Golden Orchid

Project be-nice-to-myself continues. Today it takes form of going to the gym for a yoga class, a nice lunch with a square of chocolate for dessert, and a cup of this tea.
This is so rich. It smells divine, and it tastes like vanilla fudge, with a touch of something woody in it.
A very nice thing on this rainy day.
A sipdown for now. I’ll probably get more of this at some point in the future, but the cupboard needs wrangling, so its going to be a bit.

This is really a tie-in review to my other Whispering Pines black tea reviews. I found the black tea base of this tea to be, similar to the ailaoshan black, a bit on the pesto-y side of flavor. Very floral, a little nutty, a bit sharp for my taste. I also found this years “batch” of cocoa amore to be a bit more along these lines as well, so I think it is likely just the qualities of the tea changing a bit. I like it a lot, but Having had it multiple times now, it’s a tad cloying for an everyday tea. I brewed this one a long time, but I tend to do that with black tea :) The Vanilla is AMAZING, such good quality, aromatic, and flavorful, very pleasant overall. Not as chocolatey as I was expecting, but the cocoa amore seemed less chocolatey as well. I highly recommend if the above is to your liking.

awesome tea.

Yum, 2nd steep is even better than the first! Great work Whispering Pines!

This is a good tea but not worth the price tag. I’ve had many yunnans for half this price that were comparable or even better.

I spent almost 3 hours last night scrolling through the reviews of this tea. It was like I was mesmerized by how many fantastic reviews there are…That’s why I can’t forget to take my adderall haha. I went to go order some of this tea and…….they are out of stock. I’m practically in tears now. Oh well guess i’ll just have to wait to try this one

I got this from my sister couple months ago and finally made a cup last Thursday. This tea has a vanilla scent that’s very pleasant to smell but not too apparent when you sip on it. I like the tea base they use. It seems like some Jin Jun Mei (a Fujian black tea) or a golden tip Xiao Zhong to me. Malty and cocoa like. Goes pretty well with milk and sugar

Drinking my last session of this currently. It’s always a delight. Creamy vanilla with a malty base. Just perfection

Thank you. First review on this website!! Hope I’m doing it right. I tried this because it’s number one and two other tea

Thank you Nichole for this one!

This is the highest rated tea on steepster as of now, but I’m not quite sure about it. I see why people enjoy this one: it tastes like Mackinac Island fudge with a thick malt, smothering over chocolate and vanilla. First time, I used half a tablespoon in about seven to eight ounces. I do get the chocolate and vanilla notes, but they are overwhelmed by the malt for me western after three minutes. I did it again after five, then eight minutes and I got a full vanilla fudge feeling at around 175 to 180 degrees in the second steep. Unfortunately, that disappeared into the malt. I tried to steep it for less time and less leaves, at about a teaspoon in four ounces. I tried it after a minute and twenty seconds, and I taste the vanilla more with a little bit of the breadish base, but the other natural notes of the tea being jumbled. I added about another minute, and again, fudge. Second steep, a changing flux of the vanilla and the malt and the chocolate, one overwhelming the other. Third, still a little too light, but less vanilla, and more of a light malt, perhaps white grape.

I had fairly high expectations for this one and I didn’t because this is a slightly older sample. I’ve also had North Winds which is a really complex black tea, one that really had to grow on me before I absolutely enjoyed it. I also had to use more leaves to get the full profile on it, and though I said in the review of that one that it needs something else like vanilla, I’m not sure if the vanilla fits because it kept on getting confused in the cup. Maybe the inconsistency is because the vanilla weakens with age, but the black tea should still be fine.

I tried it again today on the 25th with a teaspoon, and let it steep for about four minutes in five ounces. I made it significantly lighter than before and I was then able to taste more of the flavor. It was now a balanced fudge. I liked it more this time, but again, the same flavors but more evenly paced-still too drying.

I do like this tea, but it’s not the best I’ve had. Oddly enough, I preferred the North Winds in Gongfu because I got more flavors that were balanced-this was confused under malt. Hopefully this review isn’t obstructed by age (I think it’s from this year). I also think that it’s an issue of preference…I’m not a huge of a fan of vanilla chocolate fudge. I’m the one that opts out for fudges like chocolate walnut, orange, white chocolate, pistachio, amaretto, chocolate cherry. More than likely, I would probably like the Cocoa Amore more because it has an Ailaoshan base, giving cherry to compliment the vanilla and cocoa….darn it being more expensive.