Hu Kwa

I don’t want to GIVE AWAY my review…but…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUH6yvCyQvM

THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!

I have been looking for a Lapsong Souchong JUST LIKE THIS! I FINALLY FOUND IT! Woot! Woot! Woot!!!!

I was looking for something with the strong smokey scent and was smoky to taste but didn’t have a funky after taste or too over the top while actually drinking it. I was also looking for one that didn’t taste like wood and was smooth. This is it! This just seems to have EVERYTHING I have been looking for in a smoky tea. I’m shocked…SHOCKED!!!!

Now…if you are one of those people who are the “more smokey tasting the better” this might not be strong enough in taste for you. At least the way I did it which was 1 to 1 and a half Tablespoons of loose leaf in 12-ounces of 190-200 degree water for 5 minutes.

Now that I know I like this I will tinker with amounts and infusion lengths.

I’m so happy now I could do the funky chicken!

I also owe my sample of this to Narwhalclub! I’ve been wanting to try this tea for a while after I read about it in “The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide”.

This was very smoky and I was already scared of it since you could smell it through the envelope… :)

I steeped this for 5.5 minutes and then let it decant according to the instructions of the website. I was not overly generous with the leaf – I had about 2 teaspoons for a 16 oz teapot. I knew I wanted to share this one with my boyfriend. He says it reminds him of cigars or single malt scotch, specifically Laphroaig.

I don’t drink scotch (ick) but I agree with the reviewer that mentioned this was like barbeque sauce. It’s smoky but also a bit sweet at the same time with some molasses/honey type of flavors in the finish. I figured this would knock me over with smoky flavor but I’m happy it isn’t too strong. I never thought I’d find a Lapsang Souchong type of tea I would even remotely tolerate, but this is good! It seems like according to the other reviewers it is also a bit on the lighter side. The flavor is a bit intoxicating the longer I sit here and sip on it. I might have to pick some of this up someday…. and on the list it goes… :)

Thank you Amy Oh for giving me the chance to try this tea.
What a elegant Lapsang Souchong!
The dry leaves smell of fine quality black tea and smoke.
Then when the water flows over the leaves, emerges this deep smoke.
If this tea were a Man, it would be a Gentleman, with some royal blood, yet totally is rocking a 5 o’clock shadow. Ahem, Anywho!
I have found since I started drinking LS’s, that each one has a bit different level of smoke, even a style of smoke.
Some LS’s are almost rough, others have a honey note, while others are not heavily smoked.
This tea is smoky, but the fine quality black tea shines through as well.
In fact, the first note I taste is the rich black tea, then the lovely smoke hits your tongue.
This tea is a delight to drink.
I also enjoyed reading about its rich history in my Mark T. Wendell catalog.
Thanks again, Amy Oh!

Tea of yesterday afternoon…..

And thank you so much to narwhalclub for this sample. I have been curious about this tea for a long time.

This is a very good smokey tea. I don’t think the blend of teas in the base is quite as sweet as Lapsang Souchong Black Dragon from Upton, but it is still great. I love how smooth it is, and how balanced the smokiness is. I don’t feel like I am drinking a bitter campfire like the first few lapsangs I sampled. This one is definitely a keeper.

Usual mug method.

I pretty much wanted to try this tea once I saw their ancient-looking packaging. Look at that canister-it look a hundred years old! I only hoped the tea was new.

The bad thing about Wendell is their shipping is comparatively high (for tea merchants) and (as far as I can tell) you have to buy 4 ounces of most everything. However, I really enjoy Lapsang, and with all the good reviews, I figured there was little chance that I wouldn’t like this tea. The good thing about Wendell is that their 4 ounce teas come in their own tins-no looking for a tin and struggling to remove the scent of the previous tea-you are ready to go. The tins have their lids attached on back hinges and are filled to the brim so be careful not to spill any. And to be fair about the shipping, the tins are probably a little more expensive to ship than a pouch.

The dry leaves are medium in length, very tightly rolled, and mostly chocolate brown with some mahogany brown mixed in. I’ve gone into sensory overload comparing the dry leaf aroma of this to my other Lapsangs, so descriptors fail me now, but suffice to say it is unique compared to the others. It’s smoky of course, but spicy too, and I’ll leave it at that for now. Liquor is copper-colored and very clear.

Flavor is smoky and mild. Slightly sweet. Very smooth. It tastes like a Lapsang, but slightly different. Perhaps that is the Formosan base instead of a Chinese tea base? Perhaps they have a better technique of smoking their leaves. Maybe both. No matter, it’s delicious. Almost makes me long for 90 degree days-when I enjoy Lapsang the most. I have 6 Lapsangs in my house right now. 5 of them are one ounce or less, so Hu Kwa will be around long after I have finished the others-and I kinda like that.

Alrighty, I’ve waited far too long to review this tea.

Being Whispering Pines, there’s a lotta smokeyness in my teas. Clearly I enjoy smokey teas :)

This is a daily thing. I wake up and I make a 7oz cup of this, steeping 1tsp of leaves for 5.5 minutes, and it’s beautiful.

So smooth and intoxicating. This is the high-school crush that you couldn’t keep your eyes off of. A homecoming bonfire love story in every sip. You can barely breathe before you want another kiss of this beautiful love. I find perfection in her sweet breath meeting my lips and the heat of her smooth body makes me never want to let go.

I may be offering this soon. Would anyone be interested? Great prices, as always. :)

Where has this tea been all my life? Yes, the smoke is heavy, but it isn’t overpowering, and good wood and tea were used. This tastes like, erm, barbeque tea. Delicious!

I have been buying this tea since the 1960’s and as far as I’m concerned it is the absolute best Lapsang Souchong tea there is. Over the years it has not deviated even slightly from its excellence. In comparison to other Lapsang Souchongs, many are far too strong and the tar taste is too intense. Hu-Kwa strikes the perfect balance with that wonderful smoky flavor and a hardy deep amber brew that warms your body and soul on a cold morning. This tea is simply the best…

Hu Kwa is purported to be the top-notch Lapsang Souchong from Taiwan. Steeping one cup at a time, I use one teaspoon of leaves per cup, and I steep the tea for five and a half minutes in just-boiled water, as per Mark T. Wendell Tea Company’s website. The dry leaves have a very strong smokiness to them, as is normal with Lapsang Souchong. However, with this one, there is a slight undertone of sweetness that can be noticed in the dry leaves. The aroma of the steeped tea is also quite smooth. Past experience with Lapsang Souchong has exposed me to some that were so rough as to suggest that perhaps one should be sitting outside on the ground around a campfire while drinking them, not sipping this noble drink in a more civilised setting.

The five and a half minutes is up, so I decant the tea to remove the leaves and allow the tea a minute or so to cool slightly (scalded taste buds do not make for accurate tea tasting). Heavily smoked is a good descriptor of the taste, but not overly smoked. That strange line of sweetness that went through the scent of the dry leaves is still present in the tea itself. The smoothness of this tea made it quite enjoyable to drink. Smooth and not thick. This tea deserves an 87/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

Picked up a pouch for future review at www.itsallabouttheleaf.com. I am not a lapsang fan by any means, but this one taught me that not all lapsang souchong blends taste like burnt bacon, either. Nice substitute for a crackling fireplace on a cloudy afternoon with the remains of a blizzard on the ground.

So, so, so delicious. Perfect degree of smokiness as well as smoothness. I like Lapsangs a lot, but I feel like I never have to try a new one again, (except maybe Upton’s Black Dragon Lapsang), because it’s going to take something beyond exceptional to beat this one. I could drink it everyday, and in fact, I think I just might.

This was a far lighter Lapsang Souchong than the usual campfire variety. There was even a welcomed floral presence I wasn’t expecting.

Review: http://www.teaviews.com/2010/06/30/review-mark-t-wendell-hu-kwa/

Thanks TeaEqualsBliss! I’m still trying to get through all of my samples. I’ve been having a mini sip down/cleaning party.
This is such a lovely smoked tea. Lapsang always reminds me of camping and campfires. Mm :) not a super smoked flavor, but still has nice flavor to it. Thanks again!

One of my go-to teas. Very smoky but always mellow—never bitter, which attests to the quality of the base leaf Hu Kwa is made from. The red liquor always sparkles.

This tea is has very strong, smokey flavors. I found the smokiness to be overpowering and I did not care for it. Victorian Afternoon, by Mark T. Wendell is similar, but not overpowered with smoke.

SO MUCH BODY. SO smooth. For such a long brew time, you’d think you would get a really strong, bitter cup. But I got a super nice smooth brew with a nice, sweet, light smoky tang on the sides of the mouth. Brilliant.

The smell of steeped Hu Kwa reminds of childhood memories – smell of a small pile of tinder just before putting them in the heating stove at my grannies in good old times. Dry leaves, on the other hand, attack you with their heavy smoke – just like sniffing the remainders of the last night’s campfire and remembering all that fun.

Unlike some other LSs, you can actually taste the tea under all the smoke. It is easily over-steeped which can result in an astringent aftertaste.

Overall, this is a great find for those who appreciate LS.

The scents of smoke and pine are perfectly balanced, but still allow the flavour of the tea leaves themselves to come through. The leaves are large for a relatively mass-produced tea; even fairly coarse filters will prevent sediment from passing into your cup. The tea will not go bitter no matter how badly you overbrew it. Overall, an excellent cup. Keeps well; order in bulk.

My favorite of the Lapsangs’s because the base tea is so good and it is very nicely balanced Simply the best of them all.

I found this to be less smoky than the various Lapsang Souchong I get in Chinatown