Leelanau Smoke

Whispering Pines recently had a BOGO ounce of tea sale, and I ordered a few teas, and this one I had to try. I actually got one ounce of the light level smoke and one ounce of the medium-light smoke.

This review is for the light smoke. Check future tasting notes for a review of the medium-light level.

I normally do not like smokey teas. It’s not that I hate them, they are just VERY smokey to me and it’s hard to taste anything. So why this tea? Well it really jumped out at me for two reasons:
1) You could choose the level of smoke you want. Since I’m sensitive to smoke, I knew I had to go with the light.
2) Unlike hojicha, which is heavily roasted, this tea was still green, so it was hopefully something that wouldn’t be too intense.

And the verdict? Not bad. Even with the light there’s still a definite smokiness there, but I bet someone used to drinking smokey teas will think it’s too light. There’s no bitterness here and I can definitely still taste the green tea. The smokiness is not overpowering. Not a bad tea, and I’m definitely glad I went with the light version. I’ll have to see how the medium-light stacks up.

By the way – don’t google “smoked green tea” if you’re looking for varieties of green teas smoked over a fire. You’ll instead get a bunch of articles about smoking green tea a la marijuana ;)

Edit: The one bummer about this tea? It doesn’t seem to hold up to resteepings. The second steeping had a bit of smell of smoke, but I didn’t taste it like I did in the first. It was just generic green tea.

It looks like I have the original version of this tea, with a gunpowder base rather than bancha. I’ll press on anyway, because I like this and I suspect I will like the bancha version even better!

This is mildly smokey, present in the scent of both the dry leaves and steeped tea and as an aftertaste but not necessarily when held on the tongue. (I tried Daniel’s technique of exhaling, holding the tea in my mouth, and inhaling.) It would be a good introduction for someone who is not sure whether she would like a smoked tea. It would also appeal to someone who would like to try a lighter version of lapsang souchong, perhaps someone who is trying to increase consumption of green tea and cutting back on black.

Smooth and basic, subtle like the other blends from Whispering Pines that I’ve tried. Not sure whether the suggestion for multiple steepings would apply to the gunpowder version so I think I’ll skip a second steep from these leaves. I also think I’ll be ordering the new, bancha version soon!

UPDATE: The website says this is out of stock. Am hoping this is a temporary situation!