84 Tasting Notes

89

This is an amazingly complex tea.

I adore coconut so that’s what drew me to it but it’s many layers are captivating. This is no ordinary coconut tea.

I feel like I can’t do it justice right now but in short the citrus and cake notes are definitely there. I was afraid of the banana but while I can taste it the way it layers with the other flavors make it work.

I can see how this would be an amazing perfume. It smells wonderful but it doesn’t taste perfumy or overwhelmingly floral. Definatly floral but no sign of soap.

Edit: I lied. There is a tiny bit of soap after taste that comes in as an after taste. This is what I get for writing as I sip. Still worth it completely for the complex coconut.

mj

I also adore coconut!

Frolic

Have you tried Zen Tea’s green or oolong coconut teas? Nowhere as complex but really good.

mj

I have not but I love a good coconut oolong! As long as lemongrass isn’t involved- blech. I’ll put Zen Tea’s on the wishlist. I like Golden Moon’s coconut pouchong a lot. Have you tried that one?

OMGsrsly

The coconut oolong from SOKO is even better, IMO. Harder to get, though, since they don’t have an online shop.

Frolic

What dos SOKO stand for?

I’m kinda afraid to ask cause I’m on a no-buy.

I haven’t tried Golden Moon’s but it’s been on my mental wishlist for a long time.

OMGsrsly

I have no idea if it stands for anything. It’s just allcaps on their signage, so I write it in allcaps.
http://www.sokoteahouse.com/

Frolic

Well if I keep myself from buying it till I finally make a trip to BC I’ll be fine I think! Cause that won’t happen for some time!

OMGsrsly

Haha. :) That’s a good plan!

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96

It really isn’t fair is it? if I had had this before I tried Cocoa Amore this would have ranked higher but I just can’t give everything 100 now can I?

It is quite lovely though. A brillent idea. It is a wonderful before bed tea for those of us not sensitive to caffiene. I always think I’m done with tea for the night, I get all comfy under the covers and then I think, just one more cup. Then I’ll be done. Just one more cup.

Roasty and smooth. Warm and round. Curled up by the fireplace or snug in bed.

The Laoshan Black is already so chocolaty it’s amazing what the addition of more does to it. Man it’s intense!

Excuse me but I think I hear my water boiling for another infusion(my last I promise!).

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100

Je t’aime Cocoa Amore! (I know I know I’m mixing my French and Italian)

The smell of juicy sweet plump cherries wafts up from this tea upon opening the bag followed by rich sweet chocolate.

I drank this after several steeps of GO and was nervous about expanding into the full world of Vanilla Dreams? What if I’d built it up in my mind? What if GO was a one off fluke and I just bought all this tea that wouldn’t live up to the promise Golden Orchid made me?

But my Amore, she did not disappoint. In fact… * gasp * I may indeed like her even better than GO. She is even more intense and passionate. Like a sexy flamenco dancer dressed in vibrant red.

I drank 4 infusions of CA and though it morphed and evolved it never got weak. Those luscious chocolate cherries. I had my last cup over 4 hours ago and it’s flavor is fresh in my mind. In all her desserty glory it never forgets that she is first and for most a tea. The chocolate and cherry rises organically from the tea, enhancing it not masking it.

I’m already in bed, ready to go to sleep but I want to go make another cup of this so badly. It’s going to take a lot of self restraint to stay in bed and not wander into the kitchen in the middle of the night.

Wow. Just wow.

Thank you steepster for introducing me to so many amazing teas.

Flavors: Cherry, Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Vanilla

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
TheTeaFairy

Yay!!! Now you understand :-) and great review!!

mj

Awesome review :-) It makes me want to try this even more!

Stephanie

Sounds dreamy

Frolic

Yes Tea Fairy you have made me a true convert just through your reviews!

It truly is dreamy. I’m drinking another cup right now and it’s even better than I remembered it.

TheTeaFairy

Haha! Frolic, I love converting people to WP, it’s an easy thing to do :-) so happing you like it as much as I do…I even bought a poster of it, that how much I love it! Now you must try port, it’s back in stock in case you haven’t notice ;-)

Frolic

I saw that but sadly I’m banned from buying any more tea for quite some time so no Port for me :(

I will enjoy the many nommy teas I already own though and there will be a time for Port.

TheTeaFairy

Yes, very wise, keep it for a special time frolic, it is worth all your attention :-)

Frolic

That’s what I’m learning with WP teas. They are to be sipped and savored.

When I read that it was best to let GO age a bit and notice how it’s flavor profile evolves the first thought in my head was “how will I ever be able to make this oz last more than a week!”

Now I know that these are amazingly satisfying teas. It may take some will power to not just gulp down the nommy richness, but it will be it’s own reward.

Helene

Can we get this tea in Canada?

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Hi Helene! WP Teas are available exclusively through www.whisperingpinestea.com. Shipping to Canada is $10 up to $75 and then free :-)

Helene

Thank you, I have never heard of your company before. I will look at your website. I can live with $10 shipping tea if the tea is worth buying :)

TheTeaFairy

Oh, Helene…it IS worth it, beleive me!!!

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Helene, here’s a 15% off coupon for first-time customers :-) “sip-inspiration”

Helene

Hubby worked in LA for 5 yrs and now is in Asia. It’s too back I did not know about Whispering Pines Tea Co before, I would have shipped him so tea. I will take the 15% off coupon, that will help. Thanks so much!

Helene

Would you tell me how many cups of tea will I get from this Cocoa Amore please?

Helene

I meant if I order 1 ounce of this tea.

Whispering Pines Tea Company

If you do the recommended 3 infusions, Cocoa Amore will give you at approximately 36 cups worth per ounce.

Helene

Thanks for the answer. Can we order this tea in smaller bags?

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Unfortunately I can’t offer samples of Cocoa Amore, but I can give you a money-back guarantee that it’s delicious! :)

Helene

That’s great, I’m sure I would love it anyway :)

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90

This tea is so weird.

Good weird.

Somehow I can taste every single element of it and while it’s quite the busy tea it’s very yum. The pumpkin pie comes out and screams "oh hi now, I’m pumpkin pie!!!!!!(how is this ever going to work?) out peaks something soft and creamy(oh hmmm vanilla I see you now) then at the swallow comes some sweet chocolate(wait a minute did I seriously just drink a Pumpkin Pie Crepe with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce tea?)

Why yes I did!

I hot brewed/flash chilled my first batch, saved the bag and did a second cold brew of it for about 16 hours rendering a rather potent drink.

This is a crazy tea I can never quite wrap my head around but I keep drinking more of it so it’s doing something right.

Flavors: Chocolate, Cream, Dark Chocolate, Pumpkin, Spices, Vanilla

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100

Backlogging

Simply divine. Decadent and delicious.

I don’t know what there is left to say about it that hasn’t already been said.

It’s smooth and rich, desserty without being cloying. It’s a snuggly tea. It wraps you up in a big hug.

I consumed my whole sample pack in two sets of steepings with in 24 hours. Since it holds up well to multiple steeps that’s a lot of tea! I was continuously surprised that each additional steep brought out new dimensions and joy.

Now I know what all the hype is about!

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Glad you enjoyed this! :)

MzPriss

I’m drinking some RIGHT now and I <3 it. Welcome to the GO addiction.

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90

This is lovely. It’s the first green SBT I’ve tried and it certainly won’t be the last. Thank goodness for Kickstarter.

It really does taste creamy!. It’s not hard to make a decent peach tea but the cream notes seem hit or miss and it’s trickier with a green tea not to make it too heavy. It actually tastes a bit sweet drinking it straight up with out sugar.

I cold brewed it for about 7 hours I think. Normally with black teas I go up 10-12 but I thought with the green base it might be better with a shorter steep so I sipped it earlier and was very happy with the flavor and removed the tea bag.

I’m crazy itchy all over for some unknown reason and I’m just trying to distract myself from it so I don’t scratch my skin off. This tea is a refreshing diversion, perfect for a hot day.

I saved the tea bag because I’m stingy and want to try a second brew with it, probably traditional with hot water then dilute with ice. If anyone has tried this let me know how it worked and how much water you used. If I can get multiple steeps out of any tea I will!

Flavors: Cream, Creamy, Peach

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more
ashmanra

I don’t know if it will work the same with their greens as with their black teas, but with SBT I always steep as directed and immediately resteep and mix the two steeps together. I get a gallon of fabulous iced tea. Hope it works for green tea, too!

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95

No one’s rated this yet?

Mmmmm it was yummy. Just the pallet cleanser I needed after the shan tea disappointment.

I had it straight up because I couldn’t find any sugar and it is by far and away one of the best chai’s I’ve had. I can’t wait to play around with doing it stove top or with coconut milk.

What makes it stand out is the assam I think. Any tea company can add some spices to tea and call it chai(though these spices are perfectly balanced) but here the assam shines. I’ve always felt like assam was the best base for chai(I think it’s traditional) and it’s really visible here.

I just feel content and want to spend the morning snuggling my kitty and drinking chai.

Marzipan

I should pop this open. For some reason chais are more of a fall thing for me.

Frolic

I have two sample pouches of it so I figure one for now and one for fall :)

Marzipan

I’m really wondering what next month’s box will be like, since so many of these teas are on their site (and seem to be their regular items).

carol who

Good tea and a kitten ..! What could be better!

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23
drank Black Tea by Shan Valley
84 tasting notes

Not feeling it this morning.

Maybe with some milk and sugar but that’s no excuse for a tea. It tastes bitter and even though I felt like I underbrewed it a tad

Going to toss the rest of this cup. Life’s to short for tea that isn’t delightful.

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86

Ah my baptism of the Takeya Flash Chill Tea Maker. But I didn’t even flash chill it. I was a wimp and cold brewed because that’s how I always make my ice teas. Now reading the reviews I see I should have saved the bag and done a second hot brew and tried out the flash chill method.

Well there’s plenty more SBT where that came from!

I like this flavor because it reminds me of the lemon lime cheesecake honeybush blend that was my all time favorite 52teas cheesecake blend.

I cold brewed for about 14ish hours, maybe even 16. I was worried I overdid it but it tastes amazing. All citrus tanginess. More of a lemon lime than a key lime but still super refreshing and highly recommended.

Preparation
Iced

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51

I went to the orthopedist this morning for my shoulder and the first thing out of his mouth was, “well we could do surgery” EEEEEKKK luckily he followed it up by saying he’d prefer to do PT and cortisone shots along with NSAIDs for now. Me too!

But now I hurt from his poking prodding and manipulating. Normally I’d go for a standard comfort tea but my shame at seeing the number of samples sitting in my cupboard unreviewed overtook me and luckily this was a nice choice for something light.

Now onto the tea—Fruity! Peachy and light. Very green tasting. My first Darjeeling in a very long time. I’ve forgotten what they tasted like so I don’t know what to compare it to.

The site said to use boiling water that had cooled for 3-5 minutes. I want to know what temp! I guessed 195 and well it tasted good so that’s something?

ETA held up to a second steep nicely. I had no idea if I should try or not but figured worse case I wasted 6oz of water. Steeped for about 3-3.5 minutes. Lighter flavor but more fruity than grassy this time.

Flavors: Grass, Peach

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 30 sec
Single Origin Teas

Auch sorry! I’ve heard that I need to put more exact brewing instructions from several people. In my head I just see everyone making the tea to their own preferred standards. But now that I think about it I should definitely put up some better guidelines for people to go off of.

Sounds like if you got the peachy taste you made it right! I would probably use water temperature anywhere from 185-210 (boiling). Its technically supposed to be a black tea, but it underwent such a light oxidation that when I drink it I treated it more like an oolong.

Cheri

Yeah, I’ve just been guessing on the SOT ones. I think suggestions are a good idea for people who don’t know where to start, but then people can play around from there.

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Profile

Bio

I’m a long time tea addict since my british grandma started me on english breakfast tea as a toddler.

Since then I’ve branched out substantially. Right now I’m a big oolong fan. I love high mountain oolongs most but any high quality oolong is a treat.

Flavor wise I love vanilla and chocolate as well as stone fruits, whether they occur naturally or as flavorings. My tea stash is pretty much split 50/50 flavored and unflavored.

Oh and coconut! I’m constantly in search of the perfect coconut tea. If you have one or know one shoot me a message cause I’d love to know.

I love reading and knitting. They are my two other addictions besides tea. I think one can never really have too much tea, yarn, or books.

Location

Bay Area.

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