Whispering Pines Tea Company

Thanks to Phi for giving me some of this! It’s been on my wish list for ages.

I had enough to try this gong fu style and western style. The dry leaf smells awesome: dark chocolate with a hint of malt and maybe some dark cherry. I got four steeps out of this gong fu style. They all tasted similar, except that subsequent steeps were fainter and mellower. Dominant notes were milk chocolate and, weirdly, cotton candy. But chocolatey cotton candy. It sounds terrible but was actually delicious. Still, I liked this better western-style. I added a teaspoon of turbinado cane sugar and it amplified the flavors beautifully. It’s just creamy dark chocolate-covered cherries. I can’t pick out the vanilla flavor per se but I think that’s where the creaminess comes from. Nom nom nom.

This one was just a bit too vegetal for me. I enjoyed it but not quite so much as I’d hoped.

I did three infusions of roughly 30-35 seconds each. The liquor was light and aromatic but mostly all I could get from it was the spinachy vegetal taste and aroma. If you like that then then you’ll really enjoy this green tea. If it isn’t then perhaps not so much.

I came across a sample of this from Sil, and since I’m still working on clearing out all my samples and smaller quantities, it was a good day for this one, going with short steepings.
The early steeps were wood, with a matte finish (don’t ask me what that means)
Then wood and earth melded, and the color was a rich mahogany.
I didn’t take extensive notes, but I can say that this tea developed a satisfying depth, mildly bitter & almost coffee like in depth, though not in taste.
That’s all I got! Sipdown!

This was the last of the samples sent to me by a kind steepster. Smells great but the tannins quickly overwhelm my tastebuds. Fortunately, a bit of honey tames the Jabberwocky making a nice Saturday morning cup.

I’m afraid the black tea tannins pretty much mask the other tastes and smells or my olfactory and taste systems just aren’t that subtle. However, this was enjoyable. I could easily see myself sipping this on a cold winter morning. Even on this not quite chilly Saturday morning it’s a nice warming cup.

This was wonderful!

The gaiwan lid smelled of lilac which surprised me. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled that from a tea before (in my brief tea career). The liquor was buttery and light and refreshing. I must have had at least 10 infusions from the same 3 grams of tea and it just kept going and I didn’t want to stop drinking it.

heres a tea ive had for a while but have never reviewed.. so time to write one.
it looks like its rolled a little and its a darkish brown color, un brewed.

after a rinse the aromatics are heavy with roasty notes, like burnt toast and with nuttiness such as roasted almond maybe.

the first steep fluffs up the tea in the pot more. the liquid is an orange-y gold color, and its really nice to see that much color on the first steep. i just taste old stuff when i drink this tea.. of coarse theres a kind of burnt toast taste, but it really makes me think of old stuff, antiques, books, and egyptian tombs- which i can only imagine the smell of.

on the second, im thinking now that maybe this has some herbaceousness as an under note, and with some definite malt. the flavors have mended and are coming out and oh it is smooth, “so much so me brothers, that all the melanky little hairs now stand up on me arms, they do, me brothers.”

this is the first time ive gongfu’d this tea and now i know that western brewing doesnt do this tea justice. im using my cracked sky blue porcelain pot- Neptune, to brew this, with 4.20g of dhp in the mix. despite what i said earlier, i think ill steep this tea in my tumbler tomorrow morning and drink it at my class.. i brought WP’s rivendell this morning, unfortunately i should have brewed it a couple extra minutes. i digress..

3rd- and i get some astringency but it is thin and is noticed at the front of the mouth. the body of the tea is med- light in presence, as it almost evaporates. for me this tea plays out all around the front of the mouth. its not super active- kind of flat actually, but theres flavor there.

ill stop here and enjoy the fourth in peace, jk- not really. reviewing as i drink is a love/hate thing, so i may halt a review early if i just want to sip and re-watch breaking bad.

this is a good tea but i dont know when or if ill purchase again.. there are too many teas to try and not enough time.

-nycoma

This one came out a bit more tannic than the Imperial Buds but was not astringent. I still feel like I have a lot of room to improve my brewing of black teas to avoid the need for sweetener. This one required a bit of sugar to be able to enjoy it but was quite nice with sugar.

Project be-nice-to-myself continues. Today it takes form of going to the gym for a yoga class, a nice lunch with a square of chocolate for dessert, and a cup of this tea.
This is so rich. It smells divine, and it tastes like vanilla fudge, with a touch of something woody in it.
A very nice thing on this rainy day.
A sipdown for now. I’ll probably get more of this at some point in the future, but the cupboard needs wrangling, so its going to be a bit.

I wanted something extra nice today, and this was it. I was craving a touch of warmth and vanilla, and this seemed like exactly the tea to give it to me.
How am I so low on this already? Madness!
It brewed up just as I’d hoped today, warm, richly layered, with a kiss of vanilla to make everything just that much more lovely.

I know I’m in a summer sipdown sprint, but its the first properly cold morning in ages. I had to reach for something warmer, mellower, and just more cold weather appropriate today.
I can see why this one is rated so highly among us Steepsterites. Its rich, almost decadant in its flavorings, and has a very strong chocolate/malty flavor, tempered by vanilla.
Add me to the list of its fans!

I’m a sucker for vanilla. I love vanilla probably beyond what is reasonable. I love it in all forms, but I especially like it in tea. So I was almost guaranteed to put this in my basket during my whispering pines order.
And oh man, this leaf smells glorious! What an absolutely amazing scent, so rich and lovely.
The flavor is a bit less vanilla-y than the scent promised, but it is a rich, layered, wonderfully complex cup that does not get carried away.
I’m holding my rating so far, but I’m looking forward to my next cup!

This was not at all bitter and much less tannic than other black teas I’ve had. I did two western style steeps, the first was 3 minutes and the second was 5.

This tea really heated me up inside and got me going. I was amazed how warming it was even after the cup had cooled so perhaps more suited to cooler weather, but it was nice to drink a black tea where I didn’t need to load it up with sugar to be able to drink it. Though I guess there is a sharpness to all black teas that sugar or honey complements. I’m sure a touch of sweet would go well with this.

It’s been a few hours since I’ve had the tea and I still feel the effects. Potent stuff! I’m not sure how to rate it yet. I think I can brew it better but definitely one to explore more!

So now we’re back to oolongs for awhile. This is a tea I have been looking forward to reviewing. I love Wuyi rock oolongs, and Da Hong Pao, in particular, is one of my favorite teas of all time. In my opinion, this one is a stellar example of a fine Da Hong Pao.

I brewed this tea gongfu style. Following a quick rinse, I steeped approximately 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 190 F water for 5 seconds. I followed this infusion with 10 additional infusions, with an increase of 3 seconds per infusion. Steep times for them were as follows: 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, and 35 seconds. Note that I rotated the leaves in the gaiwan after the fifth infusion.

On the initial infusion, the liquor showed a brilliant golden amber in the cup. I immediately detected the unmistakable aromas of wood, char, minerals, wet stones, mild spice, and stone fruits that I immediately associate with Wuyi oolongs. In the mouth, I discovered rich notes of mild cinnamon, wet stones, moss, wood, char, burnt sugar, brown butter, minerals, apricot, golden raisin, nectarine, and yellow plum. There was also something of a subtle creaminess that balanced some of the minerality. Subsequent infusions saw the butter, spice, and stone fruit aromas strengthen. On these infusions, I noticed the emergence of slight cardamom, anise, and black peppercorn notes, as well as an intriguing and unexpected white grape note on the finish. Infusions 5-7 saw the mineral, butter, sugar, char, spice, and stone fruit aromas and flavors become more balanced. The touch of white grape on the finish remained, accompanied by stronger presences of stone, minerals, and wood, as well as a slight vegetal taste. The later infusions saw the complex aromas and flavors slowly fade, leaving fleeting impressions of wood, wet stones, mild spices, char, and minerals underscored by a touch of vegetal flavor.

This tea is a rich, deep, and incredibly complex beauty. It really rewards a lengthy session and demands one’s full attention to understand and appreciate its finer qualities. I’m not sure if I would recommend this as a starter Da Hong Pao, but I would have no problem recommending this to established fans of Da Hong Pao and other Wuyi rock oolongs.

So it turns out not a single individual in my immediate family cares for these fine chocolatey Chinese black teas. This became more and more apparent as the years went by and all the cupboard’s teas came and went, except for this and Verdant’s Laoshan Black (also, the rooibos). My mother went so far as to call them undrinkable. I’ve merely become indifferent.

Oh, well. Moving on. I guess there’s more for everyone else!

Generously provided as a sample by WP many moons ago, I only cracked open this tea in the last little while. There’s somewhat of an evident flavour fade, but the chocolate and malt notes are still distinct. There’s also a bit of honey, although it’s more washed out.

I won’t rate this because of the age, even though the tea is still pretty fine albeit not particularly exciting (to my palate anyways). I’m still in a bored phase when it concerns chocolatey Chinese black teas.

So I am sick, in a play so wildy busy, in my busiest period of the working year, it’s pouring rain, and over the weekend the nice young man I had been seeing and I split. (A nice split, no one angry. Our lives are just in very different places. I wish him all the best, and am in no way angry, I’m just sad and I miss him.)
So nice tea with a spoonful of honey today. I am going to be a nice to myself as possible.

Oh Frabjous day!
The bad work situation is almost 100% resolved, and what we do have done means that probably the tempers at play will go down. And it is now the weekend!
I’m afraid, today, the weather is pouring, a situation I really like, but that I need to get up and go to my side hustle, rather than staying snug and warm in bed, listening to the storm outside.
Ah well. I shall do my work, then come back and sit with tea and books and my knitting and listen to the rain.
I am afraid to say that this is the last cup of this particular pouch of the Jabberwocky. Drat it all! I swear I’m not drinking all this tea? Maybe tea goblins come in and sip it down while I’m not looking?

Om. Nom.
I was so happy to grab some of this from Whispering Pines. It is every bit as lovely as I remember, subtle and flavorful and just so, so lovely.
Nom!

I have become some sort of sipdown obsessed machine. A machine I tell you! I am so eager to see the cupboard shrink!
The bad part of this is that I am finishing off teas I really quite like, and that means I shall soon be daunted by a wall of teas I feel meh about, and that’s the circumstance that leads to additional tea purchases.
Well, I’ve decided that no new teas until I sip down to 50 teas in the cupboard. I can do this!
This is a long way of saying that this was my last cup of this lovely blend for a while. The Jabberwocy was a lovely addition to my cupboard, and I will probably bring it back at some point. Its got a wonderfully rich and complex flavor.
And now its gone.
Sipdown!

Why does the perfect stay inside and drink tea and write and knit weather only happen on work days? Why?! Oh well.
My morning pot, and my goodness but this is a lovely black tea. Its so flavorful, but without any flavorings in it.
Ahh, very nice to wake me up on this snuggly morning.

And I have a cold. Bleh.
Its Friday, though, so I’m starting off with this, which is a really lovely, flavorful tea. I am constantly surprised there are no additional flavors in it, its just so rich!
A nice start to my cold day.

Brew of my morning!
This is one very flavorful tea. It keeps surprising me with new dashes of flavor that I hadn’t noticed before. Sometimes its a bit sweet, then theres a touch of something savory, even spicy!
This is all very lovely, especially for a flavored tea drinker, such as myself. Its good to know that dept and complexity lurk in black teas as well has their flavored counterparts. It inspires me to try more!

Oh ho, this is just plain nice.
I mean this as the highest compliment. Its a tea that has no bells or whistles (and normally I am the head of the bells and whistles section of the orchestra), and yet manages to be special, have presence, and just be so gosh darned nice.
Pleasant, smooth, flavorful without becoming overwhelming or intense at any point, this is just a good time in a cup.
As this is the first thing I’ve tried from Whispering Pines, I must say I am excited for things to come, and more tea to try.

Another sample Brenden gifted to me during our tea session. I put 8g of this into my 100ml gaiwan.

I didn’t get much scent from the dry leaf. I rinsed the dry leaf chunks for about 5 seconds. I first detected a camphor type of scent. As I was sniffing that and trying to really make sure that is what it was, a brown sugar note hit my nose. Whoa. That was not what I expected based on the original scent I was getting. Very interesting.

1st steep, 10 seconds. The leaf scent went to the fermentation side after this steep. But the liquid has a sweet mineral mushroom scent. The first sip or two left me with the impression of smooth, slightly sweet, slightly creamy, and a mineral-like note. Just a hint, though. The color of this infusion is like a bronzed orange. Wow, yeah, as I drink it there is this caramelized brown sugar scent that wafts up. It isn’t exactly in the flavor but the scent is there.

2nd steep, 10 seconds. The scent of the leaf here is more brown sugar sweet. The shou chunks broke up and turned this steep liquor into a much darker color. Cola-like. The scent of the liquid has more of a typical shou character. Earthy. And the flavor gives off a bitterness on the back of the tongue. Maybe I steeped it too long for the leaves breaking up but wow this stuff is all over the place. Perhaps one of the more complex shou’s I’ve had in those terms. I do hope the bitterness goes away in further steeps as it is not an aspect I enjoy. It is not completely overwhelming but certainly makes itself known on the back end.

3rd steep, 10 seconds. I had to take about an hour break here but I’m holding at ten seconds in order to take care of the bitterness. While it is still there it is less pronounced. A bit smoother.

4th steep, 15 seconds. Ok, I feel better about this steep. We are back to a smooth creamy shou flavor. Very drinkable again. Also, excuse the fall off in detail of reviews. It has been a total of 3 hours since I’ve began drinking this. Life happened. Electrician stopped by and did some work. Kids wanted me to push them on the swing set. Dinner needed to be started. So, forgive the lack of detail. It started out so strong, too!

5th steep, 20 seconds. This is settling in to a nice session. I have to end the review here though.

Overall this comes in as a nice shou. The bitterness throws one off a bit in the first few steeps but after that it settles down and becomes fairly dependable.