First black tea from Whispering Pines, and I’m fairly impressed. I was hoping to try the Golden Orchid for some time, but vanilla is one of those hit or miss spices for me, and I wanted to try it without the flavoring. It does indeed smell like the winds up here in northern Michigan, thus having the perfect name. I smell woods, cocoa, and when I taste it, it is dominantly cocoa. I can see why vanilla was added in the Golden Orchid version now. This tea is very smooth and has no astringency, though it really needs another accent like vanilla for more flavor. Nevertheless, it’s probably one of the better black teas that I’ve had. I very rarely drink black tea Gongfu style, but I got more of the flavors drinking this method. It might be overpowering in Western.
This is a go to black tea for people to try, and definitely a good base or personal stock for higher end black tea. Personally, I don’t think that I would purchase this again now knowing my preference for oolongs, but I am glad that I tried it. Thank you Brenden, for your very kind service and high quality tea!
Flavors: Cocoa, Malt, Smooth, Wood
