North Winds (Old Version)

This tea is NOM.

I had some for breakfast. Well after I drank something else. What was that other thing…..OMG. I have no idea. I’m losing my mind.

Maybe it was a resteep of something leftover from last night?

Or maybe this was my first cup of the day?

I woke up
Fed baby
Played with baby
Made an omelet
Drank this tea

I feel like I had something else after I fed the baby but before the omelet.

Oh well. It’s gone.

THIS tea, this tea is NOM.

Chocolatey and delicious.

The scent of this tea is smooth with a rather strong note of cocoa. Yum! I’m excited to see if some of the same cocoa notes are present in the flavor. Sipping… I’m picking up on a rich, dark chocolate flavor with a bit of bread. I almost want to say that the bread is sourdough, but it’s not quite there. There is a hint of astringency at the end of the sip which pairs well with the dark chocolate, but the rest of the sip is smooth. Overall, I think this is a tasty tea, but it isn’t one of my favorites. For me, this tea doesn’t have anything that makes me say “wow”. It’s not bad and I wouldn’t turn down a cup, but it seems to be a little flat.

It would be a good idea if I stopped using cups that are too big without adjusting the serving size of the leaf. It really makes a difference to follow directions. Often, I pull out any random sized cup and put in the same amount of leaf regardless. This tea is still pretty good when under leafed, though. It gets a fruity note to it that I don’t detect otherwise. However, the chocolate and malty notes are only there when I use more leaf.

I am raising the rating on this tea because Ive had it several times now and can safely say that it is a favorite.

Another great tea from Whispering Pines! This tea is the base for the Golden Orchid that I love so much, and while Golden Orchid is still the winner for me, North Winds is a close second.

The dark chocolate hits me first, but finishes with a lovely honey & chocolate aftertaste.

I am on my second steep, and it’s just as lovely as the first.

This is truly an excellent tea, the shear amount of flavor contained in this simple blend of two teas is remarkable! Kudos to Whispering Pines for bringing these two teas together to make some very special! I’m generally wary of blends, and it seemed unrealistic to expect so many different notes from straight black tea, but this meeting between two great black teas in inspired. Whispering Pines does a much better job describing the rich and complex flavor of this tea than I ever could, just let me add that they are dead on!

It is still ass-freezing cold here in Central Texas. I don’t know how y’all who live where it’s cold a LOT stand it. I am enjoying a cup of the re-formulated North Winds. I have to say, The Haiku Hobbit knows what he’s doing. I love this even more than “old” NW and I loved that a lot. Chocolatey-bready sweet goodness for me to nom on.

Brenden sent this as a sample in my order, which is rather uncanny, since I’d almost ordered it, but had to take it out for budget concerns. :) I was very happily surprised!

I ended up steeping this four times throughout the course of the day… and it really says something about a tea that I’m willing to go back to it that many times in one day. Usually at some point I say to myself, “Eh, I’ve had that already, let’s shake it up.” Not this time! It was very malty and bready and had some light hints of honey, just barely. Sadly, through all the steeps, I just wasn’t getting the chocolate notes. Maybe next time? I suppose I should try it once without sugar, too… I forgot to, in my hurry that morning.

my second tea from whispering pines! and i had no idea that breaking into it tonight would come along with another celebration as i sipped…..

i hate waiting for grades; classes are done- I WANT MY MARKS! …..please. but profs get busy, sadly it isn’t a immediate thing. i was just starting into this chocolatey assam-esque tea when the message came that the final grade for the class that had me working my butt off all semester had been posted.

i could see the grades, but the student numbers had been scrambled! i was supposed to write for a code…… was i getting extra marks for this? gimmethecodegimmethecodegimmethecode.

there was a lone 87.3. highest in the class by 6%. mine. Mine. MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there were two others that were close, just a hair under 1% off. my team was 3……. this was us, i was sure. that 87.3 was MINE. i took a real beating this semester….it’s a long story. short story? that number was MINE.

gimmethecode.

-check email…. wasn’t there yet. sip tea.
-rinse
-sip tea
-repeat
-the code was in…..

second time with this prof…. highest mark in the class. he isn’t easy. he poked fun at me this semester about having no life! but he sent me a beautiful letter of congratulations….

this is an excellent celebratory tea. not malty to me, which suits me fine. a dark chocolate assam. lovely and rich…. i used some turbinado sugar and a bit of cream. i don’t miss dessert! very nice.

just waiting for one more grade =0)