Whispering Pines Tea Company

I tried this one again today with a longer steep time (8min30sec). This resulted in a much bolder flavor, but I didn’t notice anything particularly different aside from this. I didn’t get any of the coconut-like aftertaste this time around, but I am nearly certain that was caused by the cookies I had last time rather than by the tea.

I shared this brew with my family. My father said it went well with dinner and my sister said it tasted like burnt coffee (she hates coffee and I’m having a heck of a time finding any tea she likes either, so I wouldn’t take her opinion too seriously. LOL)

It’s already a given that I love dark roasted oolongs. The darker and roastier the better.

I was curious about this one, being labeled “dark chocolate” oolong. Obviously, it’s not chocolate flavored, but I wondered how it came upon the name. I did not detect any obvious chocolate notes, but the same hidden sweetness that I find in all dark roast oolongs. Who knows, maybe that is supposed to be ‘chocolate.’ There was however something slightly different in the aftertaste of this tea, but I thought maybe it was my imagination. Something vaguely coconut, possibly caramel (caramel teas tend to leave me with coconut-esque after tastes). I really do not like coconut in tea, at all, ever. I kept drinking my cup to cover the aftertaste and by mid-cup, I didn’t detect it anymore. Either I developed tolerance for it or there was just something funky going on with my senses at the time. Oh well!

This tastes… odd. I wonder if this was contaminated with some of the other stuff I ordered. The dried tea smells minty, which it should not, so I wonder if the bags aren’t as air-tight as they should have been. If I concentrate, I can taste the milk oolong but there is definitely a spearmint flavor that is mingling in and I’m not sure I like it.

I received my first order from Whispering Pines today and this is the tea that I tried first.
As all the teas from this and three other orders were sitting out on my counter, the scent from this one stood out the most. I didn’t recognize it as safflower as I didn’t know what safflower smelled like before. To be honest, the smell wasn’t terribly inviting, yet I chose to try it first anyway. I was excited about an elderberry tea. Elderberry syrup is my remedy of choice every flu season and it works! If I could have it in tea instead, bonus! I brewed 16oz to take in a thermos and share with my parents this evening. I only poured a small bit for myself to sample. I was undecided about the first couple sips, but as I finished my small cup, the taste became more comforting and I can definitely see myself stocking up on this for winter time. My mother and sister really loved it and my father liked it OK too so I sold them the rest of the bag (They are moving to Montana in a week, so I thought it more convenient to sell them mine than to place an order when their address in in limbo :p) Now I need to buy more for myself! But I’m out of money for a couple weeks :(

I tried this again tonight with a tsp of rock sugar. Steeped 1 tsp of tea in my 16 oz IngenuiTEA steeper for 5.5 minutes. I remain unimpressed. All I can taste is the sugar.

Steeped 10 minutes per instructions.

I was not impressed with the smell of the dry tea. I guess I was expecting it to smell like a graham cracker. The brewed tea smells yummy! It tastes okay. I don’t think rooibos is for me. This is the second one I’ve tried (the first a blend from Persimmon Tree) and I am not very impressed with either.

I can see this possibly working iced with some sugar but fresh-brewed without any sweetener just isn’t doing it for me, which is a shame because I could really use something caffeine free to drink at night. I guess I’ll go back to a cup of regular tea at night, and just hope I can still fall asleep.

This is a very pleasant green tea. It’s light, and the pine is extremely subtle but tasty.

stomach virus be damned!
let’s drink some tea!
oops i just burnt my mouth.
re-do.
this one isn’t one of my faves. it was pleasant, just not very mint in my opinion.
no worries though!
there is a tea for everyone!
thank you KallieBoo! for the great samples!

I could’ve sworn that I put a note up when I first tried this, but apparently not. Huh. Anyway, not the first time I’ve drank this, but unfortunately the first time I’ve recorded it here I guess.
Fruity, smooth and nicely malty. Pretty average to me. But it’s one I seem to keep coming back to. I think this is mostly because I forget what it tastes like so I brew it up again to see. Lol. But it’s a nice, comforting tea to brew up when I just want something to drink and not to have to think too much on it.

I also blended this with a vanilla black tea (georgia tea co.) I had around because I thought I had a note written on this package about adding vanilla to it. (It turns out it wasn’t this one but the Formosa Oolong. Oops) But it does add a nice mellow vanilla-ness to it that supports the whole comfort tea for me. Pretty much this tea gives the vanilla a much needed boost to the base, and the vanilla makes this one overall a bit tastier. ^^
(Rating is based on just the straight Mountain Nectar tea, not on the blended version I made later)

Another retry.
Pleasantly vague smokyness that’s thankfully not in your face, just background. Mildly fruity, but has a strange, almost sour, note to it. No idea where that’s coming from, but it just came to mind as I was drinking. It’s not malty, or there’s so little malty-ness that it’s unmentionable. (maybe that’s just me?) Strange to drink a black tea and have no malty note to it whatsoever. Not bad strange, just strange strange.
I’ll keep this one in my ‘Finish off’ bin, but I can’t see myself reordering it unless there’s a crazy good deal on it.

I’ve had this tea once, though apparently I never put a tasting note up about it. Lol.
I like this tea, though maybe not as much as some of the other teas I have in my cupboard. It’s a nice black tea for anytime I think. Kinda woody, has a mildly sharp bite to it, and it’s a smidge smokey with nice black tea maltyness. Stands up to sugar nicely. Not sure about milk since I don’t take my tea at way.
This is probly one of the teas I’d consider making when I want an easy, plain black tea. And I’d consider reordering it when I run out/if it comes up on sale.

Holy crap! Look at me all reappearing over here and stuff.

I know it was almost a month ago, but I did get better in time to head up north with Fiance for the 4th. We had a blast tubing, four-wheeling, bonfires, and being nature-y

Fiance also never showed symptoms of strep. Jerk.

Anyway. It was probably a good thing I stepped back from here for a little bit. I’ve been able to curb my buying habits at least a little better. It’s not quite as cringe inducing when I check my bank account now. Unfortunately it seems I can’t stay away too long because loving tea and sharing that love kinda doesn’t go away. So I’m back.

After a long (for me) hiatus, I’m back with a review of a sample I got from KallieBoo! Thank you!

I’ve also only had a couple Keemum’s before this, so this is fun!

This cup brews up into something that’s the color of antique cherry wood and has a nice plummy earthy aroma. I didn’t really get smokey, but I’ve found that if the smoke is really subtle it comes across as earthy to me.

The taste is honey and sweet potato at the open, then morphs into an earthy rich maltiness with a slightly sweet and sour plum note. The aftertaste is that honey flavor with a more lingering taste of rich plum. It has a really smooth mouthfeel.

There’s some mild (very mild) astringency that lessens as the tea nears room temperature.

I really enjoyed this, and could see this being a great straight up iced tea.

I am super impressed with my Whispering Pines teas! Haha, I’ve probably said this already :P but yeah, oh and also, I forgot to mention the hand-written note that came with my teas was a nice surprise, good customer service! I had a cup of Honeysuckle White tea by them earlier and didn’t rinse my cup, so there might be a bit of honeysuckle taste in this cup that is not normally present lol. I’ll have to write a review about that one at some point too! Anyways, onto this tea.

First off, this one has a very faint green tea scent dry, nice and light. I steeped for 1.5 minutes at 175 degree water. The steeped smell is of jasmine, fresh little buds of it. The taste is very delicate and fresh, I definitely taste a floral element, whether that is the honeysuckle adding to the jasmine from the previous cup, I’m not sure, but it is quite nice. The green tea is very light and smooth, with the slightest hint of grass. I can see how this is likened to rain in a forest or on blades of grass, it is just fresh and sweet and pure.

Overall, I am quite enjoying this cup, I am finding it quite relaxing and I love the images of a forest it evokes for me. Ahh feeling a bit Zen-like, much needed after a busy busy day at work. I will hold off rating until I try it in a clean cup to make sure the white tea isn’t messing with the flavor.

Drinking another cup of this tea..that I keep hoarding lol. It’s just so good! I love the maté and eucalyptus, so fresh and yummy. It’s getting me through the day..only 4 more hours until the long Easter weekend! Can’t wait! See previous notes on this tea :)

Oh dear…I just read my other notes on this, and no…I have still not sipped this down haha. Having a cup this morning and it still tastes fresh, but yes a bit more stale :( booo! I love this blend and can’t get any more of it :( hey Brenden, maybe a reblend of this for me in the future? Haha, such a wonderful blend, but I am earnestly going to sip this down, it’s losing its flavor after 2 years unfortunately. See previous notes!

This tea has tons of caffeine in it, but something called ‘Zen Master’ always seems like a good evening tea to me. And it has focused and calmed my mind very nicely from the chaos that has been work the past two weeks..can’t wait for it to be over. Crazy project, workplace people problems, etc etc…not a fun time. But I finally have a break and this tea is helping to calm me and relax me for a good, hopefully stress free sleep, after my nightly yoga that is lol. Fresh, piney, like the breeze off a lake..a lovely tea. I can’t wait to place my WP order and find a replacement for this one! See previous notes :)

Ok ok, I know I said I am cutting back my caffeine intake, and yes, this tea does have mate in it..but I am itching to place a WP order (darn all the golden orchid notes! :D ) and this is from way back in my first order, so I’d like to finish it up and possibly re-order, because I love this tea haha. It’s a breathe of fresh air, piney, woody, fresh. And even though it is caffeinated, it does bring about a comforting sense of peace, and a calm in which I feel motivated to get things done (such as my online course for work that I’ve procrastinated on for a year..lol). A very well done blend, and I’m excited to place another WP order in the near future, it’s been far too long! See previous notes on this tea :)

ETA – my cold has finally diminished into a dry, gross cough, more of a sinus irritation than cold now. And I just started sneezing, so hooray for getting it all out of my system? Almost time for some allergy pills, good old spring hay fever is going to take over now that my cold is finished :(

I haven’t had a cup of this in ages! Well, tonight was the night. I went through my stash and made a list of teas I would like to work on sipping down due to age, amount left, etc…and I have also been compiling lists of tea orders from various companies lol. Trying to organize which ones I want to order from first, I haven’t been ordering tea much lately, and when I do start ordering again I want to do it in an organized manner to watch budgeting and such. Haha such a responsible side of me came out this weekend, what with all the yardwork, cleaning, laundry, and coursework I have been doing (must be because my guy is coming back from working 2 weeks tomorrow..want everything to be clean and perfect for him to return to :D).

So anyways, long informative rant aside, this tea is on the sipdown list. Not that I don’t enjoy it, it’s just getting old and I want to drink it while it still tastes good! And tonight it is very good. This is like a fresh walk in the woods by the coast, with the saltwater air and fresh breeze rippling on your face, and that damp mossy smell underneath your feet. Takes me to a nice place, like somewhere on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I want to go back there soo bad! Haha, anyways, see previous notes on this tea :)

I was craving this tea tonight. With such a crazy week going on right now with work and school, I need some Zen in my life. This has such a lovely fresh flavor and im hoping it kind of chills me out and keeps my headache from returning. This is such a lovely blend that it’s difficult to describe the flavor, everything in it just flows into this river of excellent flavor. I like it, and must have this more often. I will rate it when I’m not on my phone. See previous notes on this tea :)

Oh, and also thought I’d post a photo of the mug I’m drinking it out of, because it is beautiful and I meant to put a pic up when I got it, oh and it seems to match the tea very nicely tonight (hopefully the link works lol)
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-WUaZdrrrlQA/UjEuopeaHsI/AAAAAAAAB_8/fpx-fuWgWec/w426-h568/Teaware%2B-%2B1

I am back! I was back last night actually and had half a cup of tea at like 1 in the morning but I don’t feel like logging it haha im still trying to catch up on sleep.. Vegas was pretty sweet! Had some heat stroke one day from being dehydrated from no tea probably haha but other than that it was awesome. Definitely going back!

Anyways, onto tea!! When I was away my whispering Pines and verdant orders arrived! Woot! So I am having a lovely cup of this as my first official cup back. It is refreshing and energizing and the eucalyptus gives an interesting flavor! I will do a more in depth review later haha im just enjoying this cup and relaxing today. Happy to be back with my teas and on steepster :)

I’m really surprised this hasn’t been reviewed yet.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this tea yet. I need some time to sit with another mug of it.
It definetly remind me of camping (ok so 90% of Whispering Pines teas remind me of camping & I can’t tell you how much I LOVE that!), both in smell & taste. It’s earthy, almost hay like & a bit berry-ie.
The colour it steeps up is so strange. I had it in a white mug & the tea touching the edges of the mug was a yellow-ish/green & the centre was an almost grey/green colour.

I feel like I should be drinking this in a sauna or by a fire.

Alright so once this steeped up I was really worried about it because it smelt so much like coffee.

I dove in sitting at work, slacking. Errr my fear is realized it tastes so much like coffee. I’m sure there is some chocolate linering at the end of the sip, but I can’t get past the coffee taste.

I’m sure this is a great tea, if you like coffee. I just can’t get behind this one.