Whispering Pines Tea Company

I tried it Western to see what I get. I knew that Gong Fu was probably better, especially for a caffeine kick. But it tasted just as good. I got the same array of tastes but in a blended form. The white grape taste that Brenden mentions also turns out much stronger, the same with the grapefruit note. More than likely, though, the white grape taste is what I taste as grapefruit. Still really like this one.

I hesitated to get this one at first though I was immediately attracted to it. I’ve started a quest to look for white teas, and I nearly got the Glendale Silver Needle because of how rosy it was, but, I’ve also yet to be satisfied with a Pu-Erh. Amanda and Haveteawilltravel’s notes had me convinced that I might otherwise enjoy this for the price. I did, and I gotta say it’s pretty unique.

Followed the steeping suggestions save one extra five second rinse. Pepper corn and light citrus like tangerine are in the tastes. But they are so strong that they really fall into the category of flavor. Twenty seconds, and it has a very present dill taste with more florals, citrus, and honeyed sweetness. The next two are more herbaceaous and malty, but still spicy, and I get the grapefruit taste Haveteawilltravel is talking about. I expected it to be more of a hint, but no, I actually tasted grapefruit changing back and forth from tangerine. It gets sweeter to me in these two steeps because the honey and light citrus tastes remain with the spiciness. Later on more fruity, but not as sweet and very near being vinegar like in texture and taste. This is past the minute and thirty second point, and it can probably go on. I’ll stop for now.

I would say I feel like I got my money’s worth for this tea and it is definitely a Pu-Erh that appeals to me. Yunnan Moonlight Whites are actually my favorite, and as with any of them, this tea gives me a really controlled but enduring energy flow. I’m just not sure how often I’d drink it.

The tasting notes of peppercorn, dill, citrus, and a bit of the honey sweetness are all highly discernible and not flavors I’d all want over and over again. Like I said before, they are so strong that they are practically flavors. I’d be surprised if someone, even if they don’t drink tea that often, would not taste the strong spiciness, herbiness, and fruitiness this tea has. I’d recommend this if you’re exploring white tea and pu-erh because this shows a dimension to the teas that you may or may not imagine.

Final cup of this today. Figured it was a good one to get one more sipdown in before the weekend hits. I need one more after this one and then i need to weigh my cupboard and hope i’ve reached my february goal haha.

Another one from this morning. Always need a straight tea to get me going in the morning. One more week to reach my sipdown goal for february so i need to pay attention to my smaller quantities of teas as well. It’s looking good though since i’ve been good at not really ordering any teas or just picking up enough for a cup or two.

started the day out with this one a few hours ago and it was a good choice. I have some green teas i need to drink today to continue on my drink the cupboard/samples journey so i wanted to make sure i started the day with a couple solid blacks. this one hit the spot!

this is a delicious cup. It reminds me a little of some of the TTC teas, with that sweet, almost honeylike profile up front….on the tail end i get more of an almost cocoa like, malty goodness. I am a fan of this one. I brewed it western today for a couple cups…next time i’d like to try a gonfu session as i think this one would work really well that way.

Again, thank you Brenden for letting me sample this!

I agree with LuckyMe and HaveTeaWillTravel entirely. It tastes just like a Mi Xiang Dan Cong with a slight Da Hong Pao sweetness. Followed the instructions exactly, and get most of the notes described but in fainter amounts. This could be due to the leaf amount I used, but the same consistencies are there. Chestnut, butter, and a bit of toasted coconut are in the first two steeps at five seconds. Almond is in every one of them including a taste really close to butternut squash. Mineral and oak are more in the next two at 10 and 20. Still almond like with barley and a bit of oak at 25 and 30. 45, I kinda get the white wine he was talking about or a light beer like taste without the sweetness. Oak and mineral are more obvious to me. Finally at 1 min and 30, and about the same but smoother and fuller bodied, yet otherwise very, very mellow.

Well, I quite enjoyed this tea. I’m really picky when it comes to Da Hong Pao because of how certain tastes, like oak or sugar, can dominate the cup. Here, it is incredibly mellow, relaxing, but focusing. I sampled this to see if I would like it enough to get an ounce, but I like the sample amount that I have. Doubtless worth a try to see the variety of forms Da Hong Pao comes in.

More for pickier tea drinkers and supertasters than newer drinkers. Some might like the nutty mellowness of it, or they might be bored. Yet that really needs to be decided after I try it Western.

Oh hello, 2012 Huron Gold Needle. It has been a while. A couple of years even. I’ve taken a pretty substantial leave of absence from puerh so this is me jumping back in. I have a decent supply of high quality stuff from a few years ago that I should really get back into so here we go!

205F, 5 second rinse, 10 second steep- A nice golden brown color emerges. Almost like a brown ale but a bit lighter perhaps. The flavor is lighter as well which I appreciate. I’d rather my puerh have a lighter nuance than a heavy, almost basement-esque quality to it.

Second steep, 10 seconds- Whoa, talk about a difference in steep color. As soon as the water hit the leaves it went to a dark tawny port color. Much darker in one second than in the entire 10 seconds of the last steep. This has a tang in the back of the throat when drinking. Kind of like a juicy sour fruit leaves but without the fruity flavor. It isn’t a negative for me as it gives it some interesting texture and flavor. Yeah, whereas I find some teas drying this one generates a juicy well rounded mouthfeel. Fairly light overall.

You will have to forgive me for ending the review short. Two reasons for that. One, I always have to monitor my caffeine intake so I’m usually not going to be doing 7, 8, 9 steeps of something. And two, today is the first day of Christmas break and I have 3 kids, the youngest being 13 months old. As you can imagine, I don’t have a lot of time to just sit and type at my leisure without him getting into things or needing something, usually my attention. So, with that being said, I bid you farewell until next time.

Today, I am drinking this tea. I am actually not here for a review. It is more of a tribute to Brenden and Whispering Pines. As I’m sure some of you have heard, his inventory had a flood hit it and he is trying to recover what he can but he seems to have taken a pretty substantial loss. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’m posting a link that you can go to in order to help Brenden get his company back on its feet. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/whispering-pines-tea-company-flood-relief-fund#/

So, cheers to you and to Whispering Pines. I hope to see the company recover soon so we can all order and drink those delicious teas again but even more importantly, so Brenden can continue his job and passion.

Received this cake in the mail yesterday so I’m spending some time with it this morning. The leaves separate from the cake fairly easy so that is nice.

10 second rinse.

First infusion, 30 seconds. The tea is already a deep cherry mahogany color. The flavor had the familiar ripe puerh notes but there was a hint of bitterness for me. That was a little surprising since I don’t remember reading anything about bitterness in most people’s reviews. Onward!

Second infusion, 15 seconds. The bitterness fades a bit but is still there in the middle and back of the tongue. I can however see what people are meaning when they say a smooth airy quality. This is a very light feeling tea that glides over the mouth and down the throat.

Third infusion, 30 seconds. Okay. There is the sweet spot. Warm, creamy, slight chocolate notes. Again, just reeaallly easy drinking. Found myself swallowing/gulping rather than sipping on this steep. Oops heh. The color of the liquid appears as a hazelnut brown.

Fourth infusion, 45 seconds. The color has lightened ever so slightly here. Still in the same color zone but just… lighter. This steep is much like the last one. Smooth and creamy. Picking up scents and flavors of cocoa.

Random thought break. I’ve taken to listening to “nature sounds” on Pandora or Spotify when I am able to brew gong fu while I am alone. Things like, “Rocky Seacoast” and “Babbling Brook in a Sunny Field at Noon.” Anyone else do this? I find it sets such a nice mood, relaxes me, and fully immerses me in the oneness of the tea drinking experience. Could be I’m just a super nerd though… Nah… heh.

Fifth steep, 2 min. While following along on the website for the steeping suggestions with this tea, my mind went, “45 seconds to 2 minutes? Whoa, really?” But my silly mind apparently doesn’t know what my heart knows by now. Trust Brenden with your tea experience. So I did. And, of course, this 2 minute steep is actually one of my favorites so far. Yes, it is getting a bit lighter but it is allowing other flavors to develop on the tongue. Or maybe the same flavors are there but because it is lighter they are playing a different song in my mouth.

Hey speaking of playing a different song, I’m now listening to what is titled, “Torrential Thunderstorm,” but the thunderstorm in question sounds off in the distance, in the background, and at the forefront is the sound of pouring water. Like, a storm drain emptying continuously into a shallow pool of water. It should be titled, “Water pours steadily, as if poured from a vessel, into other water while there are some faint sounds of thunder in the background.” Probably not as catchy as “Torrential Thunderstorm” though.

Steep 6, 5 minutes. Also, probably my last steep on this one before I have to go and pick up my son from preschool. Color on this one looks to be a deep orange-brown. And yup, flavor is getting a bit thin, watery. I see now what people mean when they say this is a bit of a light steeper. Not in a bad way. Certainly the lightness contributes to its airy quality while drinking.

Overall, a nice first session with this. It didn’t blow me away as much as maybe I had expected based on some other reviews but I did find it enjoyable and something I would love to spend more time with to see what other discoveries I can make with it. But maybe next time, no more “Torrential Thunderstorms.”

Thank you Brenden for spoiling me at my request! And I KNEW I should have snugged some Jabberwocky for myself. Oh well. Callooh callay there’s only three before it goes away.

But I knew I had to at least try this tea. I hesitated with this one because Ben Shan is a green oolong, and green oolong+spices is a risky mix because green oolongs have delicate flavors and are usually buttery or floral if strong. But I knew that the cedar would be the central actor for this tea, and Brenden’s description are telling.

Brewing, started out with three minutes and I get the evergreen he writes about. The Ben Shan itself is on the greener side: green oolongs are really just creamier, fruitier and often more floral green teas. At least to me, or that’s what they are like to a newer drinker. This indeed has the creamy, slightly buttery and floral background. But they are the back ground, and thus the canvas. The chai spices are the paints and hues, with the spearmint and tulsi dripping into the foreground like dew on the eventual cedar. There’s even a little bit of a caramel texture going on, but again, that’s the cedar beginning to open up.

The second brew at four minutes continues the first one’s tastes with a more noticeable cedar, tulsi and spearmint combining into a very distinguishable eucalyptus no matter the palette. Quite green, and very, very fresh. Like a breeze from the Upper Peninsula without a doubt.

And finally, the third brew at five minutes and beyond, and the cedar with the oolong take over. So fresh, and crisp. It becomes the same lingering eucalyptus as Rivendell, but with a spicier finish. Technically, this tea is done but I can brew this even more for the notes of the cedar.

I am very glad to have tried this tea. The cedar, mint and tulsi blend incredibly well with the chai spices. My main criticism is that the oolong fades a little bit too much for me in the background, but the oolong really shouldn’t be that strong for this blend anyway. The other big hesitation is price and I’ve unfortunately had green chais pretty similar to this tea, but the cedar makes the biggest difference. Personally, I prefer the Harvest Chai to this one, but I do like that I get the best aspects of Rivendell save the vanilla in this cup.

This tea is for mint lovers hands down. Actually, it’s like turning an Altoids into a tea and drizzling it with honey.

This tea could not be better than it is right now. It’s a warm (30 degrees) windy winter day here in Minnesota. I warmed up a cup I had made of this a few days ago before I ventured out for a walk after listening to some Bear’s Den music.

I came home, ate a piece of ma’s meatloaf, sat down, and drank this divine liquid. I love it when food pairs with tea. I sat in the rocker for about 30 minutes just listening to the dance of the air and snow particles.

This tea has notes of cocoa and minerals. It is sweet and earthy.

I’ll be honest. I can’t drink shou everyday. It’s like chocolate cake to me. I can have it once or twice a week. It’s rich and is a lot to take in.

I’ll enjoy the last 8 ounces of this while listening to Winter Winds by Mumford and Sons. Simply having a beautiful moment right now. Super grateful. Thank you for this sample, Brenden!

I celebrated the full moon last night with this gorgeous tea! This is truly a unique and special tea. There is no question why it was used to catch fairies. The wrapper is yet another beautiful design from this company, and it complements well with the cake itself. The tea beeng is an array of spectacular colors of silver, ebony, and brilliant orange. Honestly, the tea’s beauty is what had me hooked on trying it. I gave the cake a sniff and took in some dry grass with a slight tang in the background. I warmed up my gaiwan and placed a hefty chunk inside. I sat for awhile and enjoyed the full moon. There was some clouds covering the sky, but it was still simply incredible. While I gazed at the moon, I could smell the magic from this tea already begin to fill the air. I lifted the lid and let all the aroma spread through out my tea room. I was picking up strong notes of grapefruit, flowers,and nectar. These platinum leaves were crisp and sweet with citrus scents and smoothed and woody with a herbaceous undertone. This was going to be a treat. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The liquor was a deep and vibrant orange. The steeped leaves moved into a sweet tang with an alcoholic white wine finish. The grapefruit scent had been replaced by a fresh tangerine. I took an inhale of the sweet liquor and took my first sip. The initial sip was super sweet with potent citrus scents filling the air. This such a good feeling tea. The flavors are crisp and sweet and remind me of a summer fruity drink. The drink begins stevia sweet and moves into a crisp sparkling tang. The tea clears the head and lifts the spirits. This brew has an almost detoxifying feeling. The drink moves progressively into a strong heavy body of syrupy sugarcane sweetness. I didn’t detect the grapefruit taste until later steeping. These silver leaves lasted for a long time, and they continued to yield a heavy orange liquor with fresh sweetness. The leaves unfolded and my gaiwan was full of a flowery arrangement. The qi was long lasting and quite powerful. The feeling was an uplifted sensation with lots of energy and giggling. This is a perfect tea for any gathering, and is likely to bring a lot of laughter. I noticed that if you add more leaf the brew becomes heavily sweet; if you use less leaf the brew moves into the more grapefruit and tangy tones. This is a wonderful tea, and it’s beauty alone is enough to show off. I’m so happy to have been able to try this.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BA6L3lbzGTc/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

https://www.instagram.com/p/BA6MafszGUk/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

There is absolutely EVERYTHING to love about this cake. The wrapper is gorgeous. Once you open it, your eyes get to feast on a confetti of fabulousness. This cake is so gorgeous, you’ll have a hard time breaking into that beauty. But DO it because a mouth party awaits.

Moonlight Sonata is a blend of The Hobbit’s moonlight white and snow chrysanthemum. When I first heard about this tea, I wasn’t sure I was gonna love it. I should know better by now.

This? Well basically, it tastes like candy y’all. Reallyreallyreallyreally GOOD candy. Like honey flower candy. It is nectary and golden delicious lovely florals. There is some stonefruit, but to me the honey is the thing here.

I’m not generally a white tea drinker or even a lover of the snow flowers – but this combination works so beautifully. And that is the bottom line here – simply EVERYTHING about this tea is beautiful.

Happy first full moon of the year! According to the various almanacs that divulge such info, January’s full moon is the Wolf Moon, named so because of the hungry wolves that would prowl around settlements. It is a fun bit of American folklore, some of which originated with this country’s indigenous people and some brought from Europe with settlers, and of course some is a blend of both! Since I grew up either near or in the Appalachian mountains, I was very fond of learning that region’s folklore, and they called it the Snow Moon…and considering my mother, nestled in Cumberland Valley near the Susquehanna River between the Blue Mountain and South Mountains Ridges, sent me photos of a massive blizzard they are having, I think the Appalachian name might be more accurate!

So what’s with this sudden obsession with the moon you might ask, well it is not really sudden, but it is certainly egged on by Whispering Pines Tea Co’s newest tea Moonlight Sonata! This is a blend of 2015 Moonlight White Tea and 2015 Snow Chrysanthemums ‘originally blended to steal the heart of faeries’ and as the daughter of a changeling, this should be right up my alley!

After ogling the wrapper and flowers compressed with the ‘Shadow elf tea’ as I lovingly call the Moonlight due to it being shadowy dark on one side of the leaf and silvery on the other, I chipped some off with my pick and gave it a good long sniffing. The aroma is quite delectable, blending notes of aster, wild flowers, honey, hay, sugar cane, sweetgrass, and dill flowers with a touch of tomato leaf and dried tomato. I am not really sure why Moonlight smells like dried tomato and tomato leaf or why Snow Chrysanthemum smells like dill flowers to me, but they do and I admit I kinda love them because of those notes. At the very end of the sniff I pick up subtle notes of pollen and tangerine, which add an extra depth of sweetness.

Gaiwan time! I kinda agonized over which gaiwan would compliment the colors best, so I picked one of my celadon ones, and I was pleased I did! Holy wow is the wet leaf fruity smelling, strong notes of nectarine and dried apricot mix with warm honey and wildflowers with a finish of dill flowers. For anyone who has not sniffed a dill flower, it smells like a blend of dill (but faint compared with the leaves) and hay, it is very pleasant, and tasty too, though they taste stronger than the leaves. The liquid is a blend of nectarine and dried apricot with honey, hay, and clover flowers with a finish of faint dill flower and wildflowers. It smells very sweet!

First steep and already my notes are crooked! I consider it the mark of a good tea when the notes in my notebook start to go sideways. It starts with a creamy mouthfeel, coating the mouth while also being light and smooth. The first taste to pop up hay and clover blossoms with a slight mineral note, this moves to rich honey and nectarines, which in turn moves to apricots and wildflowers with a finish of lingering sweetness and pollen. The first steep is light and refreshing with a slightly cooling feel to it, similar to drinking a large glass of water on a hot day, it quenches the thirst.

Onward to the second steep and the liquid is getting dark, it looks like a moon low on the horizon on a summer’s day. The aroma focuses on the hay and honey, with side notes of pollen, aster, and clover flowers, while the finish has a blend of nectarines and dill flowers. One thing I am really liking about this tea, other than the taste, is the refreshing thirst quenching quality it has, each steep even though the tea is hot, reminds me so much of drinking spring water on a hot day. The slight mineral notes at the start do not dissuade me of this either. This steep is richer, though not sweeter, with strong notes of nectarine and apricot, dill weed, hay, pollen, and honey. Towards the end of the steep the feel, while still refreshing starts to go to warming internally, making me feel extremely relaxed.

The third steeps’s aroma stays strong with the honey and hay, with an accompaniment of strong clover flowers, pollen, and nectarine. The notes that are present are subtle but their presence is strong. This steep loses its mineral notes and picks up a subtle malt note, giving the tea an extra depth. There is a strong nectarine and honey taste to this steep, much like eating a nectarine drizzled in warm honey, this moves to wildflowers and a touch of dill with a nice finish of hay and pollen. I got many steeps from this one, it is one of those you can sit with for a while, perhaps while watching the moon or while being snowed in!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/01/whispering-pines-tea-co-2015-moonlight.html

This a great example of a heavy roasted oolong. The leaves are tightly curled black pebbles. They carry a lot of weight in a small amount, so you don’t need too many embers. They give off a deep charcoal and roast scent, yet there is some lingering sweetness in the background. I placed them inside my warmed gaiwan and let these little guys relax. I opened the lid and inhaled a warm roasted aroma. I was picking up fresh espresso, burnt sugar, and a brief background of dark bitter chocolate. I washed these a few times;because of how tightly wound they were. Finally, the liquor began to darken, and I took in a hearty sip. The flavor is smooth and light bodied. The characteristic I love about this tea is that it’s not poorly roasted. I’ve experienced numerous heavy roasted oolongs that taste like licking a burnt out campfire. This a nice crisp roast with plenty of curbing flavors such as; caramel, burnt sugar, and underlying oak. This tea has the nice roast to warm you up, but it also carries the oolong sweetness that keeps you steeping. Personally, I like to brew this heavy and with longer steeping times, for I want a drink that packs a punch. This was really good; however it took awhile to full open up. Don’t give up on this tea; it just needs to be pushed a little. In my experience the rough brews need to be treated rough; boiling water, longer steeps. This is a nice experience, and the brew lasts for a long time. The tea offers tons of flavor and complexity for a heavy roasted TGY. I’m planning on trying the treat version of this with some heavy brewing and coconut milk. I’m pretty excited to try it!

https://www.instagram.com/p/8Da3-OzGV_/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

https://www.instagram.com/p/8DosFlzGe5/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Comparison Shot
https://www.instagram.com/p/8DxlHgTGRz/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

TheLastDodo included some of this in her swap. Thank you!

Brewing method: gongfu session with a ruyao easy gaiwan and cup set. Steeping times: 20, 15, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 3 min, 6 min.

I have only drunk yabao once, almost three years ago, when I was a very new to Chinese tea drinking. I wasn’t impressed. There was a spicy note I didn’t take to. I chose this yabao as the first to try from Dodo’s selection because of my faith in Whispering Pines.

This yabao reminds of evergreen trees. It has notes of needles and sap, and lengthy aftertaste of juniper berries, followed by cherries. I would say it is excellent to drink all year round, as evergreens keep their needles. It evokes the green seasons and provides a sense of green in the middle of winter. I am enamored with the beauty of pines, spruces, cedars, firs, yews, and so on. When I am bird-watching and come across a cluster of evergreens in a deciduous woods, something pulls me away from the birds and I must stop. (Well, also, there is always a chance of a Red-breasted Nuthatch or an owl in them during wintertime.) It is a different kind of atmosphere. The wind sounds different blowing between needles.

Sipdown (128)!

This is a special note…

It’s my 3333th Tasting Note! What a fun number!

I chose this tea to write about for that tasting note for a couple reasons. Firstly, it’s definitely a more popular tea here on Steepster and I liked the idea (which I think was suggested by Equusfell) of dedicating a more monumental tasting note to something I’ve been saving for a special occasion or a tea that’s very well regarded within the community. Secondly, it’s sort of a miracle I’m trying this at all. And by that I mean that, when I placed my Whispering Pines order on Black Friday there was a definite goof made on my part. Instead of sending the order to my new address in Regina I accidentally sent it to my old Saskatoon address.

It shouldn’t have made it to me. By the time I noticed the error and managed to get in contact with Brenden the tea had already been shipped off and there was nothing he could do. I spoke to postal workers both in Canada and in the states and there was nothing they seemed to be able to do to reroute the package. Initially, my former roommate wouldn’t reply back to me about sending it my way either (we didn’t part on good terms). It seemed like a lost cause and a write off of an order. However, like a week after tracking was showing the package as delivered in Saskatoon I got a message from him saying he’d sent it my way. Three weeks pass and, well, nothing. Saskatoon and Regina are three hours away from each other so that’s not normal shipping times. Then, out of the blue, Whispering Pines order! I think that’s my 2016 ‘tea miracle’ all used up already. But hell; I’m not complaining.

So yeah; I think this tea has a fair bit of significance that makes it worthy of being note number 3333! And of course I drank it Gong Fu! Actually, I had the session with my mom who’s starting to appreciate pure teas quite a bit more as of late – though she still prefers, as she puts it, things that are “Coconut Cream Pie” flavored over “Mud Tea”. But we’re getting there…

Here’s the TLDR; of my tasting notes from the session:

- Eight+ Infusions
- Starts off very robust with a brothy, thick mouthfeel
- Very mushroomy with kind of meaty notes, earth notes, and wood notes
- Also starts off surprisingly sweet despite a strong savory/umami profile
- Evolves into a more lightly woody/earthy body sip
- With definite rich vanilla notes!
- My mom described it as a sweet pork rind flavour…

Very awesome Shou all around! I can see why people who are drinking WP Pu’erh as some of their first time pu’erhs fall for Pu’erh so hard. It’s such a unique and interesting kind of flavour and it really holds your attention.

Normally I’m not one for roasted teas and always underleaf because I find them too unbearable otherwise. Still I find myself being drawn to darker style oolongs lately for winter comfort. Wuyis are a perennial favorite yet it’s hard to find one that doesn’t taste like an ashtray. One of reasons I love this tea is because the delicate roast allows its wonderfully complex flavor to shine through.

The dry leaves in a warmed gaiwan exude an amazing fruity aroma. Wet leaf changes to a deep earthy aroma, like a wet forest after the rain, and produces a beautiful light amber liqueur. My first steep was smooth and rich. Soft roasted body, much lighter than a regular DHP. There’s some earthiness and mineral flavor there but not over the top. I’m getting some sweetness in there too. A very well-balanced cup.

The flavor really begins to pop at the second steep. This one is sweeter, and more mineral. The roastiness has faded as light florals begin to emerge and there is a pleasant honeyed aftertaste. It’s juicy, crisp, and clean. My favorite steep by far.

The next two steeps are fairly similar. The rock sugar sweetness intensifies and the tea flavors becomes clearer. I’m impressed by how full flavored the later steepings were even though it was brewed western style with just a pinch of leaves.

I had a Dan Cong earlier in the day and was struck by how much this tea resembled it with its honeyed sweetness, floral notes, and light roast.

I didn’t think it could get any better than WP’s regular Da Hong Pao but their Wildcrafted varietal is really on another level altogether. This is truly an incredible wuyi oolong and hands down the best I’ve ever had.

This tea was released some time ago, and I immediately knew that I had to have it. I read the description, and it brought me back home. I was born and raised in Arizona, and I’ve been a long ways away from home lately. This description touched my heart, and I honestly had some rough nostalgia. So, I picked up an ounce and waited. I was planning on traveling back home for a week, so I kept this oz on hand to truly experience where it was born, like I was. I kept this bag full of spices hidden until the perfect moment. That moment was an experience I’ll hopefully remember for a long long time. My close friends and I were going on a road trip and hike while I was there on vacation. We picked a taunting mountain spire in Northern Arizona. I packed up my sac full with some beautiful Desert looking cups, my new tea press, Hopper, and an oz of this homey blend. We hiked for hours and climbed for longer. The desert was filled with the all too familiar red dust, smooth scents, and light sage in the air. The climb was pretty steep at 900 feet+ in .9 miles, so we were getting tired. We pressed on in anticipation of watching sunset at the summit. Finally, after climbing for most of the day, we reached the top. We couldn’t have planned it any better. I had the exact right amount of time to unpack the tea goodies and brew up a pot as the sun split at the horizon and blasted the sky with its pallet of colors. We sat on the mountain top and enjoyed some of the best chai I’ve ever had. The dry tea complimented the beauty of the desert with its delicate silvery curls, crimson red saffron, and small sand colored spices. The brew was sweet smelling with warm spiced tones. The taste was astonishing! My friends and I sat atop the mountain enjoying the landscape that inspired the beautiful blend we sipped on. They all were enthralled by its experience. This is what the magic of tea is all about! I could taste the dry desert floor as the wind carried the sage. I took in the spice of the mesquite and ironwood trees spread throughout the valley. I savored the sweetness of the desert and the beauty of one of the best sunsets I’ve ever witnessed. This tea made an amazing memory for me, and I will treasure that. I suggest others should try this out. There is nothing more special than being at a tea’s birthplace; whether it be a lush garden in Yunnan, or a dry desert in Arizona. It’s something special. I learned more deeply about the inspiration of this blend, and It’s beautifully thing to see how Cricket can bring so much joy and magic. This blend will be one for the books for me.

The Perfect Shot
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAqeVMnzGdx/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Hopper joins in on the moment
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAqfNfPTGfk/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

farewell tea. This helps me reach last months sipdown goal lol now i can focus on this months. What’s nice is that in order to get to 55 for the end of the year, from here on out i just need to get 5 sipdowns each month. That should be totally doable even with the teas i have larger quanties of since i have lots more time to work on them :)