Whispering Pines Tea Company

Sipdown 5 – 2024

Not sure if it’s because of the age, but this tastes way different than I remember. Super fruity. Lots of stone fruits. Really tasty, I drank through the remainder of the bag pretty quickly.

Deep, dark, mysterious. Like sipping trimmings of an old tree growing in the middle of a damp forest.

Upon drinking this again, I’m boosting up the rating. It was nice and smooth, and had an interesting artichoke note on top of the dried fruits.

Thanks to Kawaii433 for this! Very glad I got to try this one. I’m primarily getting deep prune and raisin notes. There’s a bit of spice that balances the dried fruit flavor out very nicely. I enjoyed this one, but I’m finding I like more chocolate/malt leaning black teas.

Wow. Another extraordinary offering from Whispering Pines. A huge thanks to Kawaii433 for this one as well. This is absolutely decadent. Pure chocolate and malt. Rich, creamy mouthfeel. It holds up to multiple steeps, but I found the first steep to be my favorite.

Finished off a 1oz pouch. Sad day. I have 1 (maybeeee 2) bags left. Really hoping it gets restocked sometime soon because I just love it. It’s such a deep, aromatic jasmine. Combined with the black base? Dreamy.

This is still one of my absolute favorite teas. I’m down to just over 1oz, and there is some available on Whispering Pines website. Hmmmm….

Edit: It’s sold out. cries

Had this with an absolutely delicious slice of coconut custard cake, and the pairing was divine. This continues to be one of my favorite teas…it’s absolutely perfect.

I drank this all day at work today. It’s just perfect. I left it to steep for too long (got distracted and forgot about it). It still tasted excellent. Added a bit of honey, also excellent. This tea is just so good. I’ve never gravitated back toward a singular tea so frequently, but I have to control myself, as the price does not allow for daily drinking.

I already made another pot of this. I can’t get enough. absolutely decadent.

Wow, this tea is pretty extraordinary. A huge thanks to Kawaii433 for sharing their stash of Whispering Pines with me. The jasmine is incredibly fragrant, and pairs perfectly with the cherry and stone fruit notes of the black tea. This is one of those teas that made my jaw drop.

A bit of a dry mouthfeel, that I’m not particularly fond of. Definitely cherry and chocolate at first, and I’m getting a bit of the vanilla as the cup cools. There’s something almost stevia-like in the aftertaste.

Sipdown 155-2021
Goodbye, tea. The last couple cups were actually tainted with the scent of Golden Hour, which was weird.

I was surprised by how much vanilla came out of this cup. Much sweeter and more rich than I remember.

Received this as a sample in a previous Whispering Pines order. I’ve fallen in love with so many WP teas, so I was excited to try something new. Very nice and malty, full of chocolate and baked-good flavors. I did steep at 212F for 4 minutes rather than the recommended 5min and I’m glad I did so. It has begun to develop a mild bitter bite in the back of the throat, and I believe the longer steep time would’ve ruined it. Overall, an incredibly tasty, satisfying cup.

I had a sample of this from the last Here’s Hoping Teabox, which yes, was ages ago now (I don’t have many samples left from it though, I think I’m only left with pu-erhs/aged teas now!) Thanks to tea-sipper for organizing that box and those individuals that shared their teas in it! It’s afternoon tea time… I should really fix a spot of lunch but just don’t feel up to it, so I figured I’d just have some tea instead.

I used the smaller 450ml ceramic glazed pot I got from my mom for Christmas and brewed this… eh… quasi-gong fu? I wanted to use up all the leaf which measured out at 6.8g, so these ended up at around 200ml infusions according to the water/leaf ratio app I use, which I realize are a bit large for typical gong fu infusions. It also meant that I filled up on tea after the third infusion, needed a break, and had to come back and finish up around dinner time. Oops.

6.8g / 200ml (ceramic teapot) / 185F / 20s|30s|40s|50s|60s

The first steep was lightly yellow and had a vegetal and herbaceous aroma with notes of minerals, wet stone, dandelions, honeysuckle, and hay. The taste was grassy with a strong hay flavor with additional notes of dandelion greens, flower pollen, honey, and wet stones. The second steep brought forth a stronger floral aroma, as well as a subtle fruity note on the nose, a bit like honeyed pears. The flavor was a bit softer and sweeter, too; the strong grassy vegetal notes felt a little more subdued and a strong honey sweetness filled the mouth, tasting of floral nectar, and subtly of pear and stonefruit, with the mineral notes now gone. The minerality returned in the third infusion, with wet stone, moss, wet hay, and sweet floral notes. I took the tea through two more infusions, the fourth tending a bit stronger on the floral notes and the fifth a bit stronger on the vegetal notes. It was a pleasant and filling tea… I probably could have pushed it further, but honestly I was so tea full and had been drinking on it all day and just felt it was the right time to wrap things up.

This tea seems more about aromas than the taste or texture, even though those are interesting too if one pays close enough attention.

Dry leaves smell of forest, mint, plum and fenugreek seeds. Among the notes after the rinse are freshly baked bread rolls, ammonia, burdock, blackberry and carrot.

The taste is subtle and can at times appear to be somewhat weak. Beneath the overall mineral character and black grape note, however, there lies a multitude of fleeting flavours.

As for the mouthfeel, I found it to be quite silky and numbing. It is a slightly unusual texture I’d say, coupled with the lighter body than what one might expect from white teas with comparable character in this aspect.

Hey, Steepster. It’s been a while. This is also a backlog I owe Brendon. I will try to back log the rest of the teas that I’ve spent too much money on, but I will keep each note short. If there’s something particular or flowery that I should describe in words I will. If not, concise but broad language will come out of my tealog from here on out.

I liked this on more than a few other 18 varietal teas I’ve had. I personally am not in love with this variety of white tea because the the menthol note can border on astringent for this type of tea. This one was a lot smoother, and I personally got a very strong note of a softer fruit like pear and apple amongst the menthol, autumn leaf pile, cassia, and maple notes. White Lotus remains as my favorite white, but this is my favorite #18 Varietal of it from the many companies I’ve had. I recommend it more for experienced drinkers. Newer drinkers might be thrown off with the menthol unless they are open to going more hard core in the world of tea.

Tea Advent Calendar – Day 25

This advent calendar swap with Shae was one of the highlights of my Christmas season! Such fun to try a new tea every day leading up to Christmas…especially since I ended up liking the vast majority of the ones she sent. :) And of all the yummy teas I got to try, this was one of my very favorites. In all the festivities on Christmas morning, I forgot about it and let it steep for far too long…probably 15 or 20 minutes. Many black teas would have been completely undrinkable at that point, but this one was still smooth and lovely without a hint of bitterness or astringency! It’s an exceptionally smooth, sweet and fruity black tea that obviously isn’t too picky and holds up to multiple resteepings. Wouldn’t mind having this one in my cupboard long-term!

Tea Advent Calendar – Day 24

A lovely treat for Christmas Eve! The dry leaf is lovely…downy golden curls with a rich earthy aroma. The flavor is rich and full-bodied with notes of cocoa, malt, and baked bread. It also resteeps beautifully!

Tea Advent Calendar – Day 17

Such a pretty tea! Long downy golden buds that really do look like little furry tails. It had a delicious cocoa aroma while it was brewing, but I didn’t get much chocolate from the flavor, which was surprisingly light and delicate. It was very smooth (no astringency that I noticed) but not quite as robust as I personally prefer my black tea to be. Almost reminded me of an oolong, actually!

Tea Advent Calendar – Day 14

I was excited to see a Whispering Pines tea in the advent calendar today and I was not disappointed! This is exactly the type of black tea I love: smooth and slightly sweet with notes of malt and sweet potato. It also re-steeps beautifully!