New(ish) tea alert!!
I say ‘ish’ because DT has carried a Lapsang Souchong before; it was called Lapsang Souchong Star and it was a very polarizing tea. I know I hated it when I first had it (as I did all Lapsang Souchong) and then over time I grew to be a bit of a smoked tea fiend. This is very similar to Lapsang Souchong Star but it is technically a different tea. However, if you’ve had Lapsang Souchong Star before and enjoyed it then I feel very confidant that you will absolutely enjoy this one too.
If you’ve not had Lapsang Souchong Star before or, maybe, have never even had a Lapsang Souchong at all then boy oh boy and you in for something… distinct.
LS is a pine smoked black tea, so it understandably tastes very smokey. The amount of smokiness you might get from a Lapsang does vary to a degree, but lets just say that DT has never shied away from the more intense end of the spectrum. I have the old LS still (though it’s a few years old) so I’d like to do a direct comparison of the two versions, but going on memory I think this is slightly less smokey than what we did carry. It’s also a little less meaty in my opinion too; the old one had some serious smoked meat vibes to it. I find that this, under the thick layer of smoke, is a bit more woody with a VERY SMALL hint of red fruit – which isn’t a strange profile for a straight Chinese black tea.
A few small things – this bad boy is only available in Canada (thanks Prop 65), and I think it might be online only. I mean, everything is online only right now (thanks Covid-19) but when stores do start being phased open I don’t believe this is going to be sent to them. Also, I will just throw it out there that this is an extremely love/hate kind of tea, but even the people who love it usually don’t love it the first time that they have it…
Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.
Hmm, pine smoked tea…
I still believe that smoked teas do well with a splash of maple syrup. :) If I could get 25g online I’d try this one, but I think the smoked flavour might be too much for me, even WITH the maple syrup!