Whispering Pines Tea Company

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Recent Tasting Notes

84

Pretty sure my feed isn’t working here, but oh well.

This was a sad sipdown, but I appreciated the chance to try it (Thanks KallieBoo!). This is just a really clean, buttery, sweet green tea. It brightened a grey day a little bit even!

Pictures:
http://atinyteapot.tumblr.com/post/66498456759/the-sleeping-bear-blend-from-whispering-pines-tea

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Whispering Pines Tea Company

Wow! That’s the one with bancha…that’s over a year old! Awesome that it still tasted good! :)

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84

I’m trying insanely hard to catch up on all the samples I have floating around! This is another from KallieBoo! (Thank you!)

When I first say the dry leaves here, I thought it was an herbal blend. There’s a large amount of pine needles here and it’s easy to lost the tea. The smell is faint, but fresh and reminds me of fall and camping.

The taste is pretty much what is promised by the smell. A light, fresh tea with subtle sweet floral and a lovely buttery mouthfeel. The pine adds a flavor that I can’t describe as anything but, well, itself. But it makes you think of dewy morning grass, a chill morning air and a crackling bonfire in the distance.

This is a really well-balanced and delicious tea. It’s relaxing and refreshing at once and really hits the spot today.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 45 sec

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Our top-selling green tea blend is back in stock! Our June harvest White Pine was harvested from a grove near Lake of the Clouds in the Porcupine Mountains, Michigan on June 4th. This month’s harvest yields only 10 ounces of The Sleeping Bear Blend, so get yours while it lasts!

This harvest is even better than the last, with an indescribable sweetness brought out by a longer heating process!

http://whisperingpinestea.com/the-sleeping-bear-blend.html

Marzipan

How was the move?

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I personally didn’t think this tea could get better…It was already a perfect embodiment of the love I have for my hometown in Michigan. As my homesickness grows stronger, my memories of the pine forests and the recollection of the spring breeze off the river linger on. The more I miss home, the harder it becomes to create teas that bring me back. I recently took my Christmas vacation to Ohio…a land of deciduous pine forests scattered with sunlight. There, I had my first sip of White Pine – the same species found in my home, The Sleeping Bear Dunes. The White Pine is soft, smooth, and fresh with sweet buttery notes and a hint of bitterness. I decided to remove the bitterness and enhance the buttery notes by processing the pine needles as a lightly-oxidized oolong. After cutting, withering, and drying I packed up the pine and headed back west. The entire plane ride home had me thinking of how I could improve the base of The Sleeping Bear Blend. Upon landing, I had a plan…a theory to tie together a new green tea base and the beautiful White Pine needles. When I got home, the only thing on my mind was to test this theory. I switched out the mao feng green tea with a small-leaf xin yang mao jian green tea, and kept all other ratios the same. Mao Jian is soft, buttery, and reminiscent of spring grass and deep forests. The outcome was closer to my memory than anything I had ever been able to achieve. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this is my first perfect embodiment of a memory in a tea, and will set the benchmark for all of my future blends. I’m proud to be able to offer the new version immediately!

Breathe life, sip inspiration.

http://whisperingpinestea.com/sleepingbear.html

The Inspiration
The current batch of pine needles was harvested on December 27, 2013 in Bellbrook, Ohio.

Imagine a place with rolling pine forests fringed with open meadows and brambles of blackberry bushes just begging you to feed your senses. Imagine a place bursting with wildlife — a new ecological wonder behind every blossoming cherry tree. Imagine being knee-deep in crystal-clear water with pine needles floating by and spring in the air. Imagine love. Imagine my home: The Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Every sip of this tea brings with it a burning passion. Fresh, wild, green pine needles are sustainably wildcrafted from the deepest reaches of the wilderness and processed as a light oolong of around 20-30% oxidation. After cutting, withering, and drying, the needles are mixed with our purely blissful green tea blend, River Rain.

The final product is a lovely blend of green tea with the perfect amount of fresh pine flavor and a hint of jasmine. This tea is based off of the memory of a spring morning walk along Glen Arbor’s Crystal River with the birds singing and otters splashing along that pure, beautiful water. I have created my masterpiece. I have put my heart and soul, The Sleeping Bear Dunes, in a cup.

Breathe life, sip inspiration, and let my beautiful homeland warm your soul.

Please note: There will only be 8-10 ounces of The Sleeping Bear Blend produced each month. Due to this, we would like to limit this blend to 2 ounces per customer per order. If you’d like more, please contact us directly.

Notes
Pine Forest
Sugarcane
Chestnut
Jasmine
Spring rains
Soft Breeze

How to brew the perfect cup:
The ideal way to brew The Sleeping Bear Blend is in a 4 ounce gaiwan with 180ºF water.
Use 1 tablespoon of leaves and begin with 2-5 second infusions. Enjoy 10-15 infusions!

Alternatively, brew western style:
Steep 1/2 tablespoon of leaves
in 8 ounces of 180ºF water
for 1 minute and 30 seconds.

2nd infusion: 2 minutes
3rd infusion: 3 minutes

Ingredients
Green Tea
Sustainably wildcrafted white pine needles

Caffeine Content
Low

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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Trying this in the gaiwan for the first time! :)

I used 1 tbsp in a 4oz gaiwan, quick 2-5 second infusions in 180ºF water.

This is SO much better asian style! Every infusion I’m getting intense fresh pine notes, a touch of light jasmine and an extremely sweet body!

The tea leaves the tip of my tongue with a long-lasting slightly astringent tingly pine note…It’s lovely!

I think I’ll be getting at least 20 infusions out of this. It has some really strong energy too!

EDIT: I got about 20 infusions before i went to bed. Never went past 10 second steeps, either!

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 0 min, 15 sec
mrs.stenhouse12

Need to try this!

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95

I really like this one, It is a very interesting I love safflower and the elderberries are a really nice touch in this one.
Manitou Mist is a very calming peaceful tea to me, I’ve only drank it about 3 times so far but I realized that I like it best late at night before bedtime it really relaxes me.
I think it may even be nice to drink right before meditation too, I’ll try that next time I have it.
I’m really liking Whispering Pines Teas. I just placed a new order with Brenden tonight I’ve just about tried them all, just a few more to go.
There will always be many Whispering Pines teas in my house from now on, an instant favorite place to buy tasty teas online :)

KristiK

You just inspired me to place an order with Whispering Pines. Thanks!

TeaBrat

they have some really interesting stuff

Tommy Toadman

Brenden at WP really does makes some really tasty blends, We have enjoyed every tea we’ve gotten from WP :)

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75

I know it’s only Tuesday, but I’ve had a crap work week already. Happy to be home, hockey season starts tonight. So pizza, chai, and hockey are on the menu. Does chai go with pizza, I don’t know, but chai and hockey go with winter so that’s my choice.
This is ok, a bit cinnamon heavy but not as bad as others I’ve had. Missing cardamom (but then I’m a huge cardamom fan), but all in all not a bad spice blend. What I’m not getting is the coconut. You can see it in the leaves, but I don’t taste it at all. Shrug, not the best not the worst, maybe a bit better than average.

mrs.stenhouse12

I’m doing the same, minus the pizza, although I am craving it tonight for some reason! Must be the colder weather lol

Dexter

Probably. Cold weather = comfort food in my world.

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78

Backlog:

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this to try. I like this Yerba Mate Blend — a really great way to energize!

The cup is smoky, earthy, fruity, sweet and tangy. Nice!

Here’s my full-length review of this tea: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/05/14/painted-paradise-tea-from-whispering-pines-tea-company/

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80

Another tea from my Whispering Pines order. I took this one to work today, and was drinking it for most of the morning.
In all fairness this is a pretty decent dark, chocolaty, malty black tea. (There are more chocolate notes in this one than the oolong I just wrote about). What I didn’t like about this was that it didn’t resteep very well. I normally can get three decent steeps from a straight black. The first steep was great, and then it was all downhill from there. The second steep seemed to have lost all that deep dark goodness, and you were just left with generic black tea. This is quite a bit cheaper than most of my favorite blacks, but if you don’t get the resteep is it really better value?
All in all, this is pretty good.

Sil

i was curious about this one after bonnie’s review. thanks!

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70

This was another one in my Whispering Pines order.
Disappointed, if you are going to call a tea dark chocolate, there should be quite a bit of chocolate notes to it. Yes understand this is a straight oolong, but I also understand that most dark oolongs have a hint of chocolate notes to them. I don’t think this one is special, or has any more chocolate to it than any other oolong. It’s a decent dark oolong, but certainly not dark chocolate. (Or maybe I’m just fussy because I’ve been drinking so many straight blacks that have tons of chocolate notes to them that I was expecting that from this oolong). All in all just ok.

Sil

good to know…another one i can cross off my list of teas to try heh

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Sadly the newest harvest is lacking in dark chocolate notes :/ oh well, can’t win ’em all! :)

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60

This is black, oolong blend and it’s heavy on the oolong. I was getting more oolong than black. The site lists orange and pepper notes, I didn’t get any of that. It’s really just dark roasted oolong.
I’m not sure I got to taste this tea at it’s full potential. Whispering Pines packages leaves something to be desired, and I the leaves were pretty badly crushed when I got it. Not sure how it would be without the “dust”, but this is just ok for me. If I want oolong, I’ll just choose an oolong. I thought this would be more balanced, and I would get both black and oolong notes in it. Sadly that didn’t happen. This is a miss.

Sil

booo on crushed leaves!

Dexter

My whole Whispering Pines order was pretty poorly packaged, but this one and the formosa oolong that I got seemed to have taken the brunt of it. Lost of broken leaves and “dust” in the package.

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After months upon months of sampling and finally choosing the right tea for the job, our newly-redesigned house black tea, North Winds, is now available! Read about the inspiration and new flavor profile below!

Michigan is full of wondrous little towns known for the things they have perfected and small spots of nature that will take your breath away. This tea is inspired by the entire northern area of Michigan, from Traverse City to the Les Cheneaux Islands.

Traverse City is in the northern lower peninsula of the state. They are widely known for their amazing cherries, which are sold alongside other fruits from roadside stands during the summer months. You can get anything cherry here, and it will spoil you for cherries forever. I’ll never be able to eat cherries elsewhere! =)

Heading northward from the cherry capitol of the world and over the longest suspension bridge in the northern hemisphere brings you to Mackinac Island. This island is full of little shops, cafes, and bakeries, and they are very well known for their fudge. Any flavor of fudge you can imagine can be found on this island, but you can never go wrong with a piece of dark chocolate fudge as Autumn is closing in!

As the north winds bring you higher and the first snow begins to fall, the Les Cheneaux Islands and surrounding area of the upper peninsula will send chills down your spine. The wind picks up, the lake begins to freeze, and a snowstorm will keep you indoors with a hefty cup of black tea as company. Looking outside at the winter wonderland, you can’t help but notice that you are in the most beautiful place in the world.

Our house black tea for good reason — North Winds is the essence of northern Michigan. Sweet fruity notes of apricot and white grape bring you to Traverse City while heavy dark chocolate notes allow you to have that Mackinac Island fudge desert without having to take the ferry. Notes of toasted rye with cherry preserves show up mid-sip with a beautiful malt and wildflower honey finish. These smooth, decadent notes combine into a medium-bodied tea with a bold and rustic feel that makes for a perfect breakfast tea — but you’ll want to drink this all day long!

North Winds is blended seasonally to achieve the most balanced flavor profile. The current offering is a blend of Spring and Autumn 2014 material from Fujian and Yunnan provinces of China.

Available here: http://whisperingpinestea.com/north-winds.html

Sil

would this be the version that was sent out this past month? Or would i have the previous version?

Whispering Pines Tea Company

You’ve got the previous version. This just launched 10 minutes ago! :D

I’m so excited about this tea…I’ve been drinking it every day!

Sil

doh lol

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Hehe, it’s okay…just know that if you like anything about the one you have, you’ll love the new one ;-)

Tommy Toadman

I didn’t think North Winds could get any better, I’ve always loved it :) i can’t wait to try the new one soon.

TheTeaFairy

Sounds so good!!

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I have some big news — Whispering Pines is headed back to Michigan!

For the past two years, I have been growing the company in hopes that eventually it would fund a move back home. While being located in different locations over the past two years, my heart has always been in Northern Michigan. After all, it is the land of inspiration — the place that created who I am, and in turn, what Whispering Pines has become.

I am proud to announce that because of my amazing customers, I am finally able to go home! On June 1st I begin the journey from Arizona to White Pine, Michigan, just southeast of the Porcupine Mountains. The expected arrival date is no later than June 4th.

I will keep the website open to orders during the move, but they will not be fulfilled until I complete the move and settle into my new home. All orders after Wednesday the 28th at 11:59pm will be filled after the move and sent out no later than Monday, June 9th.

I can’t thank you all enough for helping me grow the business to this point, though I can promise you a few things. Firstly, be on the lookout for new teas. With inspiration comes new teas, and finally going home is sure to provide me with plenty of inspiration! Secondly, rest assured that no matter how much Whispering Pines grows, my quality, handmade traditions, and customer care will always be top-notch. And finally, I can promise you many photos of my new homeland! You can follow my photography on Facebook at Whispering Pines Photography (http://www.facebook.com/whisperingpinesphoto) or at www.lifethroughthepines.blogspot.com.

Once again, than you for making all of this possible! I couldn’t have done it without you!

Cheers,
Brenden Gebhart
Owner and Tea Mixologist

I’m sipping on this tea. It’s a comforting tea and it’s bringing me home :)

Marzipan

Congrats!

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Congrats to you! You helped me do it! :D

TheTeaFairy

Félicitations! So happy for you, and can’t wait to see what type of new wonderful concoctions you come up with, i’ll be first in line to try them :-)

Memily

Such wonderful news for you Brendan!

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Thanks for the good vibes, everyone! :-D

MzPriss

Safe travels home Brenden. I’m gonna go make my last cup of this now.

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From today forward, every ounce of tea you buy will plant a tree! And no, this is not an April fool joke!

Effective April 1st, 2014, Whispering Pines Tea Company has pledged to donate to non-profits specializing in sustainability. Our foremost goal for this pledge is to offset the negative effects of worldwide deforestation to create a stronger, cleaner, and greener future. We pledge to plant a tree for every single ounce of tea you purchase from today forward. Many of these trees will be planted by non-profits in parts of the world where deforestation is a large concern for the ecosystem, and many will be planted directly by the staff at Whispering Pines.

We feel great pride in taking these vital steps to preserve some of the most pristine areas on Earth and we are honored to create a simple way for our customers to do the same.

Anyway, this is my morning cup today because it’s cozy and rich. This and Golden Orchid have become my go-to black teas in the morning recently :)

Flavors: Chocolate, Honey, Malt

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
Bonnie

You a A+ and I’ve been enjoying your slack-line pictures too! Can’t figure out if you’re in Europe competing or here though?! Hope everyone knows that you are a big time athlete as well as a tea guy!

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Thanks Bonnie! I just got back…was only a 4 day trip, but I won! :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLInST2BVj0

tea-sipper

I love the tree planting! :D

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Me too! I’m really excited! :D

Bonnie

Wow Brenden, keep everyone posted! Need more vid’s on your Whispering Pines site! You are awesome!

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A full-bodied black tea with notes of sweet fruit, dark chocolate, and malt!
-
Michigan is full of wondrous little towns known for the things they have perfected and small spots of nature that will take your breath away. This tea is inspired by the entire northern area of Michigan, from Traverse City to the Les Cheneaux Islands.

Traverse City is in the northern lower peninsula of the state. They are widely known for their amazing cherries, which are sold alongside other fruits from roadside stands during the summer months. You can get anything cherry here, and it will spoil you for cherries forever. I’ll never be able to eat cherries elsewhere! =)

Heading northward from the cherry capitol of the world and over the longest suspension bridge in the northern hemisphere brings you to Mackinac Island. This island is full of little shops, cafes, and bakeries, and they are very well known for their fudge. Any flavor of fudge you can imagine can be found on this island, but you can never go wrong with a piece of dark chocolate fudge as Autumn is closing in!

As the north winds bring you higher and the first snow begins to fall, the Les Cheneaux Islands and surrounding area of the upper peninsula will send chills down your spine. The wind picks up, the lake begins to freeze, and a snowstorm will keep you indoors with a hefty cup of black tea as company. Looking outside at the winter wonderland, you can’t help but notice that you are in the most beautiful place in the world.

North Winds is the essence of northern Michigan. Fruity sweet notes bring you to Traverse City while heavy dark chocolate notes allow you to have that Mackinac Island fudge desert without having to take the ferry. These smooth, decadent notes combine into a heavy bodied tea with a medium-malty background that makes for a perfect breakfast tea — but you’ll want to drink this all day long!

Please note: You can get at least 5 full-bodied infusions out of this tea!

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec

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Thank you Brenden for the surprise in my mailbox of this sample tea!

The last time I had some tea from Whispering Pines was…well…in the beginning of the company during the short phase where most of the tea’s (if not all) were smoky. There was a lot of feedback from Steepster folks that Brenden listened to (this is what makes a great tea vendor by the way) and now there is a wide variety of tea’s to choose from on his Whispering Pines Website.

I’ll have to admit though, that I hadn’t looked at the website for a long, long time (over a year).

Brenden noticed my lack of attention to his company (he being a regular Steepster hawk), and sent me a couple of tea samples (smart man).

Kudo’s that this Fujian isn’t smoky! It arrived not contaminated with smoke from the other tea’s that Whispering Pines is known for…the outdoorsy tea’s!

I’m not going to play games with a long review. I’ll get right to the point and then explain.

If you love tea’s like chocolaty Laoshan Black or Fujian Black Pearls this is the tea for you!

Brenden doesn’t lie when he discribes his tea as chocolate. It doesn’t taste like barley or bread, just chocolate tea with a hint of malt. Medium thickness, rich and smooth with a gentle fading of the flavor lingering softly in the mouth.

Delicious dessert tea!

This is the only truly chocolaty black tea that I’ve tasted other than Verdant’s and companies that carry Fujian Black Pearls (which are maltier).

If this was a stock, I’d buy it! Winner!

Hope you don’t mind but I’m attaching another little musical piece by my granddaughter with my photo’s. http://youtu.be/bOKtmS5L9BQ
We’re collaborators.

Added note Oct. 4th I just discovered a talent that Brenden from Whispering Pines has… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUYSjbD0kW4&feature=share&list=UUIhSZ7loxDZ7166OavqfrhA

COOL

Sil

interesting. :)

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48

I could’ve sworn I tried this before. I guess I just didn’t remember to write a note for it.
It’s got a nice scent to the brew. Kinda malty. Mild woody taste. Also vaguely sweet & kinda fruity maybe?
Overall this is pretty unremarkable to me. I enjoyed trying it, and I’ll finish what I have, but I’ll probly not be ordering any more.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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81

A sample of this came with my order from Whispering Pines. At first I wanted to have this as my morning tea, but I got distracted by a random sencha I came across in my tea box and brewed that up instead. Then the very blah morning turned into a very blah afternoon, so I thought it would be the perfect afternoon tea. As I was steeping this, one of my friends (and his flatmates) stopped by for a quick visit, since I’d been planning on giving them a box of various teas to try out (a few of them are tea drinkers). We chatted for a bit, and when they left I suddenly realised that I was starving, so I thought I’d cook up an early dinner.

Well, as it turns out, that ‘quick dinner’ turned into ‘cook enough food for the next two or three days’. So on the plus side, yay, I have lots of food now, but oh no, I realised that I’d oversteeped my tea by a few hours.

So I rushed back to my room, which smelled like a warm apple pie, and took the strainer out of my mug. Since the tea base is an oolong, I had hope that it would still be drinkable. It still smelled great, after all!

I took a sip and was totally wowed by the flavour! With a tiny bit of sugar, it would basically be the liquid form of a freshly baked apple pie. It still tasted amazing plain, though, with a hint of sweetness. The apple and cinnamon flavours were perfectly balanced. The cinnamon actually tasted sweeter than what I was expecting. Or at least I think it was the cinnamon. It may have been the apple.

I’m so glad I got to try this out, even if I oversteeped it by a lot! I think I still have enough of the sample for another cup. Hopefully I won’t be so distracted then!

Whispering Pines Tea Company

One thing I LOVE about this tea is that it’s a “whatever” tea. By that I mean that you can’t mess it up. You can steep it for 2 minutes or you can steep it for 2 hours and it tastes amazing either way! :)

Note two neat things on this tea, as well as its inability to oversteep:

You can get 5 or more infusions out of it! Steep like this: 2 minutes, 2 minutes, 3, 4, 5, 8…and so on :)

Also: the apple notes are all-natural. There is no added flavoring whatsoever in this blend!

Glad you enjoyed it!

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84

Having a cup of this tonight, so good. Smoky yet sweet and spicy. A very sweet citrus aftertaste tonight too! I’m at my bfs parents this weekend and they have a fireplace, and this just seemed appropriate to sip by the fire. My kitten is here too, he’s had a holiday here all week while work has been done on the apartment, so he’s sleeping in his cat tower and my bfs parents cat is sleeping beside me, making me sneeze lol. Man I love cats. Nice to relax tonight finally, tgif!! See previous notes on this tea :)

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84

I’m giving this tea the chance to make me like smoky teas haha, so far I’ve only had DavidsTea’s LS and it was just too much for me. So here we go with this one! The dry smell is nicely smoky, not overpowering, but definitely a lapsang blend. There’s a faint hint of spices as well. I steeped to Whispering Pines recommendations, 5 minutes with boiling water. The resulting liquor is dark, deep red, and smells primarily of smoky pine but with a sweetness and a spiciness.

As for the flavor…yes! This is more like how a smoky tea should be! It’s quite tasty! I get a lovely smoked pine note of course, but there is some body to this tea, I think from the rooibos. That also probably adds to the slightly woody flavor. The spices are definitely in there as well, and a hint of the citrusy orange melds in too. As it cools, it seems like the flavors meld together even better. I can actually tell this is a blend with LS, it doesn’t overpower. And none of that sickly aftertaste of cigarettes in this one!

Overall, I am quite impressed with this tea. It is making me see that I might be able to like smoky blends after all :) very happy I picked up an oz of this to try!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
mrs.stenhouse12

Thanks! I definitely will, a very tasty blend by you guys!! :)

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84

Just wanted to say, Whispering Pines Tea’s customer service is great! There was a minor issue with my order that was quickly resolved by Brenden, who also sent me an additional sample of this new tea. Thanks, Brenden!

I managed to get three steeps out of this tea and took brief notes of it.

Steep 1: The mint is pretty strong, but I can still taste the chocolatey goodness from the Fujian Black. Tastes really similar to the ice cream flavour. Yum!

Steep 2: The black tea base is becoming more prominent now, with the mint starting to fade into the background. Sort of like a minty hot chocolate, I’d say.

Steep 3: This really reminds me of a chocolate mint now. More dark chocolate with a subtle hint of mint.

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Glad you enjoyed this one! :)

Ag

It was really tasty! Definitely going on my shopping list for a future order. :D

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