Lion and The Lamb

What a wonderful surprise FULL of tea samples from kind Bonnie, and a special Thank You! :)) Another gift is my beautiful niece Brie on her way from Oregon. Right now she is in San Francisco with a three hour layover. I’ll be glad when she gets here. :))

This morning I must have been over-excited because I misread the tea label-twice. So I opened the pouch and smelled light smokey campfires, and a light floweriness, which is the Jasmine. It smells very light, and I’m so used to straight Jasmine teas where the aroma really hits you. There was a fruity aroma…….huh, orange?! I reread the label: LS, with Jasmine and orange. No wonder I smelled orange zest! Between the Lapsang and the orange, I didn’t notice the Jasmine-only a flowery aroma. The wet leaves only intensified the Lapsang and orange zest, leaving the jasm-aroma hidden. Still, the aromas were heavenly and almost magical, which brings me to my other reading error.

I let my cup cool. I thought the label said, "Lion & the Lamp. So I thought it was quite appropriate, with the magical aromas. The aromas in my cup are rising. I was envisioning the smoke cloud of a Genie rising up bringing me exotic, lightly smoked, sweet Lapsang, together with the sweet, fruity orange zest. Why does the jasmine remain hidden…….like the Genie in the lamp? If I could only rub my teacup and be granted three wishes. :)) Sure I would wish for more money, but there are SO MANY things that are more important for fullness in life! Alas, I tasted nothing but sweet, lightly smoked campfires soothing my palate. Then came the sweet burst of orange zest, and an elusive flowery goodness. My palate was awash with all of this gentle, yet very flavorful tea-not wanting to leave, but I couldn’t stop drinking this tea!

What a truly great blend and the perfect reintroduction to Lapsang Souchong. This tea really hit the spot and is something I could drink quite often and anytime of the year. As I was typing this something occurred to me. I don’t need a Genie to grant me three wishes. I received all this glorious tea, my niece Brie is coming today, and I’m alive, and well enough to see what gifts each day brings! That is three gifts right before me! Now all I need is another cup of this tea. :)) Thanks again Bonnie!

Cupped & Reviewed: Saturday, June 2, 2012.

I just received a package from Bonnie and OH MY! There is so much tea, so many gifts! Thank you!

My youngest daughter has dreamily inhaled the Lapsang and put it in her stash. She refuses to try it until school tomorrow! I was going to be good and not have caffeine tonight, but this one was calling my name and I didn’t try to resist very hard.

Lapsang with jasmine and orange? You don’t mean it! But opening the pouch an exotic scent wafts out and I bury my face in the bag to sniff. I may be showing myself to be a country bumpkin, but this smells exotic through and through. The combination of flavors and smoke here is so unique as to make it all seem like a totally new thing, and at the same time, as old as antiquity itself! I can picture sipping this on some foreign shore and I swear Bogart is there.

The taste does not let me down, either. This tastes the way it smells. Lapsang, good and strong. Smoke and ash on the tongue. Jasmine, teasing in the background. Orange, a flirty top note. What a cool tea!

I can’t wait to try more from Happy Lucky, and I hear they are going to be selling online soon!

Thank you, Bonnie! This will be an adventure!

I almost forgot to add today’s dramatic doodle. It is the weeping angel, only the angel is youngest, she is sobbing on the geometry book, and her pencil dangles limply from her hand. This kid really has GOT to do theater. http://www.flickr.com/photos/24998856@N06/7873206326/

Quick Notes Thanks to Bonnie for sharing with me!
Dry – Hickory smoked salt rub, hints of orange and sweet.
Wet – Smoky and more citrusy, sweet and somewhat spicy.
Liquor – Light brown/caramel.

1st 3mins – Smoky, sweet with orange citrus hints up front. It goes down smoothly while retaining the citrus notes, it has a savory ‘back bone’ with the smoke that allows the rest of the other flavors to come up.

2nd 3 1/2mins – Smoky, sweet and tart orange up front. It is smooth and smoky with a full body, yet the citrus notes gives it a ‘juicy’ feel. At this point I can taste vanilla hints which I think most come from the jasmine since dried jasmine is subtly sweet but not perfumy at all.

3rd 4mins – Sweet, tart citrus with some smoke up front. The tea continues to be smooth while going down and has a more subtle smoke note, the orange is more present now and lingers a bit more in the mouth.

Final Notes
I loved this one! I usually avoid blends with tea, but this one is well done. (In case you are wondering why I usually avoid blends: it is because Herbals have completely different infusion times and sometimes temperatures from that of tea. Basically you end up having tea the first try, the second faded tea with some herbs and then over steeped tea with herbal tea.)

I liked this one. Thanks Bonnie!

Thank you Bonnie for this sample!

A few months ago, I received many generous samples from Bonnie and have only reviewed a few of them, sorry about that…

I was honored to try my first tea from her beloved teashop, Happy Lucky’s, she also included a nice cardboard disk from them that gives you all their brewing instructions and addresses.

She had promised she would send a Lapsang Souchong that she thought I might appreciate, as I had expressed the fact that they kind of scared me, just like pu’erh did…

First and foremost:  the smell!  Ahhh… sweet fire camp hickory, charcoal broil mixed with floral fragrance from the pretty dried jasmine flower buds and juicy bite from the orange rinds .. People at your teashop are genius for thinking of putting these together…as they say, opposites attracts!

Not to think that this is in any shape or form a jasmine tea cause it’s not!  The Jasmine is obviously overpowered by the smoke and it is to be expected, but it’s role here is simply to tone it down an completely blend and vanish to create a perfect balance with it’s sweet flowery perfume. 

I’ve had only one souchong previous to this one, and it was so harsh and bitter, I thought I would never have it again!

This is showing me all the possibilities, and I’ll be willing to try more of them… I have to say that as breakfast tea, it’s magnificent!

The best part is that I have enough for a few more cups! 
 
Thank you!

First Review. I like smoky tea and this morning I was in the mood for that fire in the fireplace, cabin in the woods and bacon on the grill taste that a good Lapsang Souchong can give ( especially during Lent when the Eastern Orthodox world, moi,does not eat any meat or fish at all)…yeh bacon! Well…the fact that this has dried big puffy Jasmine flowers and small dry pieces of Orange rind was interesting. What would those additions do to the tasty tea? I set the steep at 4 minutes (3 was suggested). My first pour and sip was smooth, lighter than expected and smoky salty in a corn-on-the-cob sort of way. You could not taste floral or orange. Curious. You don’t need sugar with this tea but of course I added some just to see what would develop. A smidge of sweet produced the flavor of the brown (but not black/burnt) part of grilled marshmallow. Really good. This is my favorite Lapsang blend. You can drink a whole pot without feeling like you’ve been fighting a forest fire. Love that! I drank a pot and then had a second somewhat weaker steeping (should have let it set longer).