Lapsang Souchong

I’m addicted to this stuff. Luckily my boyfriend was thoughtful and bought me a tin for my birthday :)

For someone who’s been drinking an obscene amount of light-ish teas lately (you bet I’ve been getting the most out of my sugar caramel oolong sample), this was a big smack in the face when I opened up my sampler packet. Holy cow, is that stuff smoky. I’m sitting in my bedroom with my cup, and the atmosphere smells like campfire and singed cedar wood. Surprisingly enough… it’s not so bad.

It smells and tastes like liquid smoke; my eyes are actually tearing a bit as my cup is depleted. But I love the smell of a smoky campfire. (Side note: Ever have toast over a campfire? AMAZING.) As the tea cools it’s less potent, but I kind of fear to go back into the kitchen. My mother may wonder what I’ve been cooking, thanks to the smoky after-smell.

Not something I’ll be running out to buy, but wouldn’t pass it up if offered.

I can’t say as I am a huge fan of the smell of this tea in general – not just this specific one – just LS in general…but since I hadn’t tried Golden Moon’s I thought I would try it. It’s not bad but I am glad I tried it via TTB and not have to buy. It’s mellower than some LS I have tried and it’s a bit more smooth tasting which I am very happy about…so based on that back and forth I will slap this ‘ok but not bad’ rating on it. If I had to drink a LS…this one would probably be a good go-to.

Sample 13/31
I had barely opened this package, when I was hit with a very smokey odor. Smells almost like bacon without the greasy smell. The tea is very smooth and strong in flavor. Very smokey with a slightly bitter aftertaste. Not something i would drink everyday, but not a bad tea.

I think this is the second worst Lapsang Souchong I have had. It tasted like bad charcoal

The smell is completely amazing. I wonder, is this the lost tea. I had a tea a year ago that smelled like this. I loved it!

So for the taste, I think the lost tea might be a lapsang but not this one. The flavor here is more like the ash then the smoke of a fire. The lost tea tasted more like the smell then this one. I could have brewed too long… I followed the directions and did 5 minutes. Perhaps less would be better. It’s not bad. Just a bit disappointed after the smell that it’s not that flavor I had been expecting.

My samplers are dwindling down. I’ve been avoiding this one since I’ve come to realize i really do not like smoky teas. The tea smells super smoky and I’m really not too excited for this tea.

first sip. ugh. would it hurt to put some milk & sugar in? I just don’t think I could drink this straight. The taste is overwhelmingly smoke. That’s all i’m tasting. Ok wow, this is a /lot/ better with some skim milk and an equal packet. Like extremely better. It’s still quite a bit smoky, but completely drinkable. I’m actually getting some black tea taste now, but still overall it’s a pretty smoky tea and i’m not a fan.

Brewed tea smells intensely of pine resin. The taste is surprisingly mild – reminding me of sage brush with a starchy lima bean quality and a gentle sweetness. A dominant smokey aftertaste lingers for quite a while.

I felt that the smoke in this particular Lapsang Souchong was entirely overdone. I could no longer taste the tea, and the tea looked to be a nice quality.

I will admit that I was a little nervous to try this tea—the sample smelled interesting, very smokey but in a good way, I think. The infusion still was smokey, but my first sip was sweet! Subsequent sips were “meaty” but as the tea cooled, the smokiness started to really take over in an unpleasant way. I steeped a second cup just to be sure, but I don’t think this tea is for me.

This was my favorite flavor of tea until I discovered Teavana’s chai/chai blend.

I usually like Lapsang Souchong. But the kinds I have had before have not been nearly as smoky as this one. This one had an overwhelmingly smoky, bacon-y smell even before I brewed it. The tea smelled and tasted too smoky for me to drink more than half a cup. I wanted to like this, but I just don’t.

Rating this iced and sweetened. The sweet and smoky go well together. It lacks the BBQ taste of this hot (which i don’t like) but it has the sweet and follow through smoky of a smoked brisket with BBQ sauce.