The Whistling Kettle

So after we all got together and decided to do a cheap Christmas this year (my brother dealing with a big move this past year, and we had the cruise coming up and down to one income), my sweetheart of a brother not only decided to give us six months of The Whistling Kettle’s tea of the month club, he also sent us two tins of tea, Vanilla Silk Oolong and Orange Ginger Oolong. I’ve already had two cups of this beauty this morning. It’s lighter and creamier than its DavidsTea counterpart. I daresay I like this one better! I’m about to go resteep the leaves for a third time, we’re definitely going to get a lot of use from these leaves. They’d fill up a gaiwan beautifully. The leaves in the tin are whole, not crushed or broken down and I just wanted to watch them uncurl. This was a great gift indeed and the taste is just as it promises, vanilla creaminess with some silky smoothness and a hint of citrus to keep it from becoming too rich. Yum.

Bright cheerful Sunday morning. Loving the blend of citrus and ginger. Yum.

Now time to make another pot and spend some time reading.

Tried this with my meal at The Whistling Kettle this afternoon. Yummy! It was sweet, but not too sweet and the graham cracker added a nice flavor to the tea. I found that a little rock suger and cream went a long way to making this tea even more tasty! Might have taken some home with me.

Not a fan of green teas usually. But I had a sip of this while at The Whistling Kettle today and ended up going home with a to go cup and 4oz of this tea. It has a really nice flowery/sweet taste to it. Hot it was interesting…but iced it jumps to amazing. All the flavors of this tea come out to play, green and white teas, rose petals, mallow…everything just works and works well with this tea!

I’m enjoying this. For the last few days, I’ve kind of been hiatus … I’ve been reading tasting notes, and checking things out, but, my head cold that I had at the beginning of this week kind of put a damper on my joy of writing as well as my ability to really taste much … I’d say that my taste buds have been up and working properly for at least two or three days now, I’ve noticed them getting progressively better … and I think they’re functioning well now.

I was a little worried about this tea before brewing it, although I have to say that I’ve been very impressed with the blends that I’ve tried thus far from The Whistling Kettle, so I don’t know why I worried. I just tend to be apprehensive when it comes to Pu-erh in general. Maybe eventually I’ll get over that. I hope so, because I’ve enjoyed most of the pu-erh I’ve encountered over the past couple of years … since I’ve learned how to brew it to my liking.

This tea has a very compelling balance of pu-erh and white tea … I was surprised that I can taste the white tea here, and I think that I can taste it a bit more than I could in the other Whistling Kettle tea blends that I have tried. The sip starts out with a sweet, slightly hay-ish vegetative note that is distinctly white tea and toward mid-sip, I notice the earthy character of the pu-erh. The lemon is slightly tart, and the tartness builds as I continue to sip. It has a vibrant flavor, and it really brightens the cup. The ginger is less distinguished than I thought it would be … the lemon is definitely the stronger of the two flavors. The ginger is a bit more like a sprinkling of peppery heat that sort of dances over the palate – it doesn’t overwhelm.

I like the way this tea plays out. Nicely done.

Green tea is growing on me. This was one of the 6 tea samples I received from the Whistling Kettle today.

When I sip it it tastes very creamy and then leaves with a grassy green tea flavor. The blueberry notes in it are wonderful. I really like how complementary all these flavors are together. Yum!! 0 calorie pie for a new year resolution.

What could make a Sunday afternoon more comfortable? Ah yes, a maple cream tea latte sweetened with maple syrup. Perfection. How will I ever drink this tea any other way?!?

Downton Abbey marathon in preparation of the series 3 premiere tonight!! Anyone else excited??

Absolutely excited to receive this in the mail today. The Whistling Kettle had it in a flash sale the other day on this and I picked up a bunch of samples too. Looking forward to trying them all.

I am not a tea purist. I added a bit of milk and sugar to this delicious dessert tea after noticing it was a bit bitter. I think a 4 minute steep was a bit too much for the delicate flavors. There is an interesting play with floral and maple notes. I like it. Looking forward to my next cup.

Interesting. I didn’t know what to expect of this since I didn’t look up anything about it before tasting it. I assumed acai & tangerine. Beyond that, it looked like maybe a black and green blend.

Smells really good dry. Definitely berry & citrus while steeping. It’s a bit tart, but that could also be that maybe I used too hot of a water temperature assuming it was mostly a black tea.

Nice tangerine flavor and the acai is noticeable as well. Fairly smooth and light in feel. This is my second tasting of a pu-erh. Much better than my first. Nothing I’d keep around, but a nice change of pace for me.

Goes well with a sugar cookie. Good thing I don’t buy into the weight loss teas. :)

Not my favourite vanilla chai – it has a bit of a chemical vanilla taste.

2 cups today! See other notes!

Thanks Liberteas

This had a FUNKY aroma when it was dry – like smoke, pu-erh, grit, raspberry, fuzz, and fiber!

Once infused it was more pleasant…a gentle-medium pu-erh with a graceful raspberry!

This is a remarkable flavored pu-erh! Fruity, Creamy, Mouth-watering, slightly mossy, rich, really quite amazing! WOW! This is Special!

This was one of the teas I sampled at a tea tasting last night. I have to say wow! The flavors in the tea really brought out the yummy flavors of my turkey, brie, and cranberry sandwich! This bergamot seemed more berry and less citrus…if that is even possible!

There is a lovely fruity taste on the finish. Really a winner in my book and everyone at the table. We each left with a bag! :)

I am still totally enjoying this one. One of my top oolongs currently. Buttery, milky, creamy and sweet, yet light and earthy. A great balance and a wonderful oolong.

I first tried this tea in store with my Afternoon Tea meal. I enjoyed it so bought a bit to take home.
The tea itself smells buttery, mixed with the earthy oolong scent.
Once brewed, there is a subtle, yet present milky/buttery taste. It’s a smooth cup, and I found it quite satisfying. I like to keep a bit around all year long.
Beware, though, as if the temp is too high/low or you steep too long, you can lose the nice light milky taste and get an overpowering astringent tea leaf taste (I suppose just as with most teas, though I find this tea a bit more tempermental when it comes to this). I fiddled with the temp and time quite a bit, but can’t remember the perfect temp and time I stumbled on. I do tend to use water at a lower temp than recommended on their label, though. I’ll try to update the next time I brew it with what I’ve found most pleasant.

A WONDERFUL pu-erh for beginners!! I love it and I would not say I am a “beginner” although I have so much more to explore in the world of pu-erh. I just am one who already loves pu-erh. This however is one that needs to be tried if you are timid about pu-erh.
The flavors are so well blended and the other ingredients do not take over the wonderful pu-erh notes yet the notes are probably only strong enough for a true pu-erh drinker to notice at first.
Fruity and delicious with notes of peat, oak moss, and so much more!
Oh and its creamy too!
LOVE THIS!
Full review coming on http://sororiteasisters.com later this month.

Love this tea! Perfect when I want something sweet but have nothing sweet to eat.

I love Earl Grey Creams and found this to be one of the better ones. I love the smoothness of it.

I purchased this two weeks ago at The Whistling Kettle’s tea tasting event. I liked it so much I took home a sample (taking home more than that would have broken the bank). I still noticed the heavy earthy tones of this tea when trying it again today. I also got more of the seaweed taste again. Which most of my table companions didn’t care for. But to me that’s a pu-erh…earthy! This time around I did add a little half and half plus some vanilla sugar. Just to give it a little something else. And you know what? It didn’t do a thing to this pu-erh!

On a side note the owner of The Whistling Kettle said he was playing around with this one and some bourbon in their testing room. I’m hoping he’ll share with his customers whatever it is he comes up with!

Wow! If the first time I tasted Pu-erh was at all like this tasting, I would not have ever come to the conclusion that I did not like Pu-erh. This is really very good. Yes, I taste the earthy pu-erh, but, when combined with the sweet-tart notes of raspberry and hints of floral notes and even just a touch of softness from the white tea, it just … works. The earthiness doesn’t taste off in any way. It all works together in such a harmonious way.

I’m really loving this tea. It’s very smooth and has a richness to it that reminds me a little bit of coffee, but without the bitterness. A really remarkable blend!