Whispering Pines Tea Company

Continuing on with my chocolate heavy black tea day…
This is another sample I received from Dexter ( Thank you!).
Deep chocolate and so smooth… oh, this is good.
I did this one western style just like the other black today, since I haven’t had the time to sit down with my gaiwan. It’s so weird to not be using it, but at the same time, it’s really nice to have a full mug of something.
Yeah, this tea is definitely something I love… and, I do get that graham note that’s mentioned… it’s delicious. :D

Thanks so much for such a generous sample of this, Dexter! :D

This tea is earthy and malty, while being fruity and bright at the same time, which makes for a really fun sip. I’m really enjoying everything that is going on in this cup. I brewed this one up western style, but I’m thinking I’m going to use my gaiwan next time, thinking all these flavours would be really interesting that way.

Thank you Blodeuyn for this!

Oh frabjous day, finally a blend I can brew Gong Fu! Once I heard of this blend I knew that I had to try it. I am a sucker for creativity, and I love it when companies come up with these amazing titles. I like to sit, sip, and escape in my mind to wonder about the inspiration. I believe it adds to the tea experience.

This truly is another well rounded blend by this company. I am very impressed. I enjoy most from this brew the fact that the flavor does not simply stay as one solid flavor. This flavor develops by each second. I can distinctly feel the complex tones change and progress. I am very excited to continue exploring this tea and others by this company.

Thank you Blodeuyn so very much for this!

I have been stalking this company for quite some time. It saddened me at the fact that most of their teas were sold out. Luckily, a tea friend came to the rescue!

I opened this small package and gave a slight inhale. I experience an enticement of wild berries, waterfalls, long luscious forests, and smooth river stones. I am immediately caught in its spell. I revealed the small variety of pebbles. This one is an emerald, this one a ruby, this one a smooth clay chip. I placed my discovery into my basket and brewed. The aroma that arose from my glass transported me back to that waterfall. The steam rises with the scent of a forest in full spring. The peridot colored liquor dances in front of me as I enjoy this treat. I may not be the largest lord of the rings fan, but I know magic when I taste it. The initial sip was a complex massage. A sweet tree sap engulfed my senses, then followed by the succulent water side berries. This complex tone developed more and more. It carried me through the lush forests and down the springwater. The aftertaste was an intoxicating sensation. It is placed as an exotic vanilla with such depth. The flavor continued and lasted well over the brew. The unfurled leaves created an atmosphere of tranquility. This name is truly fitting of this blend.

I am not a blend/flavored tea drinker. I have rarely enjoyed anything that isn’t straight natural tea. This brew has definitely changed my mind. My only complaint is that the leaves; however beautiful that they are, do not match those pictured. I am okay with this and can understand marketing enough, hahah. I’m grateful to have acquired it. I needed a little magic in my day.

ohhh that smell!! vanilla heaven!

I decided to brew this one gongfu style, following Brenden’s instructions online.

It opens with notes of cream, soybean, and oat. The first few steeps are lighter on the tongue and as I continue steeping it gains thickness in body. It becomes more buttery and vegetal, developing some light butterscotch-caramel tones. The finish is clean and a little grassy. Unfortunately, with each infusion I can’t help but notice the bite of astringency. It only seems to intensify. Those who read my tasting notes know that I’m not overly fond of green teas. I’m not particularly fond of astringency or bitterness, either, though sometimes I can ignore it. This is a case where it becomes impossible to ignore and it kind of ruins in the experience for me. I’m really sensitive to bitterness. It’s a shame, because I like the flavors I’m finding in this tea. I’m just finding it very hard to get past the bite. Maybe I should pass this one on to someone who likes greens more than I do. To me, it tastes very similar to Laoshan Green, though perhaps a bit lighter.

Prepared this gongfu-style with a ceramic cupping set. I followed the online brewing instructions with a 10 second rinse beforehand. Because I don’t have a scale, I measured out around 1.5 tablespoons of tea to 4oz of water. The measurements aren’t exact.

Oh my word, this is a good tea. It has notes of brown sugar, cocoa, raisins, nuts, caramel, wood, and wet earth. I didn’t notice a drastic difference in flavor from cup to cup. Nearly every flavor mentioned was present, just in varying intensities. The liquid is rich and full, silky, thick. It is decadent and sweet. There are some slight vanilla and cream undertones, though they’re not immediately apparent. The first few steeps are more earthy than the later steeps which are pure sweet, nutty, dessert-like goodness. Excellent qi in this one. I’m floaty and tea drunk on a lovely Sunday evening. Not a care in the world…

From the Sheng and Shou TTB.

Prepared gongfu-style with a ceramic gaiwan. I followed Whispering Pines’ instrucitons: one five-second rinse, then steeping times at 30, 15, 30, 45, 120, 300.

I experienced the aroma the way Whispering Pines recommended. Earthy notes fill the hot bowl, after letting the dry leaf sit in the moisture for some time. Following the rinse, the wet aroma gives off loam, sugarcane, and a bit of mushroom. The sessions finishes with freshly baked raisin bread, and then finally raisins and plums.

The liquor is dark amber early on. Longer steeps yield a more coffee-like color. Right of the bat, this shou is thick and creamy, full-bodied, and incredibly rich. Because I had to rush the session, thereby drinking all six cups within a span of two hours, it made me feel sluggish, and my stomach felt really full. Not just because I’d want to savor it, but the next I drink I need to space out each cup so that I don’t feel like I’ve eaten a huge chunk of triple-layered chocolate mousse cake in fewer than five minutes. Wowee!

The first infusion is very sweet, tasting of pure sugarcane and a little earth, with a chocolatey finish. The second is more earthy, and mushrooms first appear in the third, where I envision toadstools, covered with some dirt, in the middle of a damp rainforest. Sweetness returns in the fourth and fifth infusions – maple syrups, caramel and cocoa. The session would have great to end there on those notes, since I’m a dessert last kind of person, so I was caught off guard when the mushrooms again make their appearance in the sixth and last infusion. I loooove cooked mushrooms. These ones at first were sauteed, and then were those from cream of mushroom soup.

The descriptions I read in the past are not a lie. The cake is genuine. And speaking of cake, when this shou going to be sold again, I’m grabbing one.

This is the tea I was most looking forward to trying. The expense put me off for a while…then it was the difficulty of placing an order before it was all snagged. Well, time to splurge, I say. I regret nothing. (Except for not buying more.)

The dry leaf smells like creamy, chocolatey gelato. It’s like chocolate infused whipped cream: smooth and sweet with the scent of custard and vanilla. I followed the instructions for western brewing. The taste is very close to the aroma. It’s silky smooth and soft like a rabbit’s fur. There are notes of dark chocolate, custard, and stone fruit underscored by the gentle suggestion of oak wood and mushroom. The finish is sweet with ringing vanilla overtones and cherry-fudge undertones. The sweetness and malt lingers long afterwards: a reminder of whipped cream, cocoa, and flavors of pine. Not any single flavor is overbearing; they all work in harmonious balance. The second steep is equally rich and decadent. Cocoa, wood, and cherry dominate with notes of heavy cream, caramel, and mushroom in the background. It’s thick like pudding and incredibly smooth. It gets even creamier as it cools.

Wow, this tea is absolutely heavenly. It could give GO a run for its money, but I know I can’t justify buying this one in large quantities. Shame!

My Whispering Pines order came in yesterday! It was a happy day. The past few weeks, I’ve been sipping down some of my favorites in anticipation of this order coming in. I was at work all day and I didn’t get home until late, so unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to try any of my new teas last night. But today! Today is a good day for tasting. Let’s do this.

In the bag, the dry leaf smells intense and sweet like maple candies. The sweetness is offset by the deep, resounding aroma of mushroom, earth, bread, and wood—much like a shu. This makes me think it might do really well blended with a shu puerh. Followed the western brewing instructions, though I would like to gong fu this later. This tea tastes like maple syrup, brown sugar, mushrooms, wet wood, and cocoa. There’s a bready note that makes me think of sourdough rolls or pancakes. It’s also slightly tart, like stone fruits—plums, raisins, cherries. The finish is oaky and a little drying. It leaves a malty coating on my tongue along with the taste of maple. I didn’t find the blend overly sweet. The maple flavors are balanced nicely with earthy, woodsy qualities that keep it grounded. The base tea notes come through MUCH more strongly in the second steep. Maple is ever present in the background, but at the forefront you have grain, malt, dark chocolate, and cherries. The natural sweetness of the tea makes itself known. It’s clearly identifiable as the base tea for GO. It’s almost like fudge, and it’s so delicious. The finish here is juicy and sweet. Still slightly drying, with a taste like wood, but it’s drying in a way that makes your mouth water.

Gosh. I’m so glad I was able to pick some of this up. I don’t think it’s something I could drink all day, but it’s definitely good. Like many of Brenden’s teas it makes me want to take it hiking.

I should preface my review by saying that I have a nostalgia and a soft spot for Golden Snails (Bi Luo). A hero of mine introduced me to the tea and sourced a particularly delicious batch. I drank it all summer during my first year of becoming a teacher.

That being said Whispering Pines’ offering here is delicious. The batch is aromatic and flavorful and stacks up well against other Yunnan Blacks of similar varieties and production. It’s hearty and well balanced without being too strong. I was quite comfortable with the price, knowing the freshness and quality that I could expect from WP and Brenden. I’ve paid $.50 more an ounce for comparable Yunnans that were not as fresh or whose taste was less dramatic.

I’m finally trying out my sample (from Lindsay, I think?), and wow am I glad I did. This is such a unique tea.

The dry leaf smells strongly of sweet, fruity alcohol. I’m thinking brandy, a tawny port or some kind of liqueur.

Steeped, the tea soup has the same strong, alcohol fragrance to it, which carries through to the palate. In addition, there are also notes of Chinese medicine, dates, prunes, and lou han gou fruit.

This is definitely a rich and luxurious cup of tea. The ingredients combine in such an interesting way, that I don’t actually identify any of them in the flavour.

I don’t think I’d drink this often, but for a special treat, this is amazing.

With the caveat that I made a big mistake brewing my entire sample of this Western style — and too strong — I really like this tea. It tastes like baked bread, molasses and — something I haven’t seen anyone mention — roasted peanuts. I want to try it again in a gaiwan. It’s just really…interesting and unique and complex. I don’t love it as much as Whispering Pine’s super smooth new Yunnan Gold Tips, but it’s… Strong and makes a very solid impression. The nutty flavor really lingers. I’ll try it again. I think it would work really well with very spicy food.

The wet leaves smell like dark chocolate, but I don’t really taste that in the tea.

2nd infusion: Aha, now I taste chocolate and grain more strongly than peanuts.

Well allrighty. The Hobbit has been talking about this one for a while now and I have been very impatient to try it. Is it worth the wait? Oh my yes. It is. There is a distinctly malty aroma to the dry leaf. As that is one of my favorite notes in a black tea I am very happy.

The dry leaf is full of gold tips and when you open the bag it smells JUST like a chocolate malt. Not dark chocolate, a powdery chocolate and I want to just climb inside that bag and hang out a while.

I brewed it according to the bossy Hobbit’s very STRICT instructions. 2.5 grams at 200 in 8 ounces of water for exactly 3 minutes. I behaved and I was rewarded with a delightfully malty cup. Lots of bottom here. This is one of the Vanilla Dreams teas and so the vanilla is present. It is the lovely Tahitian vanilla so there is a cherry element, but it’s at the back after a wee bit of a cool down. It isn’t an in-your-face cherry like Cocoa Amore but it is lurking.

It is somewhat widely known that Golden Orchid is pretty much my favorite. This comes really, really, really close to GO for me. Less chocolate fudge and more chocolate malt. It’s got a nice creamy thing going too.

It sings and it has a really nice bass note that makes my bottom wiggle in the chair while I drink it and I hear this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn2PNlhvy8E

This is a delicious example of a Fujian Black tea as a type. Bready and caramelly and just very nice. Took half of my pot to work in a tumbler (stands up to that treatment very well) and drank the other half in the morning while taking meds (deserves better than that treatment). Just a really good tea.

Made correctly this time with 3 teaspoons (1 tbsp) per 500 ml (2 cups).

ETA: Second steep was just as good, though I’m not going for a 3rd.

Dry: Fluffy golden leaves blended with tightly rolled deep matte black leaves. The smell in the bag is softly vanilla, sweet, and malty.

Steeped: The leaves unfurl in a very pleasing aesthetic way. There is a mixing of the colors and the clear amber liquor bathes them in a golden hue. The smell is vaguely sweet with a hint of cherry and malty vanilla.

Taste: Honestly, the best description I could think of would be a more complex version of Cocoa Amore, which is one of my favorites from WP. I really like the depth of flavor with cherry, cocoa, and vanilla featuring most prominently followed by a hint of wood and morel. I don’t think I would like it at all if there really was a lot of the earth/oak across the palette, but it does a good job of hinting at them. The biggest downside to this tea in my opinion is the pricepoint. At just shy of $22/ounce (excluding shipping), it is one of the most expensive teas I’ve purchased. I am dinging the rating a little bit only because the tasting notes on the website indicated moss, plum, pine, melted chocolate, etc. and I couldn’t detect these. That may not be a bad thing though because pine can be overwhelming as a scent or flavor. Unfortunately, I’ve also found that this one doesn’t hold up to resteeps without going a bit bland and losing all the delicate nuances. I did enjoy the initial vanilla, cocoa, cherries, oak, and morel though and I am glad I was able to finally try this.

Thanks for the sale a while back, Kimquat! This certainly tastes like a Fujian. Somehow with this one, it seems like there is more fragrance to the dry leaves than there is flavor. The flavor is good, but this light amber cup is LIGHT. The caramel notes and the flavor that can only be found in a Fujian tea is there but it certainly isn’t a kick enough in the morning. This one might be lighter than the Laoshan Black, especially since I usually use one teaspoon with that one rather than the 1 1/2 teaspoons I used today. The leaves here do look larger and longer than the Laoshan though. I think I like the Jabberwocky better – it has more of this flavor profile but more depth (which is probably because it’s a blend of three teas). I’m happy to have tried this one anyway… and there is one serving left.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 tsp // 4 min after boiling // 3 min steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 6 min

Yup. I really, really love this one. Having drifted away from overly flavoured teas (although, there is a time and a place for them in my tea cravings….just much less than there used to be…), this tea is perfect.
I’m sipping while I play Shovel Knight, and it’s making it one fine Sunday. :)

Thanks so much, Dexter! (You really have introduced me to some of my favourite teas. :))) )

Wow.
Just, wow.
I have all my samples from Dexter (THANK YOU!!), but I needed something I could make quick, and the brewing directions were written on the baggie, so I went with this one. My daughter was waiting for me, since she wanted to watch Doctor Who together (she picked out “End of Time Part 1”…she just likes to see me get weepy over that cafe scene with The Doctor and Wilf….every time. it gets me every time!).
I sat down with my mug and took a sniff and was blown away…. this smelled like the most REAL vanilla…high quality vanilla…I have ever smelled in a tea! And the chocolate notes swirling with it… just Soooo unbelievable amazing in scent.
Sipping, I was just as amazed… Right now, this could possibly be my favourite flavoured tea… it has everything I want in a flavoured tea!
So unbelievably good!

So I like to stack my activities on my ‘get up from the couch and computer’ periods because evicting the cats from my lap is a time consuming and guilt inducing process and I try to limit that. So this period involved (in order): bathroom, panning for gold in los rios gatos, trash (including bathroom trash and the big stupid plastic bags in the bedroom that the cats keep licking in the middle of the night, I hate that noise), setting up the laundry, making tea, going for a 15 minute walk on the demon hill, coming back to made tea (yay!) and then sitting down again.

I told you this so you would understand why I keep coughing. It is below 50F right now (which is ridiculously warm compared to the rest of the US, but still cold when I only sort of put a coat on and then go for a walk in the dark). During my walk, which was a bit more strenuous than I’ve been doing in my surgery recovery process, I was breathing through my mouth and since then I haven’t been able to stop coughing :(

Anyway, this tea is helping with the coughing a bit, since it’s a warm liquid on my poor throat. I’m glad I read the reviews before sipping for the first time because I was expecting a bit more vanilla in this vanilla tea but the third review down, WP put in a comment that he blends to accentuate the notes present in the base tea rather than attempting a face-punch vanilla flavour. I prefer the latter, usually, but this is definitely the former and it’s none the worse for it because it DOES, in fact, accomplish that goal. The base tea is definitely a really really nice black tea and the milder vanilla is really very nice with it and makes it seem like there isn’t a vanilla ingredient at all, but just that it’s a really vanilla-y black tea, if that makes sense.

Anyway, I’ve figured out how to enjoy the first cup of my pots of WP tea now, which is to ignore the instructions on the bag and add approximately a teaspoon per 250 ml instead of half that. Perhaps once I acclimate my tastebuds again, I’ll be able to go back to the milder flavours, but right now they’re used to soda again and I haven’t had much tea these last few months.

tl;dr: this is a good mild vanilla-y black tea. Approved.

This is a sample from Zack. Thank you!.

I have been a little leery of ordering the blended teas from Whispering Pines, because the pure tea is oh so good. This is a combination of Alioshan Black and Keemun. The Keemun is what stands out to me in this blend, but with the Alioshan, it seems to be a much softer cup. Slightly fruity, a rounded bread flavor with hints of chocolate. A great morning cup.