Whispering Pines Tea Company

I’ve really been craving black teas over the last couple days, and I haven’t enjoyed this in awhile. Decided to have a short gongfu session with it. So insanely chocolatey, with a bit of malt and baked bread. In the first steep, the vanilla is the most distinct it’s been in my experience with this tea. Subsequent steeps lose the vanilla, but maintain the chocolate and malt.

The first time I tried this tea I brewed it according to the package instructions. I found it pretty unpleasant. Strong dirt flavor, and not much else.
I decided to retry and this time stuck to 200degrees,1 min, and wow. A world of difference. Rich and malty, with sweet vanilla notes.

River Rain is just okay for me. A weak green tea that quickly goes bitter if you let it steep for too long past the 2 minute mark. It’s just a little buttery and a little vegetal, but there’s nothing surprising or overly complex about it. It’s forgettable for me.

Overall, this is a good tea with nice woody flavors, roasted nuts, and only hints of sweetness; this is mostly a savory tea. It starts off very mild in flavor with the 1st infusion and gets better from there. There’s a medium robustness in the tea with a good viscosity. I also got a lot of steeps out of this.

It’s a decent enough black tea, which is not quite in my preferred flavor profile, but won’t say No, if offered. The cha qi in this tea is pretty darn good.

I tried this GF style. (I’ll try this via WP’s recommended Western brew style later then update this review.)
Tea: 5.04g
Wash: No
Water: 150 ml
temps: ~195

1) 15 seconds @ 194F – Liquid is medium gold amber and gives off a faint woody smell. The wet leaves give off high notes of fruit and low notes of roasted / herbal scents. The flavor starts off with roasted nuts & camphor — there’s the mild sweetness of nuts; then a mild creamy aftertaste with hints of tobacco. It has a mild viscosity that coats the roof of my mouth but not my tongue with a very long finish

2) 30 seconds @ 196 — This is a much better infusion. The liquid is reddish amber with smells of wood, camphor/eucalyptus. The wet leaf has nigh notes of cocoa and low notes of roasted nuts, bittersweet chocolate.
On drinking it, I taste nuts on the tip of my tongue followed by cocoa, mild camphor/eucalyptus and wood. My tongue dried instantly; there’s a mild cha qi hitting my head.

3) 45 sec @ 193 deg. The tea is definitely getting a much darker red and I smell more camphor from the liquid, but the scent of the wet leaves hasn’t.
It still tastes of nuts, wood, and cocoa nibs. The flavors are becoming more robust and I can taste malty flavors. Viscosity has increased and the astringency has hit my tongue! Cha qi in the head has increased too.

4) 60 seconds @ 195 — The color is slightly less than the #3 steep. The liquid definitely has a camphor/eucalyptus scent, but the leaf now has high notes of brown sugar.
The flavor profile is changing slightly too — nuts, wood, and now resin.

5) 75 seconds – @ 200F — This is interesting. The liquid has gotten darker by increasing the temperature of the water, but the flavors haven’t really changed….they’re starting to actually got less intense

6) 1min30sec @ 200F — The liquid is still an amber red, and the flavors are still there, although lessening to a degree. There’s a hint of things starting to wash out at this point, but I might be able to get a few more steeps out of it.

I ordered this tea from WP because, honestly, I liked the name. I have no vested interest in the tea or know about the hype surrounding it until I started looking at the reviews.

I brewed this following WP’s guidelines: 1 TBSP / 8 oz @212F for 3 minutes, then 5 minutes
(I will also try this GF style, then update this review)

Tea: 1.5 grams, which about fit in my TBSP at home.
Water: 8oz/237 ml

For this brew style, this is a very innocuous tea without much wow factor in the flavors. It’s not bad and I suspect that it’s a good beginner type tea for someone who is used to bagged tea from Tazo.

I tried this on a whim, and wasn’t disappointed. It’s a consistent tea, especially if you want something very light & clean tasting. It’s not overly complex, nor will I classify it as a “simple” tea. It’s probably most excellent cold brewed for a hot summer day.

I brewed this gongfu style as follows:
Tea: 5.05 grams
water:150ml
temp: ~195
WP’s directions on the bag are for Western Style (3g tea/ 8oz water @ 190F) for 2,3,4 minutes

The dry leaves smell of cream/milk with that oolong undertone.

1)30 seconds: The leaf smells of heavy cream & honey and have barely even opened up!. The liquid smells of warm milk and looks like pale ivory. Its flavors start off with a subtle vegetal followed by honey then cream. There’s a mild viscosity and very clean finish.

2) 1 minute: I really wanted the leaves to open up more; hence the longer steep time. The leaves smell of cream with a vegetal undertone….and funny enough, it tastes exactly that! The initial cream flavor followed by a vegetal undertone and a floral finish.

3) 2 minutes: This tea seems to be able to take the increased brew time. WP’s directions are for western for 2-4-minutes, so I’m okay with the increased time. The flavors are the same as #2 but with a very mild astringency.

4) 3 minutes. The tea is pretty consistent with its flavor profile. Cream, honey, with floral undertones. Mild astringency.

Overall, this is a pretty decent tea to drink; not overly complicated, but with enough flavors to keep your taste buds entertained if you don’t want a full tea session.

I’ve been drinking up the last of my favorite teas that I’ve been hoarding lately and I am so sad to see the last of this one go. I didn’t like the taste of black licorice when I was younger, but I love black licorice candy now and this tea smells and tastes like black licorice candy and creamy anise cakes (with that almost minty edge that black licorice has) with a toasty warmth from the black tea. It’s magic and is so deeply soothing. I feel like it calms down my fibromyalgia pain just a little (or else warms my heart enough to take the edge off). Definitely candied and dessert-like, but also grownup and complex to me. I think it’s safe to say that you’d have to actually enjoy the taste and scent of black licorice / anise to enjoy this, but it’s heaven if you do. A very unique dessert tea that makes me happy. I love the strong flavor and beautiful, deep gold shade of this tea.

It’s a rainy, gloomy day here today (I saw snow, though it didn’t stick thankfully!) and I feel so bleh with the ladytime pains I don’t feel up to housework, so I thought I’d do a little gong fu session with one of my old teabox teas (I really need to work on finishing those samples off!) This is the last black sample I had from the Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox, so thank you to tea-sipper for organizing and to all those involved in that box for sharing their teas! I had a 2.3g sample and prepared it in my baby sized gaiwan.

2.32g / 40ml (gaiwan) / 205F / 30s|20s|25s|30s|35s|40s|45s|50s|60s|60s

The session lasted ten steeps, and I’ll admit I was surprised at the longevity of a black tea that had to be incredibly old at this point, as I rarely get such longevity even from fresh blacks and oolongs. My first steep ended up much longer than I planned, since I forgot how incredibly hot the little ceramic baby gaiwan is (I’m used to “cheating” with gong fu by always using my shiboridashi which is much easier to handle when it comes to heat retention and not pouring boiling tea all over my fingers). It had an aroma of orange peels, mandarins, and raisin bread, with a strong baked bread aroma present on the top of the cup, and the flavor of the tea was a strong pithy orange peel citrus note, with a less prominent lemony citrus note that produced slight puckering toward the end of the sip, as well as notes of malt and raisin bread, with a rather prominent astrigent/drying sensation on the top of the mouth. The second steep was less pithy with a more fruity and balanced orange flavor and a little stronger in the lemon note, with the malty notes also rounding out a bit and some florality becoming more present, but the tea was still quite astringent. On the third steep I overfilled my gaiwan to its limits of 60ml which made it extremely difficult to pour but noticed the extra water mellowed the tea out, with the malt/citrus/floral notes rounding out and the tea not having the bitter astringent bite on the finish, so the fourth steep I removed a few leaves out of the cup so I could fill it comfortably again at around the 40ml mark and got a flavor on par with the third steep, and the tea even seemed to have some rose florality pushing forward. It seemed some of the astringency was due to having too much leaf-to-water and now, while a bit drying after the sip, it was no longer unpleasant in any way. Most of the rest of the session continued with the tea reminding me of marmalade toast, with a bit of rose florality cropping up from time to time.

Considering the age of the tea sample, I was impressed with how much I got out of it, and had a nice, warming session on an otherwise dreary afternoon.

Steepster has unfortunately now eaten my review of this tea twice, so let’s see if the third time is the charm. I generally don’t go for pu-erh or blended teas, so one would expect this tea to not do much for me, but one would be wrong. This was an absolutely fantastic pu-erh blend.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of the loose pu-erh, cacao nib, and vanilla bean piece blend in 4 ounces of 212 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 20 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea blend emitted aromas of earth, mushroom, cocoa, vanilla, and marshmallow. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of malt, wood, and wheat toast. The first infusion introduced the aroma of old paper and a subtle scent of smoke. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of earth, cream, butter, malt, mushroom, marshmallow, wood, wheat toast, cocoa, and vanilla that were complimented by subtle notes of cinnamon, black pepper, camphor, smoke, and old paper. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of cream, butter, molasses, and caramel. Notes of minerals and dried tobacco appeared in the mouth alongside subtle hints of molasses and a brown sugar note that quickly transformed into more of a caramel presence. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized mineral, cream, wood, vanilla, cocoa, and caramel notes that were complimented by hints of marshmallow, camphor, wheat toast, butter, and mushroom.

At this point, all I can do is re-emphasize that I thought this was a fantastic blend. Nothing was out of place. Everything worked together. It was just beautiful. Brendan consistently does an incredible job with his tea blends, and this one was another winner. Anyone looking to craft a quality pu-erh blend should check out this tea and some of Whispering Pines’ similar offerings.

Sipdown (backlog)

I really like this tea and would like to order it again when my cupboard is more manageable. Comforting, almost hot chocolate like without the excess sugar.

It is a very clean, bright and cheerful puerh. Wood, molasses, camphor, limestone, a hint of dried apple. Some decay on the nose but none on the tongue.

It is a sunny-morning tea, full of optimism and promise. Kinda amazing how many dramatically different puehrs are there in the world. This is one of the better ones, but then again everything that I have tried from Whispering Pines was firmly above-average.

I’ve been having this with breakfast the last few days, and cold brewing the spent leaves. It’s a solid unflavored black, but no malt, which for me is strange in an Assam. Despite the lack of maltiness, it has a sweetness and full body that I enjoyed. And the spent leaves make a great iced tea.

Additional notes on this lovely tea. Last time I had it, my nephew was staying with me so I didn’t gongfu it. This time I did.

There is still that warm, comforting spice that I can’t name and it goes well with the oats notes. I still don’t believe it is cinnamon. What is it?? lol Anyway, it’s a warm taste. Lovely.

Lots of fresh red apples, apple skin, some berries… As it tasted when I made it as directed, it still comes off as a yummy lightly spiced-oatmeal-apple pie. Creamy barley notes, more raisin than honey sweetness. No bitterness at all, almost dessert-like and it’s rich, full. In the beginning, I got some sweet potatoes but only, in the beginning, it remained full of oats and fruity notes throughout all the infusions. Tasted some lychee and stonefruits notes somewhere in the middle. Warm, fruity, oat-y, yummy. I think I prefer my ‘Golden Lily’ this way now.

First impressions from the first cup. I usually always do gong-fu but my schedule has drastically changed since having my nephew around. :) I prepared it with 1 heaping tablespoon, 212F, 3 min steep in 16 ozs water. The second cup for 5 min. infusion.

Soft, silky mouthfeel. A very warm, comforting spice that I can not name, not quite cinnamon but cinnamony-like. Oats, apple, berries, spices… It reminded me kind of a cinnamon-oatmeal-apple pie but in liquid form. Cream notes, barley notes, naturally but delicately honey-raisin sweet. Unique and wonderful flavors throughout the two infusions. The second infusion not as delicious as the first as it seemed that the oats/barley notes were more subdued. Am looking forward to a gongfu session with this to see where all these splendid notes come in and come out.

Highly recommended.

I’ve bene out for a while and my recent restock came in a few days ago. And, as much as I love this tea, I almost never make notes about it.

Its not as smooth as some teas, but its not harsh in any way. Worst I can say is maybe its a little drying in the mouth but still very pleasant. It doesn’t quite give me that french toast vibe like it did all those years ago, but I am still very much enjoying the flavor.

Still something I want to always have in my cupboard.

I’ve actually been making a lot of iced tea over the last few weeks while the PNW was being hit by that heat wave. And i decided to just rotate through all of my different teas and try them all, or at least a bunch of them, iced.

What i find fascinating is how different a tea can taste hot or cold even if they started the same by brewing in hot water. The sweetness dies down quite a bit. what’s left is a lighter flavor than I would have expected with not as much depth as one would normally expect for a black tea.

While I would not say its my favorite base for an iced tea, this is still enjoyable and refreshing.

I’ve only logged this once? Seriously??? It has turned into a staple. If I don’t have some, its because its out of stock and I will reorder as soon as it shows up again. And when I do, I usually buy 4oz at a time.

This actually says a lot given that I honestly don’t drink a lot of tea. I usually have somewhere between 1 and 3 cups a day depending on how the day is going. Unless i try something I just don’t like, I always just re-steep the same leaves. So it says a lot for me to buy something in quantity.

I am always amazed on how sweet this one seems to me. I mean its honestly not sweet at all, but really gives the impression of something like syrup or brown sugar. It is so warm and comforting and smooth. And it really makes an excellent iced tea as well.

If I could only have one tea to drink for the rest of my life, PTA would be it. And I don’t think I would mourn the loss of all the others.

I got a sample of this on my last order.

Its a rainy and cold day. Just got into work and decided to give this one a try. As it was steeping, all I could think was someone had brought french toast into the office. Its not a sweet tasting tea, but the flavor reminds me of a rich pastry without the sweetness.

Its difficult for me to explain, but I really like the aroma and taste of this tea. I hope there is still some left when I’m ready for my next order.

I have had this for a while but hadn’t written about it. It is their 2019 Da Hong Pao. I really like Whispering Pines teas overall.

I prepared it Gongfu 200 F, quick rinse, then 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s. 30s, 1m. Nice aromatics of dried fruit, minerals. A delicious roasty cuppa with pleasant light spice notes, like anise, pepper, and perhaps cardamom. Lots of nice dried fruit, mainly plums, and raisins, some citrus notes. Also, lots of mineral notes.

Solid Da Hong Pao.

Gongfu Sipdown (704)!

Many thanks to TheWeekendSessions for the tea sample! This is something that I picked up from him when I was in Winnipeg, and I was really, really excited about it! I knew WP was carrying this tea now – but I haven’t ordered from them in ages, and I generally don’t love making orders just for one tea so I’d not looked too seriously at it. However, I remember Butiki carrying this and it was amazing. One of the first straight teas I ever fell in love with – definitely a life changing tea!

So all that said, here’s what I wrote about it on instagram:

So yammy/sweet potato heavy with delicious malt, stewed plum, raisin, caramelized sugar, molasses, and cinnamon bread notes. Very thick, coating liquor and lingering sweetness. A really well rounded profile!

It’s basically love in a cup/gaiwan, and painfully nostalgic for me! I completely brewed out this tea, and it was definitely one of the best things I’ve drank all month!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B2IPrQCpsLd/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHEvjLJgWM8

Another good Ruby White from Taiwan. I’m a sucker for them it seems. I like the menthol/wintergreen and fruitiness of this style of tea. This Spring 2019? harvest is especially smooth despite possessing plenty of oomph. Complex but round enough to quaff away without thought.

Kawaii433 said, “I wish I wasn’t the only one who reviewed this because I’m sure there is so much more…” I sipped the whole ounce as western preparations except for a lone gongfu session and I didn’t take notes but I think her flavor descriptors are spot on: https://steepster.com/kawaii433/posts/388875#likes