Inkling Send Message

I somehow missed the fact that there was oolong in this tea blend, so the silky smooth mouth feel caught me off-guard. The flavor here seems more like a bittersweet cocoa than chocolate to me (maybe the chocolate would come through more with a bit of sweetener?) and there’s a strong malty taste from the base and just a little bit of toastiness in the aftertaste. This isn’t exactly what I was expecting, but it’s quite tasty!

A big thank you to beelicious for the sample!

Thank you so much to beelicious for the generous sample of this tea!

I’ve been curious to try something from Whispering Pines ever since I joined Steepster and started reading all of the rave reviews. I even visited the website a few times, but I could never quite bring myself to order. I’m the kind of person who clips coupons and buys most of my wardrobe at thrift stores, after all…could this tea really be amazing enough to justify the high price tag?

Apparently, yes! Setting aside how adorable the dry leaf is, this is quite possibly the best straight black tea I’ve ever tasted. It is incredibly rich and full-bodied with a dense, malty flavor that’s delicious all by itself but I’m sure would also be amazing with milk. It has just a hint of sweetness to it and no bitterness or astringency at all that I noticed. And, on top of all that, it re-steeps beautifully with almost no reduction in flavor. I brewed this Western-style and got SEVEN delicious infusions before I was ready to move on (and I probably could have done more if I wasn’t anxious to try a different tea.)

Next time Whispering Pines has a sale, I think I’m going to have to break down and place an order…

This was one of the teas in my Lupicia Happy Bag that I was excited to try as soon as I smelled it…the scent is sweet and fruity and just a tiny bit tart, like some kind of delicious cherry candy. Unfortunately, the tartness is taking over my cup. There’s a pleasant, natural cherry flavor as I sip, but the aftertaste puckers up my mouth. I may need to try this one with a bit of sweetener.

Banana is a hard flavor to get right in tea, but Stacy pulls it off well. This tea has a very natural and lightly sweet banana flavor that develops mid-sip and then fades as it is overtaken by a lingering smoky aftertaste. I like it, but I wish I could taste the maple flavoring, which isn’t coming through for me at all. Though I don’t usually sweeten my tea, I may just have to experiment with adding a bit of maple syrup to this one!

I had a free reward on my Starbucks card and decided to redeem it for a free ounce of Yellow Dragon. I’ve been curious about this one for a while, since it’s the most expensive tea that Teavana offers and also because I’ve never had a yellow tea before. Honestly, I’m not quite sure what defines a yellow tea, but this one reminded me of a mild green tea. The flavor was mainly honey, with a bit of floral and just a touch of malt in the aftertaste. Quite delicious! I will have no problem finishing what I have and I would be curious to try other yellow teas. Anyone have recommendations?

This was a pretty basic bagged black peach tea. The base was nondescript. The peach flavor was slightly artificial, but not unpleasantly so. It’s not something I would purchase, but I would drink it again if it was offered to me.

The friend who brewed me a cup of this tea raved about how amazing it was, so my expectations were probably a bit over-inflated. Like most Teavana blends, this smells really good: a rich, chocolately aroma with a hint of coffee…the scent reminds me of a mocha! I definitely tasted both the chocolate and the coffee, but the flavor was quite a bit weaker than I was expecting and there was also a bitterness to the aftertaste that I didn’t enjoy. I would drink this again, but I definitely prefer Chocolate Rocket if I’m looking for a chocolate-flavored yerba mate!

I tried a cup of this at my former roommate’s house and really enjoyed it! It literally tastes like a taffy-covered apple. At the beginning of the sip, I mostly notice a smooth, natural apple flavor that reminds me of a crisp, tart Granny Smith. In the aftertaste, there’s a wave of licorice sweetness. Another great option if you’re looking for a dessert tea with a white base!

This tea made for a very impressive presentation! The bloom was larger and more showy than other blooming teas I’ve tried, with a green leafy base that opened up to be about 3 inches in diameter and yellow and white flowers stretching up about 2 inches high. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as impressed with the flavor. The jasmine was so strong that it felt almost like drinking perfume and the aftertaste was quite bitter (probably because we steeped it for almost 10 minutes in boiling water to get the full bloom to open up.) This gets high marks for decorative value, but it’s not something I’d choose to drink again.

For a bagged tea from the grocery store, this was surprisingly good! The green tea base was smooth and just slightly grassy, but not at all astringent. I didn’t really pick up on the pomegranate or raspberry, but the strawberry came through very clearly and it was a surprisingly sweet, natural flavor. This isn’t something I would buy, but I would definitely drink it again if it was offered to me.