Manistee Moonrise

One of the MANY things I am REALLY liking about Whispering Pines Tea Company is that the owner isn’t afraid to be creative! They are NOT afraid to try something new! They appear – to me at least – they are NOT interested in an ordinary or easy or safe tea. This…I LOVE. They enjoy taking a chance and I think it has really paid off!

Black tea, elderberries, lemongrass, spearmint, smoked pine-needle essence are the ingredients in this tea.

Dry aroma was earthy, herbally, woodsy, dark, and had a hint of lemon.

The color of the post-infused liquor is that of a Dark Brown/Grey-ish combo.

The ‘wet’ aroma is a gentle “in the woods” type smell – perhaps – next to a patch of fresh herbs.

The taste…is AWESOME. I really had no idea I was going to enjoy it as much as I am! The black tea base is what I would consider to be medium in strength but the pine, lemon, and mint flavor pairings are at the perfect-for-my-palate level of intensity. The ratios are VERY NICE!

It leaves a peaceful and minty-fresh yet hint of green-herbal goodness left over and behind.

I totally agree with the product description’s end note…

NAMASTE

Indeed!

Thank you to Azzrian for sending me some of this tea.

When I read a tasting note about this tea just yesterday, I had read that it was a smoky tasting tea, and that stuck with me when I brewed this, so, I did a quick rinse of the leaves before I brewed to maybe remove some of the heavy smoke flavor. I’m not a big fan of smoke, I prefer a gently smoky tea over a heavily smoked one … so I hoped that a quick rinse might keep it from tasting too overwhelmingly smoky.

And … it doesn’t. It is smoky, yes, but there is so much more going on here. The berry notes are outstanding. I taste notes of lemon as well, and the pine’s resinous notes. The mint is subtle but I love that crisp note it provides.

A really lovely tea. I’m so glad I was able to try it!

There’s a hint of a thunderstorm in the forecast and a few droplets fell as I watered my mint on the patio (just like it rains when you wash your car it rains when you’ve just watered your plants).

During the Evening News a bleeping and ticker-tape message crossed the bottom of the TV screen announcing…“Residents of Cheyanne County, make your way to a substantial structure due to threat of Heavy Thunderstorms”…
OK, the surrounding Counties are getting the storms so I’m probably in line too.
I made a big pot of Manistee Moonrise Tea…knowing that it was smoky (when I was reading the ingredients of several Whispering Pines Tea’s I noticed that several were on the smoky side) and would be kind of nice on a dark and stormy night.

The dry leaf smelled like a black tea with some smoke and a lot of added earthy things…mint, lemongrass and elderberries… all looking like it would be a welcome choice for a hiker, steeped outdoors over a campfire.

I took a sip from my mug and the tea was lighter and less smoky than I expected (which is better for those who prefer lightly smoked tea’s).
I could taste a little spearmint but not the lemongrass.

My favorite way to drink a smoky tea is sweet, so I added my sweetening and think the flavor was much better this way.
The sweet tea wasn’t rough, harsh or astringent.

There’s something very different about this blend. It’s not just a smoke, black tea and that’s that flat tea.
Those other ingredients in the blend…mint, elderberry and lemongrass bring something that aren’t distinctly separate flavors but they combine tasting very outdoorsy and wild.

It reminds me of something weird…chewing mint gum and drinking black tea while sitting around a campfire.
(Not as disgusting as it sounds…think like a kid)

I’ll drink this tea primarily on cool Wintry days to set a mood, and share cups with the grandsons who will love it! OH! I have some Maple Granulated Sugar, that would be good with this tea too!

Oh my goodness!

I am with Tea Equals Bliss, this tea is really special and creative! I am getting lots of smoked pine essence with a good dose of spearmint and lemongrass. There is something sweetish about this blend, I think it’s the berries but the berry flavor is a bit hidden by the others. If you think you’d like an herbal, minty lapsang you have got to check this out. I am loving it this morning! This is like the essence of sitting outside at a campsite in the morning. Love!

First, thanks to Brenden for the opportunity to sample your teas!

This tea is wonderfully subtle and calming. It does, indeed, evoke a feeling of being in the woods. There’s the slight hint of smoke, the freshness of the lemon grass and spearmint, and the barely-there suggestion of sweetness.

I am not a big fan of spearmint, though I’m learning to enjoy it in blends with other flavors. This way it just tastes wild, in a good way, without the cloying flavor I’ve associated with it in after-dinner mints and chewing gum.

Somewhere Brenden recommended a second steep, six instead of five minutes. I’ll definitely be trying that too.

This is not something I’d drink every day, but it is definitely going on my shopping list. Some people dream of tropical vacations and the beach, but I dream of deserts and pine-covered mountains. This tea takes me right there to the high country. I’m looking forward to the rest of my samples.

Update: re-steeping per the recommendation in comments on Amy Oh’s tasting note. The liquid is still dark, dark, dark, but the smoky taste is just about gone and the lemon is predominant with a minty aftertaste. I was not expecting such a strong flavor from a re-steep. I think I prefer the smokiness in my first cup, but this is also good — just in a different way. And there is no bitterness at all despite the two rather long steeps. This is a winner.

I am such a smoke weakling I can’t even handle this tea.

Sad times.

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!

Loose
Appearance: dark, loose leaf, large pieces of lemongrass, mint
Aroma when Dry: bright,earthy, woodsy mint
After water is first poured: sweet, chocolate notes, minty, smoky, no astringency
At end of first steep: smoky, earthy woody notes, hints of mint
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: light brown
Staple? Likely Seasonal
Preferred time of day: evening
Taste:
At first?: smokey, faint mint and lemongrass
As it cools?: notes get smooth, deep, very creamy lemongrass notes lengthen, no astringency, then gets thick and smoky
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? With a lemongrass smoke texture, no astringency

Second Steep (5 min)
Aroma: Light smoke
Taste: Light smokey woodsy notes

Third Steep (8 min)
faint smokey notes, as it cools mint notes surface slightly

Fourth Steep (6min)
Smokey water
Fifth Steep
Smokey water

This is another one that came in my box from Azzrian. My husband and I certainly have different tastes in tea. We do like some of the same ones, but he never sweetens anything except the occasional iced tea. Oolongs are his favorite. I made this one up for him, double strength, since he likes his tea strong. He thought it was a winner, said it had a lot of flavor-he is not one to get into specifics though. I took a little sip and thought it had a light smokiness, but he didn’t pick up on that. Not sure if this is really to my taste, but I’ll try it again before I make a final verdict. It won’t go to waste because my husband will finish it off. You can get at least 3 steepings from it.

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.

thanks so much for sending a bit of this one to try, Kasumi no Chajin! Whispering Pines seems like such a nice creative little tea company. This is my first tea to try from them. It certainly is a unique blend! A smokey black tea with lemongrass, spearmint, and elderberries. I’m not exactly sure if I’ve had elderberries before, and I couldn’t detect any of those. But I love smokey teas! This one is clearly authentic, and doesn’t have that weird fake smoke flavor that I’ve found in other teas. (It seems odd that teas would need a fake smoke flavor anyway.. it’s smoke. Cavemen knew about it.) But I really love that it is combined with lemongrass and spearmint! I don’t mean to discourage anyone from trying this one, but it reminded me of the dentist’s office, and I don’t think it is just the spearmint. Hmm. Very odd blend but it works well!

On the bag, this tea recommends a 4 minute steep, and on here a 5 minute steep is recommended. A lot of people seemed to have success with a five minute steep, so I went with that. It smells really good, very naturey and campfirey. I really like smokey teas, and this one is good. It’s very smokey at the beginning of the sip, with the mint coming in at the end. I’m not really getting much of a berry flavor, I think it might be mixing in with the smokey flavor to make it nice and earthy. I wonder how this would do as a cold steeped. Maybe the berry flavors can come out more