Whispering Pines Tea Company

I’ve recently braved a trip into sheng and when Brenden, that wily tea hobbit put this up for sale the same day as The Jabberwocky, I knew I had to get it.

I’m so glad I did.

Miso is right, and sweet. And cashews.

Wow.

I’m not getting lime, which disappoints me, but i seem to be missing out of some of these flavors that Brenden tells me are in the tea, when I get others so clearly.

But anyway, this tea is good.

I didn’t follow his instructions, but made up my own, lots of short infusions.

And I’m listening to Oneohtrix Point Never today, too, after apt told me I’d really missed out at the NIN/Soundgarden show. Yep. I’m loving it. It seems to go really well with this tea. I’m definitely in a hello of a mellow state. (Although I can tell I’m pretty caffeinated, too. But I find that very calming.)

And while crazy things are happening at work, I’m giving people the answers they need to get things moving again, and somehow I’m finding time to tell the Wellness Coordinator that she needs to get us all tea (thanks Andrew!), buy more tea on sale, and keep refilling the cup. And I’m not even angry that one of my co-workers made the same stupid mistake three different times. Normally, this would have me fuming.

So yeah, I guess it’s this cha qi that Brenden talks about. I’m tranquil. I’m focused. I’m relaxed. I’m on top of everything.

And it’s all good. The tea, the energy, the day. It’s all good.

Yum.

Needed something I could taste this morning. This was the tea I picked.

Oh so yummy.

Even sick, I can taste this one, rich, cocoa-y, vanilla-y.

And now I want to go up north. It’s a good weekend for it, too, from what I hear. The leaves should be spectacular. Nope. I’m curled up on the couch, still sick.

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I just re-read my previous review of this tea.

Yes, it still reminds me of Up North. So much. This time, I can almost imagine the cherry, but I’m still not sure I’m getting it.

Chocolate, though, I’m getting by the boatload. Deep, dark, rich chocolate. And vanilla. And lusciousness.

YUM!

But I know when I will be Up North next this time. Later this week. And I think I will take some of this tea so I can drink it there. Now that sounds perfect.

Just so you know, when I close my eyes, the pine trees are whispering to me.

When Brenden released The Jabberwocky, I was so taken by the name that I wanted some of that. And since I feel silly placing a tea order for just one tea, and one that I wasn’t sure I was going to like, I wanted to add more teas.

And then Brenden showed up in the corner of the web page, ready and able to chat. So I asked him about some of his teas. I was really interested in Port, but some of the others, too. He convinced me that this was the tea I needed to try with this order. (Oh, that hobbitses is really sneaky, my precious.)

And he was right.

This tea is heavenly. Dreamy.

It’s soooo chocolaty and creamy and comforting, rich and smooth, and I’m in love with the malty finish. I’m not getting as much of the promised cherry as I would have liked, but this is GOOD. I liked North Winds a lot, but this one was even better. It’s the vanilla. It’s got to be the vanilla. But like North Winds, it reminds me of Up North. It makes me crave Up North. I don’t know when I will get there again next, but that’s okay, because I have Up North in my cup in front of me.

great tea to have

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Simply divine. Decadent and delicious.

I don’t know what there is left to say about it that hasn’t already been said.

It’s smooth and rich, desserty without being cloying. It’s a snuggly tea. It wraps you up in a big hug.

I consumed my whole sample pack in two sets of steepings with in 24 hours. Since it holds up well to multiple steeps that’s a lot of tea! I was continuously surprised that each additional steep brought out new dimensions and joy.

Now I know what all the hype is about!

Pure heaven in a cup! I love that this tea has teeny tiny cedar leaves peaking out from all the tea – its the prettiest tea Ive ever seen in the brewing basket, greens and purples mixed together in different shapes and textures. Once brewed it has some definite caramel and vanilla notes but its that soft woodsy cedar taste that compliments the tea flavors that really pushes this over the edge for me from a great tea to an amazingly awesome tea. Must not run out of Rivendell – must order more of this soon!!!

I’ve been hoarding this tea for a while, and today I decided it was time to make another cuppa. It smells so nice. A scent of cocoa and vanilla. There is nice vanilla/ chocolate flavour as well. Mainly, it reminds me of creamy milk chocolate truffles.

Glad I found this sample today.

Another sample from the nice Cameron B. It smells so much like malted chocolate. There is a bit of yam and maybe honey, but mostly cocoa. That comes out very in the flavour as well. Most delicious and smooth.

Thanks to Marzipan again for the sample!

WHOA smokey minty tea, eh? Interesting…not really getting any berry. That’s ok though. Not sure this is a tea I would ever crave (I’m picky and weird about mint teas) but I am enjoying it and appreciate its uniqueness :)

Next time I’ll try sweetening it and see if it changes much for me.

Thanks for the sample Marzipan!

Everyone is right, this is very good stuff! Rich, sweet malty and full of cocoa goodness. I feel a Whispering Pines order in the future…my husband is in love with Golden Orchid :)

Cameron B sent me so I could try some Whispering Pines teas. After I brewed it, I got a scent of sweet potatoes, and a some baked bread. The flavour made think of raisin bread, except a bit dark, and maybe molasses.

This is very nice blended with the Fujian black tea.

Oh My, So smooth and creamy almost buttery even,mmmmm.
Very nice and bold with malty, cocoa notes and honey notes with smooth floral vanilla and just the right amount of spice.
The spice level on this one is just perfect.

I can’t believe how smooth and creamy this one is, it needs no milk or sweetener at all because it is perfect on its own.
I did decide to add a little maple syrup to it just because and it was omg so delicious BUT a bit much for me at first because I used a bit too much the first time. After using less maple the second time around it was perfection.

The maple made it very sweet and even more creamy somehow, the maple sweetness brought about a chocolatey note that is different than the dark chocolatey notes of some of brendens teas and it totally enhanced the Vanilla and made it stand out much more.
The chocolatey notes of this one with sweetener is like a milk chocolate donut or something, omg so good.
Milk chocolate donut with chai spice on top, mmmmmmm so good.

The perfect balance of the ginger and other spices toned down by the vanilla make this a perfect chai on its own and allow it to be subtly sweetened without being too bold like some chais, Some sweet chais give my a slight belly ache from the sweet spicy combo, Not this one!

Totally Awesome on it’s own but if ya sweeten it do try some Maple Syrup, oh my so good.

Thanks BOYCHIK for mentioning Maple Syrup in your review! Great Idea!!!

This was my morning tea. It’s a lovely tea to begin the day with. I enjoy the sweet potato and slighty nutty notes. It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and really enjoyed this one, so it was nice to rediscover it.

Tea of the morning. I’ve received this tea twice in swaps, and I enjoyed it both times. Now I finally have my own bag of this. Yay for picking out my own Christmas presents! :)

I was curious to see how it would taste because the first time I had this it was full of sweet potato and floral notes. The second time I tasted chocolate and bread. This time? Sweet potato, honey, and nuts. It almost taste like that sweet potato casserole with the marshmallows on top (minus the marshmallows). In other words, it’s delightfully tasty. The sweet potato and nut flavors give it an earthy feel with the sweetness coming right at the end of the sip. Very smooth, very nice.

The second steep is similar to the first with a bready note add to the mix. As the tea cools I can taste malt as well. Both steeps were enjoyable. I’ll probably steep the leaves again later today. They definitely have more to give.

Another tea sent by the lovely Ost as part of the Christmas Card Swap. Thank you, my dear!

I am such a big fan of this tea. Tonight there are strong chocolate notes as well as the flavor of fresh baked bread. There’s also the flavor of honey and cinnamon. Perhaps a little floral but not as much as I remember from the previous time I tried this. Still, this is really good and a treat to have in my cup again.

I’ve decided to make September my sample sipdown month. September Sample Sipdown! It’s fun to say and even more fun to sip. Ha! I’m going to drink exclusively from my samples stash this month to see if I can get it whittled down a bit. I’ve been sent some very generous samples this summer… and spring… and last winter (yikes)… and it’s time to really enjoy them. It’ll also help me plan my fall and Black Friday purchases. ;-)

This is an insanely delicious tea. Lots of biscuity notes today with a good hint of floral and honey. I put two teaspoon into my two-cup teapot and have been sipping on this tea for hours. Every time my pot is empty I fill it back up, and the leaves keep on giving me more yummy goodness. I wish I had better words to describe this tea, but frickin’ delicious will have to suffice.

I still have one teaspoon of this left, so it’s not a sipdown, but it did come from my samples stash.

My first tea from the Pass the Stash 2.0 Box. This is one of the two teas Cameron B. sent just for me. Yay!

I’ve read several tasting notes on this tea, so when I took my first sip I was expecting malt, bread, and honey. What I got was honeysuckle and sweet potato. No complaints here – the flavor is amazing. I am surprised at how strong the floral note is, but the earthiness of the sweet potato note helps keep the tea from being too floral in character. As the tea cools the malty flavor appears. Oh, I’m really liking this. Such a beautiful tea!

I finished the last of my 1 oz of this tea today during an extremely rare summer thunderstorm. This tea was not what I thought it would be initially. It is best cool. Dry, it has strong tobacco and carob notes, its a mix of gold and brown leaves that is quite pleasant to look at and smell. I tried brewing it various ways but settled on 2tsp. I get 1 decent resteep out of the leaves this way. The tea when hot has a faint whiff of chocolate the taste is like the hot carob we had at camp with a little smoke and perhaps some pine and sweetness which must be what the vanilla is contributing, it is dense like coffee and I think this would be a good coffee drinker’s tea. As it cools (and the batch I cold brewed) I get some scent but no taste of vanilla perhaps masked in the strong carob. The second steep is not as coffee like, the sweetness is gone but there’s more tobacco and carob taste. I tried adding avocado honey to this cup and the molasses like sweetness really compliments it.

This is note #250! I guess I shouldn’t make a big deal about that, but I reached #100 without noticing and thought, ah well #200 I’ll notice…big nope. That one blew past me without even ruffling my hair. So I noticed this one and have been saving it for a worthy tea (even though I have a tasting note backlog) and this tea is definitely worthy.

I just love the leaves of my this tea. They’re a lovely silver green, perfectly plump, and oh-so-soft with their fine coating of down. How could you not love this tea? It’s adorable. “I will name him George…And I will hug him and squeeze him and pet him and pat him and…” wait, what? Oh yeah, TEA!

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Specifically this tea. The taste and smell are also soft and inviting. Sweet hay and honeysuckle. Yum! The sip begins with a delicate sweet hay, which melds into honeysuckle. Then, these notes start to fade as if you’ve just smelled them on a fresh spring breeze right after the rain. The finish is clean and refreshing, like a swallow of cold alpine water. It is like drinking the springtime sunshine after a long winter.

This tea makes me rejoice in the soft, nourishing, and lovely side of nature from inside my tiny apartment in a major metropolitan area. But if you hate fresh air, light, and the splendor of nature, never buy this tea. MOAR FOR ME. Muahahaha. It gets better every time I drink it

Now this is a white tea for white tea lovers. Or at least it has everything I love about white tea! I decided to brew this gongfu method, but the tea didn’t really vary between the steeps. However, I still think it was the right choice because I got 10 great steeps out of the leaves. I brewed 3g at 190F for 15/15/30/40/60/90/120/150/180/210 sec. Since the taste was consistent throughout, I won’t review each steep separately.

The leaves are just gorgeous! They’re all silvery green, covered in white fuzz. They’re extremely plump and soft to the touch. They’re pretty cute. They smell of sweet hay, which happens to be a smell that I enjoy a lot. The liquor is a very light yellow and the taste does not disappoint! It’s incredibly delicate, airy sweet hay accented by honeysuckle. Drinking it is such a calming experience and it feels like a real treat. Pretty much everything I want in a white tea! I’m sad I only bought one ounce.