1118 Tasting Notes
Tea of the morning. This is another sample I picked up from H&S, and it’s a nice one. The Darjeeling is fruity and smooth.It has a brightness to it, and with the lemon and caramel flavors seems like a very summery tea. I taste the lemon before the caramel which I like. The caramel sweetness lingers on the tongue after the sip. Even without adding sugar this tea could be used as a dessert tea.
Preparation
Backlogging form yesterday.
After my success with Eight Candles my daughter wanted to try the same water temp and amount for leaf on this tea. It worked like a charm. She happily drank two mugs of this which used up the rest of the tea in the bag. I thought she would ask for me to reorder it, but she decided that, while she enjoyed this one, she like Fusion Teas Cinnamon Roll more.
I dropped my rating for this one. Previous rating 90.
Preparation
Backlogging from yesterday.
My Della Terra Teas have been sitting in my cupboard for months now getting little to no use. I decided to play around with this one a little and see if I could find the water temp and amount of leaf that would allow me to really enjoy this again. At the very least I wanted to find a decent water/leaf balance so I could start working on drinking this down.
I’m happy to report that two teaspoons of dry leaves for an 8 oz. cup and 200° F water made for a very decent cup. It was close to what I remember this tea being a couple of years ago when it was first introduced. I had a very nice dessert tea full of caramel marshmallow sweetness. The base tea was hard to taste, but, being that this is a flavored dessert tea, that didn’t bother me.
Yay for finding a happy spot!
Preparation
Tea of the morning. This is a fairly standard English Breakfast Blend. I definitely taste the Assam and Ceylon. I want to say there is also some Kenyan tea in this blend as well, but the Assam is the dominant tea, so it’s hard for me to tell. It’s of medium body and strength, and there’s a nice malty flavor and a sour lemon like finish. It’s easy to sip plain, but of course it takes milk and sugar very well. All in all this is a nice tea, but there’s nothing that’s making me want to go back for another cup. I do, however, think this would make excellent iced tea.
Edit: SimplyJenW has kindly pointed put that this blend is Assam and Keemun. Totally makes sense! I’m leaving my original post as is because it’s a good reminder to me that I still have a lot to learn. Thankfully learning about tea is always a joy. :)
Preparation
I think this one is a blend of just Keemun and Assam.
Ha! Shows what I know. :)
Black blends are always hard to pinpoint. We asked the source on this one! ;)
Updated my post! Thanks for the help!!! :)
I have been wanting to try this tea for a while now. On my wishlist for a future H&S order!
My before bed tea. I only have one teaspoon of this left, so I need to order more. It’s a sweet and satisfying nighttime tisane. It taste like peaches and cream with the apricot making an appearance every now and then.
Preparation
This has some very nice creamy pumpkin pie notes. There is also a nuttiness from the roobios which I guess could lend a pie crust note, but there are no pastry flavors. That’s ok though. The pumpkin and spice flavors are enough to make me a fan of this one.
Preparation
Goodness, this is an excellent tea. It’s biscuity with deep cocoa notes. There’s also a nuttiness and a smooth, sweet caramel finish. I lowered my water temp to 205° F, and it kept the tea from having any astringency. This is probably the way I’ll prepare this one from now on. It really is delicious. I think I fall in love with this tea a bit more each time I drink it.
I’m bumping my rating up to 100. This is a tea I adore.
(previous rating 98)
Preparation
I love this one too
I have four teas rated at 100, and three of them are from Whispering Pines. I might be addicted. :)
Yeah, it’s a problem. I have the same problem with Mandala and Verdant too
This makes me smile :) So happy that you’re all enjoying my stuff! :D
Good stuff.
I need this one!
@Brenden – I totally agree with MzPriss, good stuff. :)
:) I’m excited for the good stuff that will be released on July 1st! :)
@MzPriss – You and kimquat have me hooked on Mandala. Thank you. ;-)
You are very welcome. It’s good stuff too. And Garret is awesome.
Stuff that was out of stock or new stuff? Or both?
Both.
Marzipan – you really do. Reeeeely
Oh mercy. I made a new deal with myself that I will only make one online order a month. Looks like July will go to Whispering Pines. :)
WOOOOOT! :D
It was out of stock last time there was a % off code. :(
That’s because it’s so f-ing good
Truth! I have never sold out of a tea faster than this one!
Yeah, I have no doubt there will be a rush on this one again. Too many of us only bought one ounce last time. Won’t make that mistake again! I want to try the Bi Luo Chun, too!
Hehe…that’s why I hoarded on it…muahahaha!!!
(From the Unflavored Traveling Tea Box)
Tea of the morning. I’ve been sipping on this one for hours now. It’s so pleasant and… clean. It steeps into a light liquid – much lighter than I was expecting. The taste is slightly grassy at first with citrus-y notes following and getting stronger in later steeps. The sweetness of this tea took me by surprise, but I have enjoyed it from cup to cup. Even in later steeps as the lemon/citrus flavor becomes more dominant there is still an overall sweetness to the tea. Very refreshing and calming.
This is is one of my very very very favorite teas ever. Ever. For sure my favorite sheng so far. I’m glad you like this.
I like it a lot. In fact, I’m still drinking it. I often get bored with a tea and just move on, but this one has managed to keep my attention all morning. Thanks for adding it to the box!
You’re welcome. It’s one of those happy teas.
Gettin’ down with the Wild Monk. So happy that you enjoyed it!
I brewed some of this for a tea session I did with a local restaurant yesterday. This place is a high-end, gourmet, local sourcing place – the staff there are really into flavors, wines,etc. This was the tea that they found the most interesting steeping after steeping. They were quite enamored with it.
Thanks for writing up your thoughts on it!
I would find it difficult to not be enamored by this tea! Noble Mark is the next tea I get to try from your company. Now that I’m getting over my fear of Pu’er I’m loving the experience of trying different ones.
Oh, I do hope you enjoy the Noble Mark. That has been my first tea of the day for over 2 years. I recommend a full boil with this one. Raw and ripe are two quite different animals. I tend to brew young raw teas starting at 195f and increasing temp as I get into further infusions. But… I also completely dig the full on boil with some young ones, as well. I like to experiment with the raw pu’er a little more as far as steeping temps and times.
If you like where the Noble Mark is going, I look forward to you trying the newest ripe I just had pressed. It won’t be available for a couple months likely, as I am letting the teas dry/acclimate after just being steamed and pressed.
I cold brewed this, and I thought I would love it, but I don’t. Apparently my taste are changing/have changed over time. I have tried several teas lately that I know I would have loved a year or so ago, but now they’re just… meh. That’s not a bad thing. Heaven knows there are a lot of teas I’m enjoying right now, and exploring new teas is too much fun to get too stuck on one set of teas!
Anyway, this tea… the jasmine overpowers both the mint and the green tea. I don’t get a Moroccan Mint flavor in any way. This is jasmine tea from start to finish.
