This very high grade Lapsang Souchong comes from the trees of Mr. Wen, a farmer from Tong Mu, the historic birthplace of Lapsang Souchong. His old trees are growing naturally in this very special environment without any chemical pesticides or fertilisers and his teas are certified organic (USDA certification).
The difference between high grade Lapsang Souchong, such as this, and commercial ones is huge. This is naturally smoked using pine wood, rather than cheap oils, and only smoked very lightly, to enhance and compliment the natural flavour of the tea rather than overpowering it with smokey flavours.
This comes from the same farmer as our Lapsang Souchong last year, but as with all seasonal productions the flavour varies from year to year. This year, the tea has slightly larger leaves and the smoke fragrance is slightly more pronounced. The tea liquid is very smooth in the mouth and throat, with a very pure flavour. The smokiness recedes gracefully during the first few infusions, balancing and complimenting the natural flavour and vitality of the leaves. The qi of this tea is strong and surprised me the first time I tasted it. The leaves are strong and brew well thoughout many infusions. I'm very happy with how this tea has turned out this year.
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real Lapsang Review by tom
I could never understand Lapsang as the commercial versions I found plainly undrinkable. I was curious to try this and very surprised by the subtle smokiness enhancing the tea - not obliterating it with a chemical harshness. (Posted on 27/11/2011)
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A walk in the woods Review by Jan
I enjoyed this tea gong fu style, like always with high quality teas. This for me is a perfect example of Lapsang Souchong. The light smokiness does not overwhelm the natural black tea aroma. It goes far from what you can find anywhere else. I can just imagine standing in the woods while drinking this tea. (Posted on 11/10/2011)
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the best Review by Leopold
This is the best Lapsang I have ever tasted (and Lapsang is one of the few teas where I have a fairly wide experience of trying different styles)... I do actually think there is a place for the commercially produced heavily 'smoked' tea but genuine, and genuinely smoked, lapsang will always win through (sort of like a fine riesling compared with blue nun - maybe not the best comparison as I doubt I would say blue nun had a place if it entailed actually drinking it)... many tea vendors have decent lapsang available (not mentioning names but the other two main UK mail-order tea shops have very good examples of lapsang)... why am I saying all this instead of reviewing the EoT lapsang? Simply to provide context when I say I was shocked when I opened the pouch - there were tea leaves all of different sizes all with an aroma different to any other lapsang I have tried... I don't know to what extent this classifies as properly handmade but looking at the leaves it must be close...
I tried this both western style and 'gong fu' and agree with the EoT advice - don't waste this with too much water and too long steeps...
the taste of sweet black tea with complimentary smokiness is just so natural and really addictive!
what a treat (Posted on 08/10/2011) -
A gongfu black tea Review by RC
As the product description states, this is a fairly lightly smoked tea. I had the 2010 as well and didn't notice the smokiness being any stronger this year. The underlying tea is rather sweet. This tea is one of the more interesting black teas I've had and should be drunk gong fu style to be fully appreciated. For a strong everyday black try the Sun Moon Lake. (Posted on 12/09/2011)