Laoshan Black Tea
He family spring 2020
Laoshan, Shandong, China
崂山红茶
5g, 130 mL, brita filtered water, water off the boil
Dry leaves: chocolate, raisin
10s first steep: brewed leaves smell a little burnt. Taste: a sweet floral, very pleasant, but also deep, reminds me of coffee without the acidity.
20s second steep: similar brewed leaves. Taste: aftertaste reminds me of Chinese dried jujube dates. No other thoughts.
No more notes, except sweet potatoes at some point. Online reviewers overall seem obsessed with LB, so I had really high expectations going in, and that probably dimmed my experience a bit. I’ve been spoiled by my aunt’s mystery pack that she sent me a while back, and that had something basically exactly like this with different packaging, so I’ve already had it or an eerily similar one in the past. It’s not a bad tea per se, just perhaps not for me. Didn’t bother with more exact notes, because everything that can be said has already been said.
Flavors: Chocolate, Dates, Floral, Raisins, Sweet Potatoes
Laoshan black teas are definitely well loved here. I find them too forward, too much on the sip, overwhelming.
Agreed haha! If there’s one near universally acclaimed tea that I’ve seen here and on r/tea, it has to be LB.