Whispering Pines Tea Company

I’m not as much a fan of darker black teas like this, but I grew fond of it over time. When I have it more gongfu style, I find it gives me a stomachache, but more Western style it’s much easier to take.

I like this one both for short steeps and long. It’s floral and dark, a hint of fruity, but overall clean and light.

My tea drawer here at work is just about bursting, so I decided I need to do a little house keeping again. I finally tossed some samples I did not like and ran across this one.

For some reason I remember trying it, not really liking it, and moving on to other things without writing a review. And then the last time I cleaned house on my tea drawer, I kept this one, because I wanted to write a review before I threw it away.,

Apparently I may have gone through that cycle a few times because there was barely enough for 1 last final cup. So here we go.

First off, I did sit on this too long. You can tell its flavor has faded a bit. What’s left is about what I vaguely remember, Kind of, but not exactly, like menthol, camphor, or eucalyptus maybe? Definitely kind of minerally to taste. Not run across that before in other teas I’ve tried.

Funny enough I also get the impression of that glue you find on envelopes and stamps (the ones you had to lick).

So now I can verify I do not like it and have notes explaining as to why :D

Sipdown 136-2021
Another pot of tea to sip through things more quickly. This isn’t my favorite. I find it a bit muddy and thick. Really vegetal, with some cacao notes at the end of the sip.

I’m about to sip this down soon. Funny how I am not in the mood for black teas, but when I finally drink the ones I love, I want more. So dumb. This one was nice and floral, with an orange blossom finish after a thick layer of a fruity malt of red plums. It’s still just tea, but it was more rich.

This tea has mellowed out the past few months I’ve had it. Cutting back on the leaf a little bit was also a good idea because the astringency and bitterness have been non-issues.

I’m finally going to rate it at least in the 88-90ish range as I finish off the rest of it. I think the main thing holding me back from a higher rating is that it really doesn’t always last that long depending on how you brew it. I usually haven’t gotten more than four or five great cups before it fades out into a thinner tea. You still get plenty of honey and viscosity in later rounds, though the malt fades with each steep. Steep two or three are usually my favorites for that reason, but the first brew can be the fullest in flavor and body.

I’m really glad this tea was in Whispering Pines selection because for me, it’s a unique black that shares more qualities with Fujian and Taiwanese blacks. I’m biased towards those types, and I think this tea is an easy stepping stone for people getting into straight teas. I also don’t think it’s too expensive, but there are other favorites I might pay cheaper or the same amount for despite this tea standing toe to toe with them. The tea has my approval either way.

Quick intro note.

I got this one before it ran out. I hesitated a little bit because…I have too much black tea, but I know I will drink it. Since the recommendation was a 2, 3, 4 minute length, I minimized the leaf to around 3-4 grams brewing it on the lighter side. It was a little too light, but had definite flavor and mouthfeel. Plums, honey, and light roast melting into brown sugar were more prominent with a nice drying finish. I could see some similarities to Taiwanese blacks in the stonefruit profile, but the nearly floral and fruity dryness reminds me a lot more of a unroasted Lapsang.

It can be a little bit strong for me caffeine wise, but I like it. I’m going to amp up the leaf next time western, and maybe more so gong fu. I have a feeling this is going to have a lot to offer. This session was not as intense as other blacks I’ve had with a decent amount of complexity in aroma and mouthfeel. I will definitely write more on this one in the future.

Large, full golden brown leaves. Nice aroma.
Tastes similar to Keemun Snail, which I like a lot. Earthy, bread-ish, not sharp. dark golden brew after 60 seconds (I don’t steep too long, I never add anything to my tea).

Shou puer has always been a difficult tea for me to describe. How do I make it sound enticing?

Stale walnut bread soaked in the smoothest, silkiest mossy-mineral-meaty-mushroomy-chocolatey-earthy fondue you’ve ever tasted?

Heck, I dunno.

May the shou aid in digestion. Thank you, White Antlers.

Sipdown 94-2021
I’m going to consider this a sipdown, as I’m drinking a cup and putting the rest into my swap pile. It’s not my favorite type of oolong. Lots of minerality and a strong presence of the charcoal roast.

This tea is SO strange. I find it so savory, that it’s actually tasting a lot like miso soup. It’s very mushroomy, with notes of wet soil and tree bark. The Whispering Pines website describes this tea as “inspired by the deepest and most ancient of forests,” which actually really fits.

I’m not tasting any of the vanilla, though.

Ordered this when Cocoa Amore was restocked. I love the Whispering Pines vanilla blends. This is definitely different than all of the other variations of the WP black tea+ vanilla. I’m not getting much of the vanilla, but that could be due to my failure to give the bag a good shake before I prepped my steeper. I’m getting roasted mushrooms, tree bark, and wet wood.

Thought I would give this another go today.

Mostly leather and dirt. I didn’t notice the tobacco that I did previously.
I’m just not sure I’m going to be able to develop an appreciation for pu’erh teas.

I’ve got to stop reading other’s reviews before I write my own. It just makes me grumpy. Same goes for books. Do they make this stuff up? Are we consuming/reading the same thing?

So after the last Shou Pu-erh, I was a little/very gun shy. The fish that’s sat on the dock all day in the sun taste and smell may have scarred me for life. I’m actually shocked I tried again. But I have come to trust Brenden enough to know that’s he’s not going to try to pass something off that is utterly terrible. It might not be something I like, but it won’t be decomposing fish.

However, I was still paranoid, so I gave it a good 90s rinse in boiling water. I did not detect fish in the wet leaves so I then steeped it for another 60-90s. Yes, i ignored the directions, but I did mention the paranoia. Significantly longer rinse, about half the steep time.

It took me a while to get the guts up to actually sniff the result. i had a lot of trouble identifying the smell. Its not fish though which made me a little hopeful. And then I had a conversation with a coworker on what a Shou Pu-erh is and a basic on how it is made. And he told me about a Burmese Tea leaf salad, one of which form is made from fermented tea leaves. Ah, delaying tactics.

While this conversation was going on, I kept sniffing, trying to identify what I was smelling. Dirt maybe? I think there’s some there but its not the main thing. And then it hit me. Old leather work boots. Not the stinky foot smell part of it, but the old well worn leather work boots with some dried mud on them.

So, in my celebration on the absence or rotting fish, I should say what I actually think of this. But I honestly don’t have an opinion yet. Its not disgusting. I think I need to give myself some distance and come back to it with the expectations of leather, dirt, and maybe tobacco instead of rotting fish.

No rating this time around.

Cold brew sip down. Makes a passable cold brew.

Glad I chose to do this project as its allowing me to make sure of teas I didn’t enjoy hot.

As I am not much of a fan for smoked anything really, I had never tried a straight Lapsang Souchong. So when I saw this, I was interested.

What I get primarily is florals. Not heavy so, but that’s what stands out to me. As it cools, it gets significantly more drying.

Not bad, but its not really my thing either.

I could have sworn I rated this tea last year. In fact I have memories of what I said in that review. I just can’t find any sign of it.

I have always believed that I rather hated Jasmine tea. Every time I have had it I have seriously disliked it. But then the only type I have ever had before was a green jasmine. And I just don’t like greens. So much so that I don’t even open them if I receive one as a sample in an order. I just pass it along to a coworker who I know likes them.

So while browsing one day, I saw this black jasmine and I thought, why not give it a try. And low and behold, its really good. But as summer winded down last year, I started craving warm and spicy again and put this one aside. But now I am back.

The scent when opening the pack doesn’t seem as strong as I remembered last year, but the flavor is still all there. The tea base seems to have been the perfect companion. It is neither drowned out by the jasmine and neither does it dominate. According to the site, its a classically processed dian hong black tea. I can’t say much of the base from what I taste, but it combines very well.

Light and relaxing and seems perfect for the day.

So a little celebration tea today. More in the end of tasting note.

Thanks to White Antlers I got to try this wonderful tea. So, thank you a lot!

I decided to brew it gongfu, the rest I had, which was about two teaspoons. 125 ml gaiwan. Freshly boiled water into cold thermos. I guess it could be about 93-95°C water.

First steeps were wonderful, cocoa notes, malty, honey, chocolate. Great indeed. Last ones were rather “only” malty and honey like. I dare to say even leathery? Not sure about that though. I wasn’t paying that much attention on later steeps. But I wanted to, but the circumstances didn’t allow me. We are still redoing my grandma’s bathroom (almost done), so I was paying attention what has to be done during the weekend and on Monday. Quite a workload!

But this tea… was just amazing. Even it was rather golden dust honestly, it was still delivering that wonderful taste of Yunnan black. So unique. So great!

Personal note: Why to celebrate? I got a job! My first ever full-time job. I am going to be DGSA — Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser. So, lots of to learn. About 1600 pages for each mode of transport. Starting with trucks (that will be in Czech), then going for air transport (very similar, but in English). Exams held by ministry of transport! So, what will I do? I will order transport of dangerous goods by ship or aircrafts, sometimes “just” by truck. Tantalum dust is very dangerous, highly flammable, self-igniting, stuff. And they work mostly with tantalum. I will be responsible for proper marking, packaging and transporting those dangerous goods. There will be weekly and monthly inventory checks in the warehouses.

Soo, what do you think?

Thank you White Antlers for another tea from you! Reading “rich and chocolaty pure-bud black tea” sound delicious. I took two teaspoons in fill-your-own tea bag, and 300 ml cup.

Decided to brew as suggested – first steep 5 minutes long and second, 3 hours later, with 3 minutes increment.
But brewed tea… is wonderful. Really! I get the malty a chocolatey notes. While drinking a first steep — I was thinking and it was quite hard to not assume it’s hot chocolate. There was some malty qualities as well, more present in second steep. I am now drinking the second steep and as I wrote in sentence before, it’s more malty, but still some cocoa is there. I notice as well some redfruits now.

It needs more attention, probably gongfu session as well. I would love to share with other family members as well, but it seems my sample is too small for that. Ahh. But lovely tea. Truly wonderful.

idk.. starts really nice, veryy promising wet leaf, dark raisins and forest extreme lovely, first infusions are decent but give way to basically a generic smooth red tea flavor. dies incredibly quick for an oolong & doesn’t have much of anything to say as it unfolds. kind kf a whiplash really, it started so promising but rather than opening up it just collapsed.

i rinsed and im just sitting here smelling the wet leaves for like 5 minutes straight…theyre real chatty my goodness..im still getting myself in the headspace of tasting notes but im wildly excited about this. just poured it off and its smooth and lovely with a well defined structure. exhaling oolong minerality after swallowing. touch of tangy juiciness at the back of the sip. it’s warm and focused and focusing

first infusion was 5g 99c for roughly 20 seconds starting from when i began to pour, so around 15 with lid on

second infusion maybe 27 seconds? pretty even with the first, though i can see the leaves opening much more now. going to post this and maybe return later

edit: hi its 11pm this thing will not die ive taken it all the way to a 10 minute steep, somewhere between 8 and 12 infusions.. just incredibly smooth and subtle roasty toasty notes very lovely even after losing all structure and most flavors theres still just enough to intrigue me into seeing what happens if i fill up the gaiwan 1 more time :)

wet leaves sweet potato and corn fields

i cant say i have a particularly strong sense memory of wet hay but thats a vibe for sure.. corn mazes, the smell in the air after shaving pumpkin skin

working thru this. huge first infusion… dark berries???