Lapsang Souchong

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
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Caffeine
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Certification
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Edit tea info Last updated by Angrboda
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 15 sec

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18 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Lapsang souchong in the house! Oh yes! I don’t even know the last time we had an LS in the house, but it has definitely been quite a while. A looooong time. So when I was buying tea for the boss...” Read full tasting note
    94
  • “Thank you Angrboda for this sample tea! The Arctic wind swept down through the Rocky Mountains yesterday afternoon…whoosh! I stepped out of my Tea Shop, driving 3 miles home…just as the first...” Read full tasting note
  • “The dry leaf smells smoky and rich with a note of tarry sweetness. It’s more of a glazed ham than the smoked brisket I associate with other lapsang souchongs. Oddly enough, post-steeping I’m...” Read full tasting note
    85
  • “A gift from Angrboda, thank you so much and it is fascinating, this is so not like my usual Lapsang Souchongs (do not know how to pluralize that). That is not a bad thing, and it makes it extra...” Read full tasting note
    83

From A.C. Perch's Thehandel

This smoky whole leaf tea is produced by withering the leaves over fires of pine. A strong tea that goes well with salty and spicy dishes and in blends. 8 minutes

About A.C. Perch's Thehandel View company

Company description not available.

18 Tasting Notes

94
1353 tasting notes

Lapsang souchong in the house!

Oh yes! I don’t even know the last time we had an LS in the house, but it has definitely been quite a while. A looooong time. So when I was buying tea for the boss and me at work anyway, I decided to stock up since it was from the same shop. Husband agreed with my assessment that this was a necessity and therefore not a frivolous purchase. So 200g of LS and 200g of two other favourite fruity teas. That should last us a while, and I’m sure you will all agree with me that this was hardly excessive. Nothing new, only old favourites. Unfortunately we are still living in the Age of Frugality. (Although there are good omens regarding the Age of Frivolity at the moment. Well. Better omens than before, anyway. We’re keeping everything crossed here.)

So I’m having the first cup of my Perfect LS in a longer time than I can remember. It’s like an old friend come home and it beats the Lapsang Bohea Husband and I drank at the meeting with Roughage yesterday by several horse lengths. Not that there was anything wrong with that one. It just wasn’t this one.

Actually, while we were there, Husband asked me what the difference was between a lapsang souchong and a lapsang bohea. My initial reply was something along the lines of, “uuuuuhh…”

Eventually I came up with an educated guess that it probably had something to do with the leaf grade as I know souchong refers to the rougher older leaves on the bush. I figured it was possible that the bohea would have been made using younger leaves.

Turns out I was completely wrong in my guess, but the basis for it wasn’t far off.

Regular old LS does use the older leaves (unless otherwise stated, of course), but bohea refers to the Wuyi mountains where the type originates. For this reason lapsang bohea is often more expensive because the growing area is so small and the demand is growing.

So while many do consider bohea superior to any old lapsang (and it probably is too), it’s not really anything to do with leaf grade as such.

So there you see, Steepsterites! The sort of trouble you can get yourself into when you think you’re smart.

Vortegne

Oh, I love Lapsang!

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676 tasting notes

Thank you Angrboda for this sample tea!

The Arctic wind swept down through the Rocky Mountains yesterday afternoon…whoosh!
I stepped out of my Tea Shop, driving 3 miles home…just as the first snowkles began to fall. Perfect timing!
On went the Christmas lights and a movie! http://flic.kr/p/dEPKHb

I was waiting for a proper snow day to kick back and drink tea while watching the Wintry Wonderland through my large picture window.

This morning, I woke up early…wrapped myself in a fuzzy pink robe and poked my head through the curtains to view the pristine white blanket of snow over everything. Top to bottom white!

I don’t need to leave home for days. With temperatures predicted to be in the teens and and minus zero, I’ll stay home!

Comfort and Joy!

Lapsang Souchong fits the scene…Christmas lights on the tree, wreath over the fireplace, teapots out on display. http://flic.kr/p/dETRv6

I’m a Lapsang Souchong when-the-mood-is-right sort of person. I cook with LS often but drink it on rarely.

I have to say that this TEA is semi-mild and entirely smooth.
Very smooth actually!
It’s not boring or flat. Sometimes I think lapsang souchongs are toned down and become boring as though someone sprinkled a little smoke on an average black tea. That isn’t the case here.

Rich, smooth with a hint of citrus…no sooty aftertaste or bitterness a very good drinkable tea.

Had a mug with cream and sugar…loved the flavor…um. Sweet with a smoky hint of saltiness.

The Arctic Blast is rolling across North America, heading East…and if you can grab some Lapsang Souchong…take a break and look out the window at the splendor of Winter, keeping warm with a friendly cup of smoky tea!

TheTeaFairy

Love the tea mood you have set for yourself… Hope the white canvas stays so you can have a white christmas too :-)

Shelley_Lorraine

snow and negative temps in Wyoming too, and i couldn’t stay home and cozy up with my tea. had to go to class and to the grocery store. wearing about 20 pounds of clothing and waddling around like a penguin. Thank goodness for my studded snow tires!

Bonnie

I think it was even colder in Wyoming! Fort Collins is a little protected by the mountains but Wyoming gets socked!

Angrboda

I just saw this now, sorry. I’m glad you liked this. It may not be the bestest best quality at all, but it’s my favourite LS in the world, because it has that perfect balance between smoke and body that I prefer.

Bonnie

Sounds like you’ve been busy.

Angrboda

Sickness, Christmas hols, sickness and moving. Yup. I haven’t even bothered with checking the dashboard for ages now. (The problem is, the longer I wait, the bigger a task it will seem to be, even though I know there’s no way I’m going to get through the whole thing anyway)

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85
911 tasting notes

The dry leaf smells smoky and rich with a note of tarry sweetness. It’s more of a glazed ham than the smoked brisket I associate with other lapsang souchongs. Oddly enough, post-steeping I’m getting a chocolate scent under the smoke as well as a sweet fairly fruity smell.

Ha! It’s nice outside so we’ve opened the office door and my coworker just made a comment that it smells like someone is burning brush nearby. Nope, that’s my tea.

The taste is lovely – rich, smoky and silky with hints sweet. The smoke flavor is strong but nicely balanced with the flavor of the smooth, faintly sweetish tea (though I can no longer pick out the chocolaty and fruity aspects I got from the smell). There is no heavy tar note to this though I imagine one might show up if steeped extra long. Anyway, I’m not quite sure how this tea does it, but it manages to be both almost decadently rich and not too heavy. Quite a tasty little number! Thanks Angrboda!
3.1g/8oz

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec
Angrboda

Chocolate? I haven’t found that. Lucky I ordered another batch of it recently when teaming up with Lexitus.
I’ve been generally very pleased with ACP. I don’t think I’ve had any of their stuff that I haven’t liked. Maybe I haven’t loved all of it, but I’ve liked it enough to drink it.

Auggy

I know, it sounds crazy! The Tan Yang Te Ji you sent me was the last tea I had in my ingenuiTEA and it smelled a bit like that but I know I washed it out thoroughly before I left work Friday. So either the magical powers of absorbent plastic, crazy freaking tea or broken sniffer caused the chocolate smell.

Angrboda

I’m not convinced the Tan Yang doesn’t have magical properties…

sophistre

Mmmm, this sounds fantastic.

Auggy

Angrboda, the Tan Yang is certainly good enough to contain a little magic. Mmm.
sophistre, it was quite yummy – really well balanced, I think.

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83
362 tasting notes

A gift from Angrboda, thank you so much and it is fascinating, this is so not like my usual Lapsang Souchongs (do not know how to pluralize that). That is not a bad thing, and it makes it extra interesting.

First this LS is sort of a tough guy with a marshmallow centre. It smells very very smoky, very piney (unlike my usual ones, which btw are Twinings and Mariage Frères Imperial LS), very dude. The scent of the brewed tea is much milder, much drier, almost herbal. And the smoke taste is nearly gone on the palate, it tastes sweet, a bit fruity maybe, maybe a tiny bit astringent (or I steeped it too long, a possibility. Though I do personally like this level of astringency), maybe pomegranate-ish? Dunno. This is sort of a puzzle, but I am sure going to enjoy the rest of my sample of this!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 45 sec
Angrboda

Perhaps you’re used to more tarry tasting LS than me. I’ve had Twinings a few times, and I think that’s the one we get when we’re in the UK as well, although I’m not super-certain, but that struck me as harsher than this. I prefer the balance between smoke and sweet that this one has, although, like you, the first time I noticed that sweet note, I was totally confused because I had never encountered that in an LS before.

cteresa

The Mariage Freres is also sort of sweet. I think even the Twinings can lean to being sweet (though it is less noticeable because you got the smoke). LS is pretty special IMO, if I understand correctly they pick the leaves at special stage and size (supposedly lower in caffeine) and the smoke treatment is also different. I do love my LS.

I do like the smoke, and like to feel the smoke in the taste, not just the nose. I am not sure I would call it tar, maybe it is the right word in English, but when i think of the word tar I think of the stuff they put in roads or in boat bottoms, which is not quite the note I smell. Or I guess, maybe a cigarretty smell. Smoke, pine smoke, or other wood smokes is different, you know? It does not smell like tar or even cigarettes to me, smoke can smell sort of clean and sharp. I love the smell of the Mariage Freres, it smells like wood smoke, but this sort of wood from this sort of oak trees from the south of Portugal (yeah, it smells different!)!

Angrboda

I have to admit I’ve never really understood the word ‘tarry’ in this connection either, but I’ve seen vendors use it a lot for those extra smoky sorts of LS. Maybe it’s just because it sounds better than ‘charcoal-y’. (What with being a real word and all…)

cteresa

It might be code word for cigarette-y? ;) I heard LS can be very popular with ex-smokers. I don´t smoke and really do not like cigarette smoke, but I do love these wood fire in Alentejo (South of Portugal) type of smokes, it can smell quite pure and sharp to me. It´s not a charcoaley type at all!

And seriously, thanks again for this tea, i am not quite sure what to make of it just yet, it´s like a really tough dude which turns out to be way sensitive!

I still got tons of it, I am going to enjoy looking for what is the elusive flavour and if different steeps can bring out other aspects. Thank you!

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73
10 tasting notes

So… confession time.

I don’t normally drink loose tea. Or rather, I didn’t until now. Back when I lived in the UK, I would drink bagged exclusively, and this carried over when I moved to Denmark, in the form of several large boxes.

However, as time has gone on, my stocks have dwindled, and Angrboda has introduced me to the varied delights of loose tea. So, this is me taking the plunge, having run out of bagged tea entirely, and bought a stack of loose to keep me going. Will I be able to operate loose tea brewing at 7am? Only time will tell…

So, this is my first attempt at brewing Lapsang Souchong in some sort of basket contraption what goes in the teapot. First impressions – these leaves look funny; smell great; I wonder how much…?

Maybe this is a slight understeep – the smokiness is only barely detectable in the aroma. There’s a note of it in the taste, along with some mild astringency. Overall, a nice refreshing cup, and a non-disaster to start out my loose tea experiment with! :-)

Angrboda

Good boy! Now you get to play around with leaf dosage and such. It’s the same one that you’ve been getting here. With your pot, I’d probably use about three teaspoons, slightly topped.

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