The Jabberwocky

Since I haven’t reviewed too many blends this month, I motivated myself to finally break out the last of this one. A blend of three Chinese black teas, The Jabberwocky has become one of Whispering Pines’ signature teas. It is a highly regarded blend with a wide following here on Steepster. I found it to more or less live up to the hype.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 205 F water for 5 seconds. I followed this infusion up with 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 8 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced interesting aromas of chocolate, honey, wood, and stone fruits. After the rinse, the honey and stone fruit aromas intensified and were joined by emerging scents of orange, toast, and malt. The first infusion produced a bouquet that saw malt and toast aromas continue to develop. In the mouth, a pleasant and robust mix of wood, brown toast, fresh bread, cream, malt, honey, orange, caramel, sweet potato, and indistinct stone fruit notes washed across the palate. Subsequent infusions produced a bouquet that was maltier, fruitier, and more honeyed. Aromas and flavors of raisin, apricot, nectarine, and peach emerged. I also began to catch hints of camphor, eucalyptus, and minerals on the finish. Later infusions were dominated by wood, malt, chocolate, brown toast, and citrus notes coupled with touches of caramel and stone fruits. The camphor, mineral, and eucalyptus notes on the finish were also amplified, producing a unique and soothing cooling effect.

This is probably one of the most complex and refined black tea blends I have ever tried. It was not quite what I was expecting (I had heard that this blend was incredibly strong, so I was expecting it to absolutely knock me for a loop), but I was far from disappointed. Though it mellowed a little quicker than I would have liked, it still had considerable staying power and a gorgeous layering of aromas and flavors. Definitely put this stuff on your wishlist if you have not yet tried it.

A pleasant cup, although not what I was expecting. I don’t have the most sophisticated taste buds in the first place, but I missed a lot of the notes in the first try of this one. I have some left so I’ll keep trying. What I did get was a very pleasant, malty sort of tea with a rich bready taste. Good and comforting. My leaves weren’t purple, but I love the name and the label.

The SO’s request for the morning. Didn’t have time for gongfu before she has to be at work, so we did western, following WP’s recommendations.

The dry leaves are dark and twisted, once wet they expand to reveal an even light brown color. The liquor is a nice amber, much lighter in color than I expected.

I sip. The texture is smooth, and I’m getting cocoa notes and some woodiness with a stone fruit aftertaste.

I’m enjoying this. Time for a resteep. 4.5 minutes.

It’s sweet! I’m getting a light sugary taste behind the cocoa and wood, and it’s still mostly smooth. The aftertaste is still stone fruit. And the qi hit me during the resteep, totally taking me by surprise.

Overall, quite enjoyable for me, so I’m very glad we decided to give this a shot.

I had the delight of tasting this amazing black tea today, and it surpassed my expectations. I followed the western brewing methods on the WP website and did my first steep for 3 minutes in just under boiling water. Second steep was 5 minutes at the same time.

The liquid is a beautiful brown, and it smells more like a standard black tea than anything else. The first few sips I thought it was a bit tannic, but after that, the flavours of cocoa and rich dark chocolate came out of hiding. It really does have a strong cocoa flavour, and a bit of sweetness that comes with good quality teas.

This was the last of the samples sent to me by a kind steepster. Smells great but the tannins quickly overwhelm my tastebuds. Fortunately, a bit of honey tames the Jabberwocky making a nice Saturday morning cup.

I’m afraid the black tea tannins pretty much mask the other tastes and smells or my olfactory and taste systems just aren’t that subtle. However, this was enjoyable. I could easily see myself sipping this on a cold winter morning. Even on this not quite chilly Saturday morning it’s a nice warming cup.

So I am sick, in a play so wildy busy, in my busiest period of the working year, it’s pouring rain, and over the weekend the nice young man I had been seeing and I split. (A nice split, no one angry. Our lives are just in very different places. I wish him all the best, and am in no way angry, I’m just sad and I miss him.)
So nice tea with a spoonful of honey today. I am going to be a nice to myself as possible.

It’s 3am and my back pain has been keeping me awake. Despite painkillers and my heating pad I just can’t sleep and I need liquid comfort. I dragged myself out of bed and to my little tea making station in the bathroom(yeah it sounds weird but I don’t like to go downstairs at night, so I keep a few select teas and a cheapy electric kettle in my bathroom.)

I can’t really write a decent review because I’m way out of it but this is exactly what it needs to be tonight. Liquid comfort. It’s smooth and rich. And teay(yes spellcheck that is what I meant to type). See what I mean about being out of it?

Sometimes this tea is good to sip but it also stands up to being gulped. It seems like not a lot of teas are truly lovely when being gulped down by the mouthful but The Jabberwocky doesn’t lose it’s charm.

Ok, my cup is almost empty so I should try and close my eyes again. I am feeling a bit better. Vicodin or tea? Probably both.

A cup of malty good liquor. I’m drinking the second half of the sample in my Gaiwan, and I must say that it’s pretty good stuff. I noted a few days ago that it released a lot of caffeine through my veins and kept me energized for the 50 students at Summer Camp.

However, this tea is wonderful. I enjoy the nutty-malty-chocolaty undertones to the brew; which fortunately will allow me stay up later tonight on the account that it’s Friday, and that I don’t need to be anywhere tomorrow morning.

On a side note: I had recently experienced a mishap to my electric water kettle, and had to purchase a second one—although much more fancy than the last—which allows me to brew to the precise temperature needed for each tea. Plus, it was a fairly priced pot that I was discounted due to the frequent stops that I make at the local shop. The owner even gave a few samples to try that he thought I’d like; which was thoughtful.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH2QJICBca3/?taken-by=s.g_sanders1

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH5gmVUhLRi/?taken-by=s.g_sanders1
https://www.instagram.com/p/BH5gaYphvmv/?taken-by=s.g_sanders1

My excellent friend mtchyg sent me a giant bag of samples, so strap in and feel the G’s, kids. We’re going on a ride.

I picked Jabberwocky first because I hear the world of Whispering Pines, plus I liked the name. It’s a mix of Harvest Fujian, Ailaoshan and Wild Arbor Yunnan black teas, according to Oolong Owl.

I know what it is made of, because I couldn’t believe how flavorful it was. I had to look it up. This is just straight tea — not tea pus a zillion other types of hazzurah thrown in, which is what I usually drink. It’s got great flavors. Citrus and woodsy and a little bit sweet.

There’s also a rich note, hiding near the bottom, of a sort of chocolate/pu-erh/earth note. I’m not quite sure it’s there. It’s like the Loch Ness monster, where I think I spot it, but then it slides underneath my radar.

I had no idea that “plain” tea could be so good.

Is this a whole new world? Am I going to have to sing about it on a flying carpet? I’m already chasing down Pokemon in the real world, so I might as well fully grasp the nostalgia while it’s hot.

This was good, but I’m finding it difficult to describe. There WERE lots of different flavor notes, but they were all quite subtle and melded together and I can’t really but my finger on what they were, except I could identify a sort of eucalyptus note. So I would say this is advanced level tea, whereas I am still at intermediate level (at best). Also was never convinced I was preparing it properly since I only have a small gravity steeper, none of the gongfu equipment that was recommended.