Fruit Bomb Lapsang

TeaTiff Traveling Tea Box | No. 9

This isn’t as bold as I would like, but the fruity flavor is clear and unmistakable. I’m going to try this next with two teaspoons instead of one to see if I can get a better sense of the flavors.

Sipdown! (42 | 78)

So I ordered three lapsangs from white2tea – this one, Spiced, and Pine Sap.

Not gonna lie, this is my least favorite. But I fully admit that it’s only because of the floral notes. It does have a lot of fruitiness as well, it reminds me of stewed plums with maybe some rhubarb in there. It’s sweet with deep, dark, caramelized brown sugar and a touch of dark honey. Also malty and a bit grainy, like a homemade dark whole wheat loaf.

Sadly those floral notes ruin it for me. It’s the same type of floral taste I get from a lot of dancongs, which is why I don’t generally enjoy those either. Difficult to describe, not being a flower expert. Orchid maybe, or gardenia? Whatever it is, it always taste soapy to me.

Oh well, was still fun to try!

What an interesting tea. I’ve already learned that there are two types of Lapsang. Smoked and Unsmoked. This appears to be unsmoked. The aroma of the wet leaf shows hints of fruit here and there but mostly wood notes. Dark panels in an expensive house. Based on other people’s reviews I may have let this one sit too long. It was hiding. The twist chocolate-looking leaf is still gorgeous though. And the amber/rose gold color of the water is quite a site. But I am not finding all the fruit notes everyone else seems to be finding. Slight dark cherry and dark cherry wood. Maybe a hint of pomegranate but also resin and interestingly no astringency. Even though I’ve been steeping it for at least five minutes now. There’s also a bit of a milk texture and flavor to it.

Gong fu is the better way to go. I still get the same tequila rose flavor vibe in excellent western and Tumbler grandpa sessions, but I can break it down more so it’s not quite as one dimensional. I was also surprised this doesn’t suck as a spring/summer tea. The weather’s heating up in the 90’s the morning with godsent breeze, but this was a really nice first black tea for the day…after some mild morning oolong.

Overall, the tea has a distinctly currant, strawberry and rhubarb kinda vibe to it. Unlike other blacks I’ve had, it’s also got a bit of a creamy note going on with the florals. Rose is definite, and sometimes, some weird note between vanilla and violet. It’s pretty interesting. I’m so glad I got this tea. It’s not a daily tea because I think it needs some care and attention to be savored and enjoyed, and it does have a little bit of a buzz for me. It’s moderately lasting, but I can get tea’d out even when I’ve had this tea on it’s own.

Unfortunately, I’m on a speed sipdown process to go through some of the teas I’ve had for over 4 years along with new fresh ones, so this is not a chug kinda tea….bad for me, but not bad for the tea. I think this one is really easy to approach and would not be a bad way to introduce someone to straight teas because it has enough flavor to stand against some flavored blacks.

The name is surprisingly accurate: it’s spectacularly fuity.

Classic lapsang body but with a thick texture and an extraordinarily rich upper range of fruitiness. The leaves themselves already smell incredible.
Taste: bitterness at the bottom, typical black tea acidity and buttery, smooth fruit flavor above. Wonderful aroma. I got peach and refreshing citrus notes, but also some carrot sweetness and apple. Very little astringency until later steeps.
I enjoy it most slightly cooled down (but not too much). “straight from the gaiwan” the bitterness can steal some of the spotlight of the fruit.

Works well gong fu, western style and everything in between.

An extraordinary tea definitely worth its price.
If it hadn’t sold out so quickly I would’ve gotten more than a 25g sample. I’m now saving half of it for special occasions and am crossing all of my fingers and toes they get a new batch soon.

This is the 2019 batch of this tea – though since I did the W2T Club box for this year’s “Lapsang Month” I now have a sample of the 2020 version too..

This was probably the most popular of last year’s Lapsang selections and, in fact, this year’s batch has also already sold out before any of the other LS brought in. People just adore this one, and I can totally understand why. I’ve been careful to stretch out my ounce of it, in the hopes it would come back this year. It’s an amazing tea with brandied red fruit notes, carmelized sweet potato, sweet pine sap resin, ripe plum, and cherries. Truly unique and one of the best unsmoked Lapsang that I’ve ever had!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CE4tLnDAXXa/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkpgz3uQ58U&ab_channel=InterpolVEVO