Whispering Pines Tea Company

Cold brew sip down for the win.

I started a pitcher of this cold brewed before I left work last night and I am glad I did. While its in the low 50s outside, its currently 75 here in the office and I’ve been running around moving hardware around and getting stuff setup for today’s tasks. And I am literally sweating and really wishing I had worn shorts this morning.

So a nice fresh pitcher was so lovely to have and I swear I’ve just about guzzled half of it already.

This might actually be improved upon by a cold brew. When I iced it, I felt like it was maybe too weak or didn’t have enough presence. But as cold brew for about 16 hours, that base is there just fine.

Not my favorite, but looks like this is another long neglected tea that I will be sipping down through iced/cold brew this spring/summer.

A decent passable iced black. its not too floral, which i feel can ruin a good cup of iced tea.

I do wish it had . . . I don’t know . . . like a stronger base, or more weight to it. yeah i know, how vague can i get.

Anyway, its still good and something I’m willing to drink frequently.

I honestly can’t drink this without comparing it to PTA (Premium Taiwanese Assam), which has swiftly become the tea I would happily drink forever.

Its got a lot of good qualities, rich flavor, not astringent, not bitter. I almost get the impression something maybe fruity and mild. Nice and easy to drink, I can easily see having this on an early summer morning when everything is still and quiet and I can just sit there and listen to nothing but the birds chirping.

So back to the comparison. Its not as sweet as PTA, though there is still no bitterness and no astringency at all, even after multiple steeps. The fragrance is milder as well. While I have not tried doing so (yet), I suspect this might make an excellent light iced tea. Maybe toss in a slice of orange or a few pieces of sliced strawberry to help bring out that almost fruity impression I get.

It looks like I might be building a liking for Taiwanese blacks.

Off the bat, I am not fond of white or green teas, so my impression of this one isn’t very good.

That said, it doesn’t taste like grass clippings, which most greens do for me. The leaves are also fuzzy enough that I keep feeling like I want to pet them. :)

I’m sure this will be the perfect cup for others, but it isn’t for me.

One of my favorite blacks from whispering pines so far, and one of many teas I’m behind putting. At this rate, I might just put the teas I really liked on here so I don’t have to fuss. The list will still be long, but there are some that definitely need to get on Steepster, especially from What-Cha, Wang, and Whispering Pines

Back to the tea. It has a very creamy texture and leans on the fruity end of black teas. For you tea snobs, it does have a lot of similarities to its less oxidized oolong counterpart when it comes to the tea’s osmanthus like florals and almost apricot like flavor. Nectarine is probably more accurate. There were times I thought of berries, though it’s more akin to the nectarine, but I would not say this is a intensely stonefruit kind of tea. Fruity and intensely sweet with creamy honeysuckle florals, yes. Mega peachiness? Maybe not. I was thinking more passionfruit. Creamed honey, maybe some caramelized sugar. Later steeps were lighter, and its oolong heritage shined through. Shorter steeps makes it especially resemble the oolong counterpart, but with more body and flavor.

It also lasts quite a bit of time western or gong fu. I use my longer 30 second intervals with 5 grams, and upped the by 30 sec each time. I know, not precise. Western was also a lot more experimental, staying in at 2-3 min for the beginning time, but then I did whatever afterwards. Thank heavens this one is forgiving. There are a lot of similarities to some Taiwanese blacks in how sweet it is, and reminded me of Nectar, another good tea that’s occasionally sold on Whispering Pines. This one is more complex in my opinion, but Nectar had a little bit more staying power and was thicker. This is thick, that one was THICC. I feel that there is more to say about the teas notes, but I can’t put it into words right now.

In terms of quality, the rating should be closer to a 90-93. It is also a lighter than average black with little to no astringency and moderate malt. Some might be iffy about it because it is a more mild black tea, but it is by no means as faint as a golden bud black. In terms of how I like my tea, it’s perfect because it’s light floral and fruity. In terms of price, I remember it being decent. Tie Guan Yin blacks are hard to find, and even with other big companies like Yunnan Sourcing and Verdant, they are pretty much seasonal.
You could of course try Tealet or finding vendors/farmers directly, but Brenden does a good job curating teas like this. Sweet tooths, rejoice. I would definitely buy this one again.

Derk, you made my day with this one! Long, blonde leaves that meld into cocoa and sweet wheat toast. Definitely my gold standard! Off to try a second steep.

(My husband is used to me sticking dry tea leaves under his nose for him to smell, but this morning, when I pulled the packet away, he said, “Wait a minute! I want to smell that again!” High praise.)

This blend of wild purple black tea and lapsang souchong has a character that is deliberate —purposefully rustic yet refined. It reminds me of a gentleman from a world forgotten sitting in leather saddle in command of his horse. The lapsang souchong pulls the reigns on the wild purple black tea’s unrestrained energy and guides it into a respectable trot. There is a full flavor and body in the sip followed by cleansing tannins on the swallow but it seemingly cannot be oversteeped. Intriguing, buoyant mix of flavors with campfire, jerky, leather, wildberries and muscatel, dry grass, cocoa/cocoa butter and lemon-citrus. There’s certainly a lot I’m missing, like once I think I have a grasp on a certain flavor, it gets pulled back into the fold. The smokiness is moderate. It feels like that found in wild teas, rather than a heavily smoked lapsang souchong. The aftertaste lingers and I think that is where my imagination begins to unfold.

I like when a tea can both prod at my mind’s eye and be a functional, energetic brew.

Ever swig down a tasty tea so fast you didn’t take good mental notes for reviewing purposes? This one is nearly gone, and I enjoyed it immensely, but about the only descriptors I can grab are leather and cocoa. Even the cool remaining half cup smells good! (Thanks, derk!)

Very quick fly-by note, with thanks to derk … my first experience with a Thai tea, I think. Mild and subtle; the flavor reminded me most of unsweet molasses. I was going to try the final steep iced, but oops - too late now! I chugged the last tumbler at my desk without realizing it!

I said I would try a third western steep, and I did! This time I invited my husband to drink it with me. He was more a white/green/oolong/puerh fan but is coming around on black tea fast – as long as it is not astringent. This one isn’t astringent at all.

Yes, it is weaker. Of course it is. But it was well worth steeping again and my husband really liked it even though he had not tried the first two steeps. I thought he would like it since the Fujian component is a tea he has tried before and liked a lot.

It seemed perhaps a little creamier or thicker in mouthfeel and I think that is because the cocoa note was slightly lighter and the dian hong was coming out a little more.

Great tea. Thanks, derk!

This is another sample from my surprise package from derk!

Two of my all time favorite teas blended together? Yes, please! But it was going to be too good to have it just any old time, so I waited. And yesterday I spent HOURS trimming and pulling down the dead vines from the back side of the wall o’ jasmine. It is gorgeous from the yard, but from inside the house and on the carport, it had become a tangled brown mess of all the old vines and was obstructing the view and what little light we get from that angle.

I had to be really careful as there are still some bird nests up high. With each tug, ancient pollen, dust, and debris showered down into my face and in my hair. I ended up filling three garbage cans – big ones – before stopping. My goal was to have a lovely view from my newly cleaned off carport which looks onto the back garden. I put a small table and a rocker there with a huge fan to keep it comfortable.

My hands were blistered, I was covered in dirt and pollen, and I was ready to relax HARD.

So as a treat, I made this tea last night and sat in the rocker until midnight, reading, sipping, and enjoying the newly re-exposed view!

This is a fantastic tea. It reminds me of a bygone tea I loved but can no longer acquire, Emperor’s Red from Premium Steap. What a tea that was! They never told what the blend was, but I think it must have been very close to this.

This was so smooth. A cocoa aroma not only accompanies the sip, but that powdery “raspy” feel is left on the tongue. It is not at all an astringency or a sourness, it is like you have tasted some dry cocoa powder. It has enough heft to use it as a breakfast tea, and yet is smooth enough to drink by itself in the afternoon or evening. (If you don’t need to avoid caffeine later in the day!) With the dry cocoa, like a perfect dance partner, the Dian Hong adds its full roundness and body, with an extra touch of sweetness and some middle and high notes to go with the low dark notes of the Fujian tea.

I resteeped the leaves and the second steep was wonderful, too. It was good enough that I have saved the leaves to give it one more go today. I will try to add another note for the third steep, as this is a rather expensive tea and getting three western steeps would make a difference in how I view the price for an order!

I need a t-shirt that says, “Mail is my love language.” This traveled to my house from derk in an envelope peppered with cheerful, artsy stamps. Furthermore, I have the luxury of some use-it-or-lose-it vacation time to burn before end of the month, so I am enjoying it at home, not in the office.

I tasted before I investigated the description, and couldn’t quite place the flavor, although the scent was deliciously rich. Come to find out, says Whispering Pines, this is a lapsang souchong variety. If so, it is the mildest one I’ve ever sampled—like the outside rim of a very lightly toasted marshmallow rather than campfires and bacon.

Thank you Brenden! And thank you derk for putting up the page!

I really liked this sample. The leaves were fairly small, like hairs picked off from a golden fleece. I plowed through it quickly over two days and kept on drinking it semi western in a large 12 oz mug and in increments of 1-2 minutes. I’m sorry if I’ve lost the usual specific description for notes….I’ve been backlogging….and I have at least ten more teas to do or more.

Back to the tea. This one was more floral than normal for me compared to some other golden hong cha, but it was very satisfying. I got the same notes derk did in terms of the cocoa,grains, creamed honey, and pepper. I also got some fruity melon ones that were vague but noticeable like cantaloupe. The tea was still predominantly floral, sweet, cocoa, caramel, and balanced by even malt, though it was not overly tense like an Assam or even some Keemum. Viscosity was also nice, and while it was on the lighter end overall for a black, it still provided plenty of body. It’s personally been one of my favorite gold strands blacks from whispering pines so far.

This is the second tea I am trying from my surprise care package from derk!

I really, really like smoky tea and this blend is named for Strider the Ranger, aka Aragorn from The Lord Of The Rings. I decided to gong fu steep this one because I wanted to get everything out of it I possibly could, and I am not disappointed.

I warmed the gaiwan and put the leaves in and waited a moment to smell the aroma the leaves were releasing. I have read reviews where people talked about smelling tomato in tea but have never caught that myself, and I think perhaps it was a “by association” type thing. When I smelled the gaiwan, it was like inhaling the scent of rich steak sauce, the deep reddish brown kinds.

I didn’t do a rinse but drank the first steep on my own. The flavor was more complex than I expected. Yes, it is smoky, nicely smoky, but there is much more. Already the purple tea is underneath but not yet prominent. I hesitated but decided to call in my husband to join me since he has started enjoying some black tea more. (More on husband and tea in another note soon.) He did try a lapsang with me not long ago and liked it.

He usually prefers from the second steep on in any gong fu sessions we have and that was where he started with this one. He made faces at first, but then he said….”It isn’t bad, it’s just…..so different.”

He hit the nail on the head. As we steeped again and again, the smoke was disappearing and the purple tea flavor became more and more prominent. I don’t know if I can describe it well, but it is like thin tea body with a hint of lemon and a hint of lime and a tiny touch of grassiness. That’s what purple tea usually tastes like to me.

This tea was really interesting and one that I would recommend drinking on its own and not pairing with food, because there is so much to experience here. If it were paired with anything, I would think it should be cheese or nuts. I don’t feel it would reveal all of its beauty and complexity if paired with sweets.

Thank you, derk! We really enjoyed this one, and it was a surprise for me that my husband liked it as well as he did, not being a smoke or black tea guy.

Typical light and clean gold bud character. It has a very clear, pure malt grain taste and sweetness. gmathis mentioned burlap sack before, though in regards to Keemun. I get that note here plus a bit of lightly floral cocoa and some of that creamed honey Brenden mentions in his description. Second steep brings out baked bread and black pepper. Super smooth.

Now that’s an easy sipper.

Thanks for the sample, Brenden :)

Sipdown! I’ve been drinking this fairly regularly for the last week or so, and I could have sworn I’d written a note on it, but I guess not… This is an unusual one because, at least to me, it’s very chocolatey but low in malt. The chocolate predominates, and there’s some sourness alongside woody notes of pine, cedar and a hint of smoke backing it up. The sip ends on a whisper of nuttiness, maybe even coconuttiness, which lends a little sweetness to what is primarily a fairly savoury tea, even with the chocolate notes. Is it weird for me to say that this reminds me of a sexy men’s cologne? There are certain colognes which smell delicious, and this tea tastes like those smell even though it doesn’t actually smell like cologne (and tastes way better than they would!) I don’t know, it’s just a feel I get from this tea. Sexy man smell. Lol. Anyway, thanks Sil for sending me a very generous sample of this tea! It’s helped me to pinpoint that some things I like in a single origin black, and some teas I might pick up again in the future.

204/399

this is just /chef’s kiss/

malty, creamy, bittersweet chocolate-y it does remind me a little of Ancient Spirit which is a good thing bc that is my absolute favourite tea. I was so excited to see this sample in my last WP order and am patiently waiting for this to be restocked.

edit, here is a nice song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abKBYZX_1sM

sip down. goddamn I regret only getting an ounce of this.

I placed my first ever order with Whispering Pines! I am trying to get some small orders in during the quarantine to support the small businesses. I have had a number of their teas, but they were all ordered by other people as gifts to me.

I really wrestled with what to order and settled on the aged white tea pearls and a Bao Zhong, but I really, really wanted to try Sparrow. I guess Brendan read my mind across the miles because I had a generous sample of it in my box!

Now here’s the thing – I am not allowed to review it here yet because I reviewed it for Sororitea Sisters, so I won’t say what it tasted like but rather what happened after drinking it.

This is a GABA oolong, and those are supposed to be very helpful during times of stress. There might be a little of that right now, right? That is one reason I really especially wanted to try it NOW.

I made lots of steeps and shared it with my husband rather late at night. I went to sleep and had a vivid dream. I can see it all even now, and I really haven’t been dreaming much lately that I remember.

The Dream – I was across the street at my neighbor’s house sitting in the front yard with my daughter who lives with us. I do go there five days a week to let his dog out. Suddenly a neighbor came out of her home, very agitated and frightened. She told me that a woman standing on the corner was a vampire. I looked at the woman from the distance and she was dressed in a long white gown, not very vampire-ish but definitely anachronistically dressed. Women began hurrying into my neighbor’s house carrying crystals and brooms, all banding together for protection from the “vampire.” I did not feel alarmed or frightened at any point in the dream.

I looked across at my house and saw the cars of my oldest daughter and son. I was surprised to see them there and I hurriedly put away the lawn chairs and headed home, but when we got there, they had already gone. They were only stopping for a moment to get something and left quickly because of the social distancing orders.

I sat down on the sofa, leaning my head against the back, understanding that it had to be but sad that I missed them and wishing I had been there to see them even if only for that brief moment. Then I woke up.

As I puzzled over the dream, which may have meant nothing at all, I wondered if the ”vampire” was the coronavirus, or social distancing. I assumed my brain was just processing the fact that I am a little sad at not being able to see my kids who don’t live here. I haven’t seen those two since January 4th. My youngest daughter did come for my birthday in March right before distancing began, so I have seen her fairly recently.

So now I wonder – was it the GABA that made the dream so vivid? Did it help me realize how much it bothers me that I can’t see my kids when I didn’t realize what a stressor it is to me?Was it helping me process or understand what I am feeling right now or was it purely coincidence that I had such a vivid dream that night?

It didn’t fix anything – I still can’t visit my kids! But I was so calm in the dream. The “vampire” didn’t scare me, the odd neighbor didn’t worry me, I just wanted to get home to see my son and daughter. And then I wasn’t devastated, I was just a bit sad. Is that the GABA working? Has anyone else experienced anything like this with a GABA tea?

Since I just drank the rest of the sample, it will be interesting to see if I dream again tonight.