First Sip Thought: “Camping night.”
Smell: Picture yourself outside on a chilly night surrounding a campfire with friends. Breathe in the air and you’ll get something similar to this tea’s scent. Much like a campfire, the smokiness aroma really hits you. It’s quite intense. I would recommend steeping this tea for the first time in an open area since the aroma may be overpowering compared to other teas you’re used to.
Taste: What makes this tea so unique is that the tea leaves have actually been smoked over pine needles. This is what gives it the very bold, but soothing, earthy flavour. The scent alone kept me away from trying this tea for a while probably because it was too heavy for my liking. I’m happy to say the tea itself is actually not bad. After steeping, you are left with a caramel brown type liquid. I have noticed that if you steep it a bit less, the woodsy flavour is more enjoyable as it is not has strong. A pine smoke flavour is quite predominant and I even get a hint of a bacon taste. I do not hate Lapsang Souchong but I think it would take some time before I can actually enjoy it as a beverage alone. What I do love is using Lapsang Souchong for baking or cooking! I think it has become one of my most favourite teas to use in the kitchen as I believe it is something easy to work with. I also imagine that is tea would be ideal for cheese pairing. Hello smoked cheddar…mmmmm. I had heard so much about this tea for a while that I just had to give it a try. I do not regret that I did. While this tea might not be for everyone I think it’s one that needs to be tried (at least once) by all.
