Lapsang Souchong Black Tea Grade II

After spending some frustrating hours engaged in work, I looked forward with the keenest of anticipation to playing a round of Tea Geek, thanks to the ever-generous RABS.

Today I rolled a “5” on the die and opened the package with keen anticipation.

And what did I get? My favorite tea ever. If I were held hostage and asked to limit myself to one kind of tea and only one for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t need to think. Lapsang Souchong would be my unhesitating choice. I am addicted to the smoky, tar-like aroma and taste of a Lapsang Souchong. Once you get the addiction and try several different kinds, the variations can be startlingly diverse. That’s a real plus as far as I am concerned. For me, two different Lapsang Souchongs can be as varied and different as a lemon rooibos might be to a Keemun Hao Ya A to another drinker.

Life in Teacup will get an order from me. This Lapsang Souchong is incredible! The aroma is intense and smoky which bodes well. Drinking the tea evokes all the pleasurable smoky, warm, bonfire taste but this has more of a tar taste than any other LS I have tried. And I love the tar with a passion! It’s like cedarwood smoked bacon served with tar and it’s simply delicious.

I really must thank Rabs for introducing me to one of the best Lapsang Souchongs I have ever loved. There are quite a few decent but taste-alike LS teas out there. I love them, but not all of them have a totally distinctive taste. Or, as I like to quote from Randy Jackson, my taste and discernment mentor, Life in Teacup has made it their own.

Utterly delicious, smoky, mysterioso and glamoroso, this tea quickly won a place of pride in my personal Pantheon. Thank you, RABS!

This was one of the other samples I got with the earliest green tea. I’d wanted to try a version of this ever since I read about it, as I found the descriptions in books of how it smells and tastes fascinating.

I’m hesitant to rate it yet because I have some other Lapsang samples and this is my first experience of one. But it’s pretty awesome stuff.

The dry leaves give off a whiff of charcoal when the package opens. They’re very, very dark — a dark chocolate color, almost black. The liquor is a deep, brandy-like color that makes you want to put on a smoking jacket and light up a cigar.

The aroma is deep and woody and rich. It’s like cooking on a campfire: smoky, piney, almost bacony. The taste is very much like the aroma. There is a smoky, spicy sweetness to it that makes you want to wrap yourself in a blanket in front of a fireplace in a ski lodge somewhere, staring into the flames and becoming hypnotized by them while you sip on this.

I think I’m joining the smoky fan club.

This is a showdown between the superior grade LS and this grade 2 from Life in Teacup. Let’s get started ‘cause my delicious smelling tea is getting colder by the word.
Dry: Smells of light sweet smokey fire. Nicely twisted dark chocolate leaves.
Liquor (1.5min): Smells and tastes like a camp fire. But sweet bacon and a little malty at the same time. Yum..
ok I just noticed the steep times of the other tasters and mine is wayyy lower. Next round I am trying a 4 minute steep. I’m nervous. Ohhh but it will be good. Here’s the thing – I touched the wet leaves and now my hands smell like salty bacon. Now I want salty smokey sweet bacon. I don’t ever crave meat products so this is weird.
5min: I got side-tracked looking at Life in Teacup Dan Cong. Looks like I will have to order some more tea soon. sips Whoa! New tea almost. Full bodied and with a gentle sparkle feeling around my tongue. Slight drying in the throat, but nothing too bothersome. When I try and think about the sweetness (which is mid-taste for me), visions of black currants pop up in my brain for some reason. Mmmm it’s like black currant syrup on non-crispy maple smoked bacon. I’m in love.
Thank you again Gingko… Life in Teacup has wonderful customer service and I really appreciate that!

After 4 hours of sleep last night the thought of trying this tea got me out of bed. It’s my first Life in Teacup tea experience, and lordy-loo was it awesome! I selected this as one of my free samples with my first order.

I opened the cute little packet and was somewhat disappointed with the aroma: it wasn’t as intense as Adagio’s LS. I steeped, and then as I was pouring it into my cup I had the most fun whiff of an aroma: Bacon! Bacon! Bacon! I smell bacon! BACON!!!!! Other people have mentioned smelling bacon with other LSes, but I had never had that experience. I actually was a bit worried to try the tea. But when I smelled the cup I found the usual smokey-yuminess that to me is a LS. No more bacon.

The taste? Nom. Nom! Nom! NOM!!! This is the best LS I’ve had as of yet (I’ve only had 3 others so far). It’s got everything I’m looking for and more: smoky: check. sweet undercurrent: check. not hurting my throat: check. There is a tiny bit of roughness at the back of my throat, but it’s a fine amount. It’s just the best blend of smoky/sweet I’ve ever had. As it started to cool I actually gulped this tea. I had to slow myself down, and that’s never happened with any tea I’ve had. I also sprang from my chair when the timer went off for my second steep (just as great as the first! – only added one minute). You must understand. I am not a morning person. I shuffle around like a zombie impatiently waiting for my soul to reenter my body. Leaping up from a chair is almost unthinkable. And yet, I did. For this tea. TG

To continue my “comparing Lapsangs to cat noises” rating system: this is the purr of a lion. Just had another LS (Narien’s) that has taken this title and knocked my rating of this one a little down the scale. This tea is now like the black panther I saw at the Audubon Zoo that meowed at me when I spoke baby talk to it. This large cat capable of ripping my throat out meowed just like a house cat. It blew my mind.

I will forever be indebted to Ginko from Life in a Tea Cup for giving me my first sample and introduction to Lapsang Souchong.
Being new to tea, I am sure the veterans will appreciate my awe and wonder inspired by the multitude of new tea flavors with their complexities and character.
I knew a little of what to expect with this, from reading reviews and learning how the tea was made. But nothing prepared me for the experience.
The aroma was smoky of course, but immediately made my mind race to memories of campfires, fireplaces, bonfires, and other burnings. The first sip was full of smoke at first but like a whiff was gone and the flavor of black tea appeared. The aftertaste followed with a whisp of smoke that lingered…and was gone.
Sip after sip followed the same path…guiltily, I felt almost as if I was smoking…savoring each pull, holding in and releasing after each taste, hoping it would never end.
I learned something, you don’t “drink” this tea, you experience it. After the first cup, I realized the smokiness was calling me back to an earlier time, the Fall of 1999 and fighting forest fires in Northern California. Hardwoods had been the fuel of choice growing up, in the hearth at home, on campouts. Hardwood smoke has it’s own character. The Pine forest we worked on in ’99 had a scent I will never forget…and thought was lost in memory…until I tasted this tea for the first time.

HMMM! Pleasantly surprised with this one… smoky/tarry scent upon opening the sample envelope. Steeped for 4 min and discovered a dark reddish liquor. First sip was a lot of the smokiness coming through with sweet undertone. The sweetness peaks in the aftertaste tho, something like a molasses/raisin taste. Dark and a slight thickness that comes along with that final peak of sweetness. Thumbs up!

Not smoky enough for me. Prefer Golden Moon.