Golden Orchid

Wow, what a tea! I was a little worried because the dry tea smelled like chocolate, but there was also a sharp scent I couldn’t quite identify. Once steeped, I could just smell the chocolate. Yum.

The cocoa flavor is pronounced, but not overpowering. The tea has a lovely sweetness and doesn’t need any additives to be excellent. I’m really happy with this one. I’ll definitely repurchase.

I love this Tea.
Golden Orchid is the best Vanilla Tea I’ve had so far.
The tea itself has wonderfully malty with notes of rich chocolate and a slight fruitiness, the Vanilla adds a creamy sweetness to these notes and makes for a most delicious tea.
Decadent, Rich and Smooth Try it Iced!

well one of my Adagio IngenuiTea things bit the dust this weekend and I think the other one is on its way out. I’ve had them for several years, so I can’t be too mad, but definitely going to need to invest in another one or a similar one soon. Any recommendations??

This was exactly what I was craving. A good solid and decedent black tea. I definitely picked up on the vanilla this time. After reading that I should shake the bag to make sure it’s all well combined. Definitely need to remember that next time, because this was even better than the first time!

Thank you Brian and 221tea for sending me a sample of this one. It sounded so amazing, but I was hesitant to spend $12.50/oz without know if it was REALLY worth that much.

Yes. Of course it is. It really, really is. Where’s my credit card? :O
(Oh, I’ll wait a little bit. So much to sipdown first, including the rest of the Whispering Pines samples those 2 sent me!)

It’s like decadent fudge – the chocolate notes are just that strong and with a bit of depth/weight to them. So amazing. I also get honeyed vanilla with this as well. I’m going to resteep this for the rest of the afternoon. I WILL!

Thank you, again.

Round three of the MzPriss Mood Adjustment Project of the morning (after Special Dark and Jun Chiyabari). I brewed this cup from my “oldest” bit of Golden Orchid – which doesn’t last long around here. It’s interesting to see the way it changes over time. The vanilla becomes more pronounced and opening the beautiful little jar I have it stored in releases an aroma of vanilla fudge. It is so very smooth and silky and lovely. This tea makes me very happy. Maybe one more cup of this and some Golden Fleece and I’ll be ready to face the world with some grace today.

Brenden sent me a sample of this tea…almost gone from his stock now…and I hope he gets more!!! This is one of the best black tea’s I’ve ever tasted!
I shared some with my teahouse assistant manager friend Joe.
Don’t under brew (Joe saw the timing and almost didn’t follow the instructions, thought it was too long).
When Brenden noted 3 minutes steep time it was for a good reason. This tea is multi-layered, deep, full and nuanced like fine wine.
Morphing…the flavor changes often as the tea slowlycools.
Milk chocolate, cocoa puffs cereal, butternut squash, dry papaya or mango. Sunshine…jam.
At first sip…“OH WOW”, from both Joe and I. Total surprise and delight.
Like I said…this tea is almost gone. I ordered some more for myself.
Hope there’s more to come in the future.

The way I purchase tea on a budget is this:
I have my inexpensive but very good quality (tasting) tea…and I do some home blending with dry herbs and spices.
Puerh is a bargan! Believe me, it’s possible to find a puerh you’ll like with a little help from someone who guides you.
Then, my more expensive tea’s are treats that I indulge in several times a week.
Yes, I treat myself…and delight in every sip!
BTW, if you go to Whispering Pines Website just to look around, check out the video on the back page of Brenden doing his slackline sport. He’s on YouTube also.
He just won a competition in Germany!!!
Don’t we have a bunch of creative genius’s here on Steepster!

Love you all…

Woot! Finally got my Whispering Pines order (darn borders…) So this of course is the first tea I tried. Dammit though, I oversteeped it while watching Person of Interest. Bah!

Regardless, this smells so strongly of chocolate out of the bag I looked around to see if I’d left some chocolate out accidentally. Nope, it’s from the tea! Amazing. Steeped (for 11 minutes, bah!) it’s still very chocolately with zero astringency, although I can still tell it would be much more delicate, light, yet full and rich had I done this justice. It smells amazing still even as it sits here, and I hope the scent floats out throughout the house.

You know how when you were a kid and you were playing outside in the snow, and you never wanted to stop.
But, suddenly just as your fingers were starting to get cold and your snow clothes soggy, Your Mom magically knew and called you with the delightful phrase “Come inside now and get some cocoa!”
You would come in, cheeks all pink, fingers and toes tingling with cold, and watch as your Mother spooned that magical powder into your mug and set it in front of you, with that perfect final touch of one giant marshmallow bobbing on top?
Well, when you open the bag of this tea and stick your nose deep into the dry leaves, thats the smell you get.
Warm, chocolaty, malt powder goodness.
When you taste it,it goes away from that smell, oh, you still get some chocolate, but now its more rich and plumy and nutty.
Very smooth too.
I could see a non tea drinker being very intrigued by this tea, between the smell and the smooth and slightly sweet taste.
This tea, simply put, is delightful.
Another one hit straight out of the park, Whispering Pines Tea!

Yesterday I tried and reviewed Whispering Pines North Wind tea, which is the base of Golden Orchid, so I was very excited to see how they built on such a strong foundation. Golden Orchid is every bit as good as North Wind, and perhaps not better but simply a different tea to suit a different day. It just so happened that yesterday was cold and rainy, lending itself well to North Wind, and today is beautiful and sunny like Golden Orchid. Both are good days though! It’s very impressive how the vanilla added to Golden Orchid does not drown the delicious black tea of North Wind, but rather it adds dimension.

I plan on stocking both North Wind and Golden Orchid to my tea cupboard, some days that wonderful base may be called for and some days something a little extra. Either way these two blends are among the best I have tasted!

Brendan! BRENDAN! YOU MUST MAKE THIS TEA ALWAYS! Please never discontinue it! This tea is AMAZEBALLS. It is currently out of stock, so I HOPE (beg) Brendan to restock it!

I am going to make a bold statement. I think this might be the best tea non-dessert tea I have ever tried. I will add the disclaimer that I am still a Noob to the world of loose tea (I have only been drinking loose tea for two months) but in my quest to find a good breakfast tea, this is definitely the winner. Hands down.

This would, for sure, be a tea i took with me to a desert island.

I am on my second steep and it is just as flavorful as the first. The tasting note from Whispering Pines suggests that you could get up to 8 resteeps out of this. I love it so much, I might just try it. If I do I will come back and edit my note.