S'mores!

Word to the wise: oversteep this. Just try it. It went from campfire marshmallow dropped in pine needles then carmelized, to all that plus honeyed something-or-other. Now I’m a bit sad that this was a sipdown!

this is very clever. brendan, if your goal is not just to blend a tea then i will state this one an absolute success.

let’s begin however, with what this is not: it is NOT graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate in a tea.

what this is: a snapshot of someone(s) crouched by a campfire, the wind blowing slightly against their favour, trying to pull the roasted marshmallows off their roasting stick without blistering their fingers (they escape mostly unburned, lol).

layers. i really can’t wrap my brain around how you accomplished them.

-i get heat and smoke. they are SEPARATE. and the smoke is not a souchong source. by diagnosis of my tongue it is campfire smoke. the warmth is distinct but seems not to be coming from a spice.

-cinnamon and a cookie qualifier are there… they chime in after the smoke and i would count as layer 2.

-layer 3 is fruit, although very distant and not nameable…. at least not in this first steep.

-4 a softness is beginning to start which i believe will end up as marshmallow.

i don’t know if this is the order that you put them down in, but this is how they manifest for me.

this is an impressive accomplishment. this is less a tea and more a stillframe. and this coming from someone who does NOT particularly favour smoke in tea.

i did amend my methodology given that you are so beautifully purist in your blending brendan: i overleafed (1.5 tbsp) for my 12 oz mug and 2) i used 1 tbsp of coconut sugar. i think the effect is brilliant.

as it cools the warmth is still there, the smoke is SWEETENING, but a charcoal element in also settling in. very, very nicely done.

so if this tea is a memory for you…. let me ask: did your fingers get burned? or was my tongue off? =0)

thanks to MissB for this excellent adventure!

Tea of the morning. This is always such a treat. The combination of flavors is so well done and just plain yummy! It’s lightly sweet and smooth at the beginning with notes of honey, bread, and creamy marshmallow while the dark chocolate and pine flavors linger at the end of the sip. Seriously tasty stuff.

Sipdown!! (185)

I think I am definitely the majority but I am not loving this one. I am getting woodiness from the rooibos and a bit of smoke so the campfire is definitely present. Unfortunately, I am searching but can’t find my s’more. There might be a bit of malt from the black base but it is not the creamy milk chocolate my s’mores have and it is lacking the marshmallow sweetness. I am grateful that I did not need to order a full 2 oz as I surely would have been disappointed. You never know unless you try though so thank you MissB for giving me the opportunity to try this one. If nothing else, you satisfied my curiosity and saved me some money :)

Thank you SO much Veronica! I get to try this one! I’ve been known to eat the occasional microwave s’more for breakfast, so there you go. The steeping instructions say three teaspoons (one tablespoon)! Wow! My sample has four teaspoons, so I went with two teaspoons for this steeping session, so I’d have enough for another cup later on.

Steep #1 // just boiled // 4 min
This is lovely and delicious, but I wouldn’t call it S’mores. It has a nice sweet smokiness, which is the strongest note. There is a hint of chocolate from the black tea, as some Fujian black teas have, but I think other tea drinkers notice that more than I do. I wish there was MORE mallow root here, as I wish there were more teas that used it anyway. But the flavor is sweet and smoky.

Steep #2 // just boiled // 7 min
This cup is nice but even less like S’mores. Maybe it’s my fault for not using enough leaves. I like that it’s a rustic, actual campfire blend that could translate to S’mores (without all the fake ingredients that Whispering Pines doesn’t use). I always wanted a smoky S’mores though, and this is certainly perfect on the sweet smokiness level. I appreciate Whispering Pines’ blending skills… I certainly couldn’t do it! Oh it is just making me miss autumn… I’m sick of winter and it’s not even January yet. Tea makes it a little better.

Another tea from the lovely Dexter! :))))

I had not read anything about this tea, so when I opened the bag and smelled smoke, I was surprised. The dry leaf was very smoky and spicy, and I stood there thinking, “hmmm…not sure I’m going to like this…”…
But then I steeped it… and I’m sitting around a campfire right now, smelling graham, creamy marshmallow, chocolate (yes, I DO smell chocolate), and pine…. and it’s not just a tea, but an experience. I like what this is doing more than if it were just a sweet, s’mores tea…
I needed to be transported, as slushy snow is falling outside and I just want spring….
Sitting around a night fire is much more lovely meditation. :)
Thank you, Dexter!

I got this tea from u/RedSpaceMagic on Reddit’s r/TeaExchange. I wonder if they’re here on Steepster…

Anyway, this tea looks like a chai. Lots of chunks of cinnamon bark, pieces of marshmallow root, and a blend of very dark leaves. It smells pleasantly smoky, with just a breath of spice, and brews up to a lovely shade of amber.

The tea’s aroma is smoky and wintery with hints of pine. It smells like a mild, spiced lapsang souchong. As I taste it, I’m definitely getting a taste of cinnamon graham cracker. Nothing about it seems particularly marshmallowy, which is a tad disappointing. No vanilla. The chocolate aspect is also a natural one, like you taste in the finish of Fujian black teas. No actual cocoa. That aspect is perfect. Actual “chocolate flavor” additives tend to ruin teas to me. The taste of the actual “campfire” the s’more was toasted over is featured the most.

It’s hard to come to a verdict of this tea. While I really like it and find it comforting on this chilly, stormy day… I was hoping this would be more of a dessert tea. I think if it had just claimed to be a smoky spiced blend, it would have been a bit less disappointing for a marshmallow fan.

I’ve tried this one twice now and as a smores addict (it is one of my favorite treats), I am (sadly) not really enjoying this tea for the most part. The most prominent flavor/smell is that of a smokey campfire, so that part is absolutely nailed. Beyond that, I am tasting pine and strong cinnamon without any of the chocolate or graham that I would associate with smores. It is an interesting blend and I don’t hate it or anything, but it isn’t what I expected. It does brew a lovely autumn deep orange with clear liquor. It is very warming with the prominent woods and spice. The tea leaves themselves are long and look to be of high quality, but maybe it needs more marshmallow root and Fujian black? Just guessing here though. I also tried it with milk, but without the cocoa or other sweet notes associated with a dessert blend, I didn’t find it any closer to what I was hoping for. I’m going back to my trusty favorites like GO and Cocoa Amore, which are simply amazing.

I am getting this flavor better today than the last time I tasted this tea. My taste buds were just off. However, I still don’t like it as much as I thought I would. Perhaps I just expected too much from a tea called Smores. I get an undercurrent of chocolate and the flavor of marshmallows. I can even taste the cinnamon. I don’t really taste the rooibos in here. I was expecting something more chocolaty but it is good. I am not tasting the sour notes I was getting last time anyway. We underestimate how much our own taste buds effect the taste of our teas. I have bought teas that tasted incredible the first time I drank them, then gone back to them later to find the just bleh, and this one was puerh so it hadn’t gone stale. This time I did enjoy this tea.

I brewed this tea once in an 18oz teapot with 200 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 min.

Oh my this is tasty. Thank you Kayla for the swap! I’ve been wanting to try a whispering pines tea before I made an order. This tea did not disappoint. It isn’t a s’more flavor such as it’s not graham cracker and gooey chocolate. But it is a roasted marshmallow on a campfire on a cool fall night. If I close my eyes I truly feel, taste and smell like I’m at a bonfire with friends. This may not be an everyday tea but it’s definitely a must have for me.