Rivendell

Got this sample from Allan and have finally got to try this tea. It’s been out of stock for ages it seems.

I’ve been lazy lately when it comes to brewing my tea so no gongfu brewing. I just brewed up Western style. When I smelled this from the bag I could smell the cedar. It smelled so good!

It was really delicious brewed up. The floral from the oolong and the vanilla notes seemed to blend together to become a floral vanilla. Heavenly. Then there’s the buttery flavour of the oolong underneath followed by the very light cedar notes. Yep , I love it. Still out of stock I see on the website. I’ll just have to snap some up when it becomes available.

Thank you Blodeuyn so very much for this!

I have been stalking this company for quite some time. It saddened me at the fact that most of their teas were sold out. Luckily, a tea friend came to the rescue!

I opened this small package and gave a slight inhale. I experience an enticement of wild berries, waterfalls, long luscious forests, and smooth river stones. I am immediately caught in its spell. I revealed the small variety of pebbles. This one is an emerald, this one a ruby, this one a smooth clay chip. I placed my discovery into my basket and brewed. The aroma that arose from my glass transported me back to that waterfall. The steam rises with the scent of a forest in full spring. The peridot colored liquor dances in front of me as I enjoy this treat. I may not be the largest lord of the rings fan, but I know magic when I taste it. The initial sip was a complex massage. A sweet tree sap engulfed my senses, then followed by the succulent water side berries. This complex tone developed more and more. It carried me through the lush forests and down the springwater. The aftertaste was an intoxicating sensation. It is placed as an exotic vanilla with such depth. The flavor continued and lasted well over the brew. The unfurled leaves created an atmosphere of tranquility. This name is truly fitting of this blend.

I am not a blend/flavored tea drinker. I have rarely enjoyed anything that isn’t straight natural tea. This brew has definitely changed my mind. My only complaint is that the leaves; however beautiful that they are, do not match those pictured. I am okay with this and can understand marketing enough, hahah. I’m grateful to have acquired it. I needed a little magic in my day.

Wow. So I usually like floral teas. I really do. But…this one…
I mean it’s definitely floral. No doubt about it.
But it also tastes a lot like flowers too.
When I opened the bag of this tea it smelled like trees, like as if I were in the woods or something, which was what I was expecting.
But when I went to take a sip there were no trees at all. It was all like flowers and a weird creamy almost peachy flavor?
I don’t know. This is a really really odd tea. I’m not really digging the flowers in this one to be honest. 0_0 I don’t really think that this one is for me. D:
I’m sooo glad that MzPriss was generous enough to send me a sample. THere were so many times that I almost bought this one. Glad I didn’t!
This is seriously like “The Flower Power” tea. Which kinda reminds me of the Producers movie…But that’s what I would re-name this one if I could haha!
Not a horrible tea, it’s just too much for me.
Thank you so much for the sample, MzPriss!!

OMG I love Rivendell. I really loved it before. I loved it so much it was taking me forever to figure out how to write about it. And what did The Hobbit do? He went and made it BETTER with the anxi ben shan oolong base. This one of the very, very few teas I rate at 100. I require this tea.

It is ethereally beautiful – green, creamy, floral-fruity.

I love it so much I gave it TWO songs on my blog:

https://atasteofmzpriss.wordpress.com/2014/12/13/rivendell-whispering-pines-tea-company/

So, this worked last time so, I’ll try it again. I have never tried this tea, but I would desperately love to try this. It sounds so fantastic. If anyone would like to, I would love to swap for this tea.

I got this tea in a small swap with Frolic. Thank you!

I really, really liked it in the first few infusions. And then my love for this tea faded. I followed Brenden’s recommendations.

I do think this is a lovely tea. The vanilla and cedar add something great to a good quality Tieguanyin. But I kind of wish I could taste the Tieguanyin on its own.

I’m really glad I got to try it, and I’ve got enough left for one more mug, but I don’t think I’ll be buying this.

This sample came from mj. Another vanilla dreams tea to try! Now, I’m not generally a fan of green oolong, but I still wanted to try this one since vanilla is my favorite flavor. The oolong pellets are a dark green/yellow and medium in size. There are also roasted cedar leaves mixed in. Dry scent is very sweet with pear and floral notes, and a smidge of vanilla. I steeped it for 3 minutes in 190 degree water.

Brewed aroma kind of reminded me of a wet dog… HAH. Once I got past that it was strong floral and pears. Hmm… I’m kind of underwhelmed by this one based on the amount of hype it’s gotten and its high rating. It mostly just tastes like the usual green oolong to me – very lightly vegetal, mineral notes, peach, floral, etc. I don’t really pick up on a ton of vanilla, maybe a little bit. The cedar leaves give it a nice roasty aftertaste. So overall, it’s good, but I don’t love it.

Thank you Sarsonator for this tea. This tea is absolutely amazing. It is some of the highest quality oolong I have ever drank. The vanilla creates a buttery sweetness that is absolutely incredible. This tea was delicious from the first steep. It was not bitter in the sense of many oolongs although there was a tinge of bitterness. This quickly faded by the third steep. Amazingly, as each steep passed the vanilla seemed to get stronger in flavor. I am on the eighth steep now and the vanilla flavor is amazing. I thought I might describe this as almost as good as the Tung Ting Oolong from Tea Trekker before I had drank this. Having drank this I would describe the Tung TIng Oolong by Tea Trekker as almost as good as this. This is the best Oolong I have ever drank. While I would not use the word " tea drunk" this tea has had an incredible relaxing effect on me, is that what is meant by Qi? I don’t know for sure but I am sure glad that Whispering Pines will soon have this back in stock, because I have to buy some. Even though I put this through eight steepings, the leaves are not totally played out. I shall save it for tomorrow and resteep it at least two more times.

I steeped this 8 times in an 180ml teapot with 190 degree water and 5.5g leaf. I steeped it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, and 2 min. Tomorrow I shall begin with a five minute stetep and see how many more steepings I can get out of the leaves.

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.

For different reasons, I waited a long time to get this blend home. I already knew I was going to at least like it, cause it’s made of three ingredients I love: TGY, cedar leaves and some mighty vanilla bean.

In my mind, if you’re going to name a tea Rivendell, you better deliver…cause you know, we’re talking about the epic world here, full of magic, mystery and unusualness.

I’m using a small gaiwan.

As soon as the water hits the leaves, I feel transported. Sweet Jesus. I can’t really come up with words to describe the scent, hard to do it justice. I’d say it smells like a delicate vanilla flower that has grown in a luxuriant forest. The best I can come up with.

The first sip and I’m thinking nooooo!!!! Tea Whiz of the Woods, what have you done? Giving me another addiction, really? I can’t take this anymore. My monthly order keeps growing and growing!

I completely got lost in the session and forgot to take notes. Suspended in time, I just enjoyed the moment. But it’s easy to remember what it tastes like. Not so easy to attempt a description. It confuses me. TGY, check, I like it on its own. But how could the addition of only two other ingredients morphs it into something so different?

First thing that hit me was how creamy it was. I mean there’s creamy and creamy. This is intense creamy. Vanilla pudding mouth.

Then, nice subtle florals are flirting with that fresh menthol mouthfeel that I get from good TGY, amplified by the cedar leaves.

Some fruit notes also join the party. To me, they taste like pineapple and dehydrated apples. I picked that up cause I eat lots of dried apples, I love them. That gongfu session produced many steeps, all better than one another

This tea delivers. It breathes magic, it’s mysterious and unusual. So yeah, it totally deserves to be called Rivendell.

(I can even picture Hobbits, serving this tea to their guests in their Hobbit houses!)

I have no choice but to give the highest rate.

Tea Hobbit, giving it 100 is like giving you a “Tolkien” of my appreciation, hehe. Love it!

Pic:

http://instagram.com/p/r8QLZmwhyU/