A Cup of Zen: Brenden Gebhart from Whispering Pines Tea

I am a nature lover and have spent most of my life outdoors, exploring and wandering the forests and mountains in search of inspiration. I live in a cabin in the woods with my dog and spend my days sipping tea in the woods surrounding my cabin dwelling. I have a passion for purity and health, for love and life.

I love tea for the ability it has to transport me. My teas were blended on one idea only — a moment of inspiration. I blend my teas to help me remember the moments I cherish in nature. For instance, let’s take a tea like Manistee Moonrise and break down the blending process. I start with the memory — a canoe trip down the tranquil Manistee River in Northern Michigan at sunset. I write down the things I felt, saw, smelled, and heard during that moment, and pair those words with ingredients that make me feel that way. There was a campfire upstream so I wrote lapsang souchong (pine-smoked black tea). I could smell fresh spring grasses and berries along the river edge so I wrote lemongrass and elderberries. It was a bit on the chilly side – cooling spearmint. Once I finish the ingredient list, it’s off to blending!

I begin with a specific ratio of each ingredient and then taste it. I shift the ratios around until it starts to form that memory. After hundreds of versions, months of work, and tons of tastings, I eventually arrive at the perfect blend. The final product is a tea that brings me back to that beautiful moment – that moment of life, of love, of pristine nature and pure inspiration. I pour my heart into these teas, and they will be nothing less than the purest form of nature that you can pour into a cup.

Every time I get to share these moments — these teas, it’s like I’m telling a story. I love sitting outdoors with a friend or two and seeing my creation transport them. Some people truly understand how it’s not always about the taste or the aroma but the way the tea pulls you in and recalls some forgotten magic from the far corner of your mind. Why tea? Because sitting by a lake at sunset and watching a memory come flooding back to an old friends eyes…that’s life.