13 Tasting Notes

100

Wowzers! This tea sure was delicious! This is hands down the best black tea that I’ve had up to this point. It just makes me feel all warm and cozy on the inside. Like many others state about this tea, it reminded me of baked bread and sweet potatoes. A year ago I would have been disconcerted if someone told me that their tea tasted like bread and potatoes. Now I’m like “mmmm bread-tea om nom nom”

I definitely plan on attaining more of the delicious nectars that are Whispering Pine teas!

Flavors: Bread, Sweet Potatoes

TheTeaFairy

Aila is simply addictive, I drink it almost every morning, and I can’t read about it without having to fix myself a cup, so here I go, cheers!

Clint

Haha! Well, I’m glad that I made your day better then! This will definitely be my new morning tea. I can’t wait to drink it on cold winter mornings!! Eeeeee I get excited for such random things…..

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85

Due to the fact that I generally don’t get home any earlier than about 7pm (11pm some days), I was in dire need of some non-caffeinated tea to drink before sleeping. This was my first tea from Whispering Pines, and I generally don’t drink blends. So this was unknown territory for me! Fortunately, it was a highly awesome experience! This tea was minty and sweet, but not overwhelming. It was comforting and refreshing! After enjoying this tea, I had no issues sleeping. I also credit this tea for curing my sour stomach which I had had all day, which immediately disappeared after drinking my cup. YAY MAGICAL TEA!!!

Cheri

Yay Magical Tea! Glad your stomach is feeling better. You can’t go to bed feeling like that, for sure.

I haven’t tried this one yet, but I love the Whispering Pines Teas that I’ve had. Brenden does an amazing job.

Clint

Thanks! I just placed an order to more Whispering Pines Tea, because the samples instantly hooked me! I got an oz of Eldar Grove and an oz of Ailaoshan black tea. Super excited for them!!!

Cheri

I look forward to your reviews because I haven’t had either of those.

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85
drank White Night by Mandala Tea
13 tasting notes

This was a tasty white tea! The majority of my tea drinking these days is done with my Mandala Tea thermos. I work full time, and I then immediately go to class after, which results in a lot of to-go tea drinking. Thus, I treasure teas that I can steep multiple times for long durations in my thermos. This tea definitely makes the cut! It was fruity and mellow, which is very relaxing. 2 thumbs up!

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85

I received a sample of this tea with my Phatty Cake II from Mandala Tea a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my Phatty Cake II, hence why I waited to try this tea out.

Side not to this review: I have been under a lot of stress due to work, graduate school, and financial stuff. To top it off, my quality of sleep has been steadily decreasing, which only exacerbates the stress. The only things that have been keeping me sane are my wonderful girlfriend (who I am slowly getting hooked to tea!), and my new-found love of tea (which includes the amazing community of people that make up the tea world) .

Due to these factors, I woke up this morning feeling groggy, and achy. I needed something good and strong to kickstart my day, thus I decided to try out this tea sample. This ripe pu’er tasted very earthy, which I love, and slightly creamy. It was strong at first, but not as strong as I had hoped. However, this tea was interesting because it gradually got stronger and stronger in the following steepings (which were about 10-15 seconds each). It reminded me of hiking a mountain. It started off light, gradually became stronger, richer, and more intense, then smoothed out and I noticed more of the creaminess. All in all, this tea did an awesome job of waking me up, and brightened up my mood substantially. Super tasty stuff!!! Now that I’ve tried and loved a few different ripe pu’er teas, I need to try out some raw pu’er. I have been super intrigued by the Heart of the Old Tree from Mandala Tea, and I am hoping to get some soon!

TheTeaFairy

Hope things get better for you soon…good tea does help!
I love noble mark too! And I highly recommend Heart of the Old Tree and Wild Monk. A very good place to start your sheng exploration ;-)

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85

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95

I simply have to start this off by saying that this tea is awesome! I know I say that about most of the teas I drink, but this one was ESPECIALLY GREAT!! I received a sample of this tea along with my tea thermos from Mandala Tea. When I smelled the dry leaves, my first reaction was “Dried apricots!”. I brewed this up in my tea thermos, and drank it on my way to work (about 30 minutes of sipping). It tasted slightly woodsy (maybe nutty) and fruity (apricots, I think). This tea didn’t get the slightest hint of bitterness, and it retained its sweetness for the entire length of this long steep. Most of the green teas that I have made in my tea thermos are incredibly bitter for the first steep, then become less bitter in the following brews. This tea was amazing from the get go! I made 3 thermos-fulls and they were all as tasty as the last. I think that this tea shall be my go-to tea for my thermos!

TheTeaFairy

Haha! I also say that about most of the teas I drink…because I drink only awesome stuff!!

Clint

That makes two of us!!!

Cheri

I try to only drink awesome stuff, but there are some losers that sneak in. They usually are dumped out pretty quickly.

Clint

I guess I’ve just been lucky so far. It’s going to be a sad day when I rate a tea below 80 :’(

Garret

Clint! So happy you are enjoying the sample. When I saw you were getting a thermos, I wanted to get you a tea that I think is great brewed “grandpa style”. It’s a winner, for sure. Thanks for writing this up! I am grateful.

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95

I received this tea yesterday, along with my Mandala Tea Thermos. I decided to test them both out today while I was out running errands. I drank the first steeping over the course of about an hour. It smelled strongly of seaweed, which I found appealing (my girlfriend is Japanese and we eat lots of seaweed). It tasted grassy and subtly sweet, almost as if there was a teensy bit of honey in it. It was great!

The second time I filled up the thermos, I also drank it over the course of about an hour while driving about. My goodness, it sure was sweet this time around! And equally as creamy! It still held on to that seaweed/grassy flavor, but it was deliciously sweet and creamy as well. I found the second steeping to be quite a treat! I am now taking a break from my errands, but I am about to fill the tea up for a third time and head back out. I have high hopes that this tea shall remain super-tasty. Needless to say, I don’t think these leaves are going to last long in my cupboard….

Flavors: Cream, Grass, Honey, Seaweed

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90

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90

Hoo boy, this tea was strong! I steeped it over 10 times last night in a gaiwan, it was a great learning experience for me. This was my first shu pu’erh tea, so I was going in a little blind. When I took my first sip my first reaction was SUPER EARTHY. At first, the intensity of the earthy flavor was very overpowering and intense. Don’t get me wrong, it was highly enjoyable, I had simply never experienced this type of tea before. As the steepings moved forward, it mellowed out a bit and some new flavor began to peak out from behind the earthiness. The most evident flavor note to me tasted similar to a REALLY dark chocolate. It was a subtle bitterness similar to dark chocolate, yet the tea remained creamy and tasty. Overall, I truly enjoyed my first shu pu-erh experience, and I can’t wait to break some more of this tea out soon!

Preparation
Boiling
Clint

Originally stated that it was a sheng, but I had the terminology mixed up (I’m still a noobie to tea) Sorry folks!

Garret

Hi Clint!! Thanks for writing up your experience with the PCII! Just wanted to clarify that this cake is a shu (a.k.a. ripe, black, cooked) pu’er not a sheng.

I’ve been brewing this one up quite a lot lately as the tea has really opened up since being steamed and pressed a year ago. I typically do do 5 second rinses with boiling water. Then my first two steeps of 15 to 20 seconds combine in a sharing pitcher and I enjoy those. The time will depend on what I’m going for as far as strength and how much leaf I have loaded the pot/gaiwan with. Then I just cruise from there, slowly adjusting the steep times upward.

I’m glad you get the chocolate in this one too as I get that, for sure. Also leather makes itself quite known in this one. Did you find that?

Grateful,
Garret

Garret

Funny! Our replies happened at the same time!!

Clint

Sorry for that mistake Garret! I am still pretty new to tea (compared to most), so I got my terms all mixed up, haha. Anywho, now that you put a description to the flavor, I did taste that. I had a hard time identifying the flavors (a skill I am working on), so I’m glad you pointed that out. I will also try out your steeping method for the next time! My steepings were typically around 30 seconds, but I did forget to rinse it. It was a great learning experience for me though. This was my first time sitting down and doing that many steepings in one sitting, and I truly enjoyed it!

Also, I can’t wait to try out all of the samples that you provided. Especially in my new tea thermos! Wooo!

Thanks you for providing me with many valuable tea experiences, it is truly appreciated!

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92

This tea has quickly become one of my favorite teas. Its a sweet, smoky tea which I find absolutely delicious. While drinking this tea, I can’t help but feel like I am sitting in a cabin on a cold winter day. It makes me feel all cozy inside! Teehee.

It keeps its strong flavors through multiple steepings, which makes it ideal for sipping on during the evening hours. Overall, this tea has a lot of flavor and is incredibly comforting/relaxing to drink all day!

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Bio

Pretty new to the tea game. I truly love exploring new teas and learning more about this amazing drink. I haven’t had a tea that I did not enjoy yet. However, flavored and blended teas are my least favorite.

Random facts: I live in Long Beach, CA with my girlfriend. She does not enjoy tea very much, except for certain fruity blends. We have 2 pet rabbits who rule our household (Salt and Pepper). I love to cook, hike, and explore the outdoors.

Location

Long Beach, CA

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