Huge thanks to the amazing Sil for sending me a sample of this to try!
So I haven’t tried too many straight black teas in my life…. Darjeeling, Tetley (ew), Assam. Not much of an extensive background as far as that goes. I wanted to try this based on the reviews.
I never understood how people are able to taste all these different levels of flavour in a straight tea. Now with this one, I get it. I don’t have the knowledge to be able to tell you exactly WHAT I’m tasting, but it’s slightly floral, slightly nutty, a little bit smokey or leathery almost (not in a gross way, in a distinguished way!) …. Not really getting any cocoa but can see how someone might draw that conclusion. It tastes kind of dirty, not in a bad way, earthy I guess is a better word. I can tell that I’m drinking something that grew in the ground, haha.
I’ve definitely never had anything like this tea before. I am drinking my second steep now, and to be honest it just tastes like the first steep to me, just weaker.
I may as well go all the way and tell you that every resteep I’ve ever had of any tea ever just tastes like a weaker version of the original steep. I’m not getting it when people go on about second steeps tasting like vanilla and whatnot. After all, at the end of the day, tea is just infused hot water. I really like food (REALLY), so it’s a huge stretch for me to try and get different notes out of infused hot water. Especially a straight tea.
The resteep was very similar to the first and I will try a third. It’s unique tasting black tea, that’s what this is. I am not sure I’d order this anytime soon but I will never forget it!
I might return to this later on in my tea journey!!
“This particular review of Laoshan Black was very helpful!” said no one ever.
(Boiling water, 3 min)
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Haha it actually is. I’ve also been contemplating this one because of the reviews. I always try to resteep two or three times but it never takes a on a completely different taste for me – maybe I’m just not an advanced tea drinker.
I know I’m not experienced enough and my tastes are clearly not vey refined.
I think this needs a nomination for awesomely tasting note. It sums up a lot of my straight tea experiences.
Damn autocorrect. . Awesomest tasting note.
Everyone has different tastes, there’s nothing wrong with that :-) It was nice to read your thoughts on it.
I think I just have poorly formed tastes at this point , haha
oh whatever. haha. They are your tastes, embrace them. Enjoy what you enjoy :-)
Glad you got the chance to try it and overall not as bad as I figured you might find it lol
Ha. Love your summation. I have a lot of the same feelings about my unsophisticated tasting skills. I run into this when tasting wine too. People always talk about all the flavors they taste. I’m like, I taste fermented grapes. YUM!
Yeah I mean I’m enjoying drinking all this stuff I just can’t tell you why! Here are my different reviews: “yum”, “ehhh” or “yucky”…. That’s pretty sophisticated
Haha it actually is. I’ve also been contemplating this one because of the reviews. I always try to resteep two or three times but it never takes a on a completely different taste for me – maybe I’m just not an advanced tea drinker.
I know I’m not experienced enough and my tastes are clearly not vey refined.
I think this needs a nomination for awesomely tasting note. It sums up a lot of my straight tea experiences.
Damn autocorrect. . Awesomest tasting note.
Everyone has different tastes, there’s nothing wrong with that :-) It was nice to read your thoughts on it.
I think I just have poorly formed tastes at this point , haha
oh whatever. haha. They are your tastes, embrace them. Enjoy what you enjoy :-)
Glad you got the chance to try it and overall not as bad as I figured you might find it lol
Ha. Love your summation. I have a lot of the same feelings about my unsophisticated tasting skills. I run into this when tasting wine too. People always talk about all the flavors they taste. I’m like, I taste fermented grapes. YUM!
Yeah I mean I’m enjoying drinking all this stuff I just can’t tell you why! Here are my different reviews: “yum”, “ehhh” or “yucky”…. That’s pretty sophisticated