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I love mint and I love oolong, but I’ve never had the 2 in combination. There’s a first time for everything though, and I added this intriguing sounding blend to my Whispering Pines sample order because, hey, it’s mint! At their suggestion, I cold brewed this one overnight and opened my fridge 12 hours later to the deliciously powerful smell of mint. Seriously, it pervaded my whole fridge! I mean, nothing else in there TASTES like mint, it’s just a little fresh smelling haha.

This blend is minty perfection. It’s so smooth, crisp and refreshing! The oolong is thankfully not lost but adds a light, almost mineral taste to the cup that keeps this from being an ordinary mint tea. It’s also a bit floral and very strong—I’m not sure if it’s caffeine or the mint, but it woke me right up when I’d finished the glass! Definitely my favorite from Whispering Pines so far, and one I very much think I’ll be ordering in a larger quantity.

I’ve had my eye on this tea for ages—in fact, it was the first Verdant product to make me go “OH GOD I need to order from here immediately.” Sadly, the second tea that almost pushed me over the edge (Thai Ginger Fire) is now discontinued. But hey, at least I finally got my paws on some of this! That $10 off coupon was just too tempting.

I made this two ways: I cold brewed some leaves (buds?) last night and then steeped them Western style this evening. I wanted to do fancy gaiwan style but I had to do a photoshoot and there were lamps all over the table where the tea setup would go. Oh well, I got a full 2 ounces of this so I definitely have tons to play around with! I actually drank the hot tea before the cold brew, so I’ll start there.

Hot: This smells like pure, heavenly jasmine. Given that it’s the first ingredient, not surprising! I was a bit worried because it smells like JUST a jasmine tea, but the floral scent was hiding a lot of depth. Yes, there’s jasmine—sweet, lightly perfumey and perfect—but there’s a whole lot more going on as well! There’s a soft sweetness and an underlying berry taste (probably from the goji berries, but I don’t have enough experience with them to go “oh, this is goji!”), and a strong plant-y presence. It’s not grassy or even vegetal, it tastes like… plants. Like fresh leaves! It’s really interesting, especially with the jasmine, and it gives the tea kind of an outdoorsy feel. Like one should drink this on the porch of a cabin in the woods, overlooking golden fields as the sun goes down through the trees. Lastly, there’s a bit of a bite at the end of the sip—grapefruit, though it took me a while to identify it as such. It’s got that hint of acidity that brings everything together!

Cold Brew: This was done before the hot, so I suppose it got the majority of the flavor…. not that the hot tea was lacking in any of that! This is quite different cold, more softly floral and grassy. The grapefruit does add bitterness, moreso than in the hot tea for sure. But it’s cut by an almost creamy sweetness, possibly the vanilla? I didn’t get any berry taste this way (which is odd, they sat in water for 12 hours!) so I think it is definitely the vanilla beans. And oddly enough, while the floral taste hot was all jasmine the rose comes into play more this way.

I honestly don’t know which way I like it more—both bring out different flavor profiles, and I adore them both! This tea is definitely a keeper. Like, an “I must have this in my cupboard at all times, I’ll eat ramen for a week to afford it” kind of keeper.

Another from Nicole! I really love assam, it’s my favorite unflavored type of black for sure. While I am quite loyal to my Captain Assam, I know it’s not going to be around forever so I’d like to find a good substitute for the horrible day when my tin runs out (actually I’m almost there!) and there are no more for sale.

This is a nice assam, perhaps a bit lacking on the strong, malty molasses notes I look for usually. In fact, this is pretty light for an assam, without any of those “WAKE UP!” flavors I’d expect. It’s a nice tea and I’m happy to have tried it, but it doesn’t quite have the punch I was hoping for.

My second to last sample from Malt! This is a lighter version of the 120 Malt, which I totally adored. Apparently these ones are given a bit of a lighter treatment, and as such have a less potent malty flavor. This is definitely true—it brews up lighter in color, and looks more like honey than molasses. Tastes like it, too, there’s a really strong honey taste here! Also notes of hay and corn, it reminds me a bit of a pu-erh.

There’s still quite a bit of malty goodness, it’s not as rich and savory as the 120 but still very present. If the 120 was a dark chocolate malted ball, this is a milk chocolate one—sweeter, lighter, with less depth of flavor but not in a bad way. The 120 was kind of a kick in the tastebuds, this is a bit… easier to drink? If that makes sense. With the 120 I found myself intrigued with every sip, while the 60 goes down smooth and easy. I do enjoy the molasses-y, complex notes of the stronger malt but this one is also so delicious!

I am SO behind on tasting notes! I think I’ve just been drinking an unusual (for me at least) amount of tea recently, and it’s finally caught up with me. I’ve been doing 2-4 cold brews a day, and this is one from this morning.

Thanks to Nicole for this tea! I really like what I’ve tried from Golden Moon Tea, and I’ve had my eye on this one for a while. I’ve never had a black jasmine tea, though I do have a Jasmine Cream from NMT to try out. Ah, my sample backlog is getting overwhelming! Anyway, this tea has all the ingredients for success. It’s got a really nice kind of malty black base, a rich floral taste from the jasmine, and a wonderful creaminess from the vanilla. In fact, it reminds me of cream soda! Only, you know, without the fizz and a lot less sweet. The black base and the vanilla also tone down the jasmine a lot so it’s not perfume-y or overly floral.

While all the elements are there, it’s missing a little bit of pizazz. Don’t get me wrong, I really like it, but it just doesn’t scream “this is a special tea!” to me. I think it would be nice for an everyday iced tea, though it seems to be a bit expensive for that. I am really digging the cream soda vibes though, it’s a nice way to get a sweet fix without having tons of calories!

I bought this tea knowing full well it wouldn’t taste anything like baked goods or truffles or whatever they say it is “supposed” to be. I found the idea of a pseudo-Indian savory tea really intriguing, so into my cart it went!

The smell of the dry leaves is incredible. And I almost understand the name: the very first whiff is very much like buttery baked goods, and then you get a big hit of that cumin. It’s so intriguing, I spent a long time just smelling it! It tastes very interesting: the spices come out well and are almost chai-like, there’s a nuttiness from the pistachio, the cumin almost makes it savory but there’s a creamy vanilla-like texture that brings it back to sweet. I don’t really know how to rate this one so I am just going to leave it off: I really enjoyed it, but it’s a very very odd tea and definitely not for everyone. I plan on mixing some with a rose congou and sweetening with honey to create more of an Indian dessert feel!

I love rose teas. I mean, I really love them—if push came to shove, I’d probably pick rose as the one flavor to have every day. Not that I’ll ever be in a situation where that will happen, but hypothetically. Unless, you know, a genie comes down and will grant me one wish if I pick one flavor of tea to drink for all eternity. Actually… I love tea so darn much I might only take that offer up if it was for 3 wishes! Or if the first wish didn’t have an “I wish for infinite wishes” clause.

I’ve been wanting to try this one for a while, but I have so many rose teas I didn’t know if this would be worth a 50g purchase. Fortunately, I got a sample in a swap with Sare! It smells SO good, like rose perfume. Okay, I know most people don’t like perfume-y teas, but I do. They remind me of when I was a little girl and had fake tea parties. In my head, the imaginary tea I served smelled JUST like this. I made this iced, since I have enough to try it both hot and cold.

This reminds me a lot of Upton’s Rose Congou. It’s got that same pervasive rose taste, backed up by a strong but not overwhelming black base. However, this might be even more rosy, believe it or not! The white chocolate also adds a wonderful hint of sweetness. This is such a little girl tea—not, of course, in a bad way. But you know when you’re 5 and all dressed up for some party in a pink frock, with ribbons in your hair? That’s what that tea is. Simple, sweet, innocent, fresh, delicious! This is definitely one of the very best rose teas I’ve tried, thanks so much Sare!

Another one from my sampler pack! I let this cold brew probably for longer than I should, but it was so light in color after 12 hours that I just let it sit for about 6 more. Well, no harm done! It’s not too strong, but it’s also not as light as it was. It’s still pretty pale, but doesn’t lack flavor!

However, this is a lighter genmaicha than what I am used to. The green tea taste is stronger and grassy-sweet, with softer backing notes from the roasted rice. Given the strength of the other teas I’ve tried from Malt, I was kind of surprised! It’s not bad, in fact I like having a less toasty genmaicha option since the ones in my cupboard are either very toasty or mixed with matcha and not really an “everyday” drink.

While I am enjoying how refreshing this is, I wonder what a genmaicha-style blend with Malt’s roasted corn or crystal malt would be… I could imagine that being SO good! Toasty corn mixed with green tea, mmmm.