Whispering Pines Tea Company

I’ve been trying to post reviews for days now so I have a backlog of teas. Long story short, this one is malty with some bakery (think based bread, not pastries) notes. I am sure there is more complexity, but I have will do a more thorough review when I can actually post the day I am enjoying it. Happy Sunday!

Having an amazingly delicious cup of this tonight with milk and honey. So good and cozy in my mug. See previous notes on this tea!

Soooo good in my travel mug this morning. I was very chilly this morning as it’s a damp cold out here and it’s supposed to freezing rain later today, so I wanted something rich and cozy. This is hitting the spot :) vanilla and spice. Yum.

One more day until I leave for my vacation! Can’t wait to pick up some teas in Victoria when I’m there :) and more importantly, for 9 days of relaxation! Much needed.

Ahhh, I have had this tea before but I haven’t written a review yet, time to fix that! I was craving this at work yesterday but instead had my standard Cold 911 for my lungs/allergies lol, so on this dreary, gray Saturday morning, I am cozying up with my cup of this chai.

The dry smell is very spicy, lots of pepper, some cardamom, ginger, a very lovely spiced chai smell. It opens the sinuses and invigorates. I followed WP’s steeping directions, at around 205 degrees for 3 minutes. The resulting liquor is a reddish brown in color, and the vanilla that Brenden does so well is present in the aroma, along with the mingling of spices, smoothed by the vanilla and the base. I have never had the Golden Snails Yunnan by itself (or fondly known as Snaily Yums on here I think lol), but I should try it out, as I love Yunnan black teas.

As for the flavor…mmm, this is quite a good chai. The flavors meld seamlessly – The spices at the forefront, the honeyed/malty base in the middle blending into a rich vanilla aftertaste, with the spices still kicking around. I can’t really pick out specific spices, which I find to be the mark of a great chai, not one overpowers the other. They instead blend into a spicy and warming concoction. The vanilla really adds the final touch, with it’s sweetness, it just smooths out the sip and leaves you wanting to have another drink, and another…yeah, it’s pretty good. The flavor profile, if my memory serves me correctly, reminds me of Verdant’s Laoshan Village Chai, but instead of a chocolatey base, this one has a more honeyed flavor from the Snails, and the vanilla is richer and more prominent here I think.

Overall, this is a delicious cup of yuminess, and I like that it is different from the other chais I have in my cupboard (enter Yu Lu Yan Chai haha). It is a more mellow chai, for cozy fall days, and I might keep it in my cupboard to contrast with the bold Yu Lu Yan Chai, which still might hold my heart for favorite chai, but we will see, this one is not too far behind! Another wonderful tea blend from Whispering Pines! Lol, under the flavors tab, I wish there was one for ‘awesome’, as that’s the best way I can describe this tea lol.

Light cocoa and bread. Yum. I think this is one I could easily drink every morning :) Thanks for the sample, Ost!

Drinking this iced today and it is really good. Definitely get the notes of malt and chocolate. Not sure if I’m tasting the cherry that was in this hot. Although there is a fruity note in there. Still this is really good.

Brewed this overnight in the fridge in a 32oz Lupica Handy Cooler with 4 tsp leaf.

While this tea probably deserves to be brewed gongfu today it got brewed Western style. I think the only thing added to this tea is vanilla beans. But it works. It is a very chocolaty base to the tea. And somehow there seem to be notes of cherry as well as vanilla. I rarely buy from Whispering Pines because his prices are so high. But with the recent sale I just couldn’t resist. His quality is as high as his prices I’ll give him that. This is one good tea.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 3 min.

This was an excellent tea that I will have to order more of eventually. I have way too much tea. This one didn’t even make it into my cupboard as I only bought an ounce. This was good. It had a lot of complex notes. The cocoa and chocolate were prominent. I almost thought they added chocolate, but it is not listed as such. The vanilla flavor is there too, that they added. There are also notes of almonds and sweet notes such as blackberry or black currant. This is already one of my favorite black teas and I have only had it once. I would resteep it but unfortunately, I have to watch my caffeine intake.

I steeped this once in an 18oz teapot with 200 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min.

Sipdown! I received this tea as a generous sample in my first Whispering Pines order. The description on their website intrigued me, so I was excited to give it a try. I had enough to make two cups, as per the steeping directions. I just wish I had more experience with describing straight black teas… I do find Chinese black teas delicious as a rule, and this one was no exception. I was able to detect the “fruity” notes for the first time, the kind that more experienced tea drinkers describe in certain black teas. It really did remind me of plum, just like the site description says! Similarly, I detected a roasted cocoa note in the scent, and I found a certain savoriness in the taste, which I enjoyed. No real astringency that I noticed, and a smooth yet slightly powdery mouthfeel (though that may have been due to the smaller bits of leaf that fell out of the pouch with my second cup, whoops!).

This tea also resteeped very well. I’m so glad I got to try it! I’m definitely considering purchasing more for my next order.

Lewis & Clark Traveling Teabox – Tea #10
I’ve tried a couple 58s from other tea shops. Maybe it’s just the harvest but there are DEFINITE differences in the 58s. This one seems a little flavorless. It’s so light and what is there tastes mildly like cardboard, albeit a sweet cardboard. A little bit of a sweet fruit flavor. It’s so shocking that even something like the same “recipe” or whatever you call it would be so different! Whispering Pines can’t have ALL magic teas!
Steep #1 // 1 1/4 tsp // few min after boiling // 3-4 min steep

Lewis & Clark Traveling Teabox – Tea #9
This isn’t the highest rated oolong… maybe it doesn’t deliver what it promises. It isn’t so much a milk oolong to me as it is very savory: kind of salty and a bit tough. Kind of seaweed/marine like. It’s so brothy and buttery it could be used as a soup. Again it could be a problem with too many leaves/steep time. But the instructions did say to use boiling water for this one. I’m glad I didn’t. I didn’t even use a rinse this time for some reason. Savory oolongs are very nice on their own and I can appreciate the different flavors once in a while but they don’t seem to be for me.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 tsps. // 12 min after boiling // 2 1/2 min
Steep #2 // 12 min after boiling // 3 min

Oh my this is tasty. Thank you Kayla for the swap! I’ve been wanting to try a whispering pines tea before I made an order. This tea did not disappoint. It isn’t a s’more flavor such as it’s not graham cracker and gooey chocolate. But it is a roasted marshmallow on a campfire on a cool fall night. If I close my eyes I truly feel, taste and smell like I’m at a bonfire with friends. This may not be an everyday tea but it’s definitely a must have for me.

Another black tea from the Cameron B. pile!

I’m kind of really tired and braindead today so I’m afraid this review won’t be super detailed. In short, this was a tasty golden yunnan and I definitely enjoyed my cup of it, although it didn’t really stand out to me very strongly. A little bit of cocoa powder, some breadiness, and a hint of sweet potato. Smooth and slightly sweet. I will definitely have to compare this one more closely with the Golden Snail since they are both golden yunnans.

i don’t see the cake for this one in here and didn’t feel like adding it :)
anyways i brews this s**t up dark and strong and it looks like some coffee and make me feel real nice, will keep me awake for a late night dialysis session.
eleventy one points for this one!
https://instagram.com/p/1PXePMkwFO/?taken-by=tommytoadman
maybe you can see my pic on instagram :)
Goo-goo Gajoob!

I was gonna post a review
until got High,
It was gonna be a good one too
but then i got High,
I messed the whole thing up and i know why
Cuz i got High, Cuz i got High
because i got High

alls i did was drink a little tea too and now i feel like oh my it must be my birthday or christmas hell maybe it’s friday and i’m in love, i just feel so warm and cozy inside like omg i’m so happy and just i dunno man, 6 steeps in and I wrote a review then i read it and i was like WTF am i talking about its crazy man i really can’t post that one, I’ll fix that mess and post it in the morning. right now and alls I really want to do is drink and feel good, Good in ways that are not so easy to describe right now :)
Eleventy-one Points for this one!!
Well that’s it till tomorrow, Happy Halloween!

da da da da, da da da da, da da da da!

Thank you Sarsonator for this sample. This is a good tea but not the sort I usually drink. It is floral tasting with sweet notes. It is not bitter. I can get the notes of nuts, pine, and floral. The notes of butter are a little more subtle but seem to be there.

I brewed this tea once in a 18oz teapot with 2 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

Awesome little toucha. Earthy taste with a cocoa, woody aroma. The dry leaves have a leathery scent. This is a bargain for the amount of flavour and steeps this little toucha offers.

Happy first day of Autumn (or spring if you are in the other side of the world from me) everyone! This is my favorite season, by far, I love the leaves and crisp feeling in the air, the excuse to break out my fuzzy blankets and the way the world smells. It just makes me happy, doubly so this year because I will be back in the mountains during peak leaf season, though three months away from Ben and my cats is going to be rough.

I wanted to start the season off with a tea that makes me think of campfires and happy memories, so I chose S’mores! by Whispering Pines Tea Co. This tea is a blend of Fujian Black Tea, Pine Peaks Keemun, Ashes of Autumn Black Tea, Organic Cinnamon Pieces, and Organic Marshmallow Root, mad props for using marshmallow root, too few marshmallow themed things use the root of the mallow, which is sad because it is extremely tasty. The dry leaves smell like an autumn evening sitting next to a crackling fire while eating s’mores! There are notes of smoke, cinnamon, marshmallow sweetness, and a finish of rich cocoa. The leaves smell quite rich and not overwhelmingly sweet, just the way I like my desserts!

Giving the tea a nice steeping, I notice that the wet leaves have a really nice malt note that goes well with the cocoa, marshmallow, and cinnamon notes. The smoke is still there, but it no longer smells like I am sitting next to the campfire, clearly I have wandered off with my s’more. The liquid, oh my, that is very rich! Creamy chocolate, gentle cinnamon warmth, far away smoke, and marshmallow sweetness combine for a nose dance of epic yum. I may have moaned a bit while sniffing this tea, the cats looked at me like I was crazy, their loss.

OMG guys, this tea is too good! It hits that perfect balance of sweet and rich, warming and smoky, and oh so evocative. I can feel the warmth of the campfire from the cinnamon, the smoke of the fire from the Ashes of Autumn tea, and of course the rich cocoa notes and marshmallow root with a nice finish of malt. I like that it is not overly sweet, so it is good on its own or with a dessert as an extra rich treat. My favorite thing about this tea is how evocative it is, I love that it transports me to a place in my memories that makes me happy, really homesick, but happy. But wait, what about graham crackers? I admit the taste of the crackers is not really strong, the malt notes give the ‘essence’ so to speak of graham crackers, but it is not as clear as having the crackers. I am tempted to find some gluten free graham crackers to eat while sipping this tea for extra perfection.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/09/whispering-pines-tea-co-smores-tea.html

Love this stuff so much that I dedicated an yixing pot to it. An excellencent green tea, though as mentioned in another review, it’s not as sweet as other mao fengs I’ve tried. I don’t mind though.

Finishing up this tea this morning. Still very fruity, unexpectedly so. I think this morning I did get some more malty notes from this, which helped balance out the fruitiness for me. All and all, tasty, but not really my style. Thanks again for the sample, Cameron!

Thanks once again to Cameron B. for this sample! I’m not huge on Keemuns mostly because of the kind of smoky note that they can have with them; I am very sensative to smoky notes. However, I requested this one because I wanted to try it out anyway, and it’s been a while since I’ve had a keemun.

This definitely has no smoky notes that I can detect. So yay! It is incredibly fruity, way fruitier than I was expecting. Plums for sure, and raisins. Definitely some underlying grains and malt, and a little honey. Chocolate? No, not really. Just a very fruity black tea. I’m not the biggest fan of those fruity notes in my black teas, but it is still a tasty cup. Very smooth, no bitterness or astringency. If you enjoy the fruitiness of some Taiwanese black teas I definitely recommend trying this one.