Happy 2025! I’ve been enjoying this ounce of tea from Daylon on special occasions, such as finally regaining my sense of smell after spending a week with a cold. I will need to see how much Whispering Pines charges to ship to Canada, as this tea is as lovely as all the notes on Steepster suggest. I steeped 6 g of leaf in 120 ml of 195F water for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds, plus some long, uncounted steeps.
Wow, this tea is fruity and sweet! The dry aroma is of blackberry, strawberry, caramel, and malt. The first steep has notes of blackberry, strawberry, muscatel, honey, caramel, bread, and malt. I get a lot more muscatel and caramel in steep two, as well as some velvety tannins. There’s a fuzzy, fruity, sweet, lingering aftertaste. I continue to get stewed berries and muscatel in steeps three through six, along with lots of caramel sweetness. By steep seven, bread, malt, and wood become more apparent, though there’s still plenty of berries and muscatel. The final steeps have notes of raisin, muscatel, faint berries, honey, bread, wood, malt, and tannins. (Yes, even the last few steeps of this tea are special.)
This tea is a crowd pleaser for a reason! It’s probably too sweet to be a daily drinker for me, but it’s a wonderfully decadent treat. Those jammy berry notes make me smile.
Flavors: Berries, Blackberry, Bread, Caramel, Honey, Malt, Muscatel, Raisins, Strawberry, Sweet, Tannin, Wood
Golley, Leafhopper, I keep finding your reviews as I research stuff. It seems we have similar tastes. I see from this terrific review that you’re in Canada, so Tealyra isn’t international for you (though it is not necessarily nearby — LoL!). Anyhow, I was intrigued by Whispering Pines PTA, currently OOS. Since your review is recent, it struck me that you could compare it to Tealyra’s Assam “Black Beauty” #8, which sounds very similar. Have you tried it? Cheers!
PS, since you’ve also reviewed Song’s Different Eighteen, I’ll ask, Is it comparable to WPTC’s PTA?
I haven’t had that Assam from Tealyra. I bought a Bai Hao from them several years ago that was just okay, though that doesn’t mean this tea wouldn’t be better. Have you tried it?
The PTA from Whispering Pines tends to sell out fast! In my opinion, it’s kind of like a caramel fruit punch, whereas A Different Eighteen has darker cherry/chocolate/wintergreen notes. PTA is lighter and more berry forward, while ADE is smoother and more elegant. Both are excellent teas with virtually no bitterness. It’s probably harder to find a good Ruby 18 with that wintergreen note and without excessive tannins, which partly explains the higher price point (plus, the vendor has a storefront in California). I’d love to get A Different Eighteen again when the chaos with the States has settled.
@Leafhopper, I have not tried any Bai Hao from Tealyra. You’re referring to their “Bai Hao Yin Zhen Silver Needle”? I don’t see a review from you on it, but it seems to be the only Bai Hao they now carry. Oh well. It seems that they (in Quebec) are about as far from you as I am (in Chicago), but in the opposite direction! But I don’t even know if they operate a brick & mortar storefront! That said, at least you won’t pay a duty to order from them, as you now might if ordering from Song. My Tealyra order from Monday is en-route Stateside, without any apparent customs interference (I think there’s a value threshold for duty.)
I looked up my order and I was actually referring to Dong Fang Mei Ren, which is another name for Bai Hao. It was a decent tea but nothing special. I gave it higher marks due to the value. I don’t think Tealyra carries it anymore.
I think Tealyra sells exclusively online and doesn’t have a storefront. It’s encouraging that your order seems to be getting through with no hassles from customs!