Whispering Pines Tea Company

A very interesting tea that was a gift from a friend. The dry leaf smells of strong herbaceous grape leaf, fresh rain fallen forest floor, white grapes, clay, and milk thistle. A medley of unique scents. I warmed my gaiwan and placed some inside. The scent opens to slight menthol, malt honey, hot hay, and dark cherry. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The taste is of pure earth. I don’t mean soil or wet clay, I mean Earth. The naturalistic taste begins with oak, maple wood, and autumn leaf pile. A soft tone of supple soil rises up with a cool sweet sap pushing out of it. The cooling sensation envelops the mouth and moves down the throat. A long lasting sweet honey tone rises from the back of the throat and lingers on the tongue. The background consists of blood red roses. This tea reminds me of early morning autumn hikes in the woods by my house. This is a fantastic nostalgia tea. The tea lasts steep after steep and ends with sweet harsh tangs that nip at the tongue. A very good tea.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BC5gOFQTGTR/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

The downside to my current sipdown mania is that I’ll be killing of teas I really like, in addition to teas I only like, or feel meh about.
Such is the case today.
But its such a perfect morning for the last pot of Blackbear, grey and sleepy and I am cozy and tucked up inside, happy in my robe and my toast with lemon curd.
This is the perfect amount of smoke, never tasting like ash, and always a delight on a cold morning.
I hope I’ll be able to get more of this, when the air turns cold again. Its wonderful on a rainy day.
Sipdown!

It was raining properly this morning. Dark, stormy, wet, the whole nine yards. Why can’t that ever happen on a morning when I don’t have to wake up and can spend the day lounging and drinking tea in a decadent fashion? No, its only happens on work days, when I need to get up, get dressed, and go into the office.
Bleh.
But no reason not to have a truly lovely cup of smokey tea in the business of the morning.
Blackbear is just such a perfect tea for a rainy morning. I can’t even tell you how much pleasure it can give.

I woke up with a headache (bleh), so I needed something a touch strong to get me up, dressed, and out the door today.
Blackbear is such a lovely tea. Its smoky without tasting like a firefighters coat, and just so, so pleasant on a cold and rainy morning.
It helped the headache, too!

Tea of yesterday morning. So rich! So smokey and layered and ooph, this is good on a rainy morning.
Contented sigh.

Ugh, but I do not want to be awake. It was a late night, it was a warm bed, and today is a busy day at work AND the first day of Nanowrimo.
So, very hard to get up.
I’ve decided that I’m going to try to sip something down or try something I have not logged yet most every day. I’m not going to commit all the way to every day, as I’m sure I’ll have days where I just need to be with my favorite and familer teas, but I’m reminding myself to live a little!
Plus I own so much tea. I really gotta work on that.
That’s a long intro to the review proper.
It was a cold morning, and so I cracked my first smokey tea of the season. I love smokey teas, so I’m excited for the cold weather.
This has very nice smoke to it, but even better, its pretty well balanced. Its not an overwhelming campfire of a blend, but a savory delicacy, which heightened all the flavors, instead of flattening them.
Whispering Pines has yet to give me a dud, and this is another one for the winners column.

Its all over! The frustrating rehearsals, the annoying management, the whole summer theatre experience is over with!
It actually went just fine, but I’m happy that its over.
I am celebrating this morning with my final cup of this blend, which was a lovely, delicate flavor. Now that I can get more usual rest, I can have something gentler in the mornings.
This was a lovely addition to my cupboard. Whispering Pines does such a nice job with its blends. Its not my very favorite WP blend, but its perfectly lovely.
And now, a sipdown.

This is a tea that I can best describe as “soft”. It lacks the bitter or heavy edge that some black tea blends can have, and instead envelops in a cloud of soft warmth.
Like every Whispering Pines blend I’ve had thus far, the flavors are subtle and delightful, and I floated through my morning, surrounded by a protective cloud of loveliness.
Needed, today. Let me tell you!

Morning cuppa. I did not sleep very deeply last night, but I’m feeling alright at the moment (this may all come crashing down later, of course, but I’m determined to take advantage as best I can).
This remains a light, almost floral blend, with hints of wood and a very delicate sip. I enjoyed it very much as my first cup.

So, in addition to sipdowns, I’m really keen to actually, you know, try the teas in my cupboard. I’ve got more than half of my stash that’s currently listed as no tasting notes, and I’ve not yet tried. This is so silly! I’ve got all this tea so I can drink and enjoy it, so I should get started on that.
So, this, which is me being brave and venturing into unflavored black teas again. I picked it up on a whim with my last Whispering Pines Order, as they’ve not steered me wrong with unlfaovred teas yet.
This is almost creamy. I don’t mean that there is a creamy or vanilla flavor to it, but the richness of the sip is the same as a “creamy” tea.
That said, the flavor is not too dense or heavy. There is admirable lightness, and so the slightly woody, slightly floral flavors of this blend have a chance to stand on their own.
Unlike some unflavored black tea, where I can see why people add milk or sugar, this one I think would work best as it. Additives would just weigh it down.
Yep, Whispering Pines has not steered me wrong yet.

This is a great straight black tea! I made a pot yesterday right after supper and had a cup. I didn’t finish the pot because I was exhausted and went to bed early, But darned if I was going to pour it out! I put it in the fridge and I finished it cold this afternoon. It was delicious cold too.

I don’t know why I am so tired all the time. Well, yes, I do. It must be the lingering result of the radiation I had the first two weeks of October. But it’s been 3 weeks! We have our annual church business meeting when we vote on the 2024 budget and the appointees to various positions in the church. I am too tired to attend. I emailed my votes in an hour ago. I’m sure I will feel better soon. I see my regular doctor for my annual physical next wednesday. If I am not over this fatigue by then I will bring it up.

One good thing about being so tired? I can drink regular black tea in the evening without worrying about the caffeine level!

Today i’m packing my knitting stuff, my daily use stuff and my clothes. Tomorrow my brothers are coming to load up my bed etc. That means today is my last day in bass hell. I was hoping for a quiet, relaxing day of packing.

The bass started up today at 10:40 am this morning. I want to go over there and punch him in the face and scream at him that couldn’t he for F’ing ONCE not play his bass at top volume? He once told me, “I like being respectful.” Well, respect this, you selfish, inconsiderate @$$wipe! Grrrrr.

My tea is packed. Actually, it is all in one of those large sized reusable grocery tote bags. To celebrate, I decided to brew a small pot of Ambrosia to sip while I pack. It is a great tea. So, so smooth. The flavor is rich. No bitterness, no astringency. Truly worth the price tag.

I have a collection of teapots and I know I can’t take them all so I decided to pack my DAVID’s clear glass bubble tea pot for mom’s. It supposedly holds four cups. I find it holds TWO, but then, like C.S. Lewis, you can’t get a cup of tea big enough for me. Anyway, I left out a couple tea bags for when I’m here later packing and cleaning. The microwave and a paper cup will suffice for those days.

We’re having a warm spell now. Everybody thinks I’m crazy because I want to go back to the highs in the mid 50s with night time lows in the 30s. But I guess we get the weather that we get and no amount of whinging will change it.

The point of that bit above was to explain why it took me so long to try this tea. My order from Whispering Pines came over a week ago, but it’s been so darned warm that I haven’t had tea. Today was in the upper 60s, but it was rainy and very windy, so tea felt appropriate.

This was so, so smooth and rich. Malty without being heavy or even slightly bitter. Almost sweet all on its own without any sugar or sweetener added. Until now my favorite WP tea was Golden Orchid, with North Winds as a close second. But I may have to re-arrange my favorite standings. Ambrosia is a wonderful tea!

This is probably the most balanced “spiced” green oolong I’ve had. At times the base does feel swamped by the ingredients but it doesn’t have that “not mixing” vibe that green and oolong chai blends often give off..

The flavour profile is clean (eucalyptus, mint, cedar), warming (cinnamon, cardamom), and savory rich (buttery oolong). I still think oolong is a tad strange with spices but I keep coming back to this one because it’s such a relaxing and intriguing cup. It holds up well to multiple steeps, so bonus!

I like this one. My favorite note in tea is chocolate, and that’s what I keep a lookout for. To my enjoyment, this has a nice dark chocolate taste.

Anyone know of any other good chocolatey black teas?

I just ordered some more Laoshan Chocolate Genmaicha from LP, which I’m super excited for. I think I’ll also order some more of YS’s Classic Laoshan tea and also see how it compares with the Imperial.

Backlog.
I used my new pu knife to break a chunk off this cake. It really smells of dill weed.
5g, 75ml gaiwan, 190F
Rinsed once. 20s/30/20×6/25/30/35/40/1m/1/2/5m
Long lasting tea. I eventually stopped when flavor started to fade, though my water was cooling off and I didn’t want to heat more.
Beginning steep was thick with dillweed and a slightly floral flavor. 2nd steep went a little longer and brought out savory and dillflower in addition to dillweed and thick mouthfeel. I didn’t like the savory taste, so I returned to 20s for a while.
Over the next 6 20s steeps, it returned to dillweed, but sweet. Mouth coating, thick and sweet aftertaste. Cause my mouth to tingle. Dill came out more in longer steeps. Faded toward end.
I liked this. Different but good. I’ve entertained getting another cake or two next time I order. 88

Not as flavorful as I expected, but perhaps I didn’t steep it long enough.

This tea is so good!

Yet again, I’ve had a hiatus from serious tea. And also again, I have turned to Whispering Pines to break the hiatus. What can I say? I’m a sucker for inspirational names and tea stories. :p

It has been so long since I have used my Gaiwan, that it had collected debris, despite the lid being on it. I cleaned it out, threw some of this tea in without measuring, poured some water at 200F in and waited about a minute. I wasn’t being to particular about parameters. I was just desperate for some tasty tea! And my tea brewing skills have gotten rusty anyway.

But this tea survived my hasty technique and it tasted amazing. Like an ancient forest in the late afternoon. The first steep was bright, peppery maybe, woody, but with an air of secrets and mystery. I steeped it again for three minutes. The second steep was less bright, with a heavier mouth feel. Very smooth. I liked the first steep best, but next time I have this tea I will have to be more careful about parameters and give it the proper attention Brenden suggests! Stay tuned!

A long queued note as I needed some time to think this one over.

While in search of a chai that isn’t dominated by clove, this was recommended to me.

Results? I’m torn. First, no clove. Absolutely a plus! Otherwise, its good, but not something I’ll go out of my way for. There’s a flavor element I’m not 100% fond of and while I’m not sure what it is, maybe its the basil?

It is interesting enough to me, however, that I have just made a second purchase which includes the Golden Snail base for this blend.

I’m almost done with the ounce I ordered and I’ll likely finish it before the week is over.

2024 harvest. Again, that buttery mouthfeel is just not really present The flavor is still good, but I do miss that mouth feel.

Its been a long time.

I don’t notice the buttery mouth feel that I noted before. I’m unsure if its just a difference in this year’s harvest or if my perceptions have changed over the years.

Not as smooth as some teas I’ve had more recently, but still rather enjoyable.

Updated rating for new system