Lapsang Souchong Star (organic)

So I was feeling adventurous today when I bought this, because I’ve always wondered about smoky teas. I found a smoky beer that I absolutely fell in love with at a local brewery, but they aren’t brewing it anymore, so I’d like to see if I appreciate a smoky tea as much.

I smelled it in the store, and intense wood smoke scent hit me in the face. The clerk said that lots of people use it for cooking, I was like yeah so will I if I don’t like it haha! I only got 15 g of it though, so we’ll see how it goes.

I brewed it for 4 minutes, as that seemed to be a sweet spot on Steepster for the good reviews. The steeped smell is not quite as smoky I don’t think, and there’s a stronger pine note. I am totally picturing camping amongst the spruce trees with a fire crackling and cooking smokies on the fire :) at least this is so far taking me to my favorite activity to do in the summer, camping!

So now the taste, and the verdict is…this actually is not too bad. It is definitely a more savoury tea haha. The first taste is a bold, rich flavor, then tapers off into the smoky aftertaste. The pine flavor is also present, moreso in the breathing in of the scent when you take a sip. I definitely would liken this to beef jerky, a heavily smoked beef jerky. Haha, my boyfriend had the first sip and I was like so what do you think? Is it like whiskey or smoke or beef jerky? and he said like eating a piece of charcoal haha. I can see where he gets that from, though.

Overall, I am happy I have tried this. It’s not something I will drink frequently, but it will satisfy those savoury salty tea cravings I sometimes get. I don’t think I will be running out to get anymore, but I would be open to trying other LS from different companies too, so I’m not scared off! I also might have to try adding some of this to salmon, I imagine it would be excellent. Yay for exciting tea experiences!

ETA – Yes. I have found a very tasty way to enjoy this tea. By eating cheese while drinking it! The salty cheese complements the smoke and tones it down nicely, and the illusion of eating applewood smoked cheddar is also created. Happy I found that this pairs nicely with one of my favorite foods :D

ETA again – so while this was ok when I had it, I’ve unfortunately had a lingering smoke smell/taste in my nose and mouth all night, and I’m quite tired of it now. Blarg. Removing rating as maybe I just am not a fan of this type of tea.

Okay. A coworker gave me some of this to try a month or two ago but I have been so afraid of it that I held off trying until today. I used a scant teaspoon in my perfect tea mug for 3 or 4 minutes and am rewarded with a golden amber brew that smells like a campfire. This is feeling a bit more like a punishment than a reward, but maybe I’ll like it.

Over the past few years I have come to enjoy and even embrace a light smoke note in tea. Note the word light. This is POW. This might have my coworkers wondering if the office is on fire. Oy. Initially, I get a sweet taste that morphs into smoked ham. Then I am left with a mouth full of ashtray. Hm. The ashtray thing isn’t actually as bad as it sounds, but it isn’t good either. I’m clinging to the sweetness of the tea under all the smoke as if it were a lifeboat. I can drink this, but I really don’t think I want to. I do really want some smoked ham now…

Big Trouble in Little Lapsang! #1 of 3

Let me start by saying that I like Lapsang Souchong (or at least the three I tried) as a deviation from the more popular or mainstream fare and my scores for all three in this series indicate to how much I like each one in relation to the others, not whether or not I like this kind of tea at all. After reading many poorly scored reviews on several different LS offerings from those who simply don’t like this kind of tea in any fashion, that seemed like it needed to be clarified.

Ouch! Sorry, I tripped falling off of my soapbox. Anyhoo.. Of the three I tried, this one from DavidsTea was by far the most robustly smoky in the bunch. I ordered it a while back and had never tried a LS before so I didn’t have any frame of reference although I thought it was passable in the evening when I wasn’t looking for much of a caffeine kick. I enjoy both a dram of scotch whisky and a taste of maduro cigars on occasion so my temperament for this sort of thing should probably be taken into consideration if you’ve never tried a Lapsang Souchong and are considering it.

This one is closer to a cup of burnt embers than smoky subtlety. While that is not necessarily a bad thing if it’s what you’re looking for, I found it to be a little over the top. It is the only flavor I was able to taste. Although I am rating this one between the other two, it actually would match my mood better from time to time and could be a go-to on those evenings. Adding sweetener of any kind here is a waste unless you plan to throw it out instead – look elsewhere for variations on this type of tea that will respond better to that sort of meddling. Drink this one neat.

ehhhh, not as good as Teaopia. (minus serious points!)
There’s something missing, that certain malty depth that makes tea so satisfying for me. It’s smoky, but still weak. I almost wonder how this one would taste with milk(minus points). The teaopia one was just fine on its own but I had to add some agave here(minus points!!)…
Not much else to say about this one, not when I’ve had so much better. If it wasn’t for that I think this would get maybe five extra points from me.
EDIT: ok so I may have been quick to judge… I tried this with milk and it’s a bit better. Bumping it a few notches. The Teaopia version would be terrible with milk so I assumed the same for this one!

Hurray! Something interesting :)
After the disappointing tuo chas, I’m actually glad that I have no idea what to think about this.
From the beginning, I was fascinated by this tea and I really wanted to like it. I opened up the bag and was baffled – it was so much smokier than I had expected! I brought it around to my dad who likes whiskies and asked his opinion. First he said it smelled like a wet campfire which is, I think, what it was reminding me of. Then I mentioned the whiskey aspect and how it was made and he said he could absolutely see that.
My sister thought it smelled fabulous. I’m still on the fence. The piney scent really smells like some kind of carcinogenic chemical to me.
The flavor isn’t bad… it’s super interesting and less abrasive than the scent.
I’ve never tried anything like this before – the smokiness really lingers in my mouth and I can’t tell if I despise it or if I love it. It is one of the other.
My (vegan) sister mentioned that the scent smells a little like beef jerky – that scent/flavor started coming out more as the tea cooled.

Halfway through the cup I decided I like it :)
I tried adding milk to it at that point. I really like that too! I think this would be the perfect breakfast tea on a rainy day. The smokiness with the fogginess, the dark mellow notes with the color of the day, the sharpness with the drumming of the rain… yup. I’m sold!
ETA – I want to try brewing this for 3 minutes next time and see if it’s easier to drink black.

A sample of this has been sitting in my shelf for about a month now and I’ve been hesitant to try it because the scent is so smoky, it’s off-putting. It smells, honestly, like burnt gunpowder and campfire. Which, don’t get me wrong, I love the smell of gunpowder – reminds me of the model rockets I used to shoot off in the summer, before the engines got to be crazy expensive. But I wasn’t sure I’d like it in a tea.

I don’t dislike it, though it’s not my favorite. It’s certainly not as campfirey as it smells, though it’s smokier than anything I’ve ever had. It’s dark and malty and a little bit chocolaty. It brews a darkish red-brown, and I think it would fit in best with a winter snow, a fire in the fireplace and a book I’ve read a hundred times before.

Well, my first encounter with smoky tea, was Mr. Morgan’s tea (http://steepster.com/teas/the-pierpoint-morgan-library/15626-mr-morgans-tea) and if you take a look at my review, you’ll know that it wasn’t a good one.

I went to David’s Tea to talk to one of the girls about Mr. Morgan’s tea and the fact it smelled like cigars and she suggested I try this one. So, although I was a bit worried that I just didn’t have a thing for this kind of tea, I thought I’d give it a shot.

It’s definitely different! If you like smoky teas I recommend it. I let it steep for quite a while (totally forgot about it) but the tea didn’t become too bitter or strong! The flavour lasts though, and the smell reminds me of a fireplace—which makes me feel warmer!

A good thing since I’m about to start facing down a Canadian winter!

Ummm…. EWWW!

I had to plug my nose to actually drink this! it smelled great, like kindling and hot dogs (don’t ask where the hot dogs came from) but it was terrible! Most certainly NOT a tea I will buy more of! Thank-fully I did not break the bank with this one at a mere 10g it was only $2 worth of tea.

I had to get this tea after discovering I have a great soft spot for smokey tea.
Dry: Much more fragmented leaves than the Nepal black by DT. Wonderful pine notes with a deep sweet smoke. Yum.
Liquor (1.5min): A deep reddish brown. Its is molasses sweet – like homemade barbecue sauce on something recently gilled. Definite pine notes at the first taste which are very strong and smokey (a little too much so). This intensity then mellows into a sweet barbecue flavour for me. Delicious!
Overall this tea is good. I wish it had a more well rounded black tea, instead of just a high intensity flavour off the get go. I want to enjoy my cup – not have my tongue assaulted by a burning pine branch. It’s drinkable – only because I didn’t steep it as long as DT said. No way hosay would I drink this steeped at 4-6 min =\ yikes.

I love the “open bonfire” smell, but the taste was weaker than I expected.

Following a suggestion on here, I added some steamed/frothed milk. Now it’s definitely…different! I’m still undecided on it, though.

WOW this tea REALLY smells like a campfire. I love it! There’s something else in there too that I can’t quite pinpoint. I was surprised when I steeped it that the tea smells as strongly as the dry leaves do. The taste is just the same, it’s like drinking that campfire smell. Which is kind of weird, you know? But I think if I had it a few more times I could really start to enjoy it. I see other people have compared it to a bacon or jerky taste and I think there is something vaguely meaty about it. This is just soooo smoky and leaning towards too bitter for me. Now I’m curious to try other lapsang souchongs.
Also, weird fact: lapsang souchong is mentioned in the song Beautiful World by Colin Hay, a song my friends and I would listen to when we used to go camping!

Resteeped as well, yummers. Preferred the one that Cavocorax sent me from Tea Desire, though.

I have been searching for a Lapsang Souchong for a long time. I have tried many but never found one that really works for me because I like the smoke flavor but I don’t want to feel like I am drinking thinned out barbecue sauce and I also want to be able to taste the smoke. I’d almost given up but then I figured that I would give in and try David’s Tea’s Lapsang.

I think this may become my go to Lapsang Souchong. It’s a midpoint between steeped smoky death and just barely smoky. The smoke was pleasant and not at all artificial tasting. The tea also didn’t have that astringent, bitter taste that the other brands I tried had. It tasted like Johnny Walker Double Black which is just about the best thing in the world. I think this may just be my favorite straight black tea.

My only issue with this tea is I was unsure how to drink it. I usually drink my tea with a touch of sugar but that didn’t seem right with this one. I did add a bit of lemon zest to the tea after I brewed it. I’m still trying to decide how I feel about the lemon. Any ideas?

Still hurts my brain thinking about it…

I am a huge fan of Single Malt Whiskeys to the fact its what I drink when I am not drinking tea. So immediately after smelling this tea I knew I had to try it and to be honest I do not know where I sit with it. This is a very basic tea as it is not really ‘flavored’ even though it has the smokey taste to it, as everyone knows this is a byproduct of the drying method for Lapsang Souchong.

Dry the leaves are your typical black Chinese tea leaves, nothing out of the ordinary. One whiff of the tea and you will have flashbacks to times you have gone camping or childhood memories if you grew up in a house heated by a wood stove. This tea has a complex peaty smoke aroma to it that is just awesome, I honestly walked around the DT store smelling this tea while browsing stuff, yes I am aware I need help!

The moment you steep the tea it really cuts back on the smokey aroma but it is still present. The brew is a very dark tea, almost black from what I could tell, sadly I was too lazy to wash my clear mug when I brewed this one. It has a similar complex peaty taste as one would expect from whiskey but seeing as it is a water based drink of a alcohol based drink it is missing all the other components of whiskey that a true connoisseur would be looking for. It was a good tea, but I am highly undecided on it, simply because as a whiskey drinker my taste buds go “Hey it’s whiskey” then my brain goes “Shut up stupids is just Lapsang Souchong” Before I totally dismiss this tea I will try it mixed with some of my Oh Canada, as it apparently makes a maple bacon flavored tea.

When I was a kid, I remember my Mum served us a Lapsang Souchong after a family dinner one night, and we all hated it so much that the very mention of the name today is still enough to make my sisters pull faces.

But I am brave, and much cooler than them, so when I started to see recipes that suggested using Lapsang Souchong to impart a smoky flavour to the dish, I was intrigued.

Now when I smell that distinctive smoke from this tea, it hits me in the same spot as the smell of baking bread, or macaroni and cheese. It’s completely comforting, and makes me want to snuggle up with a cup of this and a book and read late into the night.

The smoke flavour profile in this one seems to be lower that whatever it is that I had as a child. It’s definitely strong, but not like drinking a cupful of ashes. The tea adds a nice astringency, and the smoke lingers in a very toasty aftertaste.

I think I can consider myself a convert. I don’t think anyone here would see this as an everyday tea, but it’s an evocative experience in a cup, and I’m a fan.

I was very hesitant when I brewed this for the first time, this morning. In the bag, the smoky smell is so intense, I felt like I might find some ashes at the bottom of the bag. It did remind me of the old woodstove we had when I was young, but somehow, the idea of drinking something that reminds me of a woodstove wasn’t that appealing.

Brewed, the smell of the liquor is almost as strong as the dry leaves, and I was still suspecting the leaves might have been coated with ash (hey, you never know!). But drinking it is a totally different experience. The smokiness is definitely there, but it is not overwhelming at all (as it was when smelling). The balance between the taste of the black tea and the taste of smoke is perfect for my taste, just like good smoked salmon has a smoked taste without masking any of the salmon (it actually compliments it in a great way). It remains quite an unusual tea flavour and is definitely hard to compare with other kinds – flavour-wise, it just stands on its own.

Let me start by saying that this tea has an extremely strong smoky aroma, reminiscent of bacon and campfires. But don’t be put off by it! Once steeped, the aroma is slightly muted. The taste is smoky and comforting. When drinking, the muted aroma reminds me of the smell of old books, and I feel compelled to curl up in a big comfy chair, with a book, while drinking.

Lapsang Souchong has officially taken place of Hojicha as my favourite smoky/roasted tea. Complex yet simple, strong yet subtle, it’s a paradox of a tea, and is my new go-to for when I’m feeling sad.

For a tea with such a strong smoky aroma, one would expect an equally strong taste. The smooth flavor really surprised me, as the scent of open fire pine really fills your nostrils. It is quite a delectable aroma, if you are an outdoors person and quite enjoy the smell of an open firepit.

It is quite smooth, with a weak bitter after taste bite. It is not equally strong in taste, but it is very equally strong in enjoyability.

It may not be for everyone, and it may not be for everyday steeping. The description mentions fine cigars, which I had wished I was smoking while sipping a cup of this tea. Very sophisticated.

{backlogged review}

A friend told me this was her favourite tea, and she was curious what I’d think of it, so I promised her I’d try it. She warned me it is a love/hate thing, so I went in forewarned.

Dry, omg I love the smell of this. Campfires and woodsmoke and I just want to sit and smell it and remember my summers spent camping with a fire every night. I was very excited to try this after smelling that!

I set this to brew on the counter and went back to my computer where I was chatting with friends. Soon I started smelling . . . beef jerky? Clearly my apartment was getting scents from another apartment down the hall, so I didn’t think anything more until my timer went.

But nope, it was the tea that smelled of jerky. I brought the cup over to the computer, and the smell started doing funny things to my stomach. Determined, took a sip, and tasted jerky. Curious, I plugged my nose and tried again, and there, finally was the taste of the tea. I enjoyed it, but two sips and my stomach was saying I couldn’t keep the cup next to me.

So sorry Lapsang Souchong Star . . . my stomach apparently doesn’t like aromatic beef jerky tea.

The first time that I smelled this type of tea was several years ago when a roommate showed me some tea she bought. I thought it smelled interesting because it was a strong sharp smell, nothing of the ordinary. I never got a taste of it, but I happened to cross its path every so often years later.

I eventually picked up this tea from a local tea shop because the bf was interested in it. The version from that store was very sharp and strong, difficult for me to take in. I thought my time with any Lapsang Souchongs were over.

Because of the tea challenge that I am doing, I decided to pick up this tea after skipping it for the past month and a half. I didn’t have any intention of liking it lol I opened the bag—smells exactly the same, smokiness (always reminds me of smoked salmon more than anything). Take a sip…think about it. Not as bad as I thought! I didn’t get the sharp taste like I did with the other tea, so I am a little relieved that I won’t be tossing this one out!

I wonder if this will become my to go tea eventually.