Whispering Pines Tea Company

TheTeaFairy included a sample of this in the last box I received from her. Thank you so much.
Smokey cinnamon rooibos – sorry this didn’t really work for me. Will add more marshmallow root and less tea next time – maybe even lower water temp. This needs to be played with for my tastes…..

Thank you Brenden for including this sample in my last order. It sounded so good that I had to drink it immediately. Unfortunately, I finished both cups of this a few hours ago so I don’t remember much, but I feel like I tasted spices and sweet potato and warm baked bread. It was delicious and I enjoyed each steep.

I might grab an oz for my next order just to get a better feel for it!

Finally I got my WP. I was so excited to try this particular blend. It’s new and sounded dreamy from the description. And it is . This chai is very smooth, spices are balanced and so fresh. It is strong. After few sips I decided to add some milk and touch of maple syrup. Delicious. Second resteep@ 4 min as good as first one. What makes this chai special is wonderful Bi Luo Chun base which never gets astringent or bitter.
I prefer it with some maple syrup, no milk needed.

Sweet chocolate cherry goodness is making me so happy this morning. Many other notes on this. Right now I’m just nomming it.

My tea of the morning for the first morning of my much needed vacation. This chocolate-cherry cup of delicious is the perfect way to start my day and is brought to be my well-seasoned Vanilla Dreams yixing pot. The extra vanilla bean seasoning day was a brilliant idea Tea Hobbit.

http://instagram.com/p/sARwTtwx0I/?modal=true

After a hectic 4 hour drive home (with my new tea cabinet loaded in my vehicle and stupid traffic, I am home, I am showered and I’m relaxing with my dogs and a cup of these chocolate covered cherries and contemplating the arrangement of my new cabinet. I’m about to crack open a book. Life is good.

I’m drinking the last of my preview sample which would be sad except I know Brenden mailed my new supply yesterday so it will be here soon and I can have all the chocolate covered cherry tea I want. I think this one will also do that thing Golden Orchid does: it starts out incredibly awesome and then it sits around with that vanilla bean and it gets better and better ad better. This will be a chocolate morning as I have (FINALLY!) Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha. Hopefully all this chocolate will compensate for not enough sleep. I’m really about to lick my cup on this one

Ever wonder what sweet chocolate love tastes like? Yes, I said SWEET. CHOCOLATE. LOVE. With a cherry on top? Wonder no more damas y caballeros – Cocoa Amore is here to show you exactly what it tastes like. Actually it tastes like Cherry Whoppers. If Cherry Whoppers actually existed and were made by Godiva out of truly excellent chocolate and with real cherries! Brought to you by Brenden & the Magic Vanilla Beans. I know you’re asking, “What’s that you say Mz HoneyBelle Priss? That’s a bunch of mixed up funky stuff.” It sounds that way, but in reality it’s a chocolate-vanilla Cherry Bomb (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYf_NM_lCLI) y’all:

Hello Daddy, hello Mom
I’m your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb
Hello world I’m your wild girl
I’m your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb!

First I have to say, I’ve been SMELLING this for a week. OK so huffing it might be slightly more accurate. But it was here and I was waiting for the LovelyTeaFairy’s (LTF) sample to get to Canada. I kept sending her notes saying, “chocolate covered cherries!”

I started out very, very carefully following Brenden’s parameters of ½ tablespoon in 8 ounces of 200 degree water for 3 minutes and zero seconds. We always try to mind him on the first round.

As soon as that timer went off, I poured up a deep amber cup and inhaled a malty chocolate cherry nose-bomb. It’s medium-bodied, but it’s a body that won’t quit (more on that later….foreshadowing!)

Luscious liquid cocoacherrymaltvanilla bliss. All of those elements are very present, with the vanilla the most in the background on the first steep. But I’m not kidding – this is sublime. It is right up close to Golden Orchid for me and that is saying quite a lot. GO is a sweet dream of a tea and so is this. It’s got lots of bottom with the cocoa and the malt with a sprightly cherry bit and that silky smooth vanilla to make it mellow and it is so sweet with a deep caramel note – a real cuplicker.

On the second steep, I went for 4 minutes. There was less cherry, the coca was still definitely there as it mellows out to a less malty cocoa and it still has plenty of body. It is a deep cocoa powdery kind of cocoa and at this point a slight bit of cinnamon starts to peek in.

The third and fourth steeps (yes, it re-steeps awesomely), the malt diminishes but there is still some cocoa and vanilla with the cinnamon waving from a distance. For the last half of the 4th steep, I decided to go Terri-style and added ½ teaspoon of maple syrup to it and that brought the cocoa back. A delicious way to finish this.

Oh! There were still some leaves in the bottom of the teapot that sat there for quite a while – at least 15 minutes – no way was I just pouring that out. I was quite surprised to find there was no bitterness or astringency – just really strong, still delicious tea.

So I will be waiting impatiently with the rest of y’all until I can have a supply of this. This one is very very very near to Golden Orchid awesomeness for me and that is an extremely high bar. And once more LTF – such a delight to get to share this with you!

Ok so I decided to review these two together because I thought that they would be similar but I was kinda wrong about that.
View my Blog Post here http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/2014/07/house-tieguanyin-lots-1-and-2-by.html
They are slightly similar due to the roasty and caramel notes But the #2 seems darker roasted and kinda complex.
It has a lot going on without too much going on and everything that is going on in this one is wonderful!
I’m just going wing it here because I’m not really sure how to describe all the notes and hints and flavors that I am getting from this one.
I cant really compare it to #1 like I thought I was going to be able to.
I’d have to compare it to a maybe a Da Hong Pao and an Amber Oolong at the same time, maybe even to a dancong I’m really not sure but I know this is surely a roast that I love.
Since I’m not really sure how to describe it I’ll post all of the different
notes that I get from this one some of them may even seem to contradict each other.
The notes I get are Roasty, Caramel(comparable to the caramel in #1),mineral, fruit(grape and peach, citrus even), champagne or wine, earth, wood, grape leafe, Darjeeling, sweet, honey, slight vegetal, slight astringent, grape leafe, wheat/rye, and ? i dunno.
Sound not so good to you?? too much?? not really honestly all of these notes appear at different times in the tea or as it cool or as it steep longer.
Ya a little complex to me but in a really good way. I think anybody could love this Tea and I bet you get some of these same notes and more, probably some notes that I couldn’t pick upon or just didn’t know how to describe. Sorry I know this isn’t a very good review but it is the best I could do because i just got so much out of this one. It is good steeped light and it is better steeped long and strong, but it never gets too strong. some slight astringent but no bitter at all. Delicious tea :)
Also it is very smooth and sweet, even better for a rainy day like today.
Oh this one isn’t released just yet but it is Coming Soon!!! I was to get a taste before it is out because Brenden is cool like that ;)

I had originally brewed in a glass gaiwan but I’ve been brewing in a tall glass here lately with a lot of my teas, i find that some of them taste better that way, For some reason they can steep that way and never get bitter or over brewed or anything negative.
This one has a roasty and slightly sweet aroma to me much roastier than the flavor.
The flavor is slightly roasty with a slight vegetal almost woodsy note with flavors of caramel and honey and even a little floral.
the Caramel notes to me are like the caramel coloring used in whiskey some folks cant even taste the caramel in the coloring but I can. I did get a slight fried banana type fruity note that was hidden in the caramel and some mineral notes too. I like this one, it is quite nice.
Great for a Rainy day :)

Method: 1.5 tsp, 8 oz, 208 degrees, 3 minutes, brew in mug strainer

Dry Leaf Aroma: rice, malt, also something familiar, like a sweet candy

Brewing Aroma: Smells like malt

Flavor: Toasty with a hint of rice. This has a stronger, dark malt flavor. It’s also got a little bit of harshness on the end of the sip. I like the tea, but wasn’t not wowing me. I decided to try this Terri-style, since I’ve heard that term several times today. LOL. I added about a teaspoon of maple syrup and there’s the wow! The tea smooths out and has a lightly sweet finish.

It tastes like something I’ve had before. Maybe something like a sweet bread or bun. The maple is obviously there, but it brings out a bakery note in the tea. Very interesting! I can see why the maple syrup is so popular with tea!

Update 7/13: tried again this AM and used 200 degree water. There’s a little less bitterness, but I’m still not finding those chocolate notes. Sometimes it’s just not meant to be!

First note for the new blend! MM has been pushed to a whole new level of delicious. Each element is in harmonious balance. Sweet lemongrass and spearmint are at the front of each sip, refreshing and calming. The “greener” flavors are tempered by a subtle undercurrent of berry. (Berry, to me, is almost always a red-purple flavor.) The base tea of the new blend is more subdued than the old. It’s not as smoky; the smokiness is only a small element. The Keemun base is all honey, graham cracker and toasted marshmallow. There’s no astringency. It’s touched by woodsmoke, silky and smooth. It’s lovely! Drinking this tea takes me to a place far from here: standing by a smoldering campfire in the early morning light, breathing in the cool misty air with the sounds of the forest all around me. I raise my head to watch the brightening sky when drops of gentle rain begin to fall…

Review for the old version is here:
http://steepster.com/kmewrd/posts/245173

I’m really enjoying this one today, although I wish I’d made it just a tad stronger, but as it is, I’m at the bottom of the bag, & if I’d used it all for this cup, it would have been too strong. I have just enough left for one more serving, so it goes into my Sipdown Extravaganza box. I’m getting a pretty good collection lined up!

Glad steepster is working, & glad to be here. I am technically right handed, but I write well with either hand, both forwards & backwards. If anybody ever wants to read my journals, they will need a mirror for some segments, because I like to ask questions with my RH, & let my subconscious answer them backwards with my LH. I can also type really well left handed, eat with chopsticks, & pretty much anything else my RH does.
Except drive a stick shift :(

Tasty & smooth, kind of creamy even. The vanilla is nice, esp if you add a little maple.
I was more enamored with this tea the first time I tried it, and it is nice, but the price is too steep for me. I realize the price of vanilla beans is way up there, & I appreciate Brenden’s use of REAL vanilla though! :)

This is sublime…simply sublime.
Picture this: It’s a really hot day (& it IS in St Louis). Hot & humid, & you’re literally dragging yourself across that field of dreams, because you know that if you just take that walk, there will be relief.

And so, finally, you arrive at the edge of the forest, & as soon as you duck into it’s shade, your entire day begins to unwind. Even in the heat of summer, the coolness of being beneath the canopy is all enveloping. The smell of layer upon layer of decomposing leaves rises to greet you, the humidity in the air immediately becomes cavelike. You walk until you reach a bubbling spring, you find a sizable patch of moss, & you lie down in that shady place, with the sounds of water, birds, & leaves gently rustling .
Heaven doesn’t always include a Harp.

Sipdown! (107)

Aw, I’m sad to see this one go, but I couldn’t bring myself to keep the two servings I had left when I can easily order more when there are fewer teas in my cupboard. This is a very lovely tea, combining very strong honey flavor with grain and fruity notes. My final cup was a little bit bitter but that was due to overleafing – I didn’t want to have a tiny awkward amount of tea left over. :P

Hooray, my new electric kettle came in the mail today! I could not have been more excited. I filled it up, boiled the water, then dumped it out twice just to make sure there was nothing weird inside. And then I selected this tea to try because I was curious about its contribution to the S’mores that I tasted yesterday. The leaves are very long and thin, twisty and jet black. Very dramatic! The dry smell is somewhat malty, somewhat fruity, and a little musty with some honey notes. Brewed according to package directions! :)

The aroma is not what I expected for a Keemun. For some reason I was under the impression the Keemuns are smoky and earthy. Apparently not all of them! It smells of sweet, syrupy raisins with a hint of spice, along with lovely malty bread notes with brown sugar. It’s like cinnamon raisin bread tea! :P On to the taste! The raisin is definitely here as well, and I think I pick up a touch of spice (cinnamon?). There’s a lovely light grain or bread flavor that segues perfectly into a lovely creaminess near the end of the sip. Somewhere in the middle is a nice earthy cocoa note that lends depth and richness to the overall taste.

This tea is not at all what I expected! Much lighter in color and texture than I thought it would be, and the flavor is not heavy at all. I can definitely see this being the graham cracker in the S’mores blend, with some help from the added cinnamon and marshmallow root. And it’s very delicious on its own too!

Almost done with these samples I’ve gotten with other orders. D: Don’t think I noticed the earthiness of this tea so much before, but I actually still like it.
Lots of cocoa notes among the earthiness.
Still really enjoy it. (:

So, steeped this for like 5 minutes on accident. xD Got way too excited messaging Sarsonator about Rifftrax. If you have no idea what Rifftrax is, look it up. It’s like one of the greatest things in the world! XD
This is pretty malty, but not too strong. I love the cocoa notes in this tea, it’s just a perfect combo of chocolate and malt. ^^ Another win from Whispering Pines!

I am on to your plan Brenden! You think just because you are nice and put a sample of this in my order, I’ll love it and order it.

Ok, you’re right.

The roofers started at 6 am, and the cleaning lady is here. She’s really loud – one of those people who only has one volume. I think by the time they both leave today we will all be ready for bed.

I wasn’t willing to gamble this morning and needed something reliable and strong. This was my choice. Save me snails!

Last tea of yesterday, then I kept the leaves so I wouldn’t waste the resteep. It is today’s first tea. So. Good.

On tap for today, see what’s in my work email and deal with that, then do laundry all day while watching Netflix. I finished The West Wing so I need something new to watch.

Guess who’s a good boy and graduated to a tin today.

Now I can say that I have had “wee snaily yums” and my autocorrect REALLY wants that to be Yuma instead.

These little dingleberries of awesomeness certainly make a nice tea! And they’re cute. Then they morph into giant tea leaves. It’s like having sea monkies in tea form. It’s a show and a tea!

Yep, in a weird mood today!