I’ve a couple of new-to-me Whispering Pines blends with me today at work. After my success with Woodland Chai yesterday, I’m looking forward to trying some more! I chose to start with this one, because I wanted something fresh and clean tasting to chase away my grogginess. I used 1.5 tsp of leaf, and gave it 1.5 minutes. It got boiling water because I was sleepy and not really concentrating, but fortunately it seems none the worse for it.
To taste, I’m primarily picking up a wonderfully sweet, refreshing combination of spearmint and peppermint. I like to see spearmint in mint blends because it adds a sweetness and a lightness that I sometimes find lacking in peppermint. For me, peppermint adds a stronger, cooler mint flavour. The combination here is just right, making this refreshingly minty without being overpoweringly toothpaste like.
I can taste jasmine in the mid sip, and it lingers as a light floral in the aftertaste. I’m a little sensitive when it comes to jasmine teas, but this one isn’t too perfume-like. It adds an extra bit of sweetness, and works better with the mint than I was expecting it to. The green tea base is fairly unobtrusive. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have known this was a green if I’d not read the description. That’s how I realised I should probably have left the water to cool a little – looking at the dry leaf, I think I pretty much assumed this was a herbal. In any case, it’s very smooth with no bitterness or astringency.
While I’m enjoying my cup, this probably isn’t unique enough for me to want to keep it around all of the time. There are other mint blends I prefer, but It’s undisputedly well done, and I’ll certainly have no trouble finishing my sample pouch.
