Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Fujian Xiao Zhong, Yunnan Dian Hong
Flavors
Bread, Fruity, Malt, Rye, Smooth, Wood, Apple, Apricot, Cherry, Chocolate, Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Heavy, Medicinal, Osmanthus, Pine, Plum, Raisins, Spicy, Tannin, Brown Sugar, Honey, Caramel, Creamy, Dried Fruit, Campfire, Peppercorn, Carrot, Pepper, Sweet, Toast
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Loose Leaf
Caffeine
High
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Jason
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 8 oz / 235 ml

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88 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Received some grams from derk. I am not sure I got more than 3 grams I had… so not sure if it’s SIPDOWN or not. Either way, let’s find out how this tea is. Meanwhile… I had today that awful oral...” Read full tasting note
    92
  • “Woke up early enough to enjoy a few cups of tea outside as the sun rose. Seagulls socially distanced moving north, the black silhouettes of the twin redwoods towering into the brightening sky. The...” Read full tasting note
  • “I said I would try a third western steep, and I did! This time I invited my husband to drink it with me. He was more a white/green/oolong/puerh fan but is coming around on black tea fast – as long...” Read full tasting note
  • “Sipdown 6-2021 Such a delightful tea, and I enjoyed every cup that I drank. I have a Whispering Pines order coming, so I’m excited to explore some new flavors. I will miss this, though.” Read full tasting note
    89

From Whispering Pines Tea Company

My house black tea for good reason — North Winds is the essence of northern Michigan. This tea is a blend of black tea from Fujian and a wild picked black tea from Yunnan. After harvesting, these teas were sent to a tea master in Anxi to custom roast specifically for Whispering Pines. I opted for a medium roast to bring out the heavier chocolate notes. The tea is roasted at a low temperature for a longer time to enhance the natural sweetness and bring out caramel notes while still retaining the more subtle fruity characteristics. This tea is unique in taste and aroma, and I am very proud to offer it, as a lot of love and passion has been put into the creation and quality of this blend.

Heavy tart cherry notes bring you to Traverse City while creamy chocolate notes allow you to have that Mackinaw Island fudge without having to take the ferry. North Winds is immensely smooth and clean, hinting at cream and caramel apple mid-sip. Throughout the entire experience you’ll notice a constant warm pine-infused honey and a grainy barley sugar wafting through the rustic body. A touch of allspice balances out the tea on the finish. This exceptional tea will infuse well over 10 times when brewed gongfu style and its potent nature can be felt as a warming cha qi as well as vibrant taste.

North Winds is blended seasonally to achieve the most balanced flavor profile. The current offering is a blend of Spring 2015 material from Fujian and Yunnan provinces of China, custom roasted in September 2015.

Michigan is full of wondrous little towns known for the things they have perfected and small spots of nature that will take your breath away. This tea is inspired by the entire northern area of Michigan, from Traverse City to the Les Cheneaux Islands.

Traverse City is in the northern lower peninsula of the state. They are widely known for their amazing cherries, which are sold alongside other fruits from roadside stands during the summer months. You can get anything cherry here, and it will spoil you for cherries forever. I’ll never be able to eat cherries elsewhere! =)

Heading northward from the cherry capitol of the world and over the longest suspension bridge in the northern hemisphere brings you to Mackinaw Island. This island is full of little shops, cafes, and bakeries, and they are very well known for their fudge. Any flavor of fudge you can imagine can be found on this island, but you can never go wrong with a piece of dark chocolate fudge as Autumn is closing in!

As the north winds bring you higher and the first snow begins to fall, the Les Cheneaux Islands and surrounding area of the upper peninsula will send chills down your spine. The wind picks up, the lake begins to freeze, and a snowstorm will keep you indoors with a hefty cup of black tea as company. Looking outside at the winter wonderland, you can’t help but notice that you are in the most beautiful place in the world.

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.

88 Tasting Notes

92
1839 tasting notes

Received some grams from derk. I am not sure I got more than 3 grams I had… so not sure if it’s SIPDOWN or not. Either way, let’s find out how this tea is.

Meanwhile… I had today that awful oral exam of Economics of transport companies. Today, with a little help of accidentally opened papers, I have passed. I admit, I looked there and well there was an answer. But she asked, on purpose I assume, on different topics but related to those.

Anyway, back to the tea. I did two steeps. One, 3 minutes long in early afternoon, and now while I am writing those lines, I have second, 5 minutes long next to me. Both prepared western.

I remember way too vaguely the first one. I liked it, being mild and lightly woody, but that’s pretty much all. I wasn’t paying attention to it too much. I know, this tea doesn’t deserve it.

The second steep I have now, is smelling after rye. Rye bread. I kid you not, it is really reminding me a rye bread I had back in Finland! The taste is quite similar. The taste… a bit woody indeed; with some fruitiness I think? I don’t get typical DianHong cocoa notes, but nevertheless it’s great. The mouthfeel is great. Smooth, but with some texture beneath.

Aftertaste… well again a bit of that rye along with malt. To be honest, this steep is way better than first. The first was like… okay, smooth and woody, but now, I see why it’s that popular. Too bad it’s gone. But certainly, I enjoy it!

Flavors: Bread, Fruity, Malt, Rye, Smooth, Wood

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 300 ML
White Antlers

Yay! You passed!
This is one of my favorite WP teas when the weather is chilly. And Martin, the weather finally heard you! It has been snowing here for 2 days!!!

Martin Bednář

Well White Antlers, it takes some time even to clouds to travel! Haha!

White Antlers

LOL! I am going to ask the cats to shovel snow.

Maddy Barone

This is one of my all time favorite straight black teas.

derk

White Antlers: How dare you ask nobility to shovel snow! They surely will be plotting against you. Sleep with one eye open tonight.

White Antlers

derk If I tell Their Highnesses the FedEx guy with the Chewy.com package full of pate’ and Greenies can’t get to the door due to an unshoveled path, I bet they at least consider getting out of their heated beds to possibly aid in helping me find my gloves to get the chore underway. LOL!

Martin Bednář

derk and White Antlers: Thank you ladies for a good laugh when I woke up! I am asking my cat if she will go shopping and she only meows back. So, I guess, again, it’s on me.

Maddy: I completely see why! It’s very tasty and kind of unique tea. Those 3 grams were great :)

tea-sipper

hahaha. Now I’m just seeing cats with tiny shovels walking on their hind legs. :D

White Antlers

tea-sipper Someone or some cats shoveled and salted my walk before lunch today. I don’t have friendly, thoughtful neighbors so maybe my cats really did get the hint…

tea-sipper

Mastress Alita – of course it was already somewhere outside of my brain!
White Antlers – that was nice of the cats (or someone)!

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1557 tasting notes

Woke up early enough to enjoy a few cups of tea outside as the sun rose. Seagulls socially distanced moving north, the black silhouettes of the twin redwoods towering into the brightening sky.

The dry leaf of North Winds smells rich, dark and dry with dark chocolate and wood and a medicinal, fruity-floral undertone of apricot-cherry-osmanthus. I’m greeted with a cocoa aroma with the same undertone of the dry leaf. The first thing I notice when sipping is the structure. It is full-bodied with balanced tannins and very mild dry bitterness. It condenses and closes in on the tongue. Following that is the taste, which embodies malt-wood-chocolate and a fruity midtone of apricot-cherry-plum. This tea is an excellent blend of Fujian and Yunnan black teas, a nice one to brace my senses for the coming day.

Flavors: Apple, Apricot, Cherry, Chocolate, Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Fruity, Heavy, Malt, Medicinal, Osmanthus, Pine, Plum, Raisins, Spicy, Tannin, Wood

Courtney

That sounds like the most relaxing morning. The sound of seagulls always brings me home ❤.

Martin Bednář

This sounds so cozy and perfect! I wish I can enjoy tea outside.

gmathis

Yum! I’ve always wondered what your landscape looked like.

White Antlers

Sounds like a good way to start a day. This is one of my very favorite teas from Brenden. I drank it for the first time duing my first autumn back home in 2015.

derk

gmathis, I cried last night and wore the shawl this morning while drinkng North Winds <3 There’s a giant, stately palm tree, too, that feeds the ravens and houses a pair of mourning doves. Only in the Bay Area will you find palm trees and redwoods sharing the same soil.

gmathis

Crying was not supposed to be part of the package <3 Back at ya.

tea-sipper

palm trees next to redwoods!!! Dreamy!

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3226 tasting notes

I said I would try a third western steep, and I did! This time I invited my husband to drink it with me. He was more a white/green/oolong/puerh fan but is coming around on black tea fast – as long as it is not astringent. This one isn’t astringent at all.

Yes, it is weaker. Of course it is. But it was well worth steeping again and my husband really liked it even though he had not tried the first two steeps. I thought he would like it since the Fujian component is a tea he has tried before and liked a lot.

It seemed perhaps a little creamier or thicker in mouthfeel and I think that is because the cocoa note was slightly lighter and the dian hong was coming out a little more.

Great tea. Thanks, derk!

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89
1789 tasting notes

Sipdown 6-2021
Such a delightful tea, and I enjoyed every cup that I drank. I have a Whispering Pines order coming, so I’m excited to explore some new flavors. I will miss this, though.

derk

Read the typo as Whispering Prunes, haha. Good tea :)

amandastory516

Lololol. Whispering Prunes.

derk

If I had a graphic artist bone in my body, I’d whip something up and send it to Brenden.

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75
216 tasting notes

I like this one. Its got a flavor I have been enjoying, though if it gets too cool a little astringency shows up. I got 3 very good steeps out of the leaves yesterday.

For the most part is a mellow flavor, but I find I don’t really have a good vocabulary to describe it well.

I can see myself putting this into my normal rotation on at least a semi regular basis.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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672 tasting notes

Sipdown. Keep in mind that I don’t have a well-developed palate for unflavored black teas, but to me this just seemed like a weaker version of Jabberwocky. It was still pleasant and I enjoyed the sample, but if I was purchasing again, I’d definitely go for the Jabberwocky.

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100
2238 tasting notes

The last time I tried this one, I was drinking the old version and I remember really enjoying it. It was on the strength of that cup that I bought a new bag (although after the switch to the new version), and I’m only just now getting around to trying it.

The dry leaf smells just like cocoa. In fact, I could have been convinced that I’d opened a tin of cocoa by mistake if I hadn’t been able to see what I was doing. It’s definitely tea, but SO chocolatey it’s almost unreal.

Once brewed, it’s still amazingly chocolatey! I added a splash of milk just because, although in all honesty it didn’t really need it. The flavour is predominantly chocolate and malt, with just a touch of berry sharpness right at the end of the sip. It seems simple, but it’s SO good. This one could easily become a comfort tea for me.

1 tsp, boiling water, 3.5 minutes. Splash of milk.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp
Fjellrev

One of these days I need to take the plunge and just order this and Golden Orchid when they’re back in stock. See what all these awesome raves are about!

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95
533 tasting notes

Sipdown also from August.
Bye to this delicious tea.

Also sipped down this fall: Georgia Natela’s Gold Standard Black Tea – What-Cha
Drink (Don’t Eat) Grapefruit Sugar Scrub Tea – 52 Teas
Lone Tree – Mandala tea
Black Beauty – Gong Fu Tea
Dragon’s Well – Gong Fu Tea
Phoenix Pearl – zen tea
Nepal Silver Oolong – What-Cha

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694 tasting notes

I fell in love with this tea in Summer of 2014. I believe that batch was a combination of Fujian Black and Dian Hong. The first sip of this… damn the FB is not there. It is way more smokey/savory without the sweet deep chocolate note that I loved from FB. I quickly went to the website to see what was replacing the FB. Xiao Zhong, yep that would explain the smokey/savory note. I like it, but I am not as in love with it as I was with the Summer 2014 version. This is missing the sweetness of the other version and it seems a tad thinner than before, but without a side by side comparison I can’t say for sure. Still a wonderful tea, just a little different.

Whispering Pines Tea Company

The teas in this are the same…sadly though heavy rains this spring killed the chocolate notes in almost all black teas. Hoping for a dry spring next year. I really miss that dark chocolate too. :-(

keychange

Agree with you on the thinness, but also agree that it’s still an excellent tea!

TeaTiff

Aw, interesting… I had never seen the name of FB then…. Thanks for the correction! I still love it, maybe next year deep chocolate will come back:)

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513 tasting notes

Just here to confirm that I think this tea is quite delicious, and distinct enough from other blacks that it deserves recognition. Had it with my croissant this morning and it was a lovely pairing. I kind of like not having too too many teas in my cupboard at once—it really forces me to drink down what I do have, and to enjoy it while it’s still fresh. I have some more tea on the way through a friend who’s visiting her boyfriend in the states, and I think I’ll be done at least some of my stash by then.

That said, I am fantasizing so, so deeply about when next I’ll be able to enjoy WP’s TGY. This afternoon, maybe? and also all day Sunday?

Yaaah it’s Friday!

Preparation
0 OZ / 0 ML
Kristal

mmmm…croissants :)

Whispering Pines Tea Company

I second Kristal’s comment…and, mmmmmm…lilacs :-)

OMGsrsly

Yeah friday!!! :D

keychange

Croissants and lilacs…omg, I can’t focus at work when I think of drinking lilacs.

keychange

So glad that there are still companies who are committed to helping us drink flowers!

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