Whispering Pines Tea Company

I don’t normally consider chais calming, but this one certainly is. There are lots of cedar and pine notes at the start of the sip followed by spice and then the holy basil. Through the entire sip there is a lovely buttery smoothness that just makes me want to take my time and enjoy each sip. So good.

For some reason this tea reminds me of the holidays. If I were to imagine an ideal Christmas-y tea it would be something awfully close to this. The spice gives the festive note, the cedar and pine goes back to nature, and the holy basil gives a calming feeling that I often desperately want/need at that time of year. Not that I would only drink this tea around the holiday season, but you can bet Santa’s milk and cookies that I’ll have a ready supply of it by then!

Thank you kimquat for sending some of this my way!

According to the Steepster Chat Room, this should be my evening cup. I really like the name of this tea. It smells fantastic… very much like a rich, creamy chocolate. There are notes of fruit, and a bit of malt from both bases. The flavour makes me think of a really good hot chocolate with a light cherry/ chocolate dessert in a rich graham cracker crust, and a bit of creamy vanilla ice cream. And now I’m hungry.

Thanks Cheri for letting me try this.

This is really really good. I taught my first lesson today for student teaching, a social studies lesson. Went really well overall, and only made a couple very minor mistakes out of nerves. But it meant that in the morning (and this whole week) I am waking up extra early (I leave at 6:40am) to rehearse my lesson and such, and this is perfect to wake me up. It is toasty and a bit fruity and earthy and super yum. I steeped it a second time to take in the car with me.

Oh look! Steepster is behaving :-)

Let’s post a review!!

This was one of very few teas I hadn’t tried yet from WP.

I was curious, cause although Keemun are sometimes not my favourite teas to drink when too heavy on the smoke, the taste profile of Pine Peak seemed very different.

Well I agree: definitely not your usual full bodied keemun.

It’s much lighter, and I had to steep longer (for my tastes) and add a bit more leaves to achieve a satisfying cup. Once I did that, it was super tasty.

No trace of smoke or strong earthy notes here.

This is the fruit and grain keemun type. I get raisins and barley mostly. It is sweet and a little malty.

There is some kind of light pine taste to it, a little woodsy especially as it cools down.

I see myself drinking this on a regular basis, as a very nice everyday cup.

It’s raining this afternoon, took out my happy ladybug teapot, girly tea time!

http://instagram.com/p/sdQTcIwh7e/

I got this in the post from Cheri today. And it was selected by the folks in the chat room.

This is a nice blend of two teas I really enjoy, and one type I really like. Most Yunnan blacks i tried give me notes of yams, and I get a bit of that in the nose. There are also some scents of chocolate, honey, fresh baked bread, plums, and general sweetness. The flavour is all the things I like about black teas (and the WP ones I tried)… cocoa, honey, bread, and a bit of yams. Overall, it tastes like fabulous.

Dry leaf aroma: Malty with a hint of yeasty sweetness.
Dry leaf appearance: http://instagram.com/p/sZVQOaFcAE/

Wet leaf aroma: Malt and bread with a delicate earthy essence.
Wet leaf appearance: http://instagram.com/p/sZegualcJK/

Preparation: Brewed western style in a ceramic infuser mug.

First steeping: 3 minutes at 205 degrees. This tea is as much a pleasure to smell as it is to sip with its malty bread aroma. The liquor is velvety smooth with a strong freshly baked bread flavor and a subtle buttery mouth-feel. As the cup cools I detect a bit of sweetness and the aftertaste is bread with a buttery note that lingers pleasantly.

Second steeping: 5 minutes at 205 degrees. Very much like the first infusion. The buttery notes are more prominent and the mouth-feel is creamy with a yeasty aftertaste.

I wish I had time to do further steepings, as this is a tea worthy of taking your time to savor.

One thing to note, the key for me with Dian Hong is to underleaf slightly or it comes out a bit bitter. I think that has more to do with my taste buds being quirky rather than being an issue with the tea or my water. Regardless, this is an awesome tea. Lovely to look at, intoxicating to smell, and heavenly to sip!

I thought this would be good out camping during a full moon, so I’m of course having it on a sunny day at home. It smells so herbal… there is mint, and lemongrass. There is something else that comes out in the brew, maybe the elderberries. Flavour— mmm, lemongrass, then there is some mint (spearmint, I think), there are some hints of smoky/ toasted marshmallow. Mostly it is just nicely herbal.

Method: super shou, 10-10-15-20 second rinses. Then brew for 20-20-25

I tasted each rinse until I got to one I could drink without tasting so much earthiness. Now it’s pretty nice. It’s a little sweet and I can taste some vanilla. It’s still a little cavey, but not insanely so.

Don’t tell boychik that I threw all those steeps away… ssshhh

I’m going to start out by saying that I second every word of The Tea Fairy’s review. Most importantly that if one endeavors to create a Rivendell tea, it absolutely must deliver! this is no matter to be taken lightly.

I had high expectations for this one and they were met. If someone told me that this tea came straight out of Rivendell for real, I would believe them. It tastes like a forest, but not just any kind of forest, one inhabited by elves, with delicate traces of magic, beauty, and elegance – if these things could be attributed to a flavor. The flavors all come together nicely, no one of them overpowers another. The vanilla, the roasted cedar leaves, the florals of the oolong base – just perfect.

Steepster was still broken as I was drinking this one. I’m glad that it seems to be back up!

I had never tried a Phoenix Oolong before and I’m pretty sure I messed it up.
Instructions said 1 tbsp/cup for a minute. The 1tbsp didn’t surprise me but this tea is super ‘fluffy’, so I ended up just grabbing a bunch with my hand to put in my cup. I’m wondering if cup meant gaiwan, because I feel like I underleafed.

10 seconds to the rinse.
First one minute steep it tasted like a very light oolong. Very nice and smooth. But the taste was soo light that I couldn’t really say much about individual notes.
The second, and third steep tasted the same, if a little weaker. I wonder if I let the tea cool for too long between sips. It’s hot here and I couldn’t handle really hot tea so I just decanted the steeps and wandered around with chores while sipping away at the last steep. By the end of the third (12oz) steep I was ready for something different (and more interesting).

I feel like this tea is wasted on me. Surely I’m just not doing it right?

Method: 5 g, 5 oz, 200 degrees, rinse 10-10, Brew 15, 30, 45, 60, shou yixing

Aroma: Mild cave

Flavor: I was at my Mom’s house for a little barbie today and overdid it. I came home, fed the pups and immediately started making some shou. But which shou??? I somehow had several WP shou samples, and since I tried the tuo earlier, I went with this loose sample. Only 2 rinses were needed to get past the dirty flavors.

The first 15 second steep didn’t seem very strong, so instead of adding 5 to each subsequent steep, I added 15. Worked out great! I like this shou, and I’m hoping it aids in digesting the rather oily foods I was consuming earlier. <3

I used one tuo in 4.5 oz water at 200 degrees. Three 10 second rinses and then 15-20-25 seconds.

It took 3 rinses for the earthy flavors to abate. Now there’s just a lightly cavey flavor. It’s rather pleasant and even a little sweet.

Not much else to say. No one is going to see this anyhow, so I’m not going to take the time to be poetic. Instead, I am going to find a yoga video since I’ve stopped being so sore. Yay! :)

Additional notes: I wanted a chocolate tea this morning and thought of this one, though I’ve only had it one time. Looking at the tasting notes for it though, I said it was the most naturally chocolate tea I’ve ever tasted. Maybe this is a different harvest, but it wasn’t extremely chocolate this time. Maybe because last time I used just boiled water and this time I waited a while? I think I used more leaves than last time too, so that should have helped. This one now reminds of Harney & Son’s Queen Catherine. Chocolate and a little bit of smoke. Both teas are made with Chinese teas, so that might be why (Harney’s site says Keemun, Panyang, & Yunnan so not exactly the same as this one ). Sipdown! And 1,800 tasting note!
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // 10+ minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 5 min a.b. // 3 min
Steep #3 // TBD

Thank you Kimquat for sharing some of this one! I had around one teaspoon, so I didn’t fill my mug all the way, but now that I think of it, it was probably the suggested eight ounce amount anyway. I’ve noticed that it is basically Golden Orchid without the vanilla, and it’s so good, it doesn’t really need the vanilla. I swear there is some magic in these leaves. I can’t imagine how they are this chocolatey. Definitely the most chocolate tea I’ve ever tried without additions. It even has the consistency of melted chocolate. I love this one. I’d have to stock up on this one… but no orders for a while!
Steep #1 // just boiled // 2 1/2 min steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 1/2 min

Smells delightfully smoky, like a campfire. The first taste when inhaling is smoke, but then the refreshing mint comes through. The mint cools the heat of the smoke and makes the tea lighter. It also brings a nice level of sweetness and takes the deep edge off the smokiness. I’m really liking this tea, thanks kimquat for the sample!

This was my first cup of the day yesterday, and the cup that started my Whispering Pines day. I know I’ve had this before, but it looks like I never logged it. And unfortunately I didn’t take very good notes yesterday so this isn’t going to be a proper review of the tea either. What I can say was that this was so very chocolatey. Sweet delicious chocolate, with a touch of malt and caramel and just devilishly good.

This sample came from Mandy. This tea seems to get quite a bit of love around these parts, so I was rather excited to try it. Jasmine is one of the few florals that I can stand, assuming it’s not overly powerful. The green tea leaves are dark blue/grey/green and quite thin, and they’re curled up slightly. There are also very thin pine needles mixed in. I used 1.5 teaspoons of leaf and steeped at 175 degrees for 1.5 minutes.

The brewed aroma is very sweet with jasmine and just a little bit of pine scent. Hmm… Brewed this way, this tea is a bit too light for me. Perhaps next time I’ll try a longer brew time. The jasmine is at the forefront, but it’s not too strong. The green tea is quite mild and buttery with a sweet edge. The pine mostly manifests as a nice cooling sensation near the end, but I can also taste hints of it throughout the sip. Overall, I can see this one being nice and comforting and relaxing, but I think I would either brew it with more tea or for longer.

I like this tea a lot but the first steep seems to have A LOT OF CAFFIENE or is it just me? I needed a boost today so I drank the last (sipdown I suppose) of my free sample! The first steep ahs that great carob Carmel and malt taste the second is more malty not so much carob and I didn’t get much form the third but since I split 1 small sample into 2 different brews I suppose it could be underleafed! Still like this tea a lot and may buy it again. It gave me the boost I was looking for.

A little malty, very strong hay, somewhat fruity. Interesting.

I’m not wasting my time on a thorough note here because with my luck, it won’t even post anyway.

Thanks to ost for this sample!

This one is pretty smokey, but it does have some lovely fruity flavors and no bitterness. I guess I didn’t realize it wasn’t a blend, and just a straight sheng, or I would have done it gongfu. I still have enough for another round, so yay!

I’ll do a gongfu session later with more notes!

I’m starting the day with a sipdown from my TeaFairy collection, :)
This is such a rich & nuanced tea, that I don’t know where to begin. It’s sweet, thick, & tangy, heavily, but naturally, perfumed with an oolong like floral quality, sweet potato & apricot. And more.
That’s all I can say, I gotta get out of bed & cook breakfast!

This was a sample from ost. Thank you, sweet pea!

I don’t see this on the WP site anymore, so maybe it was a limited edition or was phased out. I think it’s a good breakfast tea. My boyfriend likes it, too! It has a nice black tea aroma and tastes fruity. No idea which fruit, but it’s pleasant. I added a little maple b/c I was at the end of one bottle and was ready to open another.

And now – Fried green tomatoes and biscuits with spicy roasted sweet potatoes for breakfast! Yay!

(Backlog review from last night)

Having Second Breakfast at midnight. That’s right, I live dangerously.

What…Is there a warning somewhere that stipulates this tea should be drank only in the morning?

There, didn’t think so.

Nice fruity and malty cup, mmmmm! So good!

Crusty bread, salty caramel and cocoa notes. Sweet and mellow, but not lacking in the taste department, au contraire.

I know I’m having it at night, but I will have it in the morning eventually and it will be very kind to me.

Some breakfast teas are like a slap in the face, waking you abruptly like a loud beeping alarm clock, screaming at you «Wake up, sleepyhead!!!»

This will take a more gentle route. It will just rub your shoulder softly and whisper in your ear «wake up sweetie, today will be a lovely day…»

It’s that kind of tea. It knows how to treat you right.

Took out the big mug tonight…just needed the right gear for it:

http://instagram.com/p/sEMmM2wh_k/