52 Tasting Notes
enjoying my third steep of this trying to cool off here. The vegetal and even a bit of smoke flavor are coming out probably because I let it soak far too long while at least completing the shellac on the chair that has been tormenting me for weeks now. I have to put a final coat on just the top of one arm tomorrow then I can find a celebratory tea to complete the project. At first I far preferred the regular green to this oolong but the oolong is now growing on me, I’m so glad I bought more of both and not just the green!
When I was in grade school my friend Ginger and I used to harvest wild edibles and make pine needle tea. This tea smelled like our old pine tea but its much more subtle in flavor. I suppose we had straight fresh needles and these are dried so you lose the turpentine and sap tastes which is a very good thing. I found it surprisingly floral with a light pine mist (reminds me of midway up a piney mountain on a hot summer day). I will definitely be getting more of this but I also have 7 different types of pines right outside my door and it got me to wondering what it would taste like if I harvested some of their needles (torrey pine? black pine? ) I’ve only had white pine before. Of course I’m not a master blender so it wont’ get the floral part.
Flavors: Floral, Pine
Preparation
The pine in this tea is actually processed like an oolong. It’s partially oxidized and lightly roasted :)
I highly recommend wildcrafting from your trees! The difference in taste is interesting to note between species, and also a few days after rain. :)
I am not sure I want to wait for rain (with luck that should be nov or dec but last year there was none) I do have some lovely young torrey pines and I think I will have to try their needles out. I realized the stone pine is too tall for me to get fresh needles (there are “oxidized” ones under the tree but not the sort of oxidation one would wish). I know the Norfolk (which is not a true pine) is poisonous. I’ll have to check the torrey before I try it!
Today’s tea is my favorite vanilla to date. I’ve had it on and off for a while but this is the first time I am reviewing it. Sad to say, not long ago I thought it was expensive now I think its one of the less expensive spectacular teas around. This tea has all sorts of vanilla goodness, its scent reminds me of Mexican vanilla, brewed (long or short) its starts with a vanilla cookie flavor that settles into a bourbon vanilla with cognac. The tea base feels light and supportive. Its black but has more of an orangey hue and there is certainly a caffeine kick but all in support of that vanilla trip. The first few resteeps are similar, missing the sugar cookie sweet start but giving the rest of the vanilla trip. After a few resteeps the vanilla begins to retreat giving a nice rounded clear and light tea after 4 resteeps I move on.
Flavors: Cookie, Orange Blossom, Vanilla
Preparation
If you love vanilla and you haven’t tried Golden Orchid by Whispering Pines, you haven’t lived! It’s a black tea blended with organic vanilla beans and it is AH-MAZ-ING. It also happens to be the highest rated tea on Steepster :) Check it out: http://steepster.com/teas/whispering-pines-tea-company/43095-golden-orchid
I second everything mj said…and AH-MAZ-ING is right!!!
Y’all won’t stop talking about Golden Orchid. It’s making it very hard to resist ordering!
Resistance is futile :-P
Well I have to say I started all this vanilla with my brand new Golden Orchid in my first ever WPT order and I was terribly disappointed. I am now wondering if perhaps this batch was defective or maybe its not really GO? It doesn’t smell like vanilla, I don’t’ see anything that looks like vanilla. I tried over leaf, under leaf, hotter colder, I’ve nearly used up the whole ounce. I’m cold brewing some, sometimes as it cools I catch a wiff of vanilla. I thought maybe it was me but after a week of getting vanilla from everything else.. maybe I just don’t’ properly appreciate the GO and since its easily 2x the price of the tea above perhaps I should be happy? I did receive a sample of north woods and I understand that’s the base tea for GO so tomorrow I’ll have to try it out. I didn’t do a review because everyone else seemed so happy that I was sure it was me. Afterall I’m having a fisheye problem with shellac and supposedly that can’t happen either..
Hi bizbee…I’m terribly sorry that you didn’t like Golden Orchid…
I can assure you that you definitely got Golden Orchid and it was blended exactly the same way as all other Golden Orchid batches. The vanilla is very hard to see as it is hand cut into very small pieces before being added in. You will most likely see little black dots in your cup, both floating and on the bottom, and those are vanilla seeds.
The vanilla is mainly in GO to enhance the cocoa notes. If you are used to flavored vanilla teas, you will most definitely not find the same sort of vanilla notes in this tea. The sweet chocolaty smell of GO is actually the vanilla mingling with the cocoa notes, and the creamy body is also from the vanilla.
So yeah, if you’re in search of strong vanilla notes, GO is probably not the tea for you. Perhaps try drinking it while looking for chocolate notes instead and you might find it more enjoyable :)
Once again, I’m sorry that you were disappointed, and I hope you enjoy the rest of them! :)
I bought this tea after sampling the free samples. At first between this and the straight green, I loved the green more but now I am really enjoying this. Dry, its tightly wound knots of bright green with stems sticking out and not much scent. 1 tsp rinsed then brewed western style yields this satisfying brew its initial flavor is so light a breath of grass and hay and just a touch of vanilla and orchid but as I keep sipping it unfolds into a substantial bread and butter taste with a vanilla and honey after taste. I had a disturbing afternoon, I was greeted by in injured sea lion as i headed out for my swim, his injuries had me worried for the whole swim. This tea has calmed me down now i can
move on to evening tasks
I had this tea last night for vanilla week! Its something another guest bought looking for something without caffeine. It was never opened though so when I unsealed it I got a strong aroma of vanilla. Rooibus is something I tried to like but never really did, in this tea it plays a supporting role to the vanilla but I think I need it stronger. I had 1 bag in 10 oz of water. I’ll try it again with 2 bags before I rate it. It does remind me of a sugar cookie.
This tea was left to me by a visitor some time in the last year. Its bagged and doesn’t smell that fresh but still I get a lot of vanilla. Its a decaf tea and the tea base seemed a little light but pleasant its an orangy color (orange pekoe like) the vanilla is very present in both scent and taste even though its probably pretty old. After the previous vanillas this one has much more but it doesn’t have the more robust flavors of the ones with carob and other ingredients. It was my night time tea so I didn’t get to posting about it until now. I like it enough to plan to get some more from Harney, I hope it comes in a loose leaf! The second steep wasn’t very interesting but again that could be bagged tea & age!
Flavors: Orange Blossom, Vanilla
Someone gave me this tea as a gift. Its not a strong assam flavor but a fairly strong sort of generic black, just a mild bit of malt and a bit plummy sweet in front with lots of tannins behind. Its improved with condensed milk. I wanted something quick and sweet and black so I had a cup of this with condensed mile to start the day. The tin is nearly done so I should try to get it fininshed and refilled with an Assam I can get behind!
Flavors: Plum, Tannin
Preparation
I bought a lot of this in what turned out to be infusions of tea going out of business (they said they were going online but never reappeared. I love this tea its subtle reminds you to take it slow and let the flavors unfold. The taste is vegetal but also mineral like the mists its grown in. Theres a light buttery finish. I started to wonder what this might be like combined iwht pine needles, I have a lto of pines outside maybe I will try that next.
Flavors: Butter, Mineral, Vegetal
someone here decided to make me a cup of tea since I seemed down. Not down so much as perplexed as every few minutes everything for my schedule changes and then I am supposed to run in a different direct. I always seem to be behind too (as in oh you are going to AK in sept not next year, why don’t’ you have everything lined up. I need a presentation for Thursday, oh no how about in 2 weeks and no presentation). So this tea stopped me, hey this is a decent green its got hints of jasmine but I wouldn’t have said “jasmine” if I hadn’t checked to see where it came from. More of a floral sweet green not very deep in flavor but a nice sipping drink that pulled me right out of the artificial race.
Flavors: Floral, Sweet
