Confucius

I’ve fallen in love with smoky teas;
Their ashy taste will always please.
The flavors are strong with no dearth
Of tar and of peat and of earth.

That’s me! I know that most people disagree with me, but smoke is my niche; my dream lover; my mystic muse. I went to France to obtain this—or really, I emailed to France. I also ordered a superb jelly and just had a most smoky afternoon snack: I felt as if I were in a Paris “une boite de nuit” with the smoke of Gitanes and Gauloises curling all about me. Let my calico cat stand in for Josephine Baker, and I’m flying “en avion de l’ame!”

Here’s the jelly, which I had with bread and un p’tit beurre:
«Tarry Souchong» tea jelly:

Created by the Mariage family in the 19th century, these collection of tea jellies, manufactured in the traditional way in copper pans, are a wonderful accompaniment to toast, brioches and scones. The fruit of this ancestral knowledge, this tea jelly, flavoured with a smoky Formosa tea, combines its subtlety with the splendour of the best teas."

I am utterly enthralled! The smoky teas that I adore are typically far less costly than the delicate whites and the carefully cultivated greens, so I am in luck. This is my moment of Tea Nirvana, of ecstasy that fills my being with a thousand pulses of pleasure.

I like smoky teas, and this is a good one, though not as great as their Lapsang Souchong. Here I find that the tea leaves themselves do not have as robust a flavor as I’d like to stand up to the smoke – they appear to be Oolong. I’ve learned to be careful with the steeping time and temperature on this one: slightly lower temperature and slightly longer steeping time than I usually employ. This is one I always drink without milk or sugar.

Though still present, this is a more gentle smoke than your typical Lapsang Souchong, which makes it a perfect mid-afternoon cuppa when you want something full-bodied and aromatic. I’d probably recommend it to people curious about smoked teas but who are either intimated by the full blown flavour of a classic smoked Lapsang or who have, pun intended, been burned by smoked tea in the past. It’s quite approachable!!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3n9OQvuxg0/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g6K4o0UKLY

Continuing with the project to get through all the teas in my cupboard and write a note about them, I am almost to the end of 15 out of 21 cupboard pages. w00t! And even more yay because until this morning, I had 22 cupboard pages. But with a spidown I cleared out that pesky page with only one tea on it. So there.

And I’m not fully neglecting my samples either, those little packets that don’t get a place in the cupboard but still take up space in tea world.

Even with all that, I don’t feel like I’m making a terrific dent in my supply here. Sigh. All I know is I haven’t bought any tea since I replenished my (gone) herbal/fruit blend stash months ago. So where they come from I have no idea.

This one is quite smoky in the tin. A woody smoke, like the remains of a wood fire in the fireplace. Charred wood, but not ash, which is fortunate. Not much resin, and no meaty-bacony smell either. Also fortunate.

After steeping, the smoky aroma spreads out and mellows some. It’s still there, but it’s more subtle. Not so much at the center of things as the edges. The color is very pretty, dark reddish-amber.

The tea has sweetness to it, and the flavor isn’t overly smoky though there’s a hint. It’s surprisingly smooth and gentle on the stomach. I would call it a medium-bodied to light bodied-tea. The mouthfeel is smooth and soft.

It’s enjoyable, for when you want a hint of smoke but lapsang is too much. It’s at least as good as I remember the Mariage Freres Lapsang being, though different. Rating accordingly.

I like the idea of smoky tea, but I don’t tend to really drink it much. Still, Lapsang tends to be too strong for me, and this one is a bit more subtle, which I really like. Plus the name Confucius just makes me happy and goes very well with my general mood whenever I actually drink smoky tea… basically, rather Chinese and kind of mysterious and contemplative. My favourite smoky tea so far.