Laos Black #05

Now, this is a tea I could totally have in my cupboard most of the time!

Dry leaf didn’t look too promising, seemed somewhat broken – into more pieces than was necessary. Perhaps it was because I might have accidentally squeezed the bag ;D The color of the liquor is impressive though! Deep, deep mahogany. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tea that would look quite like this.

The aroma is a little bit understated, but what you get is sweet honey notes that are yet a little floral, the kind of honey you’d find on bees’ legs (lol!) and not necessarily in a jar. For some reason I was afraid that this would be too bitter, but it’s one of the sweetest blacks I’ve had. Extremely full bodied, it almost makes you feel like you’re drinking syrup or honey.

It’s such a pleasure to start a day with a tea like this one!

Well I was happy that this was a sip down until I saw that I never added it to my cupboard. Sigh! At least it’s effectively one since it’s gone from my kitchen.

Even steeped for 2 minutes this is so astringent, it makes me want to go drink some water. It’s not bad tasting but my mouth is absolutely pruning up!

Also, my Aroma kettle arrived today and I had a lot of fun boiling water in it. How sad is that? What was the highlight of your day? I boiled water!

A very mild black tea. Smooth flavor but enough astringency to remind you that it has a well-deserved home among the black teas. I actually really enjoyed this tea and i’m not a huge black tea fan. The description is well suited.

I received my first Steepster Select box today, and I was excited to try it out. I was happy they offered a free trial! Since it was breakfast time, I decided to try the Laos Black #5. I love the packaging; though, I am not sure if it is recyclable.

I open the package and got a nice whiff of fresh, almost white-tea scented leaves. The leaves were wiry and slightly wavy in appearance. It is mixed with black, brown, and light brown leaves. I steeped it according to the instructions into my 8oz glass brewing vessel. The liquid was a nice medium brown color. The scent was nice, slightly malty and sweet. The taste was delicious! It had a hint of honey and sweetness to it. It wasn’t astringent or bitter at all. Very good tea! I will resteep the leaves later today.

I got this in my (very first!) Steepster Select box. I will say, when I looked at the steeping instructions I thought someone must be off their rocker. Even more so when I weighed the amount of leaf in the pouch! 4.35 grams? You want me to use 4.35 GRAMS of loose leaf in 12 oz of water?! That is twice, no, more than twice, what I usually use in my 12 oz pot.

They’re the experts . . . right?

I figured I would at least try steeping the first pouch of each tea according to the instructions included. So, Into the steeping basket it went. All of it. Then two minutes steeping. Then the first sip . . . hmmm . . . not oversteeped or overleafed at all. Nothing really attention grabbing about it though, just a pleasant cup of tea. Light to medium body with a mild, loamy flavor . . . that’s it, that’s all I’ve got.

The second infusion I steeped for four minutes. The color is a bit darker and there’s a slight tough of acridity now with a bit of maltyness as well. This just isn’t speaking to me at all. I like more body to my teas, a bit more complexity and richness of flavor.

As another commenter said, I usually add milk and sugar to my black teas, but find it unnecessary with this brew- it’s really good without it!

Despite the hype that was created due to its rare origin (being from Laos), my husband and I both thought this was a pretty average tasting black tea (we drink a lot of loose tea). The first brew had a nice malty aroma with a bit of honey. My husband thought it was earthy on the second brew, but there wasn’t much else.

This was quite a nice tea indeed, very mellow for a black, and possibly the biggest perk was it had no astringency! Just a nice warm, roasted earthy tasting finish, very hearty and mellow. The noticeable notes aside from the usual taste of red tea were of vanilla and cream. This tea’s scent and flavor reminds me somewhat of Thai tea, which is usually spiced with vanilla and other spices, so considering this was just pure tea, that’s quite an achievement. I feel this red tea was mellow enough to be a daily tea for black tea drinkers, and makes a great tea for traditional Gongfu Cha with a gaiwan.

I really enjoyed it. It’s certainly not the most interesting or unique red tea I’ve had, but definitely an elegant one.

had 3 steepings of this first thing this morning – man, this is some tasty brew. i’m not the biggest fan of black tea, i mean, it’s ok…. but this one? delish. had the third steeping with a spoonful of sugar and some milk, just to see, and although i quite enjoyed that cup, i really liked it better without, which is unusual for me.

I’ve been drinking my way through some of the Steepster Select teas today, and at the same time Tony & I have been draining the gigantic fishtank. This has been an ongoing process. Last weekend we set up a smaller tank, & today we had a fish catching contest (I won. I have crazy reflexes that are at times dangerous to me, LOL). Anyway, I’ve also been sipping teas.

This is a really tasty one, nicely malty & honey sweet. I didn’t find it to be overly astringent, but it does have this one taste that I haven’t been able to label. It’s a rustic kind of bitterness that I actually enjoy from time to time, & some of Mandala’s teas share this same feature.