Tea review!

[telophase]

Since I made a cup of one of the teas I got today, I figured I'd review it. :)


Lapsang Souchong

The Adagio website says: "Black tea from the Fujian province of China. Lapsang Souchong tea (also called Russian Caravan tea) has a famously smoky aroma and flavor. To create this, tea leaves are dried in bamboo baskets over pine fires, achieving a perfect balance of smoke and tea flavor. Our 'Eroica Caravan' typically draws strong reactions: you'll either love it or hate it."

My results: I don't love it, but I like it. I steeped it with boiling water for 5 minutes, as recommended, and took a test sip before I dumped sugar in.* And have now finished the cup. :)

The tea leaves do smell quite smoky, the tea less so. I'd say it's perfumed with wood smoke. :) The tea flavor isn't as pronounced as I like. The taste is mild black tea with a faint hint of smoke. The effect is to make me immediately nostalgic for SCA camping event mornings where you'd drink tea made in a kettle over a wood fire, and since you've been hanging out around fires for some time by that point and the smoke hasn't gone stale yet (like it will by Sunday afternoon), everything you're wearing plus your hair is perfumed with a lovely scent of wood smoke, and it permeates everything you eat. That's what this tea is like. Luckily, I like wood smoke.

I don't think it's something I'd drink every morning, but on occasion.

Don't expect another review tonight: I'm trying to cut down on caffeine after work, as the resulting insomnia makes my ADD worse. XD

And now I need a tea icon...

* Fair warning: I drink tea-flavored sugar water.

Comments

<--- twelve.

[frostedelves.livejournal.com]

The review is interesting and I enjoyed reading it, but what really drew me in was thinking "That's a potentially dirty tea name. Heh heh heh."

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

TEA NERDERY.

i've recently started purchasing/devouring loose teas, i was actually wondering what online site would be good to get some from! (i've mostly been buying stuff from my super favourite place, WORLD MARKET, HECK YEAH.)

i know what you mean about tea flavoured sugar water. i started to cut back on the sugar with the inclusion of honey (which i normally hate.) but i really wanna drink less honey-flavoured water too, mostly cause i would love to find a good tea thats good just straight up, no sweetness.

haha

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Adagio is awesome. All sorts of teas - and be sure to click the "story" link on the tea's page for some interesting info - and tea ware.

I think I ended up with a little too much sugar in this one. Maybe it's a sign that I'm starting to like less sweet tea. XD

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

they SEEM really neat. i had come across a woman at my job who bought teas via the internet but she didn't want to give/didn't remember the place where she got 'em. i rather try a place that someone is familiar with, you know?

i'm interested in that almond tea, uhoh. and some delicious oolongs. hahah. thanks so much!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Check their flavored teas - there's a caramel that looks to be sweet on its own.

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

caramel sounds delicious too. oh my ;o;. anything is better than the teas i suffer with at work. tazo tea bullcrap ugh. i had some new berry one they were hawking and i wanted to kill myself.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

The only Tazo tea I like is Awake, and that's mostly because it's a generic black tea. XD

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

they're really bad. the chai is alright. just alright though :(

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Also check out Adagio's display teas - awesome. XD

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

I'VE ALWAYS WANTED ONE OF THOSE.

i'd need some nifty clear teacups for that. heh. shoppping spreee

[telophase.livejournal.com]

XD I am sad that they're temporarily out of the mug with infuser - Christmas rush - because I gave my mom one and I want one also, rather than the teacup, because I'm less likely to spill it all over myself. XD

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

really? im a teacup nerd as well. i drink out of a super sweet L teacup/saucer set. and when i'm in the mood to be fancy, i have one of ones with flowers all over it. i could see myself collecting a majillion teacups. but sometimes, i want more than just that cup can hold, and thats when the problem comes in :(

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I like drinking from teacups, except that the handle is too small as compared to the cup most of the time, and it's off balance. With a mug, I can wrap my hand around it.

I am apparently a working-class tea drinker, rather than an upper-class one. XD

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

HAHAH.

i'm prone to spilling, mug or teacup, i'm just a klutz. i just try and look good while doing it ;D

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Have you sent an order yet? I just realized I can send you a $5 gift certificate from them if you're not in their system yet. Send me your email address. :)

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

i haven't ordered!

thanks :D

thekiddetective@gmail.com

[telophase.livejournal.com]

sent!

And once you redeem it, it'll give me 10 "good tea" points. You get a point for every dollar you spend there, and when you get 100, they send you a $10 gift certificate. XD

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

haha heck yeah :D expect those good tea points this weekend then.


thanks again!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! XD

[lady-noremon.livejournal.com]

I like Awake too, the only one I've enjoyed from them so far ^^;

Re: <--- twelve.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

What would you have thought if I'd bought and tried Li Zi Nutcracker? XD

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

I love lapsang suochang tea so much. In my experience, it's usually love it or hate it just like they say. I once brewed a cup at the coffeeshop I work at and one girl was like, I DON'T EVEN LIKE HOW IT SMELLS.

I think you're the first person I know of who's tried it and just though "eh." XD

Have you tried their golden needle tea? It has a really sweet flavor.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

XD It was mostly that I'd like a stronger tea flavor. Someone in the reviews said he thre a pinch in to his Irish Breakfast, so I figure I'll try that with another tea and see what it's like.

I'm going to bring my teas into work, sine I do most tea-drinking there, but I'm going to have to OK the smell with the other two in the office before brewing any, since tghe smell is so strong. And we may get people wandering by going "Is something on fire? I smell smoke..."

Haven't tried it. Maybe. I've forgotten if it was one of the ones I got Mom that I tried. I've got English and Irish Breakfasts, Golden MOnkey (natch!), Darjeeling #22, Yunnan Gold, and Keemun Concerto to try.

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmmm! I still have a bunch of samplers to use up before I can buy more. I did buy the large tin of their Foxtrot blend. UHnnnnn it's so tasty!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

:D I'm taking them to work, to use instead of spending $$ on Coke Zeros from the vending machine or DIet Dr Peppers from the Bistro. Of course, sometimes you want something *cold* to drink, but at least overall it'll be cheaper than buying them there. And now that we have a fridge, I can stash a few bottles in there.

[keilexandra]

I keep trying my parents' shipped-from-China loose white tea (the kind of quality you give as presents on the mainland as semi-bribes), hoping that I'll like it, and every time my only reaction is, "Ew. Bitter." Of course, they also drink their tea completely plain. Maybe tea-flavored sugar water will be more to my taste?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Possibly. XD

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

How are you steeping it? It's really easy to make white/green tea bitter by steeping it too long or with water that's too hot. White/green tea is definitely harder to prepare than black tea.

[keilexandra]

I'm not sure, being as I tend to just steal from other people's cups. But I'm pretty sure it's made with just-boiled water.

I did try flower/red tea once, and it was even more disgusting.

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

I don't like red tea much. (It's not tea at all, anyway.)

When you brew the white and green teas, you shouldn't let the water boil or let it cool off, because too-hot water brings out the bitterness. I wait until it rumbles a bit and it's very hot, but not yet trembling. And then I steep it a only very briefly, about a minute.

It ends up much less bitter than if you use boiling water and steep it longer, though it still has a little bitter taste because it's TEA.

[keilexandra]

Ah, thank you for the advice! I'll try it out and see.

[sparkylibrarian.livejournal.com]

I am a Darjeeling addict, and I currently have... um... three different varieties at home. :D

I used to buy my loose tea at Central Market here in Austin (Whole Foods has a sucky selection, btw), but since the former tea buyer for the main store opened a teashop just off my route to and from work... well, it's so easy to drop in and pick up a couple of ounces of tea. Or stay and have Tea and Scones. Mmmm.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

I also drink tea-flavoured sugar water. *unrepentant*

I disagree with that description, though. Lapsang Souchong is not the same as Russian Caravan. They're both smoky teas (mmmmm… smoke), but there is a difference in the amount of smoke. (Alas, I am out of Russian Caravan, so cannot perform oh-so-scientific experiment to tell you which is which.)

[chomiji]

I also like my tea sweet. And with milk, if it's any sort of strongly flavored black tea. (I mean with a strong tea flavor - I don't generally liked "flavored" teas.)

Lapsang Souchong is the Mr.'s favorite tea. A long ago friend used to tease him about it, calling it "that old sweaty horse blanket stuff." I find myself thinking of tarred rope when I smell it. Nevertheless, once or twice a year I get a hankering for it!