Whispering Pines Tea Company

Tea of the morning. I’m not moving very fast today, and I’m more than happy to sit here reading tasting notes while sipping on this lovely. The beginning of the sip is sweet and malty with the sweetness having a nice fruitiness to it. I also taste a deep cocoa note as well as honey. The smokey flavor comes at the end of the sip. So good and a really nice way to enjoy a Friday morning.

So it’s not cold cold here yet, but the weather’s heading in that direction. It makes me want to curl up with a blanket, a huge stack of books, my cat, and endless cups of tea. If I could hibernate that’s how I’d do it. Alas, I’m forced to go out and interact with the world even when the temperature drops.

Thankfully I had this tea to get me going. The cocoa and honey-sweet notes are really heightened by the smoke. It’s soooo good, and it continues to be one of my favorite breakfast teas. I think this tea would be stellar with a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, and biscuits. It could easily hold its own next to other big flavors. I can say with certainty that it’s yummy with a bagel and cream cheese.

I woke up to a chilly house this morning. For the first time in months I found myself putting on my slippers and grabbing my warmest robe before heading to the kitchen. I decided this would be a good tea to help chase the chills away. I found the cocoa note mixed with the light smokiness really pleasing today. I want to say it’s comforting, but it’s also peppy and invigorating. I guess a good tea can be all of the above. :)

This tea has quickly become one of my favorite breakfast teas. I love the way it smells while steeping. It reminds me of a morning campfire with its smokey notes but there’s also something a little bright and clean about the fragrance. The taste is chocolate, smoke, sweet with a hit of citrus right at the end. It’s a grand way to start the morning, and as fall weather starts peeking in I’m finding myself enjoying this tea even more.

Tea of the morning. This is incredibly cocoa-y today. The cocoa note is nice and dark, and then there is a bright, high citrus note followed by a touch of smoke and some honey-like sweetness at the end of the sip. Mercy all, this is some good tea. I also like that this tea has a lot of body with zero astringency. This is easily one of my favorite teas to begin the day with.

Quick side note, this is the only hot tea that my cat is curious about. Every time I make it she wants to plant her kitty nose in my mug. While I agree with her that this tea smells great it’s odd to me that she only does that with this particular tea. Now iced tea she loves. If we leave a glass of tea on the table we have to cover it so she won’t drink it!

Tea of the morning. This is a really good breakfast tea. It’s smokey, malty, and sweet with a good amount of strength and body. Definitely something that’ll get me going in the morning. I also think this tea would be awesome served with bacon and eggs. [Note to self: try that out later this week.] The sweetness in the tea reminds be a little of baked grapefruit, but that could just be my brain being stuck in breakfast mode.

I can see why this tea is called December. It is a comforting, welcome home type tea. Something that would warm body and soul after being out in the cold for a while. I can see myself really enjoying this one in a different way once the cold weather sets in, but for now this is going next to my other breakfast teas so I can enjoy December all summer.

Scheherazade’s Super Sipdown Week! #25

The last of my sipdowns, which I finished yesterday evening. Unlike ML’s Organic Hojicha, this is a green tea I can confidently say I like. It’s grassy and slightly vegetal, but fresh and mild all the same. It reminds me of some of the better Mao Feng greens I’ve tried (maybe not surprisingly?), but the leaf here is more beautiful! A sad sipdown.

Another new try this morning. I’m trying to work through my smaller quantities of tea in order to reduce my cupboard — it’s fairly crazily out of control at the moment. It also gives me the chance to try some new teas, which is nice, as I’ve become a little jaded with drinking the same teas over and over again. I’m sure I’ll appreciate them more after a refresher!

Anyway, the tea. I followed the parameters for this one, and gave 1tsp of leaf 1.5 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The leaves are very fine and string-like, and (at least dry) are fairly curly. Wet, they unfurl and become uniformly straight, with some unfolding into complete leaves with stem! The scent is very vegetal, like freshly cooked green beans with maybe a touch of butter.

Brewed, the liquor is a medium yellow-green shade. The flavour is quite intensely nutty, with an almost mossy edge. Wet leaves is what it really reminds me of, I think! It’s relatively sweet, particularly in the initial sip, and there’s a tiny note of citrus. It’s very lightly astringent. It doesn’t taste nearly as vegetal as it smells, although there is an element of buttery green beans, or maybe asparagus. Mostly, it reminds me of walking through a young forest in spring, after a light rain fall. It’s a very fresh, light flavour. I can see this one holding up well, so I may resteep it later. A delicious green!

Second steep was much, much lighter in flavour. It’s still mildly vegetal, but I’ve lost most of the notes I picked up earlier — there’s not very much nuttiness, no forest…it’s pleasant, but I liked the full strength initial steep more. The second steep could be my friend when I’m looking for a milder green, though, so I’ll bear it in mind for the future.

Scheherazade’s Super Sipdown Week! #14

I like how unusual this one is. It brews up a treacle-y black, it taste of christmas, it’s a herbal, but like no herbal I’ve ever experienced before. I appreciate that I drank this one hopelessly out of its ideal season, but I still love it. One I’ll look to restock come winter, when I need a delicious, cinnamon warmer.

This was a sample with my first Whispering Pines order. The dry leaf smells strongly of cinnamon, and actually reminds me of christmas cake. I know it’s summer, and this is another tea that’s hopelessly inappropriate for the season, but I have a sore throat (STILL), so I’m more or less pleasing myself.

I used about 2tsp of this (the packet says 1/2 tbsp, but I don’t have a tablespoon measure with me so I’m guessing a bit!). I’ll have enough for another cup left if I use this quantity of leaf, so hopefully I have the right idea. I’m using a pretty big cup to boot.

I gave this the recommended 5 minutes in boiling water. When I returned to retrieve it, the whole of our office kitchen smelt of cinnamon, and the liquor was a surprising dark brown. Somehow, I wasn’t expecting that!

This is an interesting tea — probably the most interesting I’ve tried in a while. The flavours are pretty complex — the first sip reminded me strongly of chai, but it’s actually quite different in style even though some of the flavours are the same. Cinnamon is the main flavour, followed by elderberry. There are other spices kicking around in the background, I think, but I’m finding it hard to identify them individually. A swirl of spicy heat finishes each sip, although it soon fades. At that point, the bitter-sweet, slightly tart elderberry returns. It’s a pleasant combination, although admittedly not one I’ve come across before. It would make a wonderful winter tea to sip before bed curled up by a fire! Although the ambiance is off at the moment, it IS making my throat feel better, so it’s a definite win with me. One I’d consider repurchasing come winter.

Scheherazade’s Super Sipdown Week! #15

This is the first tieguanyin I’ve tried, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last. The mix of floral and green flavours is wonderful, and it’s nice to have an oolong you can’t ruin with boiling water!

Another first for today — I’ve never tried a Tieguanyin before! I figured that while I’m stepping outside of my comfort zone, I might as well stay there for a while. I had serious reservations about putting oolong in boiling water, but I did it anyway. It still feels odd to do that, but it makes sense to trust those with more experience. I gave this two minutes.

The resulting liquor is medium yellow-green, and smells quite toasty. To taste, it’s very buttery and very smooth. There’s a strong nuttiness — chestnut is probably fairly spot-on — and a wash of floral flavour towards the end of the sip. The oolong is slightly grassy — I have to keep reminding myself that it’s not a green! It’s quite a heavy tea in terms of flavour, but it’s so smooth that it doesn’t really become an issue. It’s not over-cloying, and I’m glad for that. The flavours dance across the palate, and the floral edge lingers momentarity — it’s like walking through a summer garden. Based on this experience, Tigguanyin is something I’d like to learn more about, and would seek out again. I think I may be coming around to green oolongs more than I ever thought I would!

Second cup of the day. I followed KS’s advice and brewed this one for only 15 seconds. It has turned out a sort of dark ruby, and the flavour is much, much lighter. It’s still got the distinctive damp, mossy, earthy notes, but there’s less horse. I consider this a good thing.

I still don’t think I can be persuaded to try many more pu’erhs. I might have to accept that they’re just not for me — or at least, not at the moment. They’re certainly a unique drinking experience, though!

I should probably also say that this is a sipdown. I have been saving my last one-cup servings up for a mega sipdown session while I’m off work next week, but I figured I’d probably lose my nerve with this one if I didn’t just get on with it. I have less tea to choose from at work, so I pretty much have to drink whatever I’ve got with me. It gets me past my tea inhibitions sometimes! Anyway — say yay for one less in the cupboard!

I’m pretty scared of pu’erh in general, but as my throat is still sore this morning I decided I could probably risk giving this one a go. If I don’t like it, at least I can hope I missed some of the finer nuances! This is the first plain pu-erh I’ve ever tried, so I’m a little apprehensive. I haven’t been overawed with the flavoured versions I’ve tried so far — in general, the base is just too much for me.

Anyway, I put aside my reservations and gave this one 2 minutes in boiling water. I stopped at two because of the colour the liquor had already turned — black, basically — and because the smell coming of it was fairly pungent. I might have lost my nerve if I’d gone the extra minute.

First sip was actually okay. I tried not to focus on the scent so much, because that inevitably puts me off. It does remind me of mucking out stables when I used to keep a horse as a teenager. Fortunately, there’s not too much of that present in the taste, although there’s a tinge of it in the initial flavour. Mostly, I get a musty, damp flavour with a certain something that reminds me of wet, freshly turned earth. It does put me in mind of caves or a forest after a rain shower. It’s more palatable than I thought it would be, although I suspect this kind of tea will never be a favourite. It’s just too pungent for my tastes. I will admit to enjoying this as a morning cup, though. The strength alone helped to wake me up! Definitely a valuable experience to have had, even if it’s only really cemented the fact that my journey into pu-erh will probably end soon.

Butiki Taste Testing Traveling Tea Box – Tea #2
I loved seeing a Whispering Pines tea in the teabox, but it didn’t look like this one had much love on Steepster. A Yunnan from WP without much love? What?

Steep #1 // a few minutes after boiling // 3 min
I did use more than a teaspoon for this cup accidentally, maybe that made the difference of me LOVING it. It doesn’t really seem like a Yunnan to me though, especially with all this smoke. Closer to a Lapsang Souchong than a Keemun even. This is a very dark cup – dark burgundy in color, so I’m not sure where the “light” flavor is coming from. It has enough bite to it, but it doesn’t seem like I overdid the leaves.

Steep #2 // a few minutes after boiling // 3 min
Another really nice cup – it doesn’t have the oversteeped leaves flavor. Maybe everyone just needed to use more leaves? But that would be more smoke than many people want to handle. Not too much smoke for me though!

(From the Unflavored Traveling Tea Box)

I think this is the first white tea that’s made me do a double take at my mug. It’s so wonderfully summery, full of hay and honeysuckle notes with a hint of apricot right at the end. The tea has a sort of fuzzy feeling to it which I didn’t think I would like, but it works here. This is also a very refreshing tea. I’d love to try it iced. This, iced on a hot summer’s day, would be perfect. I don’t currently have a white tea in my cupboard, but I’ll likely pick up some of this with my next WPT order.

From the Tea and Cards TTB: The aroma here is not very strong. Very light cocoa notes with a bit of caramel are emanating from my cup. As I sip it, I can’t help but to think that although I am enjoying it, there is no defining characteristics that really shine through. It has a pleasant malt taste, with a slight fruity quality but it stops there. I like it, but I don’t love it and I doubt I would every crave it, as it has nothing unique.

Well hello good Steepster people!

So I needed warmth…what better tea than this beautiful golden Dian Hong?

First, the look. I mean, have you had a close look at those buds? PURE GOLD!!

So soft and fury, I want to pet them ( ok, I admit…I did pet them…I am a first class TeaGeekette after all, why hide in shame?)

The brew is all glitters and gold, a beautiful sunny light in the glass pitcher.

I forget how good this is…I rarely have it cause, well, I just have so many teas!!

It qualifies for my “pudding-like” tea list, cause of how sweet and thick it feels in my mouth. Unlike any other Yunnan I have had.

The sweetness reminds me of barley sugar candies. I also get cocoa and sweet potato notes.

It’s very fragrant, I find a certain floral quality to it.

Not as damp and earthy as one might expect, but a little “mossy” and yeasty.

Full of beautiful nuances and complexity, this tea screams for gongfu brewing. And it’s so forgiving, you can’t mess it up, it never gets astringent or bitter.

I had a lovely session earlier…another wonderful tea from Whispering Pines :-)

Here are some pics:

http://instagram.com/p/vuBJInQh24/

http://instagram.com/p/vuCET1wh9q/

http://instagram.com/p/vuFp_3Qh4f/

This came as a generous sample from Whispering Pines, thank you!

I already own an Imperial Dian Hong Yunnan from a another company. As I compared the looks, the buds in this one are curlier, more furry and golden in colour. I mean, this is 24 karat gold, really.

The brew is a brassy golden colour. It has a deep floral sweet aroma.

You can feel its density in the mouth, it’s almost gelatinous, pudding like.

The taste is chocolaty and earthy, very sweet with no astringency.

I read that there are mushroom notes in this. I can’t really identify that, but maybe that translates into some mossy and dampness notes to me.

I’m not a “re-steeper” when I brew Western style, but I will re-steep exceptional quality teas such as this one, and I’m glad I did cause the second infusion is almost as good and flavourful as the first.

This was a real treat, thank you so much for this opportunity Brenden!

From the Tea and Cards TTB: Oh wow, the beautiful honey and malt notes of this tea are haunting me. I love the floaty cocoa notes and the texture of this. I found the dry leaf aroma to be quite underwhelming in comparison to the taste. I guess that’s a good thing though. Better that than the other way around

Backlog:

A really enjoyable cup for breakfast. The first cup was robust and richly flavored. A medium astringency to it, with notes of cedar and malt and hints of smoke.

The second infusion was amazing. I got the Eucalyptus that was promised in the description! I don’t always take black teas out for a second infusion, because I find the second cup to rarely be worth the effort, but this tea – this second infusion is remarkable. Definitely take this one through at least 2 infusions!

A very unique but enjoyable breakfast blend. I like it.

I tried North Winds last night, but didn’t write a note because I wasn’t too sure about it. I thought I’d steep this today since it has the North Winds base and I have now come to somewhat of a conclusion.

There is a very slight, subtle smokiness here. It’s extremely subtle, almost not smokiness, perhaps more like a campfire from a distance. Like the smoke has travelling through the forest and intermingled with trees and such along the way, however there is that smoky element, and unfortunately I can’t get past it.

There is a light richness to this cup otherwise, and some maltiness, and of course a hint of vanilla. It’s really a well done tea. I can see why this one is a crowd favourite. Sadly neither are for me, though I do have a little bit more to experiment with, so perhaps I can make something work.