Imperial North Winds

(Summer 2023) Black tea with a generous, complex mix of flavors. Has a meaty, savory quality that I admire, though am not yet fully in love with.

Morning birthday cuppa yesterday. I was so happy to open the cupboard and see this still unopened, it felt like a gift. The tiny dry leaves were so beautiful, brown and yellow and places in between… and dense! I stopped at 5g in my 5oz pot, where 7g is my go-to for most things. The very first steep poured a crisp chestnut color, noticeably reddish. Later steeps lost the red and were more brown.

This little love needed no warm-up before the magic happened — the first steep was a symphony. And it seemed every flavor was detectable on the nose and in the mouth… remarkable. Reminded me of golden snails with extra tucked-away gems to discover. Toast, roast, umami, saltines, nuts, brown bread, seaweed, cocoa, malt, molasses… ripe strawberry and caramel at the bottom of the cup. Incredibly smooth. Some tannins finally popped in the third or so, and they were as delightful as everything else.

Because they were closed yesterday, we are heading over to Callisto Tea House in Pasadena today, for a gong fu session (and probably some plant-based goodies, who am I kidding). I’m pretty excited to share some tea outside my home and see what I learn today.

I saved this sample from Daylon for a special occasion and enjoyed it on Christmas Day. (I’m posting my note today because I had a couple more steeps to savour.) Given their high shipping cost to Canada, I haven’t had many teas from Whispering Pines and was very much looking forward to this one, particularly as I have a soft spot for fluffy golden teas from Yunnan. I steeped the entire 6 g sample in 120 ml of water at 195F for 7, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

As expected, these fuzzy black and gold leaves are pretty! The dry aroma is of rye bread, dark chocolate, caramel, and malt. The first two steeps have notes of rye bread, malt, caramel, cocoa, dark chocolate, butter, molasses, wood, and fleeting hints of cherry and apricot at the front of the sip. The chocolate really steals the show. The next couple steeps add hints of vanilla, although there is some slight astringency to complement all the decadent flavours. The stonefruit also goes into hiding at this point and doesn’t return. In subsequent steeps, the tea doesn’t change very much, though it seems to get more caramely and bready as the session goes on. The tea eventually fades into faint chocolate, malt, caramel, wood, minerals, and tannins.

If this one is any indication, Whispering Pines has some wonderful offerings. Though I would have been happy if those stonefruit notes had stayed longer, the chocolate, caramel, and rye bread made for a cozy Christmas gongfu session.

Thank you, Brenden!

This is becoming a new favorite. I’ve done this western and Gong Fu. I have a slight preference gong fu so that I can enjoy it slower flavor by flavor, but it smoothens out well with longer steeps. I was surprised how small the leaves are, though it’s like looking at hairs from black sheeps golden fleece. In essence, pretty.

It does bear similarities to the original blend in all Brenden’s favorite profiles of cocoa, chocolate, cherry, un-added vanilla, CARAMEL, but this higher grade of leaves does make the blend more refined. The original had some rougher edges with occasional, but highly desirable astringency, bitterness and dryness. The Imperial blend has rye dryness, but not astringency or bitterness. Instead, it’s got malt done right-there where times where I had to remind myself that this was not Scotch. I personally got some present barley notes with butter, stonefruit and caramel. The fruitiness is very faint, but again, likes a scotch, serves as an accent.

I am glad I decided to get two oz since I am almost done with the first. It’s a perfect breakfast tea for when I don’t want to wake up. I like it as a soft lunch-rejolt, but it’s so great looking out at a cold, auburn and grey Michigan morning.

Wow. Another extraordinary offering from Whispering Pines. A huge thanks to Kawaii433 for this one as well. This is absolutely decadent. Pure chocolate and malt. Rich, creamy mouthfeel. It holds up to multiple steeps, but I found the first steep to be my favorite.

Wow, this is almost too decadent for an at-work tea. I think it’d be better suited to a day of indulging in a good book somewhere comfortable where I could really enjoy.

First cup is a little malty and sweet with a whole lot of vanilla. Honestly reminds me of these chocolate scones at a local coffee shop – something warm and freshly-baked (there’s a hint of chocolate here, but it’s not the main point). Texturally, it’s kind of silky and easy to drink.

Second cup is way more intensely chocolate, with a little more dimension to the sweetness – it’s described as cherry, which I guess works as long as you’re thinking sweet cherries and not tart ones (so…not what I was expecting, oops).

Back to work I go, will make more tea later throughout the day, but so far this one is really lovely.