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My first genmaicha…I don’t know how I feel about it yet, so I’m not going to rate it just yet. I love the caramel and vanilla notes in this tea! I am not sure, however, if I care for the ricey aftertaste…

I am going to try again in a few days, and see how I feel about it then…

Thank you to cavocorax for the sample!

I got my tea swap in the mail from cavocorax AND Carol Who!!! (I’ll go post it in the forums too…)

But I am so excited!!!

My husband bgrinham aka Brian will also be sampling all of the teas if you want to follow him as well!

Right now I have a cup of “Nina’s Paris” steeping and he has a cup of “Chocolate Monkey” in his cup!

O_O Pancakes. Pancakes WITH syrup. In my tea cup. Mama like. Mama LOOOOOVE.

Wow. Wooooooooooow. I have had a really good run with some really lovely teas the past few days and this one does not disappoint!

At the front, this tastes like a normal Butiki black tea (completely awesome)…but the AFTERTASTE…oh heaven. The aftertaste that hits you two seconds later is a short burst of buttery pancake goodness that has me doing a happy dance at my desk and thinking about a resteep!

Highly recommend!

Another great tea from Whispering Pines! This tea is the base for the Golden Orchid that I love so much, and while Golden Orchid is still the winner for me, North Winds is a close second.

The dark chocolate hits me first, but finishes with a lovely honey & chocolate aftertaste.

I am on my second steep, and it’s just as lovely as the first.

Brendan! BRENDAN! YOU MUST MAKE THIS TEA ALWAYS! Please never discontinue it! This tea is AMAZEBALLS. It is currently out of stock, so I HOPE (beg) Brendan to restock it!

I am going to make a bold statement. I think this might be the best tea non-dessert tea I have ever tried. I will add the disclaimer that I am still a Noob to the world of loose tea (I have only been drinking loose tea for two months) but in my quest to find a good breakfast tea, this is definitely the winner. Hands down.

This would, for sure, be a tea i took with me to a desert island.

I am on my second steep and it is just as flavorful as the first. The tasting note from Whispering Pines suggests that you could get up to 8 resteeps out of this. I love it so much, I might just try it. If I do I will come back and edit my note.

I brewed this tea on Friday for an afternoon meeting that I knew would drag on and on…I steeped two cups for the meeting and steeped it a third time once I got back to my office.

I am not normally a fan of mint-flavored things, but my husband loves this one, so I took a sample to work to give it a shot. I’m glad I did! This tea is LOVELY.

1st steep – Heavy on the mint, light on the chocolate/expresso flavor. Not my favorite steep, just because the flavors were SO strong…but still highly enjoyable
2nd steep – Flavor party in my mouth! The mint calmed down and the chocolate/expresso flavor picked up to blend together for a lovely cup of mint-chocolate goodness. This was my favorite steep.
3rd steep- Just a slightly more subtle version of the 2nd steep. All the flavors were still joining the party, but the had relaxed somewhat.

I didn’t try for a fourth, just because I had reached my mint limit for the day, but I think I probably could have had a decent cup of tea if I had tried!

This was one of my tea samples from Whispering Pines, so far my husband and I have loved every one of the samples we have tried, but I am sad to say, this one is just not for me. I am not going to assign a rating, because I feel like it is probably an amazing tea. It’s just not the tea for me.

Kudos to Whispering Pines for nailing the scent and taste though. It smells and tastes exactly like a campfire. If that sounds appealing to you then let me know and I would happy to send it along in a swap.

I am coming back to add to my original review of this tea. After my original note, I decided to go for a fourth and fifth steep based on the recommendation from Whispering Pines website, and am I ever glad I did!

Surprisingly little flavor was lost in the 4th and 5th steep! I thoroughly enjoyed them! I was slightly tempted to try for a 6th just to see if I could, but I wanted to leave the tea on a high note for the day.

Highly recommend!

This tea is LOVELY. I have been drinking it all day, I am on my fourth steep, and I am still in love with it. Each steep has been slightly different, but highly enjoyable.

The first steep was very spicy…almost like hot apple cider, but the apple flavor was more pie-like, as opposed to fruity. This was my least-favorite steep…the remaining steeps were absolutely lovely.

Second and third steeps were my favorite. The flavors came together for a delicious cup of apple-smoothness. The “Pie” flavor was milder with each steep, which I enjoyed.

I look forward to enjoying this when the weather is cooler. This blend is currently out of stock, so I hope Whispering Pines restocks it in the fall.

This is my first tea from Whispering Pines. They nailed the name of this tea. It reminds you of everything lovely about the Fall. It’s weird to be drinking it in the Spring. Haha.

If you love cloves, this is your tea. The taste of the cloves is overpowering for the first few sips, but then it mellows quite nicely. I actually enjoyed this cup more and more as it cooled.

It’s almost like an apple cider, without the apples. Which sounds odd, but it works.

My husband had the second steep and he enjoyed it. This tea calls for 1tbsp per cup. So be careful when measuring.