263 Tasting Notes
This is my daily cup of morning tea. This is not Lipton’s (for the Americans)…this is something in a class all its own. Brewed lightly, it is a peaceful, sipping tea. It has the character to be brewed dark and makes a wonderful iced tea. It is possible to over brew this tea, in which case you will get an astringent, biting flavor that is not too pleasant…but takes to watering down (as in iced tea) to save it.
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.
In deference to those who love this sort of tea, I have removed my low rating.
I don’t think it is appropriate to rate a type of tea you don’t like. To say that it has very strong smokey flavors is a description of every type of Labsong Souchong tea. If that is a type of tea you usually like then a comment and rating is appropriate, otherwise your rating is meaningless.
Respectfully, I disagree. I found Hu Kwa to have no other quality worth commenting on other than the heavy smoke. On the other hand, MTW’s Victorian Afternoon, which is smokey, has, in my opinion, a more balanced approach. In the latter case, I believe the smoke complements an otherwise fine, high grade tea. In Hu Kwa’s case, I couldn’t get anything from it other than smoke. I should add that my opinion is not based on a single tasting, but rather several tasting from at least three different batches, spread out over a decade. My rating is just that…my opinion of where the tea ranks, relative to the other teas I have tasted. I understand your point, but if I ranked only teas I liked, it wouldn’t give a balanced view of what I do and do not like.
I’m inclined to agree with Ed Fladung. E.g., I don’t like coffee; therefore, I should stay away from coffee forums, instead of frequenting them and rating everything as 26 for “very strong coffee flavours”. Lapsang Suchong has a strong smoky flavour, and the point of the rating system is for people who enjoy Lapsang Suchong to give relevant advice to other drinkers.
