Whispering Pines Tea Company

Thanks so much for allowing me to try this one, Kawaii433! I love the name. To be honest, I don’t love WP’s Ontario pu-erh base for this one. Ontario is GOOD, but not one of my favorite dark pu-erhs. I certainly don’t think it’s dark enough for the awesome name of this tea! Nothing distinct about Ontario for me and my original note says I “wrote a note to remember I tried it”. It’s at least smooth with no offending flavors! I’m not sure how cocoa nibs will help this but it probably can’t hurt! Somehow the Ontario seems stronger and tastier than I remember, though before I used two teaspoons rather than the 1 3/4 teaspoons that I used today. Go figure. Otherwise the parameters were pretty close without me checking the old tasting note beforehand.
This time around, the flavor seems darker than I remember, not specifically chocolate from the cocoa nibs but if anything, this blend gives me the awesome idea to throw in some cocoa shells with some other ripe pu-erh or even some cocoa powder like I’ve been trying with some chai lately, especially if any ripe pu-erh needs a flavor boost. Cocoa pu-erh! Not chocolatey enough for me with or without the cocoa, but as usual, I appreciate trying it. By the extremely long third steep, the flavor was mostly gone.
Steep #1 // 1 3/4 teaspoons for a full mug // 12 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 6 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 10 min
2019 sipdowns: 55

This long-leafed tea has a very comforting aroma and taste of malt, sweet potato and baked bread: Thanksgiving in a cup. It’s not astoundingly complex but is very reliable in bringing relaxation and a happy smile. At least, it does it for me. And this tea is also priced quite below other offerings by Whispering Pines, which helps.

Given all that, this is a good choice for a daily drinker at work or on any busy day when there is a need for a short mindless relaxation break.

Thanks so much, Kawaii433! Always happy to sample… even if it takes me a while. I really need to focus on new-to-me teas! I haven’t even been caught up on reading any tasting notes for at least a week… I was doing well with that for a long while too! So I hope everyone is doing okay. A hot day seemed like the perfect day to brew this one up. The leaves are the brightest green (did I ever mention green is my most favorite color? Probably because of tea… mostly because of trees… and from a young age… Return to Oz when Dorothy had to touch all the emerald items and say “Oz” to get the heck away from the Nome King.) ANYWAY this tea is fantastic. As lovely as an oolong can be: all four steeps are fairly steady. No astringency or bite. Throughout I’m tasting mostly fruit, like pineapple or pear. Then hints of floral, but only floral in the way of something like a buttercream frosting infused with flowers might be. I don’t know if that’s a thing, but it should be. Minerals and sweetness throughout every sip. I haven’t had many Lishan oolongs but this is certainly what I expect of them. The unraveled leaves are huge, full and healthy… and taking up the infuser basket — quite a feat since I started with only a teaspoon. An awesome tea for awesome weather.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // rinse // 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 18 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // 15 minutes after boiling // 2 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 3 min
2019 sipdowns: 51 (and almost the middle of the year… how the heck did that happen?!?!)

I got a free sample of this (yay and thank you) and have decided that I won’t put a numerical rating on it because well, I’m not a mint fan.

But here’s the deal.. This is really good if you do like minty freshness. It is unique and has all the right notes of a good black tea. The mint notes are very light, not overpowering, it balances well with the spices. I got a few clove notes, some anise. It’s delicately sweet with honey and it lingered well after I finished my sip, and so did a light fresh cooling sensation. If you like mint and a great black tea, then I recommend this. If you’re like me and mint just isn’t your thaaang, then pass. ^^

Hope you’re all having a wonderful and productive day, teafriends.

I got three oz of it after I swore not to get more tea. I went over budget. I don’t regret it though. Even grandpa style and bordering on over brewing and steeping, this is remains as my favorite Assam of all time.

Tumbler fuel for the work week, and I am almost out. This has held up really well since I purchased it. I got through some prep, and accidentally left some in my tumbler after rebrew tea for over a day. I dreaded it going bad or being over steeped and…it wasn’t. Malt, honey, grapes, and cherry hints as per usual. There was a little bit of herbiness like sage one day. Still easily my favorite Assam I’ve had yet.

I seriously haven’t written a note on this one yet? Fail.

Anyway, it’s hands down one of the best Assams I’ve had. The caramelized brown sugar note really does me in, and I cannot pin down the rest of the top of my head other than being fairly fruity, and well, Assam like and sweet like dark chocolate or cocoa nibs. I feel like I have to check my bloodsugar with it. It does have the rounded raisin-malt taste of a good Assam, but it barely becomes astringent keeps a unique sweetness that few teas have. Now, the tea can become bitter or astringent if I mess around to much, but for the most part, it’s a forgiving tea with less leaves. It’s been my go to breakfast tea so far. Deserves the praise indeed.

I think this teas covered in detail, but since I have a decent amount of it, I’ll probably write about it pretty often. I’ve stayed towards a western style in a french press as of late, but even then, I easily get 4-6 cups out of it. Very, very good. I do like the Wild Mountain a little more, but I drink this one more often. I am excited to see how the Guan Yin turns out when people write about it. It’s a shame I’m over budget for tea.

Fantastic Assam. I got a package from Whispering Pines today. I tried the new ones that I’ve never had before, and this one was today’s favorite. Loved their Jin Guan Yin Black too (I’ll write about that soon). I may add some thoughts as I work through my ounce of it later on but I think Tea-sipper gave a fantastic review on it so that’s all I’m going to say for now. ^^

Dried leaves smelled of dried grass. Long light brown leaves. Liquor is medium amber with a molasses aroma. I like this tea a lot better gongfu. It’s rather complex so it changes throughout the infusions. Beginning with malt, sweet potato, molasses, a little mushroom and then as the infusions continued… A little cocoa, caramel, honey, and mineral notes. Sweet potato, malt, some baked bread throughout the infusions. I can’t determine what type of spice but there is a little spice in the finish (cloves?) and a cooling feeling on the tongue as well. Almost mint but not quite. If you like Yunnan black tea, you may want to give this one a try. ^^
6g, 212℉, 110ml
7 steeps: rinse, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 60s, 90s, 120s

I am a fan of Jin Guan Yin. I have never tried Jin Guan Yin Black. Rich, complex tea with many different dried fruit notes. Fruity. Maybe some grape, melon notes. Throughout the infusions, I got some passionfruit, baked peach, stonefruits, fig. In the earlier infusions, some sweet notes, of caramel, sugarcane, honey with maltiness. Certainly, not your average “black” tea. It has a nice creamy textured mouthfeel and a lingering fruity, malty taste.

Gongfu, 6g, 200℉, 110ml
11 steeps: rinse, 10s, 10s, 10s, 10s, 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 60s, 90s, 120s

An unusual tea. This is a Yunnan Red that is fruity and sweet as an oolong. A lot of apple skin and baked apples in it, plus some caramel and berries. If you steep it longer it gains some malty backbone but never gets bitter. It’s very smooth. and flavors are well-defined.

It’s quit a unique tea if not super complex.

This is a well-reviewed tea so I will not go into specific details: they have been exhaustively captured already. Just my general observations.

This is the best Golden Snail/ Black Bi Luo Chun I have tried so far: intense aroma, strong, fresh and complex taste without any hint of bitterness. It resteeps well. Also, this tea is well-suited for both gaiwan and Western preparations and in general rewards those experimenting with times, temperatures and amounts.

I had this tea in my cupboard for a couple of month and it has changed quite a bit – despite being in a well-sealed Ziploc bag. It lost the fierce smokiness in both taste and aroma that precluded me from drinking it more often as it called for a very specific mood to enjoy it.

Now it comes off as very full-bodied, expansive and incredibly sweet. A lot of complexity and a good strong finish. This tea reminds me of fall, bountiful harvests, Thanksgiving, big dinners and camaraderie. I like it even more than before and will certainly reorder (bumps the original score up a notch).

Few reviews of this tea could be found on Steepster, which probably reveals that not that many folks are into smoked Lapsangs. And I can’t blame them to be honest: this tea is a fine representation of the type but its complexity cannot compete with other Whispering Pines reds. One has to be really into the taste and smell of campfire to enjoy it – and, luckily, I kinda am.

The dry leaves are quite small and not very interesting. This is one of the fairly strongly smoked Lapsangs, so the taste of the tea itself comes out only at the end of a sip: initially it’s all about smoke. Now, the smoky component is great: strong, clean, very natural and “real”. A lot of complexity in the smokiness but it is not a usual tea palette at all. I know it’s a cliche but the Islay Scotch fans would find plenty to enjoy in this Lapsang.

The tea taste comes later and it’s all about the honeyed and fruity sweetness, which goes fairly well with all this smoke and softens its austerity a bit.

Ashes of Autumn is a very nice representation of the type, with no corners cut and nothing artificial or one-dimensional about the smoke – which is, regrettably, very common with many Lapsangs. Still, this tea is certainly not for every day but for a very specific mood. As the name aptly suggests the late fall could be a good time to sip it, while looking at fallen leaves, starkly naked tree silhouettes, and caravans of birds flying away.

A delicate, smooth and complex dianhong. The early autumn peacefulness and richness of aromas. Its unique taste gently but resolutely resists the attempts to describe and deconstruct it. However: some malt, caramel, plum, spices, baked goods, sweet potato, herbs…

It induces wakefulness, sharpens your senses and brings a note of nostalgia.

[Spring 2019 Harvest] This is a Yunnan Red from old wild trees that Whispering Pines started offering recently. The tea is complex and reminded me of drinking a good red wine. There are so many different flavors that I will not even try to describe all of them. It’s easier to note what is NOT there: I did not find any fruitiness or mineral notes.

I had it Western but I think it would be good gong fu as well. Herbs, malt, honey, bitterness… Very well balanced, so nothing dominates. Vibrant. It tasted and smelled much like a good Zhen Shang Xiao Zhong (my favorite kind of tea) but with a distinctly dianhong-ish sweet note at the end. This tea has a pleasant aftertaste and re-steeps well, although losing most of its original complexity.

I liked it.

This was kindly sent as a sample in my recent order. I don’t think I’m ever going to be an Assam convert — honestly, I guess I LIKE a bit of bitterness and heft in my black tea — but this was very smooth and seemed (in my very non-expert opinion) like a nicely-done Assam.

Another sample from Brenden! Thanks so much! I really appreciate it. I never tried the Butiki version of this, so I don’t have anything to compare it to. But I think this is also sourced from the same place as the Butiki Wild was? I tried to steep this similar to the PTA I had the other day but I went with three teaspoons here, as Brenden suggests a tablespoon for eight ounces of water (I am using a full mug of water though.) I was worried that would be too many leaves, but I shouldn’t have been worried. The flavor practically can’t be bitter. Which is odd… such dark huge leaves could somehow never be bitter and have the sweetest flavor. The leaves here look similar to PTA, but possibly more wirey (wilder), darker, and have little brown pieces that look like twigs mixed in? I’ve never seen that before. The flavor notes are similar to PTA but subtler and less unique. The flavor is lighter: like peaches and cream, maybe only hints of the strawberry that is so abundant in the PTA. A lighter version of a Ruby black perhaps. Always smooth with an occasional mint hint which is very odd with these types of tea. Three very solid mugs of tea that were very similar anyway. All those leafhoppers must have made this tea extremely sweet. With more leaves for less flavor, I still think the Premium Taiwanese Assam is the better option. But that’s my taste buds!
Steep #1 // 3 teaspoons for a full mug // 18 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #3 // 9 min after boiling // 3 min
Harvest: 2018

For what it’s worth, finally found the eucalyptus. Maybe it only comes out while eating risotto with your tea…

Otherwise, a solid and frequently returned to black tea for me.

Brenden over at WP teas saw me mention Butiki’s PTA recently and told me Whispering Pines was now selling PTA!! Somehow I didn’t know this very important fact? I was ecstatic. Then Brenden sent over a sample. Even more ecstatic. THANKS VERY MUCH! PTA was one of Butiki’s glowing jewels (heck that was most of their teas, but definitely PTA). Premium Taiwanese Assam is a very unique tea and when Butiki closed, I wasn’t sure any other shop would ever carry it. I thought it would be lost forever.
I’m happy to report, this tea is in fact, even crazily similar to those harvests from a few years back now! That alone is amazing: similar harvests. On appearance, I compared this PTA to the older Butiki leaves, side by side, and they look exactly the same: color, length, width. Amazing again. Long, dusty, twisty, black leaves with the sweetest scent. The flavor simply can’t be compared to any other tea. How is a tea leaf so sweet? It’s like caramelized strawberry, with hints of grape, a maltiness, brown sugar. The brew is a light mahogany color. The first steep has the most distinct flavors, the second and third steep lose a little bit in the flavor strength, but still very delicious (I think this was because I was delicate with the parameters – I think with the Butiki if I steeped too hot or too long, the flavor would be mostly oaky… so it’s all in the delicate parameters.) The third steep seems to take on a cantaloupe note, while all three steeps have a syrupy mouthfeel. The closest tea I could think of to this would be a Ruby, but even that is entirely different from this tea. This is an essential cupboard tea for me. I’m so grateful that there is a source for this tea again! Thanks to whomever grows this lovely tea, and thanks so much for finding it, Brenden!
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a full mug // 18 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #3 // 8 minutes after boiling // 3 min

Also, I can attest from my Butiki leaves of PTA that this tea ages fairly well over the years. It might lose a little flavor from the fresh tea, but certainly not as much as most teas can lose flavor. (Yes, I had to hoard the PTA when Butiki closed, but not so much now with Whispering Pines carrying it!)

SAMPLE SIPDOWN!

Hey Guys! I recently did a review on the wonderful Whispering Pines “Cocoa Amore”. Well when I bought that, they sent me a sample of this! It was only enough for two sessions, but I figured I’d review it while I had a bit left.

Ok, I brewed this a bit stronger than it said to. I used a full teaspoon and a half maybe for 16oz of water. Also, the cuppa I’ve got right now I lost track of and brewed a bit over the 5 minute recommended mark. But all that behind us, let’s get onto the tea.

Taste is… very robust, if that is the word I’m looking for. It’s very rich, with a strong black tea flavor, along with (let me try and suss this out here…) I think I’m getting a bit of Malt, Raisin and some Leather too. My palate is not nearly refined enough to pick out all the flavors, but there are a ton of different notes here. Ever so slight cacao flavor, but nowhere near like my Yunnan Golds have. It’s a very warm and inviting flavor, and I think this would be a good starter tea for people wanting to get into loose leaf. Even overbrewed like I made this cup it is still very lovely. This is my first cup of Aliaoshan that I recall actually having, so I think I will have to experiment more in this field. This was wonderful. Highly recommend.

What a beautiful tea this is. It blends many fruity and floral notes into a deliciously sweet and spicy profile. It is very good even when it cools down. Dry leaf smells of tobacco (without any smoky notes) and to a lesser extent tomatoes and blueberries. In a preheated gaiwan, there’s an interesting mix of chestnut and passion fruit. I find it very hard to identify the wet leaf aroma, but it is very flowery for sure with stone fruit notes mixed in.

The taste profile is super fragrant, sweet and tart. I got flavours such as star anise, fenugreek, apples, nectarine pits, dill, and citrus zest. In the late steeps, there are some herbaceous and malty notes as well. Aftertaste is dominated by a persisting sweetness, but it is not boring. New flavours like licorice, wood, curry leaves, and carrot emerge.

On top of the complexity, the tea also has a strong, calming cha qi and a bubbly, viscous mouthfeel. Drinking it I get a mouth-watering effect as well as a strong drying sensation on the sides of the mouth.

Wow, so bringing this one back.

I actually made this one a bit stronger this time. I used 2tsp for 12oz (rather than the 1.5 of last time) and steeped it for 3.5 minutes. I have to say, reading my note from last time, I should likely stick to the way I made it before. It does still taste like a cordial cherry, but I can’t help but notice an ever so slight ‘dirt’ flavor to it. I hate that I taste it, but I swear I do. Maybe the tea is a bit stale? I don’t know. I just know that I raved about this last time and it is still very scrumptious, but that odd background note of dirt is throwing me. I noticed other people commented on it having a dirt flavor if made at full strength, so maybe it really does need to be weakened for best results.

I’m not changing my rating. When made right, this is an amazing tea, no doubt. I only have enough for one more session, so whenever that point comes around I’ll get back to you guys.