Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Black Tea Leaves
Flavors
Bread, Chocolate, Cocoa, Cream, Malt, Roasted Barley, Spices, Sweet Potatoes, Sweet, Tart, Toast, Wheat
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by eastkyteaguy
Average preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 10 oz / 295 ml

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5 Tasting Notes View all

  • “This sample was generously provided by Whispering Pines Everything about this tea tastes like delicious stout. The cereal. The chocolate. The sweet, almost syrupy, rich malt. Stout… I swear it...” Read full tasting note
    82
  • “Thanks so much for sharing this, Kawaii433! I certainly don’t think I’ve even had a tea that looked like this before? The closest might be Zen’s black dragon pearls. Black bundles with hints of...” Read full tasting note
    84
  • “Wow, its been a while. Got a sampler of this in an order last year and finally sipping it down. Given my last note was almost 5 years ago, I thought I would make a new one. I’ll agree with the...” Read full tasting note
    50
  • “Trying another GABA tea. This one is black pearl GABA. I don’t know enough about black tea to know what type they used. It was tightly balled up and when unfurled, they were big, dark, full leaves....” Read full tasting note
    83

From Whispering Pines Tea Company

This has quickly become one of my favorite teas! Super rich, creamy and slightly toasty, with unique cereal notes that to me taste like the waffle things in chex mix!

This tea is rolled and will unfurl into beautiful, HUGE leaves.

https://www.whisperingpinestea.com/products/gaba-black-pearl-spring-2018

About Whispering Pines Tea Company View company

Whispering Pines Tea Company is dedicated to bringing you the most original, pure, beautiful tea blends. We use only the highest quality ingredients available to create additive-free teas teas inspired by the pristine wilderness of Northern Michigan. Our main focus is on customer satisfaction and quality.

5 Tasting Notes

82
1429 tasting notes

This sample was generously provided by Whispering Pines

Everything about this tea tastes like delicious stout. The cereal. The chocolate. The sweet, almost syrupy, rich malt. Stout… I swear it has some carbonated fizz too. Beer vibes all around.

I don’t drink alcohol that often because even small amounts make me feel like crap, but I miss my old staple stout Dark Matter (Hoyne’s Brewery, Victoria, BC). It’s such a local favourite that I’ve see a few food businesses incorporate it into their products- the most noteworthy (to me) being Cold Comfort’s ice cream. I miss Victoria sometimes. (thank you for taking me to that happy place, tea).

Steep Count: 2

Flavors: Bread, Chocolate, Cocoa, Cream, Malt, Roasted Barley, Spices, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
derk

I would love to visit Victoria! The closest I’ve been are San Juan and Orcas Islands. Stouts are one of my favorite beers but they don’t go too well with central California weather. Maybe I’ll pass on GABA Black Pearl?

Crowkettle

Yeah, It’s a fun tea but I would try to grab a sample first. And while central California weather may not be great for frequent stout drinking, I think it’s perfect for yearly consumption of “summer” Hefeweizens. I could die happy with that. Or a tea that tastes of wheat, banana, and clove. :P

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84
4163 tasting notes

Thanks so much for sharing this, Kawaii433! I certainly don’t think I’ve even had a tea that looked like this before? The closest might be Zen’s black dragon pearls. Black bundles with hints of gold, but these leaves have a sheen to them. GABA is Gamma-AminoButyric Acid — a neurotransmitter responsible for inhibiting overactive firing of neurons in the brain. It is the body’s anti-anxiety mechanism supplemented in the natural form through a drink. (Info from Mandala’s GABA black.) This sounds like a great idea in theory. I can’t say if it helped my anxiety, as I looked up what it meant after drinking the tea. I wish I had known to pay attention to my anxiety at the time…
On to the flavor: If you were a fan of Butiki’s Premium Taiwanese Assam, this might have the closest flavor profile out there right now, that I know about. However, since the GABA unravels into quite a large amount of leaves, I probably shouldn’t have used one teaspoon. So the second steep ended up a little brisk which I’m sad about. But the third steep didn’t have that bite to it at all and was much like the first steep again. The Butiki starts out long and wiry, which means I would have been using less leaves compared to these unraveling bundles. Then at times, the tea seems more like one of those Ruby black teas. But I also at times described Butiki’s PTA to Ruby as well. So maybe this is a tea in between a Ruby black and Butiki’s PTA. I’m sorry I don’t have more distinct flavor notes for this though… A Ruby tea tastes a Roman nougat in a Russell Stover candy at times… though this tea isn’t QUITE that. The next day, I did want to revisit PTA because of experiencing this tea and it just reminded me that it’s always like caramelized strawberry, so possibly this tea is more like a Ruby than PTA. Nothing can really compare to the PTA, I suppose.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 16 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 7 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
2019 sipdowns: 22

Whispering Pines Tea Company

You may be stoked to learn that I actually sell PTA ;-)

tea-sipper

Wha wha whhaatt?

tea-sipper

https://www.whisperingpinestea.com/collections/pure-tea-black/products/premium-taiwanese-assam
I’m so sorry I didn’t know this! I have not been in the market for new teas recently…

tea-sipper

(Posting the link for anyone else interested, not you Brenden) haha

Kawaii433

oooOOOH :) Maybe on my next WP order hehe. I’m glad you enjoyed the GABA, tea-sipper, its great to see more reviews on it too. I’ll have to revisit this one again soon.

tea-sipper

I will be interested to know if WP’s PTA is anything like Butiki’s but it has been a few years since Butiki so any tea is bound to change.

Whispering Pines Tea Company

It’s very much the same delightful PTA! :) I searched for the source for two years before I fonally found it. TWMB as well!

tea-sipper

That is AWESOME. Thank you for finding them both!

Whispering Pines Tea Company

No worries! They are favorites of mine as well so I’m pretty excited to have found em! :)

Nattie

You’re making it really hard to keep up my no-buy over here…

tea-sipper

Sorry, sorry, Nattie!

Nattie

Lol, it’s okay, I am historically weak-willed and will probably cave and buy all of the tea anyway. Just waiting for an excuse XD

Kittenna

This is excellent information I will store for future use, aka when I inevitably pick up Golden Orchid or other delicious offerings. I miss PTA – although I’m getting a decent dose of it through old Butiki blends right now, there’s nothing like drinking it straight.

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50
216 tasting notes

Wow, its been a while. Got a sampler of this in an order last year and finally sipping it down. Given my last note was almost 5 years ago, I thought I would make a new one.

I’ll agree with the description in that it does have kind of a cereal vibe to the flavor. Not really my thing.

However, I am glad to be trying to again. Tastes change over time and it can be nice to revisit to see how my perception changes.

I’m also updating to match better with my new rating system.

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83
379 tasting notes

Trying another GABA tea. This one is black pearl GABA. I don’t know enough about black tea to know what type they used.

It was tightly balled up and when unfurled, they were big, dark, full leaves. After the rinse, it smelled lovely, like toasted bread, some sweetness, spice. The liquor was a medium amber color, there is some spice(s) that I can detect but not sure which one. Cloves perhaps? It had a creamy texture, had bready notes, some slightly tart notes (can feel the sides of my tongue react), sourbread-y. The mouthfeel was rich, comforting and smooth.

Initially, I began with 5g, 205°F, 110ml, rinse, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, but after the fifth steep of 30s, it was too perfumey for me. I decided to switch to their recommendation which is one tsp. (4g) in 8 oz, for 3 min, and a second steep for 5 min. I liked it better the way they recommended or if I ever gongfu it again, just up until the 5th steep.

I would love for someone who can detect the tastes/aroma to review this. At the moment, it’s just me. hehe Their description was interesting “unique cereal notes that to me taste like the waffle things in chex mix!”

Update: Got another sample and the liquor really smells likes a yummy cereal. I followed WP directions this time since gongfu (in my opinion, didn’t do it justice).

Flavors: Bread, Spices, Sweet, Tart, Toast, Wheat

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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