked eight months ago when I first had it, it’s got a very complete, full bodied flavour with rich chocolate and baked bread notes and sweeter vanilla intertwined. I also think it’s at it’s best when it has naturally gone cold; it somehow tastes sweeter and smoother.

I think this one is a really strong candidate for operation “Make my own Monk’s blend” (which is definitely still going), particularly because it already has very natural vanilla notes and I think a strong enough flavour to support grenadine…

So look out for that review, I guess.

Sipdown (131)!

Thank you VariaTEA for the sample! I’m definitely excited to get to try another Whispering Pines tea since I’ve only had a few, and I’d like to experience enough that I can hopefully place an order, with confidence, sooner rather than later.

I made this one in my timolino, and admittedly I let it oversteep a little bit since I got pretty distracted when brewing it. I’m going to assume it was those couple extra minutes steeping that resulted in that little pinch of bitterness this brew had. But actually, despite that bitterness this was still really solid and tasty. It more prominently had notes of chocolate and malt/bread but there were also some very faint stonefruit notes in the far back. The chocolate notes in this also lingered sweetly.

Maybe I’d order this…

Lewis & Clarke TTB

I have been wanting to try this one, and someone kindly added a (wee) bit of it to the box! Thanks, someone! My teaspoon was the only one left in the pouch, so it was very broken up and I didn’t really see any elderberries in there. Dry, it mostly smelled mildly minty. There was only about teaspoon left, so I used less water than I normally would have for this cup (suggested volume is 1.5 tsp per 8 ounces).

This definitely reminds me of Elder Grove a bit, and the two do have several common ingredients. I wish there was more berry flavor, but I think that was just due to my teaspoon not having many elderberries in it. The main flavor is mint, but it’s mild and smooth and not at all abrasive. I also get a nice mellow roasty flavor, I assume from the ceder leaves, and a touch of cinnamony spice. Overall, tasty! I would like to try this one again with a more representative sample. :D

The guest of honor for a spontaneous late afternoon shou party. This was my first time for this one. I don’t have my shouxing seasoned yet so I did this in the gaiwan.

The first steep was nice and balanced. There is leather here but not overwhelming leather, just nice and earthy.

So far my favorite steep is the 3rd. It mellows into sweetness with a camphor tingle at the end.

I’m well into this but I have to say the body feel is immediate. First a little wisp of full body relaxation and then I relaxed into a lovely puddle. The head hum is deep and steady and yummy. My legs are a little rubbery and I’m leaning back and listening to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX3UEGFrINI over and over while I go father into this yummyiness

This is a delicious, smooth shou. I’m glad I have it. Another winner Hobbit! Now I’m gonna go lay down and listen some more and enjoy this.

Wasn’t too sure of this one when I tried it the other day, but on the second try, I actually find myself liking it. I thought it was really earthy at first…probably because I over-steeped it. xD But I really taste the bread and honey flavors. Kinda earthy still. But the bready-ness makes up for it to me. Enjoying this tea a lot more the second time around! (:

Lewis & Clarke TTB

First off, I really like that Brenden separated this into individual servings, it makes it so easy. And I love that they have quotes on them! Cute.

Leaves are smallish and very dark, and they’re long and twisty. Dry scent is quite sweet with a lot of malt and some fruitiness. The aroma is very fruity with a lovely burnt sugar scent. There’s also some dark bread with honey in there too.

I think the tablespoon of tea is a bit much for 8 ounces, but it didn’t come out bitter. This is very strong malt with some dark bread and molasses. I can also taste a dark fruitiness underneath that is very concentrated and reminds me of raisins without the sweetness. The end of the sip mellows out a little bit more and goes more into bready territory, which is lovely.

Overall, this tea is tasty but I don’t feel the need to order it because I already have two of the three teas it’s composed of. :)

I don’t normally consider chais calming, but this one certainly is. There are lots of cedar and pine notes at the start of the sip followed by spice and then the holy basil. Through the entire sip there is a lovely buttery smoothness that just makes me want to take my time and enjoy each sip. So good.

For some reason this tea reminds me of the holidays. If I were to imagine an ideal Christmas-y tea it would be something awfully close to this. The spice gives the festive note, the cedar and pine goes back to nature, and the holy basil gives a calming feeling that I often desperately want/need at that time of year. Not that I would only drink this tea around the holiday season, but you can bet Santa’s milk and cookies that I’ll have a ready supply of it by then!

Thank you kimquat for sending some of this my way!

According to the Steepster Chat Room, this should be my evening cup. I really like the name of this tea. It smells fantastic… very much like a rich, creamy chocolate. There are notes of fruit, and a bit of malt from both bases. The flavour makes me think of a really good hot chocolate with a light cherry/ chocolate dessert in a rich graham cracker crust, and a bit of creamy vanilla ice cream. And now I’m hungry.

Thanks Cheri for letting me try this.

This is really really good. I taught my first lesson today for student teaching, a social studies lesson. Went really well overall, and only made a couple very minor mistakes out of nerves. But it meant that in the morning (and this whole week) I am waking up extra early (I leave at 6:40am) to rehearse my lesson and such, and this is perfect to wake me up. It is toasty and a bit fruity and earthy and super yum. I steeped it a second time to take in the car with me.

Oh look! Steepster is behaving :-)

Let’s post a review!!

This was one of very few teas I hadn’t tried yet from WP.

I was curious, cause although Keemun are sometimes not my favourite teas to drink when too heavy on the smoke, the taste profile of Pine Peak seemed very different.

Well I agree: definitely not your usual full bodied keemun.

It’s much lighter, and I had to steep longer (for my tastes) and add a bit more leaves to achieve a satisfying cup. Once I did that, it was super tasty.

No trace of smoke or strong earthy notes here.

This is the fruit and grain keemun type. I get raisins and barley mostly. It is sweet and a little malty.

There is some kind of light pine taste to it, a little woodsy especially as it cools down.

I see myself drinking this on a regular basis, as a very nice everyday cup.

It’s raining this afternoon, took out my happy ladybug teapot, girly tea time!

http://instagram.com/p/sdQTcIwh7e/

I got this in the post from Cheri today. And it was selected by the folks in the chat room.

This is a nice blend of two teas I really enjoy, and one type I really like. Most Yunnan blacks i tried give me notes of yams, and I get a bit of that in the nose. There are also some scents of chocolate, honey, fresh baked bread, plums, and general sweetness. The flavour is all the things I like about black teas (and the WP ones I tried)… cocoa, honey, bread, and a bit of yams. Overall, it tastes like fabulous.

Dry leaf aroma: Malty with a hint of yeasty sweetness.
Dry leaf appearance: http://instagram.com/p/sZVQOaFcAE/

Wet leaf aroma: Malt and bread with a delicate earthy essence.
Wet leaf appearance: http://instagram.com/p/sZegualcJK/

Preparation: Brewed western style in a ceramic infuser mug.

First steeping: 3 minutes at 205 degrees. This tea is as much a pleasure to smell as it is to sip with its malty bread aroma. The liquor is velvety smooth with a strong freshly baked bread flavor and a subtle buttery mouth-feel. As the cup cools I detect a bit of sweetness and the aftertaste is bread with a buttery note that lingers pleasantly.

Second steeping: 5 minutes at 205 degrees. Very much like the first infusion. The buttery notes are more prominent and the mouth-feel is creamy with a yeasty aftertaste.

I wish I had time to do further steepings, as this is a tea worthy of taking your time to savor.

One thing to note, the key for me with Dian Hong is to underleaf slightly or it comes out a bit bitter. I think that has more to do with my taste buds being quirky rather than being an issue with the tea or my water. Regardless, this is an awesome tea. Lovely to look at, intoxicating to smell, and heavenly to sip!

I thought this would be good out camping during a full moon, so I’m of course having it on a sunny day at home. It smells so herbal… there is mint, and lemongrass. There is something else that comes out in the brew, maybe the elderberries. Flavour— mmm, lemongrass, then there is some mint (spearmint, I think), there are some hints of smoky/ toasted marshmallow. Mostly it is just nicely herbal.

Method: super shou, 10-10-15-20 second rinses. Then brew for 20-20-25

I tasted each rinse until I got to one I could drink without tasting so much earthiness. Now it’s pretty nice. It’s a little sweet and I can taste some vanilla. It’s still a little cavey, but not insanely so.

Don’t tell boychik that I threw all those steeps away… ssshhh

I’m going to start out by saying that I second every word of The Tea Fairy’s review. Most importantly that if one endeavors to create a Rivendell tea, it absolutely must deliver! this is no matter to be taken lightly.

I had high expectations for this one and they were met. If someone told me that this tea came straight out of Rivendell for real, I would believe them. It tastes like a forest, but not just any kind of forest, one inhabited by elves, with delicate traces of magic, beauty, and elegance – if these things could be attributed to a flavor. The flavors all come together nicely, no one of them overpowers another. The vanilla, the roasted cedar leaves, the florals of the oolong base – just perfect.

Steepster was still broken as I was drinking this one. I’m glad that it seems to be back up!

I had never tried a Phoenix Oolong before and I’m pretty sure I messed it up.
Instructions said 1 tbsp/cup for a minute. The 1tbsp didn’t surprise me but this tea is super ‘fluffy’, so I ended up just grabbing a bunch with my hand to put in my cup. I’m wondering if cup meant gaiwan, because I feel like I underleafed.

10 seconds to the rinse.
First one minute steep it tasted like a very light oolong. Very nice and smooth. But the taste was soo light that I couldn’t really say much about individual notes.
The second, and third steep tasted the same, if a little weaker. I wonder if I let the tea cool for too long between sips. It’s hot here and I couldn’t handle really hot tea so I just decanted the steeps and wandered around with chores while sipping away at the last steep. By the end of the third (12oz) steep I was ready for something different (and more interesting).

I feel like this tea is wasted on me. Surely I’m just not doing it right?

Method: 5 g, 5 oz, 200 degrees, rinse 10-10, Brew 15, 30, 45, 60, shou yixing

Aroma: Mild cave

Flavor: I was at my Mom’s house for a little barbie today and overdid it. I came home, fed the pups and immediately started making some shou. But which shou??? I somehow had several WP shou samples, and since I tried the tuo earlier, I went with this loose sample. Only 2 rinses were needed to get past the dirty flavors.

The first 15 second steep didn’t seem very strong, so instead of adding 5 to each subsequent steep, I added 15. Worked out great! I like this shou, and I’m hoping it aids in digesting the rather oily foods I was consuming earlier. <3

I used one tuo in 4.5 oz water at 200 degrees. Three 10 second rinses and then 15-20-25 seconds.

It took 3 rinses for the earthy flavors to abate. Now there’s just a lightly cavey flavor. It’s rather pleasant and even a little sweet.

Not much else to say. No one is going to see this anyhow, so I’m not going to take the time to be poetic. Instead, I am going to find a yoga video since I’ve stopped being so sore. Yay! :)

Additional notes: I wanted a chocolate tea this morning and thought of this one, though I’ve only had it one time. Looking at the tasting notes for it though, I said it was the most naturally chocolate tea I’ve ever tasted. Maybe this is a different harvest, but it wasn’t extremely chocolate this time. Maybe because last time I used just boiled water and this time I waited a while? I think I used more leaves than last time too, so that should have helped. This one now reminds of Harney & Son’s Queen Catherine. Chocolate and a little bit of smoke. Both teas are made with Chinese teas, so that might be why (Harney’s site says Keemun, Panyang, & Yunnan so not exactly the same as this one ). Sipdown! And 1,800 tasting note!
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // 10+ minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 5 min a.b. // 3 min
Steep #3 // TBD

Thank you Kimquat for sharing some of this one! I had around one teaspoon, so I didn’t fill my mug all the way, but now that I think of it, it was probably the suggested eight ounce amount anyway. I’ve noticed that it is basically Golden Orchid without the vanilla, and it’s so good, it doesn’t really need the vanilla. I swear there is some magic in these leaves. I can’t imagine how they are this chocolatey. Definitely the most chocolate tea I’ve ever tried without additions. It even has the consistency of melted chocolate. I love this one. I’d have to stock up on this one… but no orders for a while!
Steep #1 // just boiled // 2 1/2 min steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 1/2 min

Smells delightfully smoky, like a campfire. The first taste when inhaling is smoke, but then the refreshing mint comes through. The mint cools the heat of the smoke and makes the tea lighter. It also brings a nice level of sweetness and takes the deep edge off the smokiness. I’m really liking this tea, thanks kimquat for the sample!