Whispering Pines Tea Company

Very cool looking leaf – tight little spirals of gold. I did not use a gaiwan, brewing it western style (Bad girl, Sakura!) for the 5 minutes suggested. I’m getting a bit of earthy cocoa, and wish I could detect more than a hint of honey. I’m searching for it, and it’s there, just not as apparent as I hoped for. Really enjoyable tea, though, and I’m finding it comforting, a break from my all-too-usual flavored teas. I tend to not be able to get to a second infusion in one sitting, so what I’ve been doing with the second infusion is to take the brew and chill it for iced tea later. SO GOOD. I love it iced this way, and at least I get a second brewing out of it. I have to say, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the various WP teas I’ve been trying. I’m sticking with blacks, as that’s my preference, and I’m really pleased, overall. Good stuff.

This is a medium-bodied tea with definite notes of cocoa, but not necessarily chocolate. It’s mildly sweet without any sweetener added, but not too sweet. I love that the smell of the dry leaves and the taste of the brewed tea are very similar because I like when the two match.

This is the second Whispering Pines tea I’ve had, and it’s just as good as the first. It has a smooth cocoa flavor that’s not overpowering or artificial-tasting. It’s almost like chocolate covered cherries, but not cordial cherries. Underneath the cocoa/cherry flavor is a mild black tea.

The second infusion was very similar to the first, but with slightly less cocoa flavor.

this tea smells great, tastes great too. it smells of coco and malt in a compost kind of way.. not a bad thing. it tastes like it smells imo. it yeilds a nice reddish color. its not as thick as i would like in the mouthfeel. ive had this tea for a while, drank it once or twice in the past, now i review. theres a noticeable watery, slightly acidic dimention to this one. i dont remember this tea being like this in the past.. still good but maybe my temp shouldnt be 90C, idk.

i just steeped it again for less time and that undernote is less pronounced. this is the third steep. i used 6g for a 130ml pot. its a good black, would probably buy again, or something similar.

i like wp’s jabberwocky more though.

-nycoma

From the Here’s Hoping TTB. This tea has a very unusual flavor. I asked my wife, who is better than me in identifying aromas, and she said miso soup. It’s not an exact fit, but it’s close. There’s a lot of other stuff in there too: smoke, spice. Reminded me a bit of chai. I found that the more I drank the less I liked it; it was just kind of funky.

This tea is even more beautiful than it is tasty.. And it’s not bad to taste either! ;-)
It didn’t to my favorites of black gold teas but it’s a good one.

We started drinking this late last night. We are moving youngest into her own room this week and it involves painting (including the ceiling – what a pain in the neck!) and finding a home for all my crafting supplies. (Gulp. I buy those like I buy tea.)

Last night’s four steeps were all Western style and combined two at a time. The predominant aroma was mushroom. Or maybe I should say MUSHROOM. I haven’t had a powerfully mushroom pu in a while, so this was a refreshing change.

This morning as we have it with breakfast, i am struck by how creamy this is. This is smooth and mild and has a silky mouth feel.

I need to do a gong fu session with it sometime, but it has been great by the (large) pot. I think six steeps are the limit on this one for me. The final one took a while to color up but had nice flavor when it did.

This is quite possible the best Earl Grey tea I have ever tasted! A beautiful, richly flavored base tea blended with just the right amount of bergamot. Smooth enough to drink straight, but even better with milk. If I could afford to, this is one of those teas that I would happily drink every day!

This is one of the best teas I have ever seen. The bergamot flavour along with the malty taste of the tea creates an impeccable combination that is a must-try.

Aroma: Awesome
Taste: Nice
Flavours: Great mix, but a bit too mixed up
Recommendation: Yes, at a good price.

Good tea

Absolutely in love with this tea!! https://www.mahalotea.com

Here’s another one of the Spring 2016 teas I have desperately been trying to finish. This was one of my first purchases from Whispering Pines Tea Company and I totally forgot I still had it. At first, I was a little concerned about the tea’s age, but after opening the pouch and catching a whiff of ridiculously herbal, woody tea leaves, my concern melted away. I found this tea to be an exceptionally balanced black tea with enough depth and complexity to keep one coming back for more.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 205 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 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, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of malt, wood, roasted nuts, spice, and molasses. After the rinse, I began to catch hints of citrus, camphor, sweet potato, and leather. The first infusion produced an almost identical bouquet. In the mouth, I detected a mix of wood, nuts, leather, and malt underscored by hints of citrus, camphor, sweet potato, molasses, and spice. Subsequent infusions allowed the nut impressions to more clearly define themselves. They reminded me of a combination of roasted almond, roasted chestnut, and beechnut. The sweet potato, camphor, and molasses notes strengthened slightly, joined by notes of caramel, butter, pine, smoke, honey, minerals, and dark chocolate. The indistinct citrus impressions morphed into a clear orange presence, while the melange of spices also came into focus, resembling a mix of anise, black licorice, ginger, cinnamon, and black pepper. The later infusions were clean and smooth on the nose and in the mouth. I detected mild notes of malt, butter, leather, roasted nuts, and minerals underscored by lingering citrus, spice, pine, camphor, and honey tones.

Overall, this was an exceptionally refined Yunnan black tea. I could see what all the fuss was about and only wish that I had gotten to this one a little sooner. I guess that just means I’ll have to pick up a pouch of the 2017 harvest at some point in the near future.

Ancient Pines is an excellent tea with a vast range of tastes and smells. I highly recommend this tea. It stimulates and satisfies the palate at the same so well the I’ve spent hours enjoying Ancient Pines.
Dry leaves have an intense yet pleasant smell of wood smoke, salt, caramel, and honey. Dry leaves are gold to dark brown in color and have length of about 1-2 cm, and are tightly rolled to form wiry-shaped leaves. Infused leaves untighten and uncoil, making them up to about 3 cm long. Leaves become a uniform light brown in color. Liquor ranges from light gold to deep red-brown depending on infusion time and amount of tea in the cup or gaiwan.
Earlier infusions are highly nuanced. Aroma and taste of a damp forest or decaying leaves, with a background of florals blossom on the palate. Expect clear honey and jasmine flavors, as well as cherry and black currant. The tea also has a grassy taste, not unlike the taste of lesser-oxidized leaves. Ancient Spirit has a vivid terroir, and mental images of the woods were at the forefront of my mind while tasting the tea. Later infusions contain a more muted floral taste with a less pronounced but satisfying sweetness. Other flavors are sage, thyme, Spanish cane, and sauteed almonds. Tea leaves begin to smell strongly of coffee, leather, and tobacco. The aftertaste has a mild astringency.

This tea is so old now, but it’s still okay tasting…

I drank it Grandpa style a few days ago and I liked the more vegetal edamame/green bean notes I was getting. Usually I’m not super into those notes in tea but this is really the one time of year when they vibe a little bit better with me and I just found it quite refreshing overall.

This tea is really old now, so I’m trying not to be too critical – but I found that when I revisited it this week I really, really didn’t enjoy it at all. It was pretty bitter/harsh tasting and had a very strong bean-y note that was… bleck.

I know I’ve never really loved this one, but age certainly hasn’t done it any favors.