Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Upton Tea Imports
Tea Description:
Blended especially for Upton Tea Imports, this tea is a pleasing and subtly complex variation on a rich, smoky classic. The perfect gift for the Lapsang Souchong drinker who seeks a less smoky cup.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Lapsang Souchong Black Dragon is a very interesting Lapsang Souchong. It is, as the description above suggests, less smoky. This is evident even in my very first impressions of the tea when I first opened the package and smelled it. Smoky, yes, but, it wasn’t an overwhelming smoky aroma.
I didn’t follow the brewing parameters from Upton, instead, I first gave the leaves a “rinse” – a fifteen second infusion and then I tossed the liquid and re-steeped the leaves for 3 minutes.
And this is one of the nicer Lapsang Souchong teas I’ve yet to taste and the reason is because it’s less smoky than the typical Lapsang Souchong. I like the lighter smoky taste, which allows me to explore some of the fruity notes of the tea – which seem to be highlighted because of the smoke, but they’re something that I don’t really enjoy quite as much as I am here because the smoke tends to be so overpowering for my palate.
But not with this Black Dragon! This is smoky but not too smoky. I’m tasting delightful notes of fruit. Notes of pine and a pleasant caramel-y sweetness. It’s very smooth until the tail when I note a slightly dry astringency.
It’s a lighter bodied Lapsang Souchong, which are usually much stronger and bolder in flavor (and in smoke). But I like that. I like the lighter approach of the Black Dragon. If you’re one who tends to shy away from Lapsang Souchong because of that heavy smoky essence, I think you’ll find that this is much more appealing.
Smoke Show (Lapsang Souchong Black Tea) from Tease
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Tea Description:
“You smell like a campfire.” Edward says to me as I walk into the office with this smoking hot beauty. Sheena has blessed us with some of the first samples of this smoky wonder. She described it as the scotch of the tea world. Bold and boisterous, it’s a mans tea, able to convert any hard core coffee addict to a gentle tea sipper.
It’s bold scent is definitely softened when steeped. The air will hold on to this campfire scent, reminding us of weekends camping and long weeks at the cottage. It also reminded us how much we like whisky. We brewed up a small pot, iced it and served it as mixer in our weekend Manhattans.
The flavour, while still maintaining a hint of smoke, is very earthy and gentle. Perfect for mornings or an evening of cocktail sipping. Mix 2oz of iced Lapsang Souchong with 2oz of whiskey, a splash of fresh apple juice, and a squeeze of lime for a perfect evening drink.
Learn more about July’s Postal Teas shipment here.
Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
By now, I’ve mentioned my lack of enthusiasm for Postal Tea’s choices for my first month of trying out this subscription service. They went with the “classics” and the theme “One Classy Lady.” OK, I get it, and I even understand the desire to want to offer subscribers three classic teas that all tea drinkers should at least try. But for those of us who are pretty well acquainted with these “classics,” the teas in this box end up being just a little … less than exciting.
I do LOVE the box though. First of all, it’s packaged beautifully in a slim box. The sample sizes are just the right size for a pot of tea. I liked getting a handwritten note from Postal Teas (it’s a small detail, but it’s one that I really appreciate) and I really liked receiving the tea notebook. These little touches made the box very special, so I am hoping that next month’s shipment from Postal Teas has something just a little less classic for their subscribers.
In the meantime, I have a cup of Lapsang Souchong sitting before me. I can smell the heavy smoky note. The description above is accurate in saying that it smells smokier than it tastes. This is true of just about every Lapsang Souchong tea that I’ve tasted. I don’t know that I’ve ever really thought much about it, because the aroma is so smoky that it’s often difficult to separate the scent from the taste because these two senses are very connected. But this is a tea that definitely benefits – at least for me – to not inhale deeply before taking that sip as I would normally do, because then the sip tastes less smoky.
Another way to help eliminate some of the smoke is to brew it “properly” – again, at least properly for me. I always give Lapsang Souchong leaves a rinse before I infuse the leaves by steeping the leaves for about 15 seconds and then straining off the liquid and discarding it. This gets rid of a lot of the overpowering smoke, but not all of it. There’s still some smoke – but it’s a lot more enjoyable now because it’s not overwhelming me.
212°F for 15 seconds, strain and discard liquid, and then infuse the leaves at 212°F for 2 1/2 minutes – 3 minutes. Strain and enjoy. I don’t usually go over 3 minutes.
This is a pleasant Lapsang Souchong. Smoky, yes, but there is a delightful complexity beyond the smoke. A delectably sweet caramel undertone with notes of stone fruit. I know I’ve probably used this descriptive before in other reviews when describing the flavors in a Lapsang, but it’s applicable and it’s what I’m tasting: imagine charring a ripe plum over a smoky campfire. That’s what I taste. It’s sweet and it’s really quite lovely … and certainly worth the effort of the extra brewing step to be able to enjoy these flavors.
This tea is one of three that I received in my July Postal Teas subscription package, and currently it’s available only to Postal Teas customers and isn’t currently on Tease website, which is why I didn’t include a direct link where you could buy this tea.
I enjoyed the classic teas that Postal Teas sent me this month … but as I said, I’m looking forward to what they will send with the next shipment.
Lapsang Souchong Black Tea from Steepster
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Steepster Select
Tea Description:
Our Lapsang is a hearty black tea which has been lightly smoked over aged pine. Surprisingly sweet and complex, note how the pine aromas start strong up front and soon diminish revealing a very structured and delicate flavor.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve never made any big secret of the fact that I’m not particularly fond of overly smoky teas. And as I typed the previous sentence, it occurred to me that is probably not the first time that I said that here on this blog. So, when this Lapsang Souchong Black Tea was included as part of the Steepster Select box this month, I wasn’t exactly doing the happy dance. I wasn’t … unhappy … exactly, but, I wasn’t thrilled either.
As I sit here typing, my hot cup of tea sits before me and the aroma of smoke wafts from the teacup. It isn’t an overpowering scent, that is to say, it doesn’t make me feel as though I’m sitting ’round a campfire. But, the smoke is there. It’s smoky.
I brewed this cup the way I typically brew a Lapsang Souchong or other strongly smoked tea, I gave it a quick, hot water rinse.
This time, I did a 20 second rinse rather than my usual 15 seconds, not sure that the extra five seconds will do a whole lot different, but, I just kept counting after the fifteen and I didn’t realize – hey, it’s time to dump out the rinse water. What can I say? It’s still early and this is my first cup of the day, I haven’t had any caffeine and my brain isn’t functioning properly.
Anyway, after the 20 second rinse, I brewed the cup for three minutes. I’m glad to say that the tea tastes less smoky than it smells. It still has a fairly strong smoky taste, but there are a lot of other interesting flavors in this cup as well.
I can really taste that delightful caramel-y undertone. As much as I am not fond of smoky teas, the thing that I’m quite captivated by with a smoky tea (and the one thing that keeps me coming back to try a smoky tea now and then) is that caramel-y undertone. I love the way the smoke and the caramel meld together. It’s quite magical.
As the description above suggests, this is a hearty tea, but it isn’t quite as hearty as you might expect such an aggressively smoked tea as a Lapsang Souchong to be. It doesn’t quite have the roundness that other hearty teas have, like a top-notch Assam or a Fujian Black tea might have. It certainly doesn’t qualify as a “thin” tasting tea, but it’s lighter than I’d like my first cup of the day to be.
That said, the lighter body of the tea allows me to explore some of the other flavors in this cup. I taste notes of fruit which marry beautifully with the smoked notes, giving them a taste of charred fruit, as if I grilled them. Nice! The fruit notes are difficult to distinguish, but I do taste a distinct stone fruit, like perhaps plum or nectarine, or a hybrid of the two.
I also taste notes of pine. Not surprising, right? This is a Lapsang Souchong. But, I actually taste the wood and not just the smoke. I taste the woodsy tone of pine, and that is very complimentary to the smoky tones, not adding to the smoky flavor but giving it some dimension and making the cup not be all about the smoke.
Overall, this is a pretty decent Lapsang Souchong. One of the nicer ones I’ve had. I enjoy the complexity of this.
Russian Caravan Black Tea from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Harmoniously blending the smokiness of Lapsang Souchong, the malty chocolate flavor of Assam and the crisp and smooth flavor of Keemun, “Russian Caravan” is a welcome addition to our family of teas. Best when enjoyed hot, this rich and soothing blend of fine black teas will warm your soul and enliven your mind.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
I bring today’s review with some exciting news: first, my second box from Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club arrived yesterday! Yay! More tea goodness. I figured I better get busy and write the review for this tea since it’s from last month and now I have more teas to write about! The second bit of exciting news is that Simple Loose Leaf has a special offer this month only! Keep reading this review for more details!
For those of you who read my reviews regularly, you are probably aware of my less than enthusiastic feelings for smoky teas. So, it should probably come as no big surprise that this is the last of the five teas that I’m sampling from last month’s Selection Club box. But even though I’m not always excited to try a smoky tea, I’m actually enjoying this cup of Russian Caravan Black Tea from Simple Loose Leaf.
After a quick rinse of the leaves, I steeped this tea in boiling water for 2 1/2 minutes. The result is a flavorful cup that is smoky but not so smoky that I’m unable to enjoy the other flavors of the cup. The smoke level here is what I’d classify as “moderate,” and it melds nicely with the malty notes of the Assam in the blend. I like the smoky caramel notes that I taste.
I taste the sweet, wine-like notes from the Keemun. It’s got some “chew” to it – that freshly baked, bready sort of taste. There is a comforting taste to this tea. It evokes thoughts of the splendor of autumn, when the leaves are falling and there’s a crisp, cool feeling in the air. That air smells lightly of the smoke that billows out of the chimneys. It’s my favorite time of year, and I like how this tea brings those images to mind as I sip it. A really enjoyable Russian Caravan. If you’re a fan of smoky teas, you should add this one to your list.
As promised, here are the details about the special offer from Simple Loose Leaf: Check it out: This code >> 1DOLLARMONTH << (Just the 1DollarMonth part, these things: >< aren’t part of the code and are only added for emphasis) will enable you to get your first month of the Selection Club Subscription for just $1! Yeah, you read that right. Just one dollar!
Wow! So that means that you can get 1 – 2 ounces of two different loose leaf teas from Simple Loose Leaf’s menu for May … or you can get a sampler size of all five of the teas on the menu for May … for just one dollar!
This offer is good only through the month of April, so if you want to get in on this unbelievable offer (and really … why wouldn’t you?), you should act now.
What a deal! Be sure to tell the nice folks at Simple Loose Leaf that I sent you there.
Lapsang Souchong Black Tea from Tea Forté
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea Forté
Tea Description:
Exceptional, large leaves delicately smoked over smoldering embers of local pine for a tea with strong, smoky character. The burnished liquor delivers a teasing crisp quality in harmony with hazel-sweet notes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Even though the photo above shows Tea Forte’s “signature” pyramid sachet, this Lapsang Souchong Black Tea actually came to me in loose leaf form, which I prefer over the sachets. Sure, the sachets are fancy and elegant, but, I’ll take the superior flavor of a loose leaf tea over fancy elegance any day.
Not a bad Lapsang Souchong. I brewed this with a quick rinse (15 seconds in boiling water and then strain the liquid and discard) and then for 3 minutes. The flavor is robust and smoky, with notes of caramel and a sweet nutty note.
I think that it’s the underlying sweetness of a Lapsang Souchong that actually won me over to the smoky side. I wasn’t always a big fan of smoky teas and Lapsang Souchong seems to be the smokiest of them all, so it was usually on my “least wanted” list. And while I can’t say that I LOVE Lapsang Souchong now, I don’t dislike it the way I used to.
Because once you get past that heavy smokiness, you find all these wonderful layers of sweet caramel and even a sweet nutty tone that melds beautifully with the toasty notes of the smoky essence. It becomes less like a “campfire” (or other, less appealing descriptives) and more like a sweet, toasty, cozy cuppa that I enjoy curling up to now and then.
It would seem that some Lapsang Souchong teas are more smoky than others and I would say that this one from Tea Forté is not quite as smoky as some that I’ve encountered … it’s what I’d categorize as a medium smoky quality as compared to some of the heavier smoked Lapsang Souchong teas. Sure, it’s still SMOKY but it’s less intense as some I’ve tried, making this an excellent choice for those who are looking for a good, middle-ground sort of Lapsang Souchong. An enjoyable cuppa.