Whispering Pines Tea Company

Sipping a cup of this before bed. Delightful! Naturally sweet, mild, and smooth. Delicious.

I ordered this when several teas became available at Whispering Pines again a few weeks ago. I read so many glowing reviews of this tea that I was almost afraid to try it and find I didn’t like it. But I did! This tea was mild, smooth, and slightly sweet on its own. No bitterness whatsoever, no sour notes, no astringency. Just a beautiful dessert tea that I look forward to drinking again. Lovely tea!

Another sheng puerh sipdown from a few days ago. Looking back, I clearly wasn’t too sure about this tea when I first got the back. On this final drink, I enjoyed the experience much more – so, either it mellowed out with age as I’d hoped or I’ve just gotten used to it’s slightly wild flavour profile…

Whatever the case, it was a really lovely session with these long, twisted, emerald green leaves. They steeped out beautifully over many infusions (we were probably drinking it for at least 10). No idea if Brenden still stocks or blends Arbor Mist but, if he does, I may well treat myself to a new bag once I’ve chipped a bit further away through my old collection…!

I cracked this out again, yesterday (which lasted me into today) – my goodness does this tea have some staying power! By the end of 12 infusions, it was still going pretty strong!

I’m still not sure this one is a favourite, yet. The savory, vegetal flavour are really intense – it’s not unpleasant, for sure. It is very much drinkable and I kept coming back for more. But, at the moment, it isn’t one I reach for with the same keenness as some other teas in my cupboard.

I read somewhere that sheng puerh mellows, and becomes smoother, with age. If that’s the case, perhaps I ought to let a little bit of air get to this and just try it again in a few months (I also read that loose puerh, such as this, ages faster so maybe this’ll be a nice one to “test” such things out on).

Either way, I did enjoy this tea and will continue to enjoy the rest of my bag!

With my recent appetite for greens and green oolongs, I felt the logical next step was to try a Sheng Puerh. This one came highly recommended, so I included a small bag in my first order from WP.

I took it down to London with me, for my interview at Kings, whilst I was staying with my boyfriend. And it was absolutely sensational.

With it being my first Sheng Puerh, I was obviously a little apprehensive. It smelled very strong and unusual, to my unaccustomed palette. I made it roughly according to WP’s Gaiwan recommendations – I used ~3g in a 100 ml Gaiwan. I did lots of short steeps using water that was just off full boil. I think, next time, I’ll try to use slightly cooler water (to tone down the bitterness).

The tea was really delicious. In colour, it was pale-green/yellow and the scent was so unusual – kinda vegetal, a little bitter, camphor, florals… So complex! On the palette, it was much the same – there was a bitterness, but it was light and quite pleasant and really “worked” alongside the surprisingly savoury overall flavours. I do think I’d like to try it a little less bitter in future, though, so like I said above I’ll probably use slightly cooler water next time!

I drank this tea with my breakfast, before the interview, and then spent the afternoon drinking it, whilst reading Malcolm X and just generally enjoying my day.

As with the Shou puerhs I’ve tried, I’m not really experienced enough to give this a score that means much, either to me or to the community at large (I don’t wanna affect the overall scores etc). But I’d definitely recommend this tea, within the context of “tea” on the whole.

My first experience with Keemun wasn’t a great one; I found it bitter and kind of smoky, and I’ve more or less avoided them ever since. I received this as a sample with my last Whispering Pines order, though, and based on the success I’ve had with their teas recently, I felt encouraged to give it a try. I followed the recommended parameters and used 1/2 tbsp of leaf, in water just cooled from boiling (about 200 degrees), for three minutes. No additions. The resulting liquor is medium brown, and smells of malt and chocolate.

Upon tasting, I’m instantly reminded of some of the Taiwanese black teas I’ve tried. This shares the same fruitiness, and has the undisputedly delicious bread and chocolate notes that I really enjoy in plain black teas.The initial flavour is chocolate, and while it has a creaminess and a lightness of flavour that put me in mind of milk chocolate, it also has a slight cocoa-like dryness that reminds me of a high quality dark chocolate. After the chocolate comes the distinctive taste of bread; rye like and a little yeasty.

For all the rich-sounding flavours, I’m actually finding this quite a refreshing, clean-tasting tea. There’s a hint of something almost eucalyptus-like right at the end of the sip which leaves a fresh coolness on the palate. I can definitely see why it’s called Pine Peak!

After tasting this one, what I’d really like it to breathe some mountain air. As that’s not possible, I’m going to settle for trying a few more keemuns. Hopefully some of them are as good as this one!

Very good! The smell out of the bag is like a sweet candy, but the smell when brewing is earthy mushroom. The taste is great – I can taste an almost cocoa note but very natural. The cocoa/chocolate does NOT stand out like teas such as Florence from Harney & Sons. Not a fruity taste for me this first time around, although I smelled that in the bag.

Very comforting, smoothing, no astringency, no bitterness, such a pleasant, HAPPY tea :)

I’m also in love with the name. Will definitely order more of this and try out again. I think I’ll experiment with brewing longer than the directions

Ok, third attempt. I think I can smell the vanilla, but the tea bag was really full. I feel like I have to explain. I put my tea in a tin, but couldn’t fit it all in, so I was left with a little bit extra in the bag. It’s hard to measure tea in the bag, though, when it’s that low, so I gave up and poured the rest of the tea in a tea bag. It was maybe enough for a tea pot. Anyway, I used my large mug. (I still haven’t replaced my elephant tea pot, but it’s a waste to brew tea in a teapot of that size if I’m going to pour a majority of it in one mug.)

Anyway, I don’t really taste the vanilla. Though, I did have a salad earlier with sautéed mushrooms, so I’m really picking up on the mushroom flavors in this now. On a side note, I do want to try the tea with the morels as well. This tea has a depth that I think fits a great forest – not that I’ve been in many in real life. North Carolina is 97% pine forest. I feel like this shows a real forest’s intensity, so now I’m wondering if Mirkwood could possibly taste any darker. Darker, like thick tree canopies and wet soil, not join the dark side, Luke. I imagine that would taste more like vanilla and caramelized brown sugar. Cookies. It would taste like chocolate chip cookies.

Anyway, what I really want isn’t vanilla. What I want is a vanilla drop kick to the face. Maybe I should try vanilla rooibos.

Can I say this tea tastes like Groot? Like the frosted flakes slogan, but instead “It’s Groot!” That sounds worse out loud than in my head. Trees have feelings too. The Ent will never talk to you now.

Second attempt. I used a full tablespoon this time. Steeped it too long, because I forgot about it. I realized what it smells like, though. It kind of smells like barbecue. This does get bitter. I’ll need to be careful with it.

I received this in the mail today. I was pretty excited about receiving this. I even got a North Winds sample with it, so I get to try that tea too. I opened Elderwood, and it smells sort of like sweet potato, but there’s something indescribable about the smell, sort of savory like chips. Maybe like sweet potato chips.

The tea is really lovely. It has a nice golden color. The flavor is pretty dark, and I don’t really taste the vanilla in the first steep. I think the next steep might have a darker color. So, I left it in a little too long. It’s not much darker. I don’t taste the vanilla either, so I might have to use more tea. I am using a large mug, so that could be the issue. So I’ll try more tea next time. I certainly have plenty of it.

I do think this tea has a nice woodsy taste to it. It’s definitely going to the top of my strong black teas list. I’ll write a new review later.

This one remains one of my all time fave black teas. I had my flu, pneumonia and Covid vaccines yesterday and I felt just fine until around 3 pm. Then, I was struck by a headache, sore throat and general malaise. It’s mild but definitely there. I had to work late so I decided to make a cup of this.

Man, I forgot how smooth and rich it is! So delicious. I see Whispering Pines has the Imperial North Winds on sale right now. I am really tempted to grab a couple of ounces of it to see how it compares to this one. I still have about an ounce left. But that won’t last long.

Today, at last, felt somewhat like fall. The average high for this time of year here in Fargo ND is 61 with an average low of 38. But the highs have been in the mid to upper 70s and the lows have been upper 50s and low 60s. The average date for the first frost is 10/9. There is no frost on the horizon for the next 10 days. I WANT FALL!!! Please don’t get me wrong. I do not want winter. But days where a sweatshirt is comfy would be nice. I don ’t like to drink hot tea in the warm weather.

However, the temp is 60 right now with falling rain, so it was the perfect day for a cup of hot tea. I grabbed this one because it is one of my all time faves, and I need to drink up some of my opened teas before I start on new, unopened tea. This one is always so smooth and rich without any bitterness. Just pure tea drinking satisfaction.

I haven’t had this one for a while. I’ve been mostly drinking tea in the late afternoon and evening lately, which means I usually go for a dessert-y or non caffeine teas. But today is pretty cold so I decided to brew a pot of this.

I’d forgotten how GOOD this tea is. So smooth. No bitterness or astringency, just rich, well balanced black tea. Days like this make me wonder why I always start my day with coffee. A good tea like this will wake me up and make me happy to be up. Or at least, happy to be drinking this tea :)

I made this iced several weeks ago. I may have over done the leaf, because it was strong and very close to bitter. I’ve never had this one bitter before so I was surprised. Then again, it sat in the fridge for several days. I think this one is better (for me) as a hot cup on a cool morning.

An excellent black tea. Smooth and rich and robust and not at all astringent. It is a glorious 62 degrees out there today, but it is breezy so I feel a little chill. This is just what I wanted today to keep me going.

There are several screaming children playing on the balcony below me. They’ve been playing out there for several hours. Not being a kid person. I dearly want to tell them to shut up. But I an’t really tell them to use their inside voices when they are technically outside, right? More tea.

Delicious morning tea. That is all.

It was a bit chilly and very windy here today. I made a pot of this. Such an excellent straight black breakfast tea! I always enjoy this one.

I have had a challenging fortnight. I got the flu about two weeks ago, and after four days I felt better. Whew! I thought I got off pretty light that time. Then a few days later my temp climbed again and I started coughing. Badly. Everytime I took a deep breath I felt like I was stabbed in the back. Off to the doc I went on Wednesday and found out it is pneumonia.

Hey, didn’t that JUST happen back in December? Yep. So I have augmentin and some cough syrup and strict orders to REST. I really, really would have loved to, but …

Today I finally had the inspection and handed the keys over to the old apartment. I spent the last three days cleaning, and hauling things down the three flights of stairs to the dumpster and the car. I pushed myself to get everything cleaned, but my energy level just wasn’t there. The oven was cleaned, but not scoured. The windows weren’t washed. I didn’t pull out the fridge or stove to clean behind them. Between $150 and $175 will be deducted from my deposit. Ask me if I care. It’s done.

I’m taking the rest of the weekend to sleep. Knit. Watch TV. And, of course, drink tea. It’s supposed to be quite warm this weekend. MIght be the perfect time to try some teas iced. Good night!

There are so many decent straight black breakfast teas out there, but this one honestly is one of the very best. I love the smooth, robust flavor. NO bitterness or astringency at all. Just rich wake-me-up tea. I don’t do cream, milk, or sweetener in my teas. This one has enough body to support milk, but it doesn’t need it. Truly, one of my all time fave teas.

Today has been cold and super windy. I drank two cups of coffee, then started on tea. I really love this breakfast tea. It is a staple in my tea cupboard. I was going to call it plain, but this isn’t plain. it is rich and satisfying, not one bit bitter or astringent or any of the things I don’t like. Happy sigh.

This is still one of my very favorite breakfast teas. And afternoon teas. And just any danged time teas. This is smooth and rich without being frilly. I made this for me and a friend today, and when he asked where he could buy it I directed him to the whispering pines website. He just about dropped his teeth. “It costs how much?” he yelped. You’d have thought someone stabbed him. Sheesh.

This one isn’t even available at the moment. I suppose $8.50 an ounce is a bit spendy, but it is a lovely tea, and it re-steeps well. For a really good tea I’d pay even more. I’ll have to keep track of when it comes back in stock. I am planning a tea order in October. Not that I actually need more tea…

This has been a MONDAY. Yes, all caps. Work has sucked today. It’s only been three hours, so maybe it can turn around. This tea helps. You know, if you like a straight, robust but mellow, smooth, yummy cuppa for the morning, this is a fantastic choice. Now go away, you stupid Operations Coordinator. You are trying to tell me how to do a job that I’ve been doing for 15 years. You’ve been here three months. You shouldn’t make a ton of changes to our policies. And if you do, you should TELL US WHAT the changes are BEFORE they go into effect. Telling me three weeks later and giving me demerits for not knowing the new policy is not going to make me happy. Moron. sips tea

Happy sigh. I love this tea. After the past several weeks of drinking mostly the teas from my 24 Days of Tea from DAVID’s, I decided to brew up a pot of this. I really enjoy a good flavored tea. The dessert-y teas from 52 Teas and A Quarter to Tea are my favorites. But when the wind is howling on a cold December morning, I want a solid straight tea, and North Winds remains my favorite breakfast-y tea. So smooth. so rich.

I had planned to run out for some After-Christmas-Sale shopping this morning, but it is far too icky to go outside today. That’s ok. I have a book to revise and tea to drink. Let it howl!