The Sleeping Bear Blend

Thank you kimquat for this sample!

I’m liking the mix of pine and jasmine in this blend. The two flavors play off of each other nicely while allowing the creamy note of the base tea to come out and play, too. Normally I’d be surprised at the strength of the pine, but this blend is a mix of green tea leaves and tiny pine needles. It’s very pretty, and it smells incredible. In fact, I thought it smelled like spring. While the pine is noticeable no one flavor drowns out the others. It’s a really nice blend. This is another tea I think I would naturally reach for after meditating or when I needed to find some calm. It’s a relaxing, delicious, lovely tea.

Just finished my sample of this one today. It’s been remarkable and consistently enjoyable from start to finish. The smooth blend of jasmine and pine notes inspires a feeling of tranquility, and a warm cup of this isn’t too much on a hot day—it even seems cooling and refreshing. Thanks again to beelicious for the sample!

So I’m finally trying this. I guess I can see why Sil didn’t like it. Very jasmine. So floral. Wow.

Also kinda resiny (almost minty). And grassy.

This is really neat. I think I like it a lot. Not something I’d need all the time, but the flavours are super unique and it’s a nice change from the black teas I tend to prefer.

Thanks so much, Sil!

Sipdown! 970. (Added all my samples from Sil to my cupboard… hopefully this number won’t hit 1000…) Anyhow, thanks Sil for sneaking out a cup of this one for me, since I was super curious about it. I can definitely see why you wouldn’t like it – it’s actually fairly jasminey. Nice jasmine, yes, but it’s not just a hint, either. Beneath the jasmine I can taste a hint of pine, and then jasmine appears again. The base is smooth and creamy, without a lot of distinctive flavour, which is ok.

Overall, this tastes too much like a jasmine green/white for me to bother ever purchasing. I love the idea of the pine needles, but they’re drowned out by the jasmine. It’s a nice tea, but just not distinct enough. I’ll see if subsequent cups bring out the pine notes more. Fingers crossed.

ETA: Enjoyed the resteep of this blend as well, but still too much jasmine. I think it’s possible that the jasmine and pine are complementary flavours, and I’m having trouble distinguishing them a bit, but there were times when I took a sip and definitely tasted pine notes – I would love more of that.

ETA again: On my third or fourth infusion of this one, and although it’s still too much jasmine, I’m really enjoying the creamy, almost cheesecakey(?) aftertaste. Sign of a good base tea, if nothing else :)

sooooooooo….i picked this one up, since a number of folks were fairl certain that this would be a tea for me. Also, the idea of pine needles in teas, appeals to me because i adore bellocq’s pine needle tea. What i failed to realise…and that’s on ME…is that this has a jasmine presence. As in…that other thing i dislike a lot…though not as much as bleramot…though sometimes MORE than blergamot lol.

Soooo i love every thing about this tea…. the needles…the initial sip..the brew… until the jasmine punches me in the face. I can probably finish off the rest of the ounce i picked up, but this is not for me.

As a woodworker, hiker, and nature enthusiast, nothing this easily accessible, gets my senses going as pine does. These fresh dry needles strike a harmonious chord inside me, filling my cup with inspiration and delight. Perfect for rainy days and cool nights alike. I wouldn’t change a thing, Brenden. In fact, this blend has inspired me to wildcraft my own pine needles, using your methods to create my own green tea blends, as well as adding to soup stocks … good $4!T man.

Thank you Sarsonator for this sample. This is a good tea but not the sort I usually drink. It is floral tasting with sweet notes. It is not bitter. I can get the notes of nuts, pine, and floral. The notes of butter are a little more subtle but seem to be there.

I brewed this tea once in a 18oz teapot with 2 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

Had this tea this afternoon. It was my very first WP tea. I really enjoyed this tea. It is so delicate and light but full of flavour. Sweet & nutty with just a very light jasmine note. The pine note was even lighter. Sometimes I would pick one up and sometimes the other; then sometimes together. Enjoyed it enough to go for a 2nd infusion but it wasn’t as flavourful as the first.

This sample came from Mandy. This tea seems to get quite a bit of love around these parts, so I was rather excited to try it. Jasmine is one of the few florals that I can stand, assuming it’s not overly powerful. The green tea leaves are dark blue/grey/green and quite thin, and they’re curled up slightly. There are also very thin pine needles mixed in. I used 1.5 teaspoons of leaf and steeped at 175 degrees for 1.5 minutes.

The brewed aroma is very sweet with jasmine and just a little bit of pine scent. Hmm… Brewed this way, this tea is a bit too light for me. Perhaps next time I’ll try a longer brew time. The jasmine is at the forefront, but it’s not too strong. The green tea is quite mild and buttery with a sweet edge. The pine mostly manifests as a nice cooling sensation near the end, but I can also taste hints of it throughout the sip. Overall, I can see this one being nice and comforting and relaxing, but I think I would either brew it with more tea or for longer.

When I was in grade school my friend Ginger and I used to harvest wild edibles and make pine needle tea. This tea smelled like our old pine tea but its much more subtle in flavor. I suppose we had straight fresh needles and these are dried so you lose the turpentine and sap tastes which is a very good thing. I found it surprisingly floral with a light pine mist (reminds me of midway up a piney mountain on a hot summer day). I will definitely be getting more of this but I also have 7 different types of pines right outside my door and it got me to wondering what it would taste like if I harvested some of their needles (torrey pine? black pine? ) I’ve only had white pine before. Of course I’m not a master blender so it wont’ get the floral part.