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Goodmorning Steepsterites.

Still going on with the warm-ups for sample week, and this poor thing is the choice for today.

Poor? Oh yes, I seem to be thoroughly mistreating it. A little more leaf than I would normally use for a pot, but not enough to split in two. Fine, a stronger cup then. Then the discovery that the saucepan didn’t hold enough water to actually fill the pot, so I’m having to boil more. I hate this way of making tea! Tomorrow the boyfriend is coming home, thankfully, and I have received word that kettle is safely in his possession and that it will fit easily in the suitcase.

In other words, cross your fingers that this doesn’t come out horribly wrong and I haven’t just wasted a sample. And not just any sample, a smoky sample! It almost doesn’t bear thinking about.

However, we are dealing with a Chinese black here, and as we know Chinese blacks will often take an awful lot of abuse before becoming completely undrinkable. Strange that, but it’s part of why I prefer Chinese. They’ll spring back from almost anything.

This one is no exception, and I can’t even taste any traces of the mistreatment it has suffered at my hands. It’s smoky and smooth with no hints of astringency or even beginning bitterness. Nothing. It’s just patiently coping with everything that has been thrown at it and is still coming out on top. The only thing that makes it any sort of rough or prickly is the smoke, and that’s supposed to be there.

There is a sort of tangy flavour to it, though, and not really the fruity sweetness that I’m used to in the regular Lapsang Souchongs. It’s like that note has been replaced by this slightly spicy and tangy note. I think I prefer the fruity sweetness.

I quite like it, although not as much as my regular LSs, but it’s a very nice tea.