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Used more leaves and those of you who already follow me know that I have the bad habit of raising the rating after I tried it again and a previous critical review. Forgive me for my subjective inconsistency.

Back to the tea: this works Gong Fu or Western, making it pretty versatile. Bourbon is the strongest scent and taste that I get out of it, and drinking it is like drinking clean, liquid bourbon booze chocolate with hints of cherry and wood. Later on, the bourbon wears of and it progressively gets more woody in profile maintaining its sweetness. It can go on for several steeps until nothing but sweetness and cherry are left over.

In terms of roast, this tea is more medium to dark roast for an oolong. Some leaves are nice and green while others are fairly dark. The medium, woodsy profile was closer to a Gui Fei personally more than anything else. Actually, the woodsy profile was kind of like toasted or fried rice but boozy. So in short, Sake. The only tea that I’ve had comparable was Liquid Proust’s Dark Chocolate Oolong, which is one of my all time favorites.

Like I said before, I really do enjoy this tea. Josh selecting a tea close to one of my all time favorites is already astounding. The price still upsets me. I wish that I would have been smarter and asked for a sample, because I am glad that I tried it. I would probably get it in bulk if I had more income to dispose.

I do recommend a try for this, but the appeal is probably specific to bourbon or whisky lovers. Some people might otherwise think this tea is too weird for their palate, or wonderfully odd and exciting. The woodsiness of the oolong is the main deterrent. The medium body, versatility, and moderate caffeine amount are the welcoming crew. I also get to enjoy a boozy beverage without worry over the legal confines of age.

So, here’s what I’m going to do with my ounce. Savor a few cups for myself and for my friends. The rest I’ll include with a swap…Andrew, there’s a good chance some of this is going to you.

Now there’s no denying my love of this tea. The natural tea I already liked. But I just licked a spoon full of raw honey then drank this and wow. Honey is a great compliment.

This is incredibly strong even with 3 grams. And it is still sooooooo sweet. I love the warm chestnut and coffee smell dry leaf, but I need to figure out a better way to brew this. I’ll Gong Fu when I use three grams again. Heck, I might use four leaves for one cup because it’s so strong. I actually felt like I was drinking the oil from cashew butter.

I’ve been having Earl Grey cravings and this really satisfied my need for one. It also turned out to be a uniquely light one.

When you drink it, there is no doubt that this is an Earl Grey and you would not notice a great difference between any other. But if you drink it carefully, there is actually a lot of subtle things going on with the taste.

The bergamot is the most immediate thing you smell from the dry leaves and the immediate thing you taste from the brew at three minutes at nice, boiling temperature. But as it goes down the throat, some tastes of malt, citrus, and cocoa roll in very slowly and nicely. The longer I steeped it, the more tea “chocolaty” it got in every steep. I followed Brenden’s recommendations precisely, but I also got more tastes as I let the leaves strain in my cup. There was a very slight butter and caramel note every once in a while, maybe closer to a very LIGHT sweet potato, but they were fairly subtle. The spices and honey are really the different tones of the citrus.

I can say that this was a light, but nicely balanced and almost oily Earl Grey. It’s lightness and subtlety make it unique to me. It kind of makes me curious what Earl Gold tastes like in comparison, if it is a chocolate orange as Amanda describes it. At least I have this chocolate orange for now.

This was actually one of the best blends that you can get for a decent price from Whispering Pines. Some of you might be under impressed because its lighter taste, but others might like it for the lightness as I did. And if you want to try Whispering Pines, this tea is a good start.

I added more vanilla. After 5 days, it tastes like it was supposed to…it could use more.

A better one of the sampler. Tastes just like a coconut rum. Chocolate I only kinda get. Not too strong, but pleasant. Still a little bit too artificial.

Okay, I admit, I’m weak willed and got me some of this tea. Josh recommended this one along with a few others. I was going to get all three, but the coupon code wasn’t working. I emailed him about it, it still didn’t work, so I settled on just getting this one.

The dry leaf smell is amazing. It’s like smelling bourbon liquor chocolates. Had eight leaves for 9 ounces, and the first brew at three minutes was pretty good. Fruity, closer to cherry, chocolaty, and boozy with the bourbon. Steep two at four, and the bourbon is still there but with the typical roasted and woodsy profile of this type of oolong. It reminds me of a Hojicka a little bit. The third steep is flat.

I am going to try this again with a few more leaves. It would probably work Gong Fu, but Western or Grandpa is probably better for the bourbon flavor. I like this, but it was not worth the twelve bucks plus seven dollars in shipping that I paid for it. Should have went with my first instinct and got the green version of this, maybe even the Pu-Erh. The bourbon would actually go really well with the green florals and probably make for an amazing tea. With the Pu-Erh, it would provide a dense foundation sweetened by this chocolaty booze. Not that the bourbon blends badly with this-in fact the first taste is amazing because of it. The fact that I got such a full bodied profile with so few leaves is amazing. It’s just not worth the price.

I hesitated to get this one at first though I was immediately attracted to it. I’ve started a quest to look for white teas, and I nearly got the Glendale Silver Needle because of how rosy it was, but, I’ve also yet to be satisfied with a Pu-Erh. Amanda and Haveteawilltravel’s notes had me convinced that I might otherwise enjoy this for the price. I did, and I gotta say it’s pretty unique.

Followed the steeping suggestions save one extra five second rinse. Pepper corn and light citrus like tangerine are in the tastes. But they are so strong that they really fall into the category of flavor. Twenty seconds, and it has a very present dill taste with more florals, citrus, and honeyed sweetness. The next two are more herbaceaous and malty, but still spicy, and I get the grapefruit taste Haveteawilltravel is talking about. I expected it to be more of a hint, but no, I actually tasted grapefruit changing back and forth from tangerine. It gets sweeter to me in these two steeps because the honey and light citrus tastes remain with the spiciness. Later on more fruity, but not as sweet and very near being vinegar like in texture and taste. This is past the minute and thirty second point, and it can probably go on. I’ll stop for now.

I would say I feel like I got my money’s worth for this tea and it is definitely a Pu-Erh that appeals to me. Yunnan Moonlight Whites are actually my favorite, and as with any of them, this tea gives me a really controlled but enduring energy flow. I’m just not sure how often I’d drink it.

The tasting notes of peppercorn, dill, citrus, and a bit of the honey sweetness are all highly discernible and not flavors I’d all want over and over again. Like I said before, they are so strong that they are practically flavors. I’d be surprised if someone, even if they don’t drink tea that often, would not taste the strong spiciness, herbiness, and fruitiness this tea has. I’d recommend this if you’re exploring white tea and pu-erh because this shows a dimension to the teas that you may or may not imagine.

Again, thank you Brenden for letting me sample this!

I agree with LuckyMe and HaveTeaWillTravel entirely. It tastes just like a Mi Xiang Dan Cong with a slight Da Hong Pao sweetness. Followed the instructions exactly, and get most of the notes described but in fainter amounts. This could be due to the leaf amount I used, but the same consistencies are there. Chestnut, butter, and a bit of toasted coconut are in the first two steeps at five seconds. Almond is in every one of them including a taste really close to butternut squash. Mineral and oak are more in the next two at 10 and 20. Still almond like with barley and a bit of oak at 25 and 30. 45, I kinda get the white wine he was talking about or a light beer like taste without the sweetness. Oak and mineral are more obvious to me. Finally at 1 min and 30, and about the same but smoother and fuller bodied, yet otherwise very, very mellow.

Well, I quite enjoyed this tea. I’m really picky when it comes to Da Hong Pao because of how certain tastes, like oak or sugar, can dominate the cup. Here, it is incredibly mellow, relaxing, but focusing. I sampled this to see if I would like it enough to get an ounce, but I like the sample amount that I have. Doubtless worth a try to see the variety of forms Da Hong Pao comes in.

More for pickier tea drinkers and supertasters than newer drinkers. Some might like the nutty mellowness of it, or they might be bored. Yet that really needs to be decided after I try it Western.