Whispering Pines Tea Company
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Aaah… I’ve had a good morning so far.
Got out of bed at 4:30am in order to go outside and watch the sunrise… a cup of Ailaoshan in hand, my dog Dexter by my side.
Love the feeling at that hour of the day, it’s like the world stopped, everything got suspended in time for you to admire. It’s so quiet, it has you think you are the only one blessed enough to witness such beauty.
That feeling is ephemeral, cause a few minutes later, nature starts its joyful symphony, and you are quickly reunited with life.
I love this tea. It fills my head with beauty and happiness, starts my day in the best possible way.
Still getting those sweet and salty caramel notes, with some nice cocoa feel.
Love the fruitiness of it, dried dates and figs.
A favourite of the morning….Forever and ever.
Thank god there are no such thing as tea overdose cause I’d be so dead by now.
This tea is ambitious, it has climbed the “corporate ladder” of tea like a bullet in my collection and went straight to the top.
I have a well established tea routine, there’s only a few that have really “made it”. they’ve been sitting on my shelve, very confident for many years now, knowing they have had no real competition. And then this newbie came along and has made them all nervous. All of a sudden, they wonder if they are good enough…
I will have to reassure them and let them know they are…eventually.
But right now, it’s all about this one.
I look at the other tins, but I can’t help it, Ailaoshan is like “pick me, oh pick me” and I just know I will.
Sweet and salty caramel, cocoa, fruity-floral notes, dried figs, there are so many layers of complex components in this tea.
It might be a newcomer, but I already know it’s not a one hit wonder, it’s well on its way to becoming a classic!
Bumping the rating to 100!
This is an awesome review :)
And I think you’ll be glad to hear I have some of this on the way…and by some I mean a LOT. ;)
Added to my wishlist for my first Whispering Pines order!
Yay, good to know…means I can go through the 4oz I just got worry free :-)
(Inranger, you might want to add a couple more WP teas to that wish list of yours!)
Yay!
I think you are right TeaFairy, I’ve been noticing a buzz about Whispering Pines but haven’t taken notice of any specific teas until now. Any suggestions for my list?
Inranger, I will PM you :-)
Inranger, I have a coupon code for first time customers…15% off your first order with coupon code SIP-INSPIRATION :)
Great review! This tea is fantastic.
Let me know when it comes in pleas, it was out when I looked last.
This is my last cup…all out. The good news is that I’m waiting for the arrival of a new supply, yay!
I made this last cup a little stronger and this time I even get more sea salted caramel if that’s possible. Chocolate and dates/plums also very present.
It’s a very fruity cup, with toasty and nutty accents.
Hopefully, my order will arrive early next week so I can continue my journey with this fabulous gem of a tea!
Non tea related:
It’s girl’s night out tonight! 10 good friends of mine have organized a party for me. Some of them I haven’t seen in over a year due to some unfortunate circumstances.
Going for dinner to a nice Italian restaurant first, and after, heading to a lounge bar, hoping to catch up with each other’s lives…
(There’s only one tea drinker out of the bunch, maybe I’ll bring some Whispering Pines teas with me and try to make converts!)
Short review…just checking if this is as good as it was two days ago (and because I just reordered 4 more ounces!!)
Yep, still fantastic, I did a super strong brew the way I like them. it’s complex, multilayered and super sweet. Nothing but love.
Now up to a little hiking session with the dog, have a great afternoon everyone :-)
Have fun! :)
oh man I have to get trying these WP teas.
I was hiking today, too! Hope you had fun. We had a blast, but ended up wading through a trail that was more like a creek due to all our recent rain!
Thanks WP, it was fun!
Tea Sipper, so far I have enjoyed all the ones I have tried, if that encourages you :-)
Sarsonator, glad you also chose to hike today :-) I just came back , I went in the afternoon instead of 6 in the morning as we normally do so we did only 4 hours, the dog was disappointed, he just can’t get enough!
Ohhh my dog is going to be sooooo happy to get to the woods next month! :D
I bet your puppy will be ecstatic! Mine is so good at this, when we get to certain areas that seem a little tricky, he goes ahead first, feels things out for me and comes back with that happy face of his, like saying, “all clear, common, move your butt and join me up here”!
It’s priceless, I’m glad you get to experience that again very soon :-)
:D when we go out to the woods here, my dog just runs and runs and runs…but there’s not much for him to explore…mostly rocks and empty space between the trees.
Am I allowed to say once more that I have just drank the best black tea ever? Cause people, I think I just did!
I know, some of you will say «Oh, that fairy, she’s a little over enthusiastic» but I promise you, this tea is unbelievable.
Do you like sea salted caramel? Do you like dark chocolate? Do you like dried fruits like naturally sugar loaded figs and dates?
If you answered yes, then I don’t see why you should deprave yourself from this tea any longer. Just do it, order. Or don’t and there will be more for me, haha!
Yeah, ok, one ounce was clearly not enough. I can see more WP orders in a very near future.
I just drank the life out of my first cup, now I’m going to calm my senses and go sip another one outside in the rain, with my dog, my birds and my trees…
Happy long week end to those who are lucky to get one :-)
Flavors: Caramel, Chocolate, Dates
Preparation
i think i should order a sample. i have one from Yunnan Sourcing, so to compare
Did you like the one from YS? Was your experience similar?
its been a while. im off to fix a cup. the review is coming up soon;)
Ok, can’t wait to read it :-)
Well that sounds fantastic!
Awesome – so happy you are enjoying your WP order. LOL I don’t know about the best black though – I’m drinking the Jin Jun Mei you sent and it is crazy good – lol just saying….
oh, yummy!!!
I love all those things…dates, figs, chocolate, Jin Jun Mei…hell yeah!
Yeah, ok Dexter, i admit you have a good point there Dexter…
DeliriumsFrogs and Stephanie, yes it is both yummy and fantastic!
Oh, and you shall receive them my dear Terri :-)
Sounds gorgeous!
oh I wish Whispering Pines had sample sizes to order. :D
Check it out: http://whisperingpinestea.com/samples.html
However, if you really enjoy the sample and want to keep a stash on hand … it’s $128/lb.
Tea Sipper, if you place an order with them, you could request it as a sample :-)
LooseTman, unfortunately, I don,t think Ailoashan is being offered as part of the sample order, there’s only a few teas available.
Your correct. “My bad!” It helps to check the drop-down menu – currently 10 choices.
Tea Sipper, from this thread, http://steepster.com/discuss/7499-20-percent-off-your-first-order-with-whispering-pines-tea-company, Brenden seems very accommodating.
I sadly can’t offer samples of this tea due to VERY limited supply. :(
“Yay!”
Little Terri jumps for joy, & then plays some fancy pantsy stuff on her harp.
“I’m so excited,”
Haha! I totally envision the scene little Terri!
It is REALLY REALLY good
Thanks for sharing my enthusiasm MzPriss, now I know Im not delusional, lol! Did you just try it also?
Terri, you are cracking me up. I just had this picture of you in my head doing that moves ;-)
So glad I ordered this one! Didn’t get it this week yet though, d’oh
Whatshesaid, if Brenden sells out before I place another order, I might have to hunt you down, you shoud have kept quiet, lol!
Wahahahaha
I only ordered an ounce of it, and I’m already kicking myself. This is a gooood tea.
I tried it a week or so ago. It’s awesome. I need ro write a note on it but Ive been out of town and way busy. but Ive been drinking it. It’s yummy
Veronica, one ounce is just a tease, isn’t it?
MzPriss, I can’t wait to read your note!
Tea of the morning.
This is a nice blend. I taste malt and a hint of orange with some generic nuttiness at the end of the sip. There is a hint of astringency, but it is only a hint. Out of curiosity I added a bit of sugar and milk to my cup. The orange note is highlighted a bit more, and the nutty flavor taste more like pecan. Nice. Really nice.
This isn’t a super bold blend. It’s more of an English Breakfast rather than an Irish Breakfast. It’s kind of a soft nudge to get you to wake up instead of a loud alarm clock and bright lights. Since I’m one of those people who needs a loud alarm clock I think this tea will become an afternoon pick me up. The flavors are so nice I’m thinking this tea might give my beloved Darjeelings a run for their money as my go to late afternoon cuppa.
Preparation
Okay, okay, I get it now. This tea is pretty fantastic! It lives up to the hype!
It had a little side-trip on its way here, though. I thought it was going to arrive on Monday with the 52teas I ordered…would have been the perfect mail day. Instead, USPS failed, and sent my package 90 miles north of me, and then sent it back. Good job, USPS. Oh, and in the 100-degree heat. Poor tea! But it’s here now, so I’m happy.
Real vanilla and cocoa notes makes this one of the few teas I could drink instead of hot chocolate. It reminds me a lot of Tealux’s chocolate delight; however it is much more amazing, since the only flavoring here is vanilla beans. Delicious milk chocolate in a cup. Yum!!!
Now, if only I had ordered North Winds, I could have tried the base tea….!!!
crowkettle sent me this and i’ve had it a couple times now and it’s just not as wonderful as i remember it being. I think i need to play with the steeping times/temp and see if i can coax more deliciousness out of it. Either way i’m super grateful for the revisit on this one since ordering from WP is awkward at best to fill a cart.
cavocorax shared the last of this one with me since she wasn’t feeling it anymore. Always happy to revisit teas that i’ve had in the past. The one thing i have to say about this tea is that any time it’s brewed, the entire apartment smells like vanilla and chocolate lol I really enjoyed this today…it was a great tea to start my day as i’m trying to get organised with my tea purchases and swaps that have come in recently as, as soon as my orders get here we’re moving in to sipdown mode! operation 50 will commence lol On the upside, my cupboard is relatively “fresh” with my oldest tea being 7? months old..so i’ve got that on my side still…even if i DO want to try and get to 6 months lol
Still finding this one not to my liking. Terri sent me home with a little more of this and after several tries of this one, it’s just not for me. In a way that’s great, because it saves me having another tea that i MUST HAVE haha. not a bad tea, just not for me :)
this is NOT going in my cupboard…bad Cavocorax! who sent this to me, forcing me to drink this right away so as not to increase my cupboard.
I was curious about this one because it’s pretty popular right now and seems to be getting good reviews on the whole. I haven’t yet ordered from WP yet – well beyond my really small joint order with Cavo.
This tea is pretty tasty. I dunno if it’s rock your socks off sort of tea for me, but i’d pick it up again and rotate it in through my cupboard. It’s a chocolatey, malty, vanilla like tea…though there’s a note in there that makes me think of oolongs that made me less enthusiastic about the blend. I think it might? be the vanilla, though i can’t say for certain. On the whole though, a really nice cup of tea that started this insane day for me and set me on the right foot. Thanks Cavocorax!
I am drinking this little lovely while watching the super moon! I love the creamy vanilla scent of this tea. It also tastes a little spicy today. Weird!
I added a little maple syrup, even though I also like this plain. Saturday night yums!!!!
Edit: Now I added kirschwasser! I love tea!!!! Yay!!!
If tea had a gender, I would call this a manly tea. The dry tea smells woody, and I could pick out some hints of grape. Not sure where that came from. There’s a warm vanilla scent, and an unidentified note that I believe is the saffron.
The brewed tea smells warm, and reminds me of a cozy night spent reading in a comfy chair by the fireplace. I am happy to drink it in the Spring, but I will definitely be buying more of this in Autumn because it just seems like it would fit with cooler weather!
This tea is expensive, but I have to say it’s worth it. I mean, real vanilla beans and real saffron are expensive, but I think you get what you pay for here.
I had a rough day, and this tea is giving me a warm, fuzzy feeling. I think some of that is also due to the fact that I am drinking it out of the most awesome Dr. Who mug ever made, but the tea is definitely contributing to the happy.
Preparation
The tea is intriguing, almost ordered it recently, will do next time around. Glad it made you feel better :-)
I hope you try it! I hesitated, but I had a coupon, so I went for it. I wish they had a small sample size for people to try because of the price, but I really think this will appeal to lots of people.
Woot! Finally have my comfort tea in stock :) Pine, cocoa, and marshmallow notes with a light body and smooth deliciousness! :D
Flavors: Cocoa, Pine
Preparation
Ok, now stop please. I need to get my first order before I place another one, let’s try to be reasonable here! (I’m so not good at that!!!)
Oh, that sounds really good. I just placed an order, and now I’m itching to place another one!
No rush guys, we’ve got plenty of this tea :)
This was my anti-stress tea today at work.
So thick and silky smooth, rich and chocolatey and very satisfying.
I have the new blend at home now, so I will try that soon to compare the two.
CALM BLUE OCEANS
I’m really interested in seeing how they compare. :)
Are you going to try them side by side? That is always fun!
I’m with Dustin… that sounds like a PARTY to me. :D
CURSES. I totally meant to, but I was so happy to leave work I left my friggin older bag of North Winds in my desk. :(
This tea is NOM.
I had some for breakfast. Well after I drank something else. What was that other thing…..OMG. I have no idea. I’m losing my mind.
Maybe it was a resteep of something leftover from last night?
Or maybe this was my first cup of the day?
I woke up
Fed baby
Played with baby
Made an omelet
Drank this tea
I feel like I had something else after I fed the baby but before the omelet.
Oh well. It’s gone.
THIS tea, this tea is NOM.
Chocolatey and delicious.
Who woke up first you or baby?
We both woke up then went back to sleep. Then I woke her up! :)
Dude your reviews rock. So glad you use the word nom the way it should be used :)
I made up a word last year that I use in everyday conversation: Phenomable. Phenomenal and Nommable. Phenomenally nommable. So. Good. :)
That word is amazing haha!
It really is!!
Though this is a bad day for me to learn this new word…..my Facebook feed is blowing up with people posting Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman”
:/
Hahaha :) Glad you like the word….use it in your reviews! ;)
Sample sipdown til my order comes in!
Had a cup of this for breakfast this morning. Didn’t have time to really draw it out and savour it, but the chocolatey, malty notes were just as satisfying first thing this morning.
I tried a resteep but I don’t think there were enough leaves for that, it was pretty flavorless.
Thanks Miss B!
Still no?
Mushroom soup city :/
Oops wrong tea, lol
Still waiting on my order!
Hope you get it soon, have you ordered many?
I really wish Canadian customs were more consistent on the speed they process packages…I’ve had shipments to the same customer take 6 days up to a month. :( I wonder if there’s a way for me to get pre-authorization from them so that my shipments get fast-tracked through customs?
I’m so excited for my order to arrive!
@TheTeaFairy I ordered three :)
@WPTC no worries on my end. I know it will get here….just excited to try them!
Me too Courtney!
WP, I can’t complain cause I got my order fairly quickly. I appriciate the fact that you ship really fast. Pre-authorization might be something worth checking out, but I have no idea if it’s possible or not…(one month is way too long, I’d go nuts!!!)
Do you know if all Canadian shipments go through the same customs location, or if there are multiple locations for different areas of Canada?
There are multiple locations. Most often I see things go through near Montreal or Vancouver.
Yes and I’m on the east coast so it would likely be different for me, though I never really paid attention, haha
Hey! I’ve got a tracking number for you :) I’ll send it in a message once I figure out which order yours was ;)
Received a sample of this from Miss B as part of her stash sale…. Great chance to try some teas before I buy! Big thanks to Miss B!!
Honestly, my tastes are not refined because I feel like you could blindfold me and put this in front of me alongside Laoshan Black and I’m not convinced I’d be able to tell the difference.
To me, this one is verrry chocolatey, maybe even more than LB. Possibly slightly less roasty, but it’s hard to say without both in front of me.
I ended up ordering this recently when there was a 20% off for new customers sale! I don’t regret that decision.
Maybe someday I will do a taste test to see what the differences are, it would be a good learning experience for sure.
I’m really enjoying the chocolate notes in this.
Made it for breakfast, am on steep 2 now and not disappointed!
(212 degrees F for 3 min)
Flavors: Cocoa
your note just confirmed that I was right. This tea is the base for Golden Orchid. I wouldn’t recognize either. I can see the difference only when brewed side by side
Oops, I meant comparing it to laoshan black but yes this is the base for golden orchid! I ordered that also, I hope I will be able to pick out the vanilla taste!
Oh there is plenty of vanilla in Golden Orchid, you don’t have to guess. And lotsa chocolate. But it is not in a MF or Fauchon way. its not perfumery. I’m sorry, I made a comment, but wasn’t clear that I made a reference to a different tea;). Steepster needs edit button in comments section
:)
So have you tried both North Wind and Golden orchid now? Do you have a preference?
I’d say Golden Orchid. Richer but you know what, it’s like treat. Not like everyday day. I’m happy I got both. They both should be in my cupboard. repurchase for me when I run out. It was a nice discount, I wouldn’t mind another sale like this.
Awesome! Hopefully tomorrow my order will finally come in so I can try Golden Orchid
Fingers crossed;)
I hope you like it as much as I do
I love both the North Winds and the Golden Orchid. Not being a flavored tea person I cannot believe how MUCH I love the Golden Orchid. You will absolutely taste the vanilla in the GO. Both will be re-stocks when I run out.
So many good things being said all over Steepster about these two! Yum.
Good morning! :)
And good morning to you as well ;-)
Sssshh… I’m still sleeping. :p
(Oops, Okay…sorry ;-))
Seriously, you have inspired me to try to get up early and see a sunrise. I think it’s been over 15 years since that happened, and it wasn’t from getting up early, it was from staying out late!
Nothing beats that feeling…
Haha! I’ve had those wasted sunrises as well dear…memory lane. Mind you, I went to bed past 2am, so it was almost that!
This makes me want to start dragging my butt out of bed earlier, at least once in awhile!
I love the freshness of the early morning, & of course the birds & their songs!
My problem is I also love the silence of late night & my creativity seems to always awaken & peak from 10pm to 2am.:)
I understand the night creativity…then just be like me, a night AND a morning person ;-)
TheTeaFairy, do you get that beautiful blanket of cool mist in the mornings?
Brenden, yes I do… Especially on cooler nights like yesterday. A blanket is right, this morning, it was only at ground level, so dense I could not see through!
My favorite :) I had a fair bit of fog here last night and I went for a walk. Truly beautiful stuff!
I work in the night time Indiana woods. Last night a mist enveloped my world. A very special sight/feeling. :)
I so love that feeling inranger…glad to know the sight doesn’t get old even for you, as it is part of your job to see beautiful nature canvases every day :-)
Yes, I am blessed. :)
Every day!
Count me in also :-)
Love these comments!
Brenden, I go night walking as well, but only when there’s a full moon. Then it gets really magical!
Then jump in KS, you are always welcome :-)
The smell of thick fog in the forest is my absolute favorite thing <3
Or after it’s stormed all night and the sun is hitting the trees and you get that unexplainable freshness…mmm
Ok stop! You’re going to cause a massive human migration to the woods…how could anyone resist all that?
Right?! Well, I could only do about 5 minutes in the woods today to get some mushrooms I was letting grow a bit more…It’s mosquito hell out there today!
Understand the night and morning person thing. I just have to watch out for the phase out in the middle of the day thing bred into me by years of boredom at school.
Yyz, hate napping in the afternoon, it’s screws me up more than my insomnia!!
Brendan, mmm, fresh mushroom…what kind do you get? Have to be careful though…
And mosquitos have been the worst here this year, they are so big, and they give me allergic reactions, i have a bite the size of an orange on one leg, dammit!