Whispering Pines Tea Company

I got my Whispering Pines Tea order in the mail today.
I have been wanting to try this tea since Brenden first introduced it.
So badly have I been wanting to try this, that even though I live 40 minutes away from where my mail arrives, and even though I still had a day of running around and doing errands to do, I actually drove all the way back home to prepare this tea and put it in a go mug.
( I would not admit this to many people, but, I know you dear fellow Steepsters understand this tea-driven bit of craziness )
Now, if I had not been listening to Sense and Sensibility on audio book in the car and if I had turned on the tv or radio once I got home, instead of dancing impatiently ’round the kettle I would have heard the major storm warnings, and the telling people to stay off the roads.
Instead, I left the house, noticed that it was a rather black looking sky (where we live every couple of days it looks as if our world may end, we get storms blowing through from Nevada, Utah, Montana and Wyoming…when to be scared is when those storms collide with one another, such as today)
Just as I was getting to the bit in the book where Marianne insists on taking a walk even though its stormy, and as the audio book lady said “suddenly the clouds united over their heads and a driving rain set full in their faces”,blinding sheets of rain and hail hit my car fast!
I could barely see, but thought I saw a turn out or a dirt road or something other than the main highway I was on, so I pulled off as far as I could and waited out the storm, which lasted 20 minutes.
Lightening struck all around me.
It was frightening, BUT I had hot tea.
To distract myself from probable electrocution I concentrated on the tasting of the tea.
I am not one for chocolate flavored teas.
Then why on earth did you want to try this tea so badly, I am sure you are asking, because it is as I hoped, not really exactly like chocolate.
Its more roasty and toasty, more like toasted nuts.
Has notes of oak and seaweed.
Its rich and dark and unexpected.
And yet, still not losing one bit of its oolong-ness.
Although a Mr. Willoughby did not come to my rescue, I had something better accompanying me during the storm.
I very much look forward to drinking more of this tea…from the safety of my arm chair at home.

I’ve had this tea a few times without logging, my bad! Tonight i will though, and I’ll try to get a second steep in before bed too :)

So the dry leaves are a lovely mix of thin, poky pine needles and green tea leaves. The dry smell is quite faint, but fresh and a bit green and jasminy. I steeped for 1 and a half mins, and the resulting liquor is a bright sunny light yellow. The steeper smells of pine, Yay! The tea is very mild smelling on comparison, but still fresh

The first steep is pretty light, but I think more flavorful than previous cups. Maybe because I had a nice lower water temperature or a better ratio of leaves (almost a tablespoon for around 10 oz). Regardless, it is pretty good. The floral scent of very light jasmine wafts up and is present in the taste at the start, and a buttery, fresh warmth takes over. In the middle of the steep, a hint of pine comes out, cooling, like taking a breath of morning air in the forest. I’m not sure if I can detect the hint of citrus, but the cup is very refreshing and relaxing at the same time.

Overall, this is quite a delicious tea. Maybe I wasn’t quite in the mood for previous cups, but I can see the beauty in this one tonight. It is a light, subtle flavoring that blends wonderfully, but not one that smacks you in the face. Very pleased with this cup tonight :) i might even get the boyfriend to try a cup sometime, he thought it smelled pretty good :) I will rate it later when i’m not on my phone lol its impossible to rate teas on here!

ETA – I made a second steep! I don’t think I’ll be awake enough to finish the cup, but the half I’ve had is really good, the pine really does come out in this one, but still meshes with the other flavors! So happy I have more of this tea, it provides a nice different spectrum of flavors!

Mmm I will love this blend forever. See previous notes :)

Probably not the best tea to be drinking at 10:30pm… But you know… Two weeks off equals who cares what time I go to bed. Party! Kind of… Anyways I made this to go with dinner. Which was curry and rice. And it was perfect! The flavor I’m getting the most of is the peppermint. The tulsi and mate is more in the background. I’m not complaining.. I really like this blend. It’s smooth and has a really nice herbal flavor.

Sad day… I finished this off at work today :( I’ll miss it!

whoa!
so many of my swap samples are green teas that i just assumed this was a green tea. but it’s SO NOT a green tea.
did i tell you i love tulsi?! i do i do i really do. i can’t explain why, it has a subtle tonic taste to it maybe? herbal and fresh? anyways, this is a roasted maté & tulsi blend and it is just plain old sparkling in my mouth!
i’m sure the peppermint and safflower add to that sensation to. no doubt. but this is earthy and herbaly and balanced.
what a great surprise cup. i only steeped it for 3 minutes instead of 5. i’ll try it longer next time, but i like it this way too obviously.
thank you so much KallieBoo!

Been cold brewing all of the teas I was kinda meh about when tried hot, letting them sit overnight in the fridge in my Takeya Flash Chill pitcher, and setting aside a little mason jar of simple syrup with mint from the deck herb garden for my husband (you don’t want to know how sweet he makes his tea given he’s a southerner, ha). So far this has definitely been the winner in terms of having the biggest gap between how I felt about it hot and how we feel about it cold—it is so delicious iced! There’s more flavor (that was what disappointed me about it hot; the taste wasn’t bad, just too weak), and it’s thirst-quenching, but also a smoky, mysterious element that makes one think of campfires, appropriate for iced tea. Really great. Husband loves it too.

I’m gonna keep the score for the hot tea so I don’t confuse myself when I look at my rating logs, but I’m definitely making a note for myself on a “favorites iced” list.

My boyfriend’s aunt went on a trip and brought back a GIANT jar of local honey she found for me. Ohhh it’s pretty awesome in this tea. I think it’s becoming my favorite rooibos :)

Tea number 4.
Nice with a pleasant astringency. Good strong black tea taste to it. This is the best way I can think to describe it. When I get more familiar with tastes and terms and whatnot, I’ll try to come back and update this review.
Not getting much honey, though adding a bit of truvia made it nice. I’m also getting the cedar as a back note, but it’s not as bad as I was thinking it was going to be. I could see this being a nice tea to have in the morning.

Second tea on the roster today. My first milk oolong and I’m on the fence about it.
1st infusion – The brew has a smell of cooked veggies, spinach-y greenness and it tastes the same as it smells. Normally I don’t care too much for such a taste, but this is one that I keep sipping at. Lol. I don’t get the peaches taste that the desc describes, but maybe that’s why I keep sipping it. To try and find that. Maybe on the next infusion I’ll get it a bit better.
But it is pretty smooth and I only get a smidge of astringency out of it. No sugar added to this. I don’t think it would go well with the veggie taste. Sweet cooked spinach. Ugh. Lol.

2nd infusion – Same temp/4 min – Definitely getting better. The veggie smell/taste is toned way down for which I appreciate. It’s gotten sweeter and I might be getting a hint of peaches or something similar. Not too bad. Again, no sugar added to it.

I’m not sure I’d reorder this one, but it was a good one to try and I always enjoy something different.
When I get around to doing gongfu style brewings this might be a good candidate for it. I’d be interested to see what sort of flavors come out of it.

Having a pot of this for breakfast! I love the rich flavors of this tea. It’s deep and has lovely dark chocolate notes.

This is a tea that benefits from a little exta leaf and a slightly stronger steeping time than i use with tea, but once i discovered this i really do like it.

The base has a bright piny minty top note and is quite refreshing. This is a tea that has lots of flavour notes that you discover as you drink. At first you get a smoky flavour mixed with the minty pine that reminds me of the way that the air tastes when in a recent forest fire zone, this is followed by a bright and fruity citrusy note that lightens the tea and keeps it from becoming heavy. The lemongrass tones down any bitterness from the smoke and the minty tone helps to tie it all together. It does remind me a little of early mornings in early fall when I worked out of Racine Lake near Chapleau Ontario.

Just what I needed right now. A nice accomplishment a smoky tea that manages to be light and refreshing as well!

Added some honey to this and it’s amazing. It’s warm, sweet, and very graham cracker like!

I love these little things so much. Everyday I’ve been taking two to work. On my break I pop them in my tea thermos and re-steep them every time my mug is empty :] They last for quite a while and keep a good flavor with them. The most steeps I’ve gotten is 3 or 4 and then the flavor starts to water down. Mmmm :]

Usually I write my reviews while sipping my tea. Since I finished my sample of this one yesterday morning, this isn’t going to be much of a review. I just wanted to note to myself that I really enjoyed this tea and remind myself to order it again. I think it was the lemon and orange that made this so wonderful. After every sip, I sighed, “Ahhhhhh.” (I did find it funny/odd that the tea looked very green when I poured it out. I don’t know why it had that appearance.)

I am super impressed with my Whispering Pines teas! Haha, I’ve probably said this already :P but yeah, oh and also, I forgot to mention the hand-written note that came with my teas was a nice surprise, good customer service! I had a cup of Honeysuckle White tea by them earlier and didn’t rinse my cup, so there might be a bit of honeysuckle taste in this cup that is not normally present lol. I’ll have to write a review about that one at some point too! Anyways, onto this tea.

First off, this one has a very faint green tea scent dry, nice and light. I steeped for 1.5 minutes at 175 degree water. The steeped smell is of jasmine, fresh little buds of it. The taste is very delicate and fresh, I definitely taste a floral element, whether that is the honeysuckle adding to the jasmine from the previous cup, I’m not sure, but it is quite nice. The green tea is very light and smooth, with the slightest hint of grass. I can see how this is likened to rain in a forest or on blades of grass, it is just fresh and sweet and pure.

Overall, I am quite enjoying this cup, I am finding it quite relaxing and I love the images of a forest it evokes for me. Ahh feeling a bit Zen-like, much needed after a busy busy day at work. I will hold off rating until I try it in a clean cup to make sure the white tea isn’t messing with the flavor.

OH MY the aroma of this tea is amazing. Deep coco and coffee notes. The flavor is pretty amazing itself. It has those deep dark chocolate notes and it kind of has a coffee-ish flavor to it. I really like this ooolong :]

I’m happy I ordered this one! It’s such a unique tea. When it’s hot all I’m getting is the smokiness. I thought eh… But then my mom called.. and my tea got lukewarm.. I took a sip and fell in love. All of the flavors come out. It starts out smokey and then turns sweet and earthy and then turns minty and clean. Gaaahh Whispering Pine’s teas always make me crave camping, hiking, and all that jazz.

Phew, first day of work is over! I needed something refreshing and relaxing tonight, as it hit 30 degrees C here today! In May! What is up weather haha!

Dry, this smells very minty, I was wondering which of the teas was the minty one and this is it. Mmm it’s a nice refreshing scent. I steeped for a min and a half with approx. 180 degree water. The steeped smell is also minty, reminding me a bit of Della Terra’s Jasmint actually.

The taste is perfect for tonight! The green and jasmine is perfect, not overpowering or cloying at all! The mint is refreshing and compliments the rest of the flavors wonderfully. I prefer this much more than Jasmint, though both are jasmine and mint blends. This one doesn’t have that grassy taste, it has a more mellow, clean green tea flavor than grassy.

Overall, this is a very tasty blend. I will hopefully have time for another infusion tonight, as this is hitting the spot and also fits the nice rain clouds that have shown up and will hopefully open up a bit to cool it down here. I am quite enjoying trying the Whispering Pines teas, so far they are all very refreshing and lovely! Oh, and they also have very nice names haha, that is part of the reason I had to order this one :D

I am back! I was back last night actually and had half a cup of tea at like 1 in the morning but I don’t feel like logging it haha im still trying to catch up on sleep.. Vegas was pretty sweet! Had some heat stroke one day from being dehydrated from no tea probably haha but other than that it was awesome. Definitely going back!

Anyways, onto tea!! When I was away my whispering Pines and verdant orders arrived! Woot! So I am having a lovely cup of this as my first official cup back. It is refreshing and energizing and the eucalyptus gives an interesting flavor! I will do a more in depth review later haha im just enjoying this cup and relaxing today. Happy to be back with my teas and on steepster :)

I haven’t had this one in a while so I made a pot of it. It was very refreshing since I’ve had a lot of flavored teas recently. The subtle flavor of pine is just lovely with the buttery green tea.

This is a really nice blend that offers the calming impact (for me a sophoric)of Jasmine with the cleansing and refreshing impact of mint blended so both are muted to create something that is deeper and sweeter and fresher, over a creamy slightly smoky sweet green tea with hints of spinach which creates a nice mouth feel and adds depth. The tea has a really nice body and the flavours blend nicely. The second steep still has a nice creamy body with the jasmine a little more prominent but the flavours still compliment and blend nicely. The scent of the dry tea at first reminds me a little bit of graveyard blend which is ironic as their is no licorice root either in the blend or the flavour. Their is a mix of green teas including some with really beautiful long twisted blades and the tea brews to a light saffron colour. I’m off to enjoy a third steeping.

At the first couple of sips, I was ho-hum about this tea, but by the time I got to the end of the cup, I was loving it. The spearmint comes through on a nice subtle level and mixes well with the rooibos, hibiscus, and elderberries. I found a longer steeping time (7 1/2 minutes) better than 5 min.
Would I purchase this again? I would say . . . 50/50.

I really loved this tea. Perhaps it is the cinnamon. (Yes, it must be the cinnamon!) Add that to wonderful rooibos and I’m sold. I found a longer steep time slightly better. With my usual dash of sugar – Yummy. (I will buy more of this.)