OK… I’m being EXTREMELY courageous here (yeah, I keep telling myself that whenever I start thinking that I’m about to drink a Lapsang Souchong tea)
I gave it a rinse (awakening of the leaves) with boiling water for about 10 seconds before I brewed it, I had hoped this would take away some of the smokiness that I find off-putting.
You may be asking why would I brew a tea that I know I won’t like? But here’s the thing, I didn’t like it years ago, around the same time I had convinced myself that I didn’t like Dragon Well tea and a few other things… and since that time my tastes have changed, and how do I know that I still dislike Lapsang Souchong? I may be missing out on something just because I thought I didn’t like it.
So when Enjoying Tea sent me this sample… I figured it was an opportunity for me to try it without having to actually go out and purchase it.
So… after that extraordinarily long introduction… here goes!
The rinse definitely helped. It’s still very smoky (of course) in aroma and taste.
There is a pleasant sweetness to it too… caramel-y. That is something that I don’t think I’ve ever really recognized about a Lapsang Souchong because I couldn’t ever get myself past the smoky part.
It wasn’t a terrible tea experience, but I don’t think that I’ll be buying any Lapsang Souchong any time soon either. I’m not going to rate it numerically, because I feel that would be unfair, because what I really dislike about Lapsang Souchong is that pine-y smoke flavor, and it is a characteristic that is Lapsang Souchong. It is what it is.
