Angrboda

As I had suspected this is indeed quite similar to the pu-erh toucha I had the other day. Given a choice between the two, I’d get the toucha just for the convenience. It seemed like a good size in comparison to the size of my pot so the inability to adjust the ‘dosage’ isn’t something that would worry me.

Like the toucha, this one seems to be pretty much default pu-erh. The only difference here is that I haven’t steeped this one to the brink of death. The smaller leaf size in the toucha surprised me a bit.

But again, it’s a good tea. It’s just a pretty straight forward one. It tastes like pu-erh and it’s a good one to have for a plain every-day pu-erh that doesn’t cost a small fortune. That’s really all there is to say about it.

I’m bagging it this morning. Just to be provocative.

That is all.

sips

Hmmm…

sips

Hmmmmmmmmm…

sips

Who was it wot mentioned having found peach notes in a plain bi luo chun?

sips

I can’t find it.

And I can’t figure out if I’m disappointed or relieved. I don’t really much like peach in tea, see. I just thought it would be cool if I would be able to find it too.

sips

No, nothing. Still otherwise yummilicious, though.

Never had a pu-erh toucha before. At first I wasn’t sure if I should steep it as it was or if I should break it to bits first, but I decided to go for the former after having looked it up at the seller’s website. I figured that it was little difference from various pearl teas and that if I was supposed to break it to bits, they would have said so.

Turns out I think I did it the right way this way. I could see it in the pot in the beginning of the steep and it disintegrated pretty quickly. I can’t say anything about how it smelled because although I tried, I had just handled salmon so I couldn’t really smell anything other than fish. And I was pretty certain that it wasn’t supposed to smell like smoked fish.

A normal length steep for me gave me a very dark brew. It’s as black as coffee and it’s only when I hold it up to the light that I can spot any sort of transparency. I think maybe I’ve steeped it to death here, and I’m belatedly reminded of Carolyn’s method of many very ultra short steeps. Maybe that’s the way I should go with the other toucha.

It doesn’t, however, taste in anyway ruined. It’s actually very nice. A bit mild for a pu-erh possibly, but it’s not bitter at all. It just has that hint of astringency that tells me that I’ve used too much leaf for this length of steeping. There should be loads of steeps left in this one though. Shorter ones, mind.

There’s nothing to report on the taste otherwise though. It just tastes like pu-erh. Fairly standard. Default pu-erh. I got a sample of a plain loose pu-erh too from this company, and if they turn out to be similar (which I suspect they will) then this will likely be the one of the two I’ll prefer, simply because this is easier to deal with. It’s always good, I think, to have a solid plain pu-erh around in the cupboard and that’s something I’ve been missing for a long time.

Bit like a teabag actually, just without the actual bag.

Interesting name! I like it, I get mental images of dragons and all. (Maybe that’s also because I’m currently listening to the Eragon series by Christopher Paolini on audiobook. Good story btw, very recommendable).

The leaves are dark, but they smell sort of like they ought to be greener. Fresh, kinda. I’m picking up sweet raisin note from them, which makes me rather look forward to tasting it. There is a lot of the raisins in the aroma after steeping too, along with something else that reminds me a little of vanilla.

Tasting it was a bit of a surprise. It tastes much greener and grassier than I had expected and I’m not finding any of the fruity sweetness anywhere. Instead there’s a slight astringency and an almost wooden primary flavour. Like a green that has been oversteeped. It’s not bitter, but it’s getting there. As the cup cools it gets a little better. The not-quite-bitterness has gone away, although it’s still tasting somewhat of pencil. You know, the flavour of the end of a chewed pencil.

I think I might have overdone it a bit with the steeping time of this one, but I’m trying to imagine what it might have been like otherwise. I’m trying to find the hints of what it could have been and I’m coming up short. It doesn’t mean they’re not there, but just that as it is, it’s not really gripping me.

According to NBT this is supposedly very suitable for multiple steeps, so we’re going to try that and see what happens. For now I’m not putting a rating on it, but if I reach a conclusion after a couple of resteeps, I’ll either make another post or just edit one in. Depending on the level of laziness.

ETA After a couple more steeps, I’ve reached a decision. It’s not that it’s not a good tea, because there isn’t really anything wrong with it. It’s just not really grabbing my interest much. I had a second and third steep of it (small pot, about two cups in each steep) and halfway through the third I just gave up and forgot about it. I got bored. Plain and simple.

Shame though, considering the name…

What I wanted was to try another one of the samples from Nothing But Tea.

What I needed was this. Well-known and sure to please. I’ve reaced a point with this one where I don’t have to sit and taste it and think a lot about what I’m having. I know exactly what I’m going to get. Sweet, clean nuttyness.

It’s the get-me-started cup this morning. I’ll dive back into the NBT samples later.

Feeling lazy today, so I’ll make it brief and go do something else.

Not entirely sure what it is that makes this one ‘Exotic’ and frankly I can’t be bothered to look it up right now. The leaves have some bits of something blue in them that is probably some sort of flower, and they smell very fruity and yummy. I couldn’t smell any of the actual tea though.

After brewing I can smell that it’s pu-ehr, but I’m not getting the same memory-sparking inspirational cow-stable smell that I did from the orange one yesterday (which btw was quite nice on third steep in my travel mug this morning). This is rather more fruity and there’s a note of something almost cloyingly sweet. It smells nice but at the same time a wee bit over the top. Try as I might, I can’t make my brain recognise any of the notes in this. I want to stay berries but not quite, and I want to say citrus but not quite and I want to say vanilla but not quite.

There’s definitely orange in the flavour though. I’m a little disappointed by how similar it is to the orange pu-ehr I had yesterday. It’s like it’s that one at the base and then they just kept building on it. At this point I have to look it up and see what is actually in it. NBT says ‘natural flavours, orange flowers, cornflowers and raspberry pieces.’ So I called the orange, definitely, and I called something berry-like. I’m still not sure that cornflowers have an actual flavour as such or what they’re supposed to taste like if they do, but they seem to be a fairly common addition in tea blends. Natural flavours of what? That could be anything but I’m guessing the oranges and raspberries.

I would say, yes, it definitely tastes exotic. But I just don’t think the flavours really fit in here. I’m not really sure that I think pu-ehr and berries work all that well together.

Teaplz had the blood orange pu-ehr from Samovar earlier and it inspired me. Since then there were a couple other citrus-y posts, so maybe we’ve got the Citrus Craze coming in? It’s been a while since we’ve had one of those flavour-trend days, hasn’t it? I just got a (regular) orange pu-ehr sample after all, and feeling optimistic due to the very successful pot of the lemon oolong, I thought why not continue on the citrus line?

The leaves look like a black tea. They’re small and well, black, and they smell largely of orange rind. Not much else, to be honest. On the other hand, it’s not a synthetic orange smell, so I’m not really sure whether or not to be worried here.

After steeping, though, I’m very pleased to say that my nose detected an absolutely delicious pu-ehr smell. Vaguely cow stable-ish. Not really how a cow stable actually smells, but more the memory of the way it smelled when you were very very little and visited your great-grandparents on their farm and your great-grandfather took you with him out to tend to the animals. I can’t actually remember him doing that, but I’m sure he must have, you know? And I associate the smell with that and with them. I sincerely doubt my great-grandparents would have liked this, and I don’t even know if they drank tea at all, but the smell reminds me of their house. I can remember what the kitchen looked like and the little pantry where my great-grandmother fed me jam with a spoon straight out of the glass (“because that was such a nice little mouth, it couldn’t hurt”) and I remember the low ceilling of the living room with my great-grandfather at the end of the table with his pipe and how you had to pass through the cold cold hallway at the back to get to the bathroom, how the garden looked like and the ‘nice’ livingroom which was ONLY used on special occasions. Anyway, that was a bit of a tangent into my earliest childhood memories there. My very first encounter wtih pu-ehr I didn’t like the smell very much , but now a couple of years later pu-ehr, to me, smells like these memories.

Let’s get back to the tea. The taste is very pu-ehr. Not so much orange. Mind you, it’s been so long since I’ve last had a proper plain pu-ehr (or any sort of plain pu-ehr, actually) that in the mmmmm pu-ehr!-ness of it, I’m completely missing out on the orange-ness. If I concentrate though, I can find it sort of at the end of the sip, and it’s going very well with a piece of chocolate. The pu-ehr itself is… I can’t really describe it. I can’t really tell you about tasting notes here at all because it’s just…. pu-ehr! It tastes like pu-ehr! Yummy, but just pu-ehr.

I’m enjoying this enormously, but unlike the lemon oolong, I’ll have to put some thought into whether or not it’s something I want to stock up on.

Nothing But Tea order has arrived and I’m starting with this one. I bought the oolong sample set and the pu-ehr sample set so that’s about 15 or so 10g samples.

I’ve never had a lemon oolong before, but it strikes me as a flavour that would go well with oolong. The leaves have that deep green colour that I love in an oolong and there are some large bits in it that I think must be lemon bits. It smells lemony too, but not synthetic.

In the cup it’s as yellow as a lemon, which seems fitting. I’m pleased to find that while there is a lemon note in the aroma, it’s still very much smelling like an oolong. The lemon just feels so natural there.

I like this. It tastes very much like it smells. It’s a good solid oolong, Tie Guan Yin-ish even, which as you know is sure to make it a number one hit with me, and the lemon is just there. Discreet, but strong. It just FITS, you know? Like you go ‘mmmmm, oolong’ and then ‘wait, lemon!’

It’s like it just belongs here in the oolong. The finishing touch flavour.

Now, anybody willing swap backs with me?

I had two left of these, and I’ve brewed one so now I’m out. These things roll! The other one has has escaped and rolled off to some unknown dimension. It’s okay (to a point, obviously) because in this cup, one turned out to be enough. It even steeped better and quicker than I remember from the first time I tried these (Bethany sent me four) where I had used two to a cup and it apparently was too difficult for them to unfurl properly.

This one steeped quickly and I’m getting a berry-like note in the aroma (I’m thinking black currant) and a sweeter malty note in the flavour.

You’ll excuse me if I’m not putting a whole lot of effort into this right now, but my back hurts like a painful thing today and I can’t sit very well.

Oh dear.

Looks like I’m going to pay a visit to the post office on wednesday. It’s a really small post office, my local one. Hardly more than a kiosk really. So I often get helped by the same person. This is the third tea order to have arrived in… let’s see… erm… a week.

Oh dear. whistles innocently

I’m in a green mood today. What luck that I’ve presently got a cupboard just teeming with new and interesting stuff!

I’m pretty sure I’ve had dragonwell before, but I can’t remember what I thought of it. The name just seems too familiar for me to not have had it. I just can’t remember, in that case, what I thought of it. So here we go!

OMG these leaves are flatter than a flat thing! They look like they’ve been ironed. Or a steamroller went over them. I’m all fascinated by how they look in the tin. All springy yellowy green and flat and stackable. (Whaddaya mean tea leaves aren’t toys?) They smell kinda sweet but a bit salty when dry.

I dosed the leaves like I otherwise would and let the water cool off a little longer before pouring it on. I’m not worried about the water temperature. It’s more the leaf dosage. For some reason I have a sneaky suspicion that I should have used more leaves. Not sure why. Maybe it’s the flatness of them (OMG flat leaves!) that makes me think so. They look like they take up less space. I’m tempted to throw in another pinch of leaves, but I think it would be better to leave that sort of experimentation for the next time. I’ll just use less water for subsequent steeps.

Okay, this is very very pale! Now I’m even more suspicious about my leaf to water ratio. The aroma is erm… interesting though. Salty and seaweed-y and kinda.. I don’t want to say what this note reminds me of. You’ll laugh at me. No, I don’t want to say. Okay, okay, Royal Canin Maine Coon cat food, okay?! Yes, I know it’s weird, but smelling it, I just got the strongest associations to when Boannan was alive and I’d mix up a bucketful of cat food. (2 parts RC Sensitive, 1 part RC Maine Coon, if anybody’s interested in that side of things)

Hm. Yes. Hm. I definitely should have used more leaf. Just a smidge. Apart from what seems like a slight weakness, it has a very special taste. Kind of like it smells. Salty and seaweed-y, but not as cat food-y, thank you very much. It’s smooth, though, with not a hint of astringency in sight, it’s just this rather special flavour. Right now it’s not my perfect green, but if I was subjected to this often and over a longer period of time, I think I might end up being rather partial to it. Rating is therefore likely to be adjusted a few times in the future.

I saw lately someone (Jillian?) wrote that supposedly the third steep of this was the superior one, so it’ll be interesting to see how this develops.

One teaspoon Hazelnut black tea (Adagio), one teaspoon Chocolate black tea (also Adagio), and a pinch of peppermint (Luka Te m. m.)

BLARGH!

Experiment fail. Wildly mediocre. That is all.

Raisins are a very very recent vice for me. Since december 30th 2009 actually. I was baking something that included raisins. I haven’t had problems with raisins in baked goods for years now because I’ve just learned to taste around them. But after having put my baking project in the oven, I caught myself, to my extreme surprise, standing there and eating the rest of the raisins right out of the box! This is huge, because just an hour before, if you had asked me, I would have said that I don’t much care for raisins, and I assume that this was what prompted me to get this particular blend.

Upon opening the pouch I’m immediately greeted by a smell that rather reminds me of that vanilla date concoction that I didn’t like. It’s not nearly as strong here, but it’s defintiely there and it’s the same type of smell. This has me a little worried. Also, the leaves look small and very dark, almost as if it’s actually a large leaf black tea and there are lots of raisins in it.

The tea brews up rather dark, almost like an average black tea. I’m used to greener oolongs, so that’s probably why I’m getting a little type confused here. I wouldn’t say it’s particularly oolong-y or raisin-y in flavour. There doesn’t seem to be anything very characteristic of either of the two. Deepest down I would say that it still tastes a bit like a mild black The raisins are only coming through as a slight fruity sweetness while it’s hottest. They are more pronounced as the cup cools a bit.

I like it this way. It’s not very raisin-y, but it’s enough. Had the raisins been more dominant I expect I probably wouldn’t have liked it much at all. But this way it’s very nice.

Favourite oolong… sounds about what I need. (actually what I probably really need is another nap, but I’m tired of sleeping and there’s something on tv in 45 minutes that I want to see)

Teaspring’s is the tie guan yin I’m most familiar with and also, so far, the one I have preferred the most. The interesting legend behind the origins of the tea. The prettiness of the bright green leaves, so clear in colour as if they had been dyed. The aroma so sweet and rich, like a lovely brocoli broccolli broccol green vegetable boiled just to perfection and with just the right amount of butter. The colour such deep yellow, looking like it’s actually a green tea.

The flavour! So round and vegetally sweet and lingering perfection.

It’s just right.

Bah, still feeling rather under the weather. I really wanted a january in which I wasn’t ill, but people around me seem to insist that there is probably more to it than just average female issues. And the more they say so, the more miserable I feel. At this point I’m strongly suspecting that they might be right too. Lexitus has reminded me to have lots of fluids, so I might as well continue posting about tea, yes?

Switched back to the Teaspring order for this one. I was in need of just a plain black cup. No additives.

The leaves look a lot like my Assam Deluxe FTGFOP from AC Perchs, except with fewer golden tips. They have a very fruity raisin-like aroma as well as a strong note of cocoa.

Due to the nature of the cup chosen, I can’t really comment on the colour, but in this cup it looks pretty default black. The aroma is very sweet and raisin-y. The cocoa is still there too, but now it’s less dominant than before. There is also something there that reminds me a little of vanilla. A malty sort of vanilla, which sounds weird, but it’s the best way I can describe it. I would not believe, based on aroma alone, that this was not a flavoured tea. But it isn’t. It’s plain.

The taste is surprisingly sweet for a plain black, and it’s definitely fruity. Teaspring speaks of plum-like notes, but I think personally I’ll stick to calling it a raisin-y note. I will agree with them, though, on the floral note. It’s only there if I really concentrate and taste it thoroughly, but once I’ve found it, it’s there. Dry-ish and floral. Like just a smidge. Like the tea bush grew surrounded by flowers.

I’m reminded of the Fujian Baroque that Bethany shared a sample of with me, which isn’t surprising because this tea comes from the Fujian province too. I like this one better though. It’s a little less loud on the fruity notes, and I can also find a cocoa note on the swallow. A very dark one that lingers as if there’s a layer stuck to the inside of my mouth. I couldn’t find that in the Fujian Baroque.

The success of the coconut cream pie inspired me to try one of the other ones I bought from the forgotten 52teas order. I’m not surprised I ordered this one and it was sort of screaming to me. Here’s the thing.

I. Love. Cherry. Cola.
Favourite soda (after orange) FTW.

Unfortunately it’s not something we can usually get here. I don’t know if you can over there on the other side of the water. I know you have Dr Pepper which to me is very similar, but also not available in Denmark unless you’re really lucky. We had it for a couple of years recently, but it was taken off the market again. Apparently it didn’t sell well enough. (I fear Mountain Dew has gone the same tragic way, because I can’t find that anymore either). Recently we’ve had a limited edition cherry cola from coca-cola which was yummy, but alas, that one seems to also have run its course. In my deprivation of proper cherry cola or similar beverage, I’ve found that I can make a relatively good substitute with ordinary cola and cherry cordial. It’s not the same, but it works okay.

What all this means is that I have VERY high expectations of this one. So high, that I’m likely to be disappointed. Anything below a clean 100 on this is not good enough. The question just is exactly how disappointed am I going to get?

The leaves actually do smell a bit like cola and something that I’m willing to call cherry-like. There is however also a note which to my own surprise I can only describe as vaguely menthol-like. This is worrysome.

After steeping, the tea has pretty much the same smell, only hot. The mentholness is sticking out a bit more here, which is a little odd to me because menthol (along with mints) is usually a cool sort of flavour.

Hmm… Flat cola with dusty vanilla. I can’t find any cherry outside of the smell. Something sour-ish, kind of citrus-soapy-like. So, yes, I did get disappointed. It’s just a question of how much.

This does require an amount of experimentation, but for a first experience, I cannot in good consciousness give it more than 65-ish.

Ah, so I did make an order with 52teas. The one I couldn’t remember if I made or if I had changed my mind. Either that or someone decided to send me a present which would be cool but also kind of improbable.

I’m starting with this one, mostly because the picture on the pouch looks like something that would be right up my alley. The leaves smell lovely sweet of coconut. Not so much of tea though. Dessert-like.

After brewing I’m finding an odd note of raisins… it sounds weird but somehow it fits. Again the coconut is prevalent. There is also a creamy smell which suggests that I ought to try this with milk also.

For now, I’m sticking to plain. Coconut, defintiely. Sweet, but not cloying at all. I can pick up the tea underneath too. It’s a strong base. Somewhat malty. One that would carry a little sweetener well, which is probably why it’s doing so well with the coconut.

I shall definitely have to try this with a little milk, but on its own as I’ve got it now, it’s quite nice too.

Here’s another one from my recent Teaspring splurge. Another tea that I have fond memories of. If I recall correctly it was on my first ever Teaspring order. I remember liking it a lot and then when I wanted to reorder, it was sold out. For a long time it kept saying ‘out of stock’ and eventually I gave up and forgot about it. But now we’re back in business.

Apparently, according to Teaspring, Queen Elizabeth really likes this oolong and is the source of the ‘oriental beauty’ name it also goes under. For a royalist like me, that’s a big selling point. :) Note how it doesn’t even have to be the royal family of my own country.

I can’t give a great description of the leaves at this time, other than they’re large, twisty and ranging in colour from black to almost whiteish, the reason being that I open the bag a little awkwardly and now it’s slightly broken. I need to handle it as little as possible, so that it doesn’t break further until I have a free tin. (Note to self: Buy more tins. I’m at least five tins short.)

The tea brews up very dark, looking rather like a black tea, and it has a very strong aroma. You don’t have to search for the scent and it seems sweet and floral. For some reason my mind insists on marzipan. Which is odd because it doesn’t really smell like marzipan at all. The little grey cells (or not so little, actually. Brain cells and nerve cells are actually quite large because they stretch so far) are very stubborn and won’t give it a rest at all. What is that other smell I can smell, though? I know I’m supposed to be able to connect it with something, but the stretched grey cells won’t recall what it is. I think they’re just prissy that I’m not giving in on the marzipan issue. It’s floral, but I kind of think I ought to be able to get a bit closer than that. Maybe I’ll think of it later.

It is indeed very floral in flavour too! If I didn’t know any better, I would think this was scented. It’s very vegetal and flowery and exTREMEly girly. The flowers that aren’t really there are so dominant in this, and I find myself wondering what it was about it I was so taken with way back when.

Unlike the Bi Lou Chun, this one is just not living up to the memories I have. I’m not very impressed. How disappointing.

I’m falling asleep at my keyboard here, and I need a pick-me-up. So, a strong black tea, yes please. So I picked this one.

It wasn’t until afterwards that I realised that this was the tea that I had yet to manage to brew successfully. This time I was careful not to oversteep though.

This tea has two very distinctive primary notes, and they are entirely, it seems, independent of one another. There’s a very sweet, honeylike smoothness and then there’s a somewhat astringent malty kick. It kind of feels a little disjointed. As it develops, the malty note starts to take over, but with the promise that the sweet will be back with the addition of a little milk to smooth the astringency.

(Given how sleepy I am as I’m writing this, there’s NO WAY I’m adding milk to this. That would knock me out for sure.)

Teaspring order is now home and unpacked. And yes, it did contain the beloved tie guan yin. phew! It also contained a load of other goodies (including a tibetan tea brick which I’m looking forward to trying as soon as I can persuade myself to break it to bits) and it was really difficult to choose which one to try first. Ippy-Dippy came to my rescue and here we are!

A lot of my Teaspring order appears to have been nostalgia. I remember this one as being one of the first ever green teas I had ever, and I remember being rather fond of it.

I love the look of the leaves. All thin and twisty and soft looking. Really they look like they ought to be downy but they’re not really. Cute leaves ftw!

It brews up, even slightly oversteeped, to a pale yellow colour. I tried with a short steep first, but after one sip, I poured it back in the pot and let it steep a little more because that was like just drinking hot water. The aroma was a strawlike grassy thing with hints of salted butter.

Due to the slight oversteep (I got distracted) it was a little astringent, but not bitter. It had the same sweetish strawlike notes as in the aroma. There was also a strong nuttyness that reminded me a little of the beloved pai mu tan.

The thing I remembered about this one, was a lingering, slightly minty aftertaste, and I’m pleased to say that I did not imagine that. It’s there too.

Towards the bottom of the pot it turned a little more buttery and vegetable-like and the minty aftertaste went away while drinking that. Strangely, now, several minutes after having finished the last cup, minty aftertaste is back with a vengeance. Cool.

This is definitely living up to the fond memories I have of it.

def living up to the fond memory

::Sips::

::Stares at cup::

Sugar? O.o I did not add anything to this cup, where did that come from? In a lapsang?

::sips again several times::

Yes, there is an undeniable sweet note there. I didn’t brew it differently or anything. Weird. It wasn’t there before, I could have sworn! Or was it, and I didn’t notice?

I’M SO CONFUUUUUUSED!!!

(I’m also a bit over-tired at this point just in case you hadn’t guessed.)

ETA: Also, I did not ask for that bit to be in italics, what’s going on? O.o
ETA again: Evidently you can also make italics by use of double ?s…

I have learned something crucial about this tea today. It can handle a magnificent oversteep relatively well.

My colleague made tea for me, but when she does, she just pours the water on and expects me to remove the filter bag myself after an appropriate steeping time. This is very easy when she makes it without telling me until half an hour later when she comments on the fact that I hadn’t taken any yet. Well no, I didn’t have time yet. And it took some two hours more before I had.

As is my habit, I always taste it before tossing it away, and while it is definitely strong and definitely astringent, it’s not bitter and it’s not at all undrinkable. It’s far from optimal, but it’s tolerable. It gained a coffeeish side-flavour which I’m not all that fond of, but it wasn’t completely ruined.

That’s good to know in other similar emergencies.

My order from Teaspring.com is waiting for me at the post office, yay!!!

… I wonder what I bought…? I can’t for the life of me remember what’s in it. I do sure hope there’s Tie Guan Yin, because this is the last of the good stuff that Jillian sent me. Unfortunately what with the closing times my local post office has, I can’t pick it up until wednesday. (Yes, I could probably find an order confirmation in my inbox and check what I bought, but let me have my little game, please.)

So now I’m still waiting for… uh… Well, I ordered from Nothing But Tea yesterday, so I know I’m waiting for that. And I seem to recall placing an order with 52teas a while ago. I think. I was definitely at the site, so the question remains, did I buy something or did I change my mind? (And again, if I did, I wonder what I bought?)

Just in case I didn’t buy any Tie Guan Yin (oh my gosh how will I cope if I didn’t???) I am savouring the last of this cup. There’s a reason it’s named after a goddess, I’m just saying!

Yummilicious!

After steeping fail on both teas I’ve had today, one of which I’ve documented, I just needed a proper cup of tea. One that can’t go wrong. I had a funny feeling that it was a specific one I wanted but it wasn’t until I saw the tin that I knew which one it was.

It’s funny with this one. When I was first introduced to lapsang souchong, I thought it was a really harsh and rough sort of flavour with smoke all over the place.

Now, the more I drink it, the milder it seems to become. The aroma is still the same. All rough and tough and smoke and manly. But the taste seems to have smoothed out for me.

If I pay attention and seek it out the smokyness is there in spades. But it seems to be a bit shy. If I don’t speak to it first, it doesn’t speak to me. The rest of the tea seems surprisingly smooth and mellow and with a round sort of feeling to it, as if I had added milk. I haven’t actually added anything, and I’ve only used the cup for the white pomegranate earlier today and rinsed it out in between.

You all remember my black powder blend, the one I recently bought a huge amount of. I’ve filled my tin at work with that so I have a good amount of that four days a week. It has lapsang souchong in it, the smokyness of which I think is part of the reason for the name of the blend, so could it be that I’m getting so conditioned to lapsang now that I’m having this experience of it?

The first time I had lapsang souchong, after I had first got into the black powder blend, I found it strangely lacking. Watered down. I was expecting the fuller flavour of the blend, not just one of the ingredients in it. I was afraid lapsang souchong as a plain tea had been ruined for me forever. I’m pleased to say that this is definitely not the case, as what I’ve got here tonight is an extraordinarily pleasant cup of tea.