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When I was younger I had a very nasty Lapsang experience.
I only recently started purchasing them again, because it was a tea that my coffee drinking husband had shown some interest in.
I purchased this and then a Lapsang from Mountain Rose Herbs.
I enjoy the polite or elegant Lapsang from MRH over this one.
This one seems a tad rough or harsher to me.
I am glad I started with the other Lapsang though, because I can appreciate this tea and enjoy it when I am sharing a pot of it with my husband (who declares this tea..“Now this is a Manly Tea!”)
I just noticed that the smokiness in this tea almost tasted a little bitter compared to the last tea which the smokiness was smooth.
I feel rather silly doing this review since I have only three Lapsangs to compare too, and one of those was over 10 years ago and terrible (or my taste buds hated it at the time, maybe it was not all the tea)
But, this is not a bad Lapsang, maybe not one to try right away as a beginner of Lapsangs.
To all those Lapsang Lovers out there, I am supposed to ask you if there is any stronger Lapsangs than this one from H&S…apparently if there is a more manly Lapsang out there, my Hubby wants to know about it. (long suffering sigh inserted here)
Brewed in my Bodum for 4 minutes.
The color is a beautiful amber.

With sweet DaisyChubb cheering me on, I had teetering entered the world of Matcha Tea.
My first experience made me feel like a Cow in a Hay Barn, but I wiped the green mustache off my upper lip and powered on through to my second Matcha experience.
It was not till this particular Matcha that I finally understood what all the fuss was about.
From the moment I opened the very tiny little container, I knew this was going to be a very different Matcha experience than my first.
I smelled a deep grain odor and then something almost chocolate like.
It is very creamy on the tongue and also froths better than the first Matcha I tried.
But, there was still this malty chocolate smell and taste I could not place till this morning when I was making this, it dawned on me.
Ovaltine!
That malty chocolate beverage Mothers use to get their children to drink more milk when they are young (My Mother tried this with me too:)
It obviously is not strong in the Matcha, but there is hints of that malty goodness on the tongue, I think the creaminess of the matcha also adds to this particular memory as well.
I like this Matcha, and it makes me want to delve more into the Matcha world and spend money on all things that surround this green powdery substance:)

EDIT
Ohmygoodness!
I just made a iced matcha latte/bubble tea thingy with this Matcha.
When you add the milk to the Matcha, the Ovaltine flavor REALLY emerges.
Very tasty afternoon treat:)

This is the first Matcha Tea that I have ever had.
I made this about a dozen times and I still never really loved it.
At first, I think the water was too hot and it was terribly bitter, finally got that figured out.
Over all the best taste I can get out of this one, is when I am on the tractor when we are baling and alfalfa particles get in my mouth.
Which is not terrible, but I am not sure I want to drink that regularly.
I was not overly impressed with my first Matcha experience.
Thank goodness I am all about second chances…

I try to always have a Chai around the house.
I believe that there is not a better tea for fighting a cold or warding off nausea than a Chai Tea.
I prefer traditional Chai Black Tea, but if you are ill you are not supposed to have too much caffeine, so I when I saw this Chai with a Rooibos base I thought that I would give it a try.
I have been drinking it the last few nights as a dessert tea.
It is a very spicy Chai, which I personally like.
Last night I did a bit of experimenting and actually added a sachet of Vanilla Comoro to the teapot.
I thought that was a very nice additive for a dessert experience.
Overall, a good tea to keep around the house.

I usually am kinda iffy when it comes to Chocolate Flavored Teas.
Sometimes, they just feel like they are trying too hard to be chocolate-y.
This one I very much like.
It tastes a bit more Mocha-like to me.
A very lovely tea that leaves you feeling like you just had a decadent dessert.

This richly flavored black decaffeinated tea.
It is a sachet tea, which can be nice in the evening for a quick cuppa.
For some reason this tea reminded me of Honeybush Caramel Tea from Revolution Tea.
Not quite sure why, since both are very different from each other.
However, I think this is a very nice tea to have after dinner to accompany a good book.

Pineapple!
It almost shouts at you when you open the tin.
But, once you pour the hot water over the leaves it mellows out a bit and there is a floral note in it that I cannot quite place that emerges.
I have traveled to a few tropical places in my life so far and this tea brings me back to them.
I am not sure why, but the wet leaves kind of smell of a wet wool blanket or a wet dog.
But, for some reason this makes me smile too!
Maybe it is the memory of sunning on the beach and a rouge Golden Retriever came up to me all soggy and smiley and plopped a drool covered stick in my lap and barked, I threw the stick over and over again into the ocean till his owner came panting up to me and thanked me for keeping the dog put till he could find him.
When you go in for a second infusion there is not “wet dog” taste or odor to the tea, but this tea really only hangs on to its flavor for about 2 infusions.
This tea I actually bought for summertime cold brewing, and it cold brews up well, the fruity flavors are a bit more mild and the actual green tea shines through.
What I find so interesting is the color of the cold brewed tea, its a light, bright green.
How fun is that!?
I find the cold brewed tea refreshing on a hot day.
But, I think what I will love is brewing up a hot cup of this tea when there is snow and ice piled up outside, so I can be transfered to a warmer, sunnier time.

Fruit teas frighten me.
I am not quite sure why, I actually have never had a terrible experience with one as of yet.
But, I was almost afraid to try this tea, but seeing how it is summertime/ice tea season, I thought even if it was too sweet it would be good as a iced tea.
I was so confident that this would be better as a iced tea, that is what I made first with it.
The tea is good, fruity and light.
Very nice.
This afternoon I tried it hot.
Boy, was I surprised!
It goes from a polite iced tea to a slightly sophisticated hot tea
I particularly like it because you can smell and taste the black tea in it.
The fruit has not masked or disguised it as a good black tea.
Nose is black tea with Cherries and Apricots.
Taste is black tea with Plums and Cherries a slight note of a brandy or port?
I find this tea very pleasant and enjoyable hot or cold.

I don’t know what I am doing.
So, is this Matcha or Genmaicha?
Well, I had my Matcha whisk out and had already played around with some Matcha this morning, so I prepared this like it was a Matcha tea. (good grief, apparently I was seeing how many times I could mention Matcha in one sentence)
Well, I do not think that was quite right.
But, as I sit here, admitting to you all how green I am at this (Haha! Green! Matcha…get it? ahem…) I am enjoying the flavor of this murky blend of what appears to be something I might scoop out of the cow pond.
It is nutty and yet fresh and actually quite sweet.
I am happily chewing on the little rice bits with green tea leaves stuck to my teeth.
At least I am enjoying my ignorance.

Yesterday afternoon, I needed a energy boost.
But, I was also heading out the door.
I just received my tea order from Mountain Rose Herbs, so I reached my hand in the box blindly and pulled this out.
I had forgotten I had even ordered this tea.
I actually ordered it for my Hubby.
He likes black teas, when he does drink tea and I thought this tea would appeal to him.
I almost groaned inwardly when I grabbed it though, I have had a terrible Lapsang Souchong experience.
But, there was no time, brew it up and stick it in a mug and out the door I run.
Ten years ago my father was experimenting with new flavors of tea and bought a Lapsang Souchong from somewhere…I wish I could remember where so I could avoid it.
But, it tasted nothing like this tea, it was so highly smoky it caused me to have a headache when he brewed it.
It was a chemically smoky smell, like someone had dumped liquid smoke into a cup.
Enter me taking a sip of this tea.
Well, Hello There!
Surprise was so written over my face yesterday, that the person I was talking to asked me if I was all right. (I mean, I did just take a sip from my cup, then my hand flutters to my chest and a look of complete surprise on my face… I think I should try new teas at home and not in front of others from now on:)
It is lightly smoky, not intense, the odor is like a campfire across the canyon rather then sticking my face in a trash burner (what I would say the other tea tasted like)
The tangy smoke hits the tongue and then a well rounded sweetness emerges.
In fact it is a earthy sweetness, like honey.
Last night I went to bed thinking of this tea, so much so, that I had to tell myself, like a child waiting for Christmas, that the sooner I fall asleep, the sooner morning will come and then I can drink more of this tea.
Brewed in my Libre, it has a lovely rosy red color.
It holds up to a second infusion well.