I’ve been tea reviewing mostly straight teas these days, as it seems that is what has been arriving here at Oolong Owl, as well as the teas I’ve been purchasing for myself. Today’s tea is Whispering Pines Tea Co’s The Jabberywocky tea – a straight/unflavored blend of their Spring 2014 Harvest Fujian, Ailaoshan and Wild Arbor Yunnan black teas.
Admittedly, the name of this tea is what drew me in, and the good ratings and recommendations from others cemented in that I needed to try The Jabberywocky, a tea to serve to the Jabberywocky!
Dry Leaf
The Jabberywocky tea’s dry leaf looks like simple wire twists with the odd deep brown highlight. This tea is very fragrant – when you open the package the smell takes you to a thick woody forest with apple trees.
Steeping Instructions
The packaging states 1 tablespoon of tea leaf with 205f water, with a steeping time of 3 mins. On their website brewing instructions include gong fu style instructions – 1.5g leaf per 30ml, starting the steep at 20 seconds.
Alas, I ended up doing the western instructions before I knew there was gong fu brewing potential here. After the 3 minute steeping, my cup of The Jabberywocky tea came out even more fragrant with a dark amber colour. The woodsy fruit sweet and toasty scent is very comforting.
Tasting of Whispering Pines Tea Co’s The Jabberywocky tea
Very complex cup of tea! Sips in sweet like honey, with a thick custard texture that is super smooth. Notes of yams, cherry wood, bit of malt and cocoa in the middle of the sip, with a sweet finish of burnt caramel and plum. Aftertaste at first is light refreshing at the back of the mouth, with a lingering toasted bread crust, woodsy and caramel taste. Very clean flavored tea, with no bitterness or dryness.
Resteep: I did a 4.5 minute reinfusion. The resteeping of The Jabberwocky tea is much sweeter – honey, light caramel, custard, bread and yam. Very good resteep, I’d be sure to resteep this tea every time!
Comments
A lot going on this Whispering Pines Tea Co’s The Jabberywocky tea! Whispering Pines Tea Co is quite impressive with their high quality teas.
If you’ve had Whispering Pine Tea Co’s Alilaoshan Black, this black tea blend tastes strongly like it with the yam notes, but brighter in flavor and not as thick, malty, bready and molasses in taste. The Jabberywocky tea is more smooth and no dryness. I think it is worth trying both teas, then choose the one you like best. I’m leaning to Ailaoshan Black as I like the richer flavor, but Whispering Pines Tea Co’s The Jabberywocky tea would be perfect for a black tea drinker that wants something really smooth and complex.
Our Tea Owl agreed this tea would be a great distraction to the Jabberwocky, though he is unsure if he’d want to share his tea with the beast.
