ashmanra Send Message

I placed my first ever order with Whispering Pines! I am trying to get some small orders in during the quarantine to support the small businesses. I have had a number of their teas, but they were all ordered by other people as gifts to me.

I really wrestled with what to order and settled on the aged white tea pearls and a Bao Zhong, but I really, really wanted to try Sparrow. I guess Brendan read my mind across the miles because I had a generous sample of it in my box!

Now here’s the thing – I am not allowed to review it here yet because I reviewed it for Sororitea Sisters, so I won’t say what it tasted like but rather what happened after drinking it.

This is a GABA oolong, and those are supposed to be very helpful during times of stress. There might be a little of that right now, right? That is one reason I really especially wanted to try it NOW.

I made lots of steeps and shared it with my husband rather late at night. I went to sleep and had a vivid dream. I can see it all even now, and I really haven’t been dreaming much lately that I remember.

The Dream – I was across the street at my neighbor’s house sitting in the front yard with my daughter who lives with us. I do go there five days a week to let his dog out. Suddenly a neighbor came out of her home, very agitated and frightened. She told me that a woman standing on the corner was a vampire. I looked at the woman from the distance and she was dressed in a long white gown, not very vampire-ish but definitely anachronistically dressed. Women began hurrying into my neighbor’s house carrying crystals and brooms, all banding together for protection from the “vampire.” I did not feel alarmed or frightened at any point in the dream.

I looked across at my house and saw the cars of my oldest daughter and son. I was surprised to see them there and I hurriedly put away the lawn chairs and headed home, but when we got there, they had already gone. They were only stopping for a moment to get something and left quickly because of the social distancing orders.

I sat down on the sofa, leaning my head against the back, understanding that it had to be but sad that I missed them and wishing I had been there to see them even if only for that brief moment. Then I woke up.

As I puzzled over the dream, which may have meant nothing at all, I wondered if the ”vampire” was the coronavirus, or social distancing. I assumed my brain was just processing the fact that I am a little sad at not being able to see my kids who don’t live here. I haven’t seen those two since January 4th. My youngest daughter did come for my birthday in March right before distancing began, so I have seen her fairly recently.

So now I wonder – was it the GABA that made the dream so vivid? Did it help me realize how much it bothers me that I can’t see my kids when I didn’t realize what a stressor it is to me?Was it helping me process or understand what I am feeling right now or was it purely coincidence that I had such a vivid dream that night?

It didn’t fix anything – I still can’t visit my kids! But I was so calm in the dream. The “vampire” didn’t scare me, the odd neighbor didn’t worry me, I just wanted to get home to see my son and daughter. And then I wasn’t devastated, I was just a bit sad. Is that the GABA working? Has anyone else experienced anything like this with a GABA tea?

Since I just drank the rest of the sample, it will be interesting to see if I dream again tonight.

Okay, so there are a ton of teas that I have not added to cupboard. Some of them are small amounts, some of them are not listed on Steepster and I just don’t feel like adding them. With the quarantine, I am trying to sip down small packs and get my cupboard cleaned and organized, both online and in real life.

I don’t like most red rooibos, but I DO like honeybush. This has both. I figured this blend would have enough flavoring to mask the unpleasant cough syrup flavor. Happily, I was right.

This is really strong on the caramel flavor and is sweet and smooth. I added nothing to it, but if you wanted to go wild with milk (or cream) and sugar, I can tell this would be an amazing latte.

It says there is hazelnut, and it is a bit nutty, but I still feel like caramel dominates. I am drinking it hot right now, but made a liter of it lightly sweetened to serve as iced tea tomorrow.

I might try it soon as a totally unhealthy, rich and sugary latte.

derk sent me a generous sample of this a while back, and I think it was the first tea I pulled from the box to try. Today we did something new…since we couldn’t go to church for Easter or visit anyone, I made a little brunch of waffles with strawberries and whipped cream and we had a gong fu tray outside. The forecast said rain wouldn’t start until 2pm, so I was pretty surprised to get out there and see lots of clouds. It held off long enough for a nice long session.

My husband ran an extension cord through the garden to the backyard where we were having tea on a blanket so I could keep the water hot enough. Had it been a green, I would have just used a tetsubin on a warmer.

This steeps up dark for a darjeeling, at least compared to the ones I have had. It is much more similar to black tea to me, and is smooth and lacking the bite that I always have to tame with just the right parameters for darjeeling. This is much more forgiving and boy did it ever last! Steep after steep.

When it started getting paler, I just steeped much longer, and it kept going and didn’t get bitter.

Even my husband liked it, and he is not a big fan of black tea without milk and sugar, though he has decided to eschew additives and is getting himself accustomed to plain black tea.

I must say it went well with the strawberries, as the fruitiness of the tea wasn’t biting and sharp like some darjeeling is to me, which would have been too much in my opinion.

Happy Easter to all!

I made a pot of this to go with a cinnamon breakfast bagel this morning. My husband has been asking for black and puerh tea “just in case” it helps against Covid19, and I was getting tired of the same very mild ones all the time. I made this hoping it would pass muster enough, but instead of just passing (he usually wants oolong, white, or green) he said he thought it was really good. He was drinking it sans additions, too. So hooray!

Naturally I showed him some other black teas and rattled the tins, and then let me hear the lack of rattle of this tin. The leaves are too fluffy and light to make a sound! We made two steeps and mixed them together for one big pot. It was gone before we knew it. Good stuff.

This doesn’t have the roughness of some Assams that my poor tummy can’t handle.

Most of you know my husband prefers to drink oolong, green, or white tea. He likes black but has always needed milk and sugar to enjoy it so he asks for tea that he likes plain to keep it simpler and healthier.

Then I showed him the article about black and puerh tea extracts having efficacy against corona type viruses in a lab setting, just because it was interesting. But he has been super cautious because he is essential personnel and helped oversee setting a quarantine facility for the military as well as a drive through Covid testing site and has to keep working. Two coworkers got sick and were tested but no results have come through. He had little contact with them and isn’t worried, but a nine day hospitalization with near fatal pneumonia years ago has left him cautious, so basically I make black and puerh tea constantly while he is home.

While I am glad he is drinking black tea sans additions now, a wonderful wonderful takeaway from this situation, I was getting the screaming Mimis for something OTHER THAN mild black. So for supper last night, I made this.

I have two sample packs of it, and I desperately hope they still sell this because it was amazing. We tried to order Chinese food just to support the little family at our local restaurant but they have closed for now to stay safer, so I made mushrooms, onions, and red bell peppers in a veggie and soy sauce stock with Asian noodles. Basically it was a veggie lomein. It was delish. I love mushrooms, though, so…

The baked flavor was there, but with food it seemed only mildly roasted. It might be different if it was paired with sweets or served alone. The floral aspect was somehow heightened and oh my goodness, it was silky smooth and easy to guzzle. The food wasn’t heavy but it was substantial in texture and flavor, and yet still the tea managed to shine through and take a starring role in the meal. Definitely a re-order.

Huge pot made for breakfast. This is dark and woody.

I see a lot of reviews calling it fishy but it must have been that I got a better batch. It is a little tingly on the tongue after the sip, is going to resteep like gangbusters from the looks of these first two, and fills the need of something hot to drink.

I like it fine, but it is a daily drinker. I won’t have any trouble finishing it contentedly, but I do greatly prefer Adagio’s Pu Erh Chorange.

We finished this one today!

My husband had to go in to work for a little while this morning and then drop off papers at a coworkers house. I had told him about the article that said elements of black and puerh tea had been shown effective against SARS, and he texted me, “On the way back with bagels. Have some of that corona fighting tea available, please!” Ha ha!

He is being super careful, as he should be, and wants to fight this virus with everything we have at our disposal. He had a too-close-to-fatal brush with pneumonia years ago that left him hospitalized for nine days.

I made some honey walnut cream cheese and this tea. It is a really tiny tuo, but it does make a lot of tea. The recipe for the cream cheese is a copycat online for the one they sell at Panera.

I poured boiling water on it for about ten seconds and poured it off. I replaced the lid on the teapot and let it steam and open up for about five or ten minutes. Then I made two consecutive steeps of about four minutes each and combined them. The pot holds about 26 ounces.

The first steep was inky dark, and the second was still richly colored. Combined, they were a happy medium. It tasted great. I made a third steep and didn’t even time it because I thought it would need lots of time to extract whatever flavor is left, and we are drinking it. It is good, but it is a little lighter than I prefer. I should have used less water.

I am counting on the heat of the tea to make my throat a less hospitable place for viruses to thrive.