The Jabberwocky

Drank this one on the way to work at some point during last week; honestly can’t remember what day that was though. Sometimes I feel guilty about drinking my nicer teas on the commute to work though; usually everything is just so rushed/hectic that I’m not being the most observant person and I feel like I’m missing out on the subtleties and nuances of nicer teas.

This one especially, which has so much going on with it, is one that I really feel like I need to be focused on when I drink it. But, I did make note of a few things I tasted and I know I really enjoyed having it with! It’s a good tea!

Definitely tasted some really rich cocoa and oak notes; and then a darker cherry and oak finish.Black cherries though; not crazy sweet bings or candied maraschinos. While that would have been interesting, it would have totally messed up the dynamic of the tea.

And I just looked up my first note on this one; while some of the things I observed here were the same as my first impression, a lot was different – and that’s part of why I really want to focus next time I have this one!

This is a great tea for this afternoon. It has just started snowing and it’s freezing outside! I pick up on some soft cocoa notes, something earthy like soil and a savory hint of buttered or salted fruit. The end of the sip brings out a bitter raisin flavor, too. There is a lot going on in this cup and it seems to have a little bit of everything. While it’s enjoyable, it isn’t my favorite from Whispering Pines. I’m so happy to have tried it, though. Thank you, Ost, for the sample!

Yum, delicious! This black tea is quite complex with yam, cherry wood, malt, cocoa, burnt caramel and plum notes, with a finish of bread crust and more caramel. The Jabberywocky is really smooth with a thick custard like body.

The resteep is really good too – very sweet with all notes, missing the woodsy ones. Admittedly, while drinking this I wished I was drinking Whispering Pines’s Ailaoshan instead. Jabberywocky is good, but I prefer the richer flavor of Ailaoshan straight up, rather being mixed in with 2 other blacks in Jabberywocky.

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/jabberwocky-tea/

I’m so behind on logging tasting, I have no idea where to even begin now. Or if I should even bother at this point. I’m rather embaressed to note that my last note was nearly a month ago. But with Steepster acting up around that time and me getting distracted from even starting up my computer, notes have been a dreaded thing to attempt. Especially on my tablet which is old and finicky and has a tendency to eat large amounts of text without warning if I’m not paying attention. Or registering the wrong tap so I misspell things, so excuse the text if that happens.

So I figured I’d start my notes again with the tea I’m having tonight. I have to start somewhere afterall. I honestly have older teas that I really should be trying/drinking first, but I rationalize digging into my whispering pines order now since these aren’t sealed and those other, older teas still are. Lol.

So smelling all of the teas I got, this one caught my interest the most. Chocolatey was the name of the game (since I didn’t feel like leather, mushrooms, grass or smoke tonight. Lol!).
Brewed it up and I can smell cocoa with malt and something almost sweet. The brew itself isn’t sweet to me, but I definitely get a cocoa note, along with a woodsyness and something malty. I really kinda like this since it’s pretty stable by itself. Adding some Truvia gives me the sweetness that I find myself expecting/craving when I smell the brew.
I’m pretty sure that I’d consider reordering this when I run out and my cupboard pares down to something that I can manage to drink through in a reasonable time frame.

Edit – I made a second steep of this @ 5 min/206* that was (in my opinion) lightly better thn the first. Lol. The first steep had something almost peppery at the back of the sip that was gone in this second steeping. But it was marvelously cocoa-y and delicious. It was a bit watery though so I might try 6 min next time to see what happens.
Didn’t have time to try a third steep since it was so late, but I’m not sure if the leaves could hold up to one.

I received this one as a free sample with my WP order. It was one that i had considered ordering, so i was happy to see it. Brewed, this is a smooth tea, with hints of cocoa, malt with an almost fruitiness to it. It’s not my favourite of the WP teas, but i can understand why so many folks love this one. I throroughly enjoyed this cup, but i’m going to pass the other half of my wee sample over to a friend to try as i think this one might be something they’ll enjoy too!

Thanks for the sample Ost!

This is a rich, complex black blend. I like it but I feel like it needs something. Like it is missing a top note or needs more natural sweetness? Anyway, this is good but I strongly prefer Golden Orchid and Cocoa Amore :D

Lewis & Clark #2

I need to start this review by stating that I didn’t follow the vendor’s steeping instructions. They call for a tablespoon of tea per cup and pre-packaged the sample into 4.5 gram packets. I decided to follow my usual steeping approach for black tea, which is 1.5 grams for a 6 ounce pot. It seems unfair to compare a pot that is three times as strong as the competition, especially when one of the selling points of the tea is its strength.

The nose was rich and powerful. Earthy notes dominated. The taste was dominated by what I call “forest floor”: a sort of damp woodsy taste, which I’m not overly fond of. I occasionally spotted a hint of fruit or chocolate, but for the most part don’t see all the flavors in the website description. The finish is good, but somewhat short.

this is a generous sample from DeliriumsFrogs – thank you so much.
Omg this is delicious tea.
made western 3g 8oz 205F. Its rich brownie type tea with some longan/plum notes and caramel. Its amazing blend without any flavoring added.

i really like it and it goes straight to my wishlist for Whispering Pines. Thank you Brenden for creating this blend!

http://instagram.com/p/tskwLahwiW/

Loved the smell of the dry leaves on this one. Delicious tea…malty and no bitterness. No astringency either which gets high points from me for that. I’m sipping this, but I don’t know how people got all those different tastes from it? Chocolate…maybe a hint. Bread? I can’t taste it. So delicious though…very smooth and goes down easy. I think I could drink this all day since it is so smooth.

From the Lewis and Clark TTB.

“Wisdom begins in wonder,” says Socrates on the baggie I picked.

A malty, chocolatey aroma rises from the teapot when I take away the lid. The leaves even look like chocolate. The liquor – golden, full-bodied, thick – has the same notes as the aroma, only they are 10x stronger, bolder. It tastes a little aged. I ate Nutella on toasted bread with this and the two complement each other wonderfully. Freshest chocolate fudge, dark pure honey. With this pair, the tea overpowers the actual chocolate. That’s not something I find in a tea very often.

This is one heck of a cozy tea. Not hugging, but the kind that warms every inch and part of your being. For the darkest, coldest winter night, while a heavy snow falls.