Tea Review: Lapsang Souchong

Lapsang Souchong Reviewed by: Rebekkah
Type of tea Black, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects smokey, natural
Where I got it  The Tea and Spice Exchange	Cost $5.49/oz
How I brewed it 1.5 tsp at 190F in a 16-oz pot for 3 minutes	Rebrewing notes First rebrew is good. I still got the full smokey flavor and the rich taste of the tea. However, the second rebrew was a bit weaker. I'd suggest your third pot be brewed with hotter water and for a tad longer, and I wouldn't expect to get much more 2 rebrews with these leaves.
Review This tea was recommended by an online tea group; I was looking for the best teas for reading different types of fantasy, and this came up as the favorite of several people for urban fantasy. Therefore, when I was at the tea store I had to pick up a packet to try. It's smokey, and when I say that, I mean it very much feels like drinking the essence of campfire (hickory wood, I think). It's a black tea, and if you were to add a drop of liquid smoke to black tea, you might end up with a flavor much like this. In this case, though, the flavor comes naturally from how the tea is prepared (the leaves have been actually smoked). It's a traditional Chinese tea. I find the taste pleasant and very unique. If you're looking for something off-beat, I'd suggest giving this tea a try. Still trying to figure out if it's the novelty that I find so appealing, or the flavor itself, but I do quite enjoy it. The brand is a good, respectable-quality loose-leaf tea; my taste buds tell me it's worth the price, and if you prepare it as I did, it has a very nice, mellow black tea flavor under the smoky taste. However, if BBQ isn't your thing, and you're not a fan of the taste of smoked foods, you should pass on this one. Note that if you don't usually make black tea with water hotter than 195F, ignore the instructions on the packet. It has you using tablespoons of tea instead of teaspoons and at a hotter water than most black tea, but I suggest following your usual method of black tea preparation--turns out fine, plenty strong, and not over or underbrewed. Image from Tea and Spice Exchange-- I suggest ordering by the ounce to try before you commit to a larger quantity; they let you do that here. Also, the spice blends are excellent, too.