Lapsang Souchong

SOOO GOOOOD! Black tea lovers of Steepster, you gotta check this tea seller out!

This Lapsang isn’t over the top smokey, in fact it is just a background of burnt caramel. The flavor is malty, rich, heavy, plum, raisin, barley, caramel, bread, tart and lightly dry. This tea also goes insanely well with a white cheese, omg! This LS is super friendly yet complex for a seasoned tea drinker. Love it!

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/lapsang-souchong-joseph-wesley-black-tea-tea-review/

Admittedly, I was supposed to blog about the tea pet as the tea was a bonus. The tea was so good, I ended up writing about that. Now I’m trying to restrain myself from blowing $50 at Joseph Wesley.

I went down the the HLDYMRKT in Hamtramck today with the express purpose of meeting Joe. He and I talked for quite a while. I was quite taken by his teas, and purchased this one without hesitation.

It’s really nice. Smooth, malty. I don’t get that undercurrent of smoke, but then my palate isn’t as developed as many others here. Almost sweet, but not like sweet potato or anything. It’s just nice.

The color is beautiful. The tea is aromatic. I’m really glad I decided to get this one.

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Philadelphia Coffee & Tea Festival #7

I had wandered the main hall and was ready to shell out some money when I realized there was a whole other back room with vendors! Joseph Wesley was the first who caught my eye. He had a series of tins of just straight black tea of varying varieties, and he offered me a sample of the Lapsang Souchong.

Which was very very different than any other Lapsang I’ve had. It wasn’t smoked.
Which honestly threw me because I love the smokey flavor of Lapsang. But this was quite nice.

Honestly, most plain black teas are wasted on me. I don’t appreciate the subtlety in a way I do with white or oolongs. But I feel I need to up my tea game, so to speak, and learn some more, and did end up buying a tin of this.

Overall, I did enjoy it. It was dark, still had a slight smokey taste, with sour notes toward the end. I appreciated that this vendor was different than most of the others in that he did not offer blends, and that he was the only vendor who had plain black teas.

At one point last year I had a tea moment with this sample from an aliexpress dealer. The tea tasted like a chocolate caramel oolong and was incredibly smooth. Since then I’ve been on a search for that tea or a tea like it. It can be difficult because tea packaging is sometimes used regionally and may not be specific to a brand. Anyways after my last attempt boychik offered to send me some of this tea as part of my quest to find that tea, and you know, it comes quite close. This one is more malty, not quite as smooth and has much stronger caramel notes, but it is really good. It makes a nice dessert tea.

I steeped 1 TSP in 200ml and used a water temperature of around 92°C and did 4 steeps of this tea (60,90,120,210s).

This teas warm honey broth had a scent of light longan cocoa, butter caramel, and something slightly nutty.

The first sip was quite sweet with caramel coming to the forefront, with ccocoa, yam, and nutty tones with a hint of molasses. As it cools the longan becomes apparent between the butter caramel and other tones. The tea is buttery but slightly more astringent than my fantasy lapsang but really good and very close to the one I am looking for. This one has more caramel and longan and less cocoa, but it is a really nice flavour. As it cools the malt becomes apparent under the other flavours and the tea taste slightly less sweet. The aftertaste of hot chocolate with a little bit of longan.

In future steeps a malt tone became apparent and the caramel became more of a butter note with a mild sweetness. Longan was more apparent in the second steep and then faded. Whereas cocoa remain relatively constant.

Altogether a very good tea which I would consider buying once I get through some of my existing Lapsang Souchong collection. Thanks boychik It really is close!

i feel like i had a different tea than everyone else lol This one came my way from boychik and i had it yesterday (finishing my catch up). To me? this was barely smokey…instead what i was getting was a deliciously smooth tea with just a hint of something that might be smokey. Even after a couple resteeps it was just a pleasant cup of tea lol

Queued post, written May 4th 2014

The last of my JW teas to try! The safe bet too. I’ve already mentioned how LS is so well known to me at this point that I don’t need to sample before buying. If I need a fresh supply of LS, I get one wherever I’m shopping. Sometimes I get one close to my preferred balance of body and smoke and sometimes I don’t, but they’re all Close Enough.

And every once in a while you run into one that hasn’t actually been smoked. It’s the same tea, it’s still an LS. It just hasn’t gone through a smoking process. I’ve had very good experiences with that variety too although it is a somewhat rare beast. I mention this now because sniffing at this cup, I’m not actually finding much smoke at all. It’s grainy and sweet with perhaps a little bit of smoke at the periphery, but that’s it. There’s a thick and sticky sort of note to it as well that makes me think of caramel. That note is quite strong.

At this point I read the label on the tin. It doesn’t actually say anything about smoke anywhere at all on the label. At all! Could this be an unsmoked LS, I wonder? I does actually say caramel, though. HA! I totally called that.

Further reading on the website mentions smoky undertones. UNDERtones! That implies a naturally occuring note of smoke, doesn’t it, rather than something added to it. It’s a Fujian black, so a natural smoke note would not at all be unusual.

The smoke note is relatively strong on the flavour, but again not at all as strong as it would be if it had been smoked. At least not if it had been smoked to the degree of the LS I’m used to drinking. I suppose it coud have been smoked very lightly to enhance the natural note. I’m a little in doubt now about whether or not I think it’s gone through a smoking process. Interestingly, I was reading what other people wrote about it and a couple of people felt this one had heavy smoke notes. What have they been drinking? I’m finding it quite mild! Or am I simply too familiar with LS at this point that I can no longer view it objectively? (Not that tea tasting could ever be objective, but I think you know what I mean. I can’t find a better way to express it.)

It’s still quite grainy and sweet, just like it smells. The caramel note is not as strong in the flavour as it is in the aroma, though. I believe it’s the smoke note that tempers it somewhat. It’s a very dark sort of caramel, not a milky one. Caramel sweet as opposed to fruity sweet. That’s a new one. I’ve usually found LS quite fruity-sweet.

The more it cools, though, the stronger the smoky note gets. I take it back, this is definitely not unsmoked. It’s just… trying to pass itself off that way.

Smooth and strong. A good way to start the day.

Took a whiff of this at the NYC Coffee and Tea festival this past March and had to bring some home with me.

I’m not generally a lapsang souchong fan. At all. Says so right there on my profile. But this one. The usual Joseph Wesley excellence.

First sip was a revelation. A lapsang exists that I like!! This does not taste like I just licked an ashtray. It is full and complex with my favorite malty note at the front. There is cocoa midsip with a deep fruit, plums? toward the back. All the way back is the roasty barley bit that I love, all with an underlying but subtle tobacco bite that makes this really interesting.
More on my blog: http://mizzprissy.wordpress.com/2014/05/25/lapsang-souchong-joseph-wesley-black-tea/

And here is its song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeyL1yVY_6Q&feature=kp

Today is my official 1st day of sampling Lapsang Souchong. i picked it up at 2013 NYC Coffee and Tea Festival. Joseph Wesley stand was my first stop. I did my little homework and was dying to try their teas. I was always afraid to drink LS because people described it as ashy smoky bitter. Whatever.
Steeped according to directions: 1tsp 8oz 195F 2min2 1/2min etc
This tea completely changed my uneducated and inexperienced mind. Its smooth, sweet with touch of smokiness at the end but its well rounded. it has this rye bread taste,sweet and toasty. i got myself a piece of cheddar since its written it pairs well with cheese. it does, but i can drink it without it. I know what would be great : toasted bagel cream cheese. I’m sure some maple syrup would make it complete. I’m going to try it next time.

Bought at the Coffee & Tea Festival here and it is lovely.

I am not usually one for lapsang souchongs as the smokiness is usually too intense.

This one, you can taste a little hint of smoke, but also sweetness… a fruity sort of feel but I can’t place the fruit in mind.

Mid-tongue is a medium to almost black brown color flavor, a harsh orange at the back of the throat, and wrapping around the front sides of the tongue is a light yellow-medium-beige color if that is clear at all… I can see it but can’t quite describe it, hope someone else gets that last color.

Oddly, this is the first thing I’ve ever tasted that actually has a purple taste. It’s around the top of the mouth and top back of throat. It’s a reddish purple, not too dark but dark. A rich color.

I quite like this. It’s a gentle tea. I’m having it as my morning tea today and the flavor is bold enough as a black to hit that need while also not having that overwhelming level of smoke that I mentioned above. Mildly astringent with no bitterness, for me.