Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Chinese Black Tea, Tahitian Vanilla
Flavors
Cherry, Cherry Wood, Cocoa, Earth, Malt, Vanilla, Dark Wood, Smooth, Sweet, Bark, Mushrooms, Wet Wood, Umami, Wet Earth, Pepper, Wood, Caramel, Cream, Custard, Dark Chocolate, Oak, Pine, Stonefruit, Thick, Chocolate, Creamy, Dried Fruit
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
High
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Whispering Pines Tea Company
Average preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 13 oz / 388 ml

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39 Tasting Notes View all

From Whispering Pines Tea Company

A forest is more than a grove of trees. A forest is the wind sweeping across the pines, the wood thrush calling, and the blankets of mist covering the mossy earth below your feet. A forest is the sweet vanilla scent of spring wildflowers and the babbling brook feeding the blackberry bushes. A forest is the morel mushroom hiding under the wintered oak leaves. A forest is everything that we should strive to be — strong, wise, and tranquil. Elder forests are filled with complex ecosystems. Every corner of the woods presents a new biological wonderland, and every inch of the void between organisms plays a vital role in the full picture.

At Whispering Pines, we appreciate complexity. There are, of course, great things to be said about intense singular notes and the boldness of strong lingering aftertastes. However, in the ancient forests crawling with the fingers of fog and ethereal thrush melodies, it is not the plentiful pine we seek. We enter the deepest realms of the forest in search of diversity and the beauty that lies behind the entrance to the trail. A book is not a book without the words within, and a venture into the unknown is not complete without every aspect present.

This is why we chose to seek the complexity of the highest grade Chinese black teas available as the base for Elderwood. This is why we sought the most complex and balanced Tahitian vanilla bean we could find. For the sake the the primeval forests and the immense biodiversity within, we could not choose to cut corners on complexity.

Inspired by the deepest and most ancient of forests, Elderwood carries base notes of warm pine, oak, and cocoa, with sweet vanilla, caramel, cherry, and morel perfectly balanced in the background. A sweet and earthy moss-like aftertaste with hints of vanilla and oak linger for hours past the last sip of this strikingly smooth brew. The aroma is pine, cocoa, and stone fruit, and the color of the tea is dark amber with a slight tinge of deep purple.

The overall experience of this tea is only comparable to what you can imagine drinking the finest hot cocoa infused gently with cherry, and aged in oak barrels beneath the forest floor would be like. The richness and depth of Elderwood can truly only be done justice by experiencing the masterpiece yourself. We highly recommend enjoying Elderwood outdoors. Allow the brew to warm you on a chilly day while walking along your favorite woodland trail.

In honor of all beauty that mother nature has provided us with, and in honor of those moments where you realize just how big the full picture is, I give you Elderwood.

Notes: Warm Pine, Oak, Melted Chocolate, Vanilla, Chocolate-Covered Cherries, Plum, Cream, Salted Caramel, Morel, Moss

Ingredients: Imperial Grade Dian Hong, Ailaoshan Black Tea, Hand-cut Tahitian Vanilla Beans

http://whisperingpinestea.com/elderwood.html

About Whispering Pines Tea Company View company

Whispering Pines Tea Company is dedicated to bringing you the most original, pure, beautiful tea blends. We use only the highest quality ingredients available to create additive-free teas teas inspired by the pristine wilderness of Northern Michigan. Our main focus is on customer satisfaction and quality.

39 Tasting Notes

92
1704 tasting notes

I sipped this down very quickly, and have worked at it between yesterday and Christmas day. I also ordered some other teas to share with Leafhopper and write about on here. I’m surprised and greatly appreciative that Brendan sent it out TODAY of all days. I did not expect it, but I really appreciate it.

This one is one of the better Vanilla teas I have on hand at the moment. I love how rich and full it is between the vanilla and natural dark wood and cherry notes of the tea. Most of the vanilla teas are out of stock on the website right now, but fortunately, I’ve got a decent share of the Taiwanese blacks to hold me off for now. I really liked how smooth and rich this one was out of all of them.

Flavors: Cherry, Cherry Wood, Dark Wood, Malt, Smooth, Sweet, Vanilla

Leafhopper

Thank you! I feel like a tea enabler in the best possible way. :)

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87
30 tasting notes

Need to try this one again. The vanilla taste lingered on my tongue even into the next day, or at least so it felt to me! Dark and delicious.

Flavors: Vanilla

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1789 tasting notes

This tea is SO strange. I find it so savory, that it’s actually tasting a lot like miso soup. It’s very mushroomy, with notes of wet soil and tree bark. The Whispering Pines website describes this tea as “inspired by the deepest and most ancient of forests,” which actually really fits.

I’m not tasting any of the vanilla, though.

Flavors: Bark, Mushrooms, Umami, Wet Earth

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85
27 tasting notes

Sweet and soft and delicious! The vinilla shines but does not overpower. So good.

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85
1430 tasting notes

Ok, I have a hard time telling the difference from WP Ambrosia, Elderwood, and Golden Orchid. All three have luxurious black tea bases with fine quality vanilla. If I was to hazard a comparison I would say GO is on the lighter, dessert side of the spectrum (chocolate, honey) whereas Elderwood has a darker, earthier profile with a subtle peppered flare.

Yep, not a sommalier. I guess the most important part is I would order all three again if/when I have the means! The next time I go with WP I may even check out the actual tea types before blindly ordering.

Flavors: Earth, Pepper, Vanilla, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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80
2965 tasting notes

For the second morning in a row my bed has been the most comfortable place in the entire universe. It has been an absolute pleasure to rest in such a perfect place, and I am deeply saddened by the sound of the alarm clock.
Some mornings I need something strong, powerful, no-nonsense. Other mornings I want something sweeter. Still others I want something gentle.
That was this morning, and this tea seemed to fit the bill, easing me into my day with a kind yet firm hand, and a lot of rich flavors.
Its going to be a very busy day! This was a nice tea to start it.

Evol Ving Ness

Sleep! How I envy you!

Evol Ving Ness

(in a good way, of course)

Terri HarpLady

Enjoy the day!

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484 tasting notes

Montly TTB.

This is my first tea by Whispering Pines, and unfortunately it doesn’t live up to the hype for me. I’m not sure if it’s the vanilla or the base itself that I’m objecting to, but I didn’t love this. The base is a light, smooth black with cocoa notes, but they don’t taste quite right to me. They taste artificial, which is odd since this doesn’t contain artificial flavoring at all. Well, it was nice to try anyway. I’ve been really curious about Whispering Pines teas, but they’re very expensive. At least I won’t waste money on a tea I don’t care for.

Nichole/CuppaGeek

I’ll send you some samples of my order I just rec’d if my boyfriend doesn’t drink it all first. He loves them!

rosebudmelissa

That would be great. I’ve heard so many good reviews of their teas, but I’m hesitant to commit since the teas tend to be expensive and I don’t know whether or not they’ll be worth the cost to me.

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73
737 tasting notes

Backlog

I got like a tsp of this tea from Terri, which I’m not sure is the amount you’re supposed to use, but I’d rather have a weak tea than have to pay full price to try it! So works for me!
I tasted a lot of cherry and wood. There were notes of vanilla too. Was not bad. Pretty good actually-I’d totally drink it again.
But it’s not something that I would buy. Which is fine. Happy to sample!

Flavors: Cherry, Vanilla, Wood

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98
157 tasting notes

This is the tea I was most looking forward to trying. The expense put me off for a while…then it was the difficulty of placing an order before it was all snagged. Well, time to splurge, I say. I regret nothing. (Except for not buying more.)

The dry leaf smells like creamy, chocolatey gelato. It’s like chocolate infused whipped cream: smooth and sweet with the scent of custard and vanilla. I followed the instructions for western brewing. The taste is very close to the aroma. It’s silky smooth and soft like a rabbit’s fur. There are notes of dark chocolate, custard, and stone fruit underscored by the gentle suggestion of oak wood and mushroom. The finish is sweet with ringing vanilla overtones and cherry-fudge undertones. The sweetness and malt lingers long afterwards: a reminder of whipped cream, cocoa, and flavors of pine. Not any single flavor is overbearing; they all work in harmonious balance. The second steep is equally rich and decadent. Cocoa, wood, and cherry dominate with notes of heavy cream, caramel, and mushroom in the background. It’s thick like pudding and incredibly smooth. It gets even creamier as it cools.

Wow, this tea is absolutely heavenly. It could give GO a run for its money, but I know I can’t justify buying this one in large quantities. Shame!

Flavors: Caramel, Cherry, Cocoa, Cream, Custard, Dark Chocolate, Earth, Malt, Mushrooms, Oak, Pine, Smooth, Stonefruit, Sweet, Thick, Vanilla

Whispering Pines Tea Company

You’ll love Ambrosia too :)

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90
251 tasting notes

Dry: Fluffy golden leaves blended with tightly rolled deep matte black leaves. The smell in the bag is softly vanilla, sweet, and malty.

Steeped: The leaves unfurl in a very pleasing aesthetic way. There is a mixing of the colors and the clear amber liquor bathes them in a golden hue. The smell is vaguely sweet with a hint of cherry and malty vanilla.

Taste: Honestly, the best description I could think of would be a more complex version of Cocoa Amore, which is one of my favorites from WP. I really like the depth of flavor with cherry, cocoa, and vanilla featuring most prominently followed by a hint of wood and morel. I don’t think I would like it at all if there really was a lot of the earth/oak across the palette, but it does a good job of hinting at them. The biggest downside to this tea in my opinion is the pricepoint. At just shy of $22/ounce (excluding shipping), it is one of the most expensive teas I’ve purchased. I am dinging the rating a little bit only because the tasting notes on the website indicated moss, plum, pine, melted chocolate, etc. and I couldn’t detect these. That may not be a bad thing though because pine can be overwhelming as a scent or flavor. Unfortunately, I’ve also found that this one doesn’t hold up to resteeps without going a bit bland and losing all the delicate nuances. I did enjoy the initial vanilla, cocoa, cherries, oak, and morel though and I am glad I was able to finally try this.

Flavors: Cherry, Cocoa, Malt, Mushrooms, Oak, Smooth, Vanilla

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
Whispering Pines Tea Company

Just you wait for Ambrosia ;-)

ashmanra

I really need to try something from this company! I see some great reviews but just haven’t gotten around to ordering.

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