Lapsang Souchong

Advent Tea!
This one is super smooth and nicely smoky. A little less smoky on steep #2 but still very drinkable. I would buy this one if we ever run out of Uptons Imperial LS, but that is unlikely as its my dad’s favorite tea.

This was such a delicious smoky coldbrew. It tasted a lot better than a lot of other lapsang teas I’ve tried in the past. I have yet to try it hot. Longer review to come soon.

Mastress Alita’s Monthly Sipdown Challenge: a tea that reminds you of an alcoholic beverage

Lapsangs always remind me of whiskey, so I figured this was a good fit for the prompt.

This tastes smoky (obviously)- like hickory smoke. Definitely not an everyday tea, but it fits a need. A need for smoke.

This was day 7 of the Theodor advent, but I wasn’t feeling well and the thought of a smoky tea was nauseating. I’m glad I held off because this is a really nice cup that I’d hate to have a bad association with. This has a super strong smokey scent and flavor, but it is balanced so well which isn’t something I’ve found in other laps. The sip is perfect and the finish is the same. It has a depth to it that I can’t quite put into proper words. Smokey, leathery, slight bit of tobacco. I now regret not getting some of this while in Paris or in my order when I returned home. It will have to be on my next order for sure.

I love Lapsang Souchong teas. Theodor is probably the tea company I find more interesting currently. When Ysaurella offered to share her Theodor Lapsang Souchong with me, I jumped at it, and was the very first tea of the very tempting package I tried.

Much as I love LS, I wish I was more educated about the differences regarding those, to understand better the (very obvious) difference s. My inevitable comparison of this Lapsang Souchong was with my current favorite, Mariage Freres´s Lapsang Souchong Imperial and the dry leaf of both smells unmistakably different. Like totally different tree smokes – the MF is sharper, maybe more piney. This reminds me of something else, something almost eucalyptus like or oak (not the same at all, but I truly can not describe better), a smell almost umami-rich. It was so different from what I expected I was sure at first sniff I was not going to like it! But no fear, that old magic of lapsang souchong tea, the ability to taste so very different was at work – this is just wonderful, extremely smooth. And now the first shock of not recognizing the smoke smell, I love the smell at least as much as the other Lapsangs in my collection.

A very lovely tea and perfect for a rainy afternoon…

My tea of the morning. Another Theodor tea from my order on vente privée.

For my daughter , this tea tastes and smells like barbecue & charcoal. Well … it’s a bit more complex than that a Lapsang Souchong ! Personally I like the smoked teas but it is true that the first step in this universe can be difficult to initiate .

The smell : wood- fire , comfort , tranquility that’s what we can breathe here .

The dry leaf looks nothing special , short cut , curled and very dark.

The taste : the tea obtained has a very pronounced smoky flavour and is extremely soft and mellow like all Lapsang Souchongs I met but this one is really particularly mellow . No ounce of bitterness.

I made a full teapot . I think this was a mistake because it is not a tea that I enjoy more than 2 cups at a time. However, I swallowed everything … Very successful this unpretentious LS .

For those who like to see, some pics are available here : http://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2014/11/01/lapsang-souchong-theodor/