The first Whispering Pines tea I’ve tried. Fast shipping too. Nice.
I was excited to try this one. The base is the 2013 Ontario 1357 Shou Pu-erh (which I also have now but haven’t tried it yet.) plus “high-quality fair trade and organic cocoa nibs sourced from Ecuador.”
The very dark liquor and wet leaves had a dark bittersweet chocolate aroma, little or no fermentation aroma. The first few steeps were mild, with slight hints of chocolate, nuts, some malt. As I continued, it became a richer cup of tea (as it became lighter in color, a light mahogany), more cocoa, more nutty notes, maltier. Again, little or no fermentation notes (aroma or otherwise). Slightly sweet, the only bitterness detected was that which belonged to the dark cocoa, the natural taste of good cocoa. It’s smooth and mellow with clean notes of the chocolate and nuts. It has a lingering bittersweet finish in the back of the throat.
6g, 212°F, 110ml, rinse 10s, 9 steeps: 10s, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s (ugh I got busy and this one went for minutes lol), 65s, 75s, 85s, 120s
Flavors: Cacao, Chocolate, Cocoa, Dark Bittersweet, Dark Chocolate, Malt, Nutty, Roasted nuts
