Tea China unsmoked Lapsang Souchong

 

Reviewing a good quality unsmoked Lapsang Souchong from Tea China (provided by them for review; many thanks!).

Lapsang souchong Black tea Wuyi Rock tea ($15.67 for 50 grams, $40.67 for 200)

In terms of appearance, the tea leaves are plump in shape with a dark, glossy texture. When dry, they emit a unique pine resin aroma and the fragrance of dried longan. After brewing, the tea liquor presents a bright red color and maintains its flavor well even after multiple infusions—its distinctive characteristics remain noticeable even after 4 to 5 infusions. The taste of the tea is mellow and rich; upon sipping, the fragrance of dried longan lingers in the mouth, accompanied by a honey aroma, and the pleasant scent persists for a long time.

This is an unsmoked version.  Other parts of the description mention it can be smoked or not smoked, and doesn't really clarify which this is, but it's clear enough when you taste it.

Review:

First infusion:  I thought this would be smoked, but it turns out it's the other version, unsmoked.  That's typically higher quality material, often a bit fruity, and complex, and this is like that, it's pretty good.

Flavor range is kind of what I'd expect, for a good quality version.  There's fruit, which is kind of hard to identify, something dried, maybe, or possibly 2 or 3 inputs.  One part seems like warm and rich malt.  There's a mineral layer, but it's not pronounced, more a supporting element.  A complex woody range stands out.  It's aromatic, so interpretation as dark wood plus spice would make sense.  To me it seems like some kind of incense spice, maybe like sandalwood, but my incense burning days are pretty far behind me.

It's complex enough that interpretations could vary from there.  Someone thinking that this tastes a little like citrus, like a tangerine peel, would make sense.  I'm not really "getting" cacao but it's not so far off that.

It's clean in effect, and sweetness level is good.  Feel is rich.  It could be more full, but then this is brewed on the light side, and that may emerge better in a longer second infusion.  I went with a lower proportion than I typically ever use, maybe 4 grams, maybe 5, which is a good bit for Western brewing, but I tend to usually overdo it.  There aren't really flaws to mention, although a balsa wood sort of note bordering on a trace of sourness some might not like.  It's not really tart, one black tea aspect that I tend to not care for, but I don't remember that coming up in Lapsang Souchong before anyway.

Infusion 2:  brewed stronger.  Mineral base and heavier tones come out more, replacing some of the light fruit.  That would be partly from brewing it stronger and also a transition related change, I'd think, just how later rounds often go.  Dryness picks up, or feel structure does; to me those are two ways of saying very similar things, or they could be seen as overlapping.  

The spice note is interesting in this, one positive transition.  It's not really better or worse, just different, since the heavier tones and swapping in some spice for some fruit all depends on preference, in order to judge it.

I brewed a third infusion and it was still pretty good, which is good for longer duration Western brewing.  I just didn't write notes on that round.

Conclusions:

It's good.  Mixing some of the second round back into the first balances it really well.  It's cooler than the too-hot second version, stronger than the slightly light first version, and the heavier tones balance the rest nicely.  I guess that's the opposite of Gong Fu brewing, mixing your Western infusions to get more complexity and improve balance, while truncating the transition effect.

I've tried a good bit of better quality Lapsang Souchong, it's just been awhile.  I probably last tried a version on this level 3 or 4 years ago.  I think the best of what I tried from Cindy Chen (Wuyi Origin) was a bit better, more distinctive, with more pronounced fruit inputs, but then this might compare better with their more ordinary batches.  The material character varies from year to year, based on growing conditions inputs, per Cindy's comments.  It's not really a fair comparison to describe this in relation to the best tea of this type from the best source I've tried, for this general range and others, but that does help place it.

Related to buying random Lapsang Souchong described as this style from a conventional resale vendor this is pretty far up the scale.  You might find better, but it would often tend to take a few tries to do so.  Most versions from marketplace vendors wouldn't tend to be quite this good, although they could be comparable, in a similar general range.  If a vendor carried enough tea versions--across a broad quality range--one might be better.

It would be a stretch for me to put a fair market value on this, so maybe I'll just critique the selling point version they present.  It's $15.67 for 50 grams, $40.67 for 200.  So either 30 or 20 cents a gram, at those two different volumes.  I guess that's about right.  Let's check the Wuyi Origin pricing, to see how it compares to that.

Their wild Lapsang Souchong lists for $16.50 for 50 grams, and $49.50 for 150 grams (no volume discount at all; that's odd, but it does work that way for their site's pricing, which I guess lets it make sense to buy smaller amounts of different teas at pretty good values, for what they are).  They describe the flavor as "Natural citrus notes with creamy and peach fragrance."  Right, so good and fruity. 

In relation to that comparison it makes the most sense to buy this Tea China version at the higher volume, more reduced pricing option.  Unless someone is unfamiliar with good quality unsmoked Lapsang Souchong the results are what you'd expect.  On average other versions wouldn't be this good, but even better range is out there, but the cost for it tends to be higher.

To be honest I'm surprised that they are sourcing teas this good.  That sounds like a statement about a lack of confidence, doesn't it?  This version might be better than three fourths of what is out there, at a guess, or more if you also consider higher volume, more broadly marketed teas, not just versions from dedicated specialty tea outlets.  Most of that other range would probably be cheaper for them to source; for sure they picked this version because it's that good.  It's surely that balance that they're looking for, connecting quality and value, and it seems to fall in a favorable place.

Aged Lapsang Souchong (2014) and Dan Cong (1995)

 

Lapsang Souchong left, in all photos

I'm reviewing two more aged teas from an ITea World aged tea set.  Most have been pretty good so far, and a 1995 Shui Xian oolong was really interesting.  I've tried different aged teas in the past but covering different types at those sorts of early ages is still new ground, at least those particular iterations.  This will be something different too, a 1995 Dan Cong.  

The rest of this set is this:

That's definitely novel; it's hard to judge if a $75.90 pricing (for 100 grams) is about right or a really good value.  It depends on the teas, and some have been exceptional, others just interesting and characteristic for the types.  They seem to offer different discounts at different times, and I think for a reduced rate below that value is pretty favorable.  

As I keep mentioning related to lots of teas I don't buy tea at 70 cents a gram or so (they passed this on for review; many thanks to them!), so value really depends on what you like, and what budget you are working with.  It would cost a good bit to buy these from any market outlet sort of vendor, if they were even available.

To me aged teas can be hard to place, because experiencing them is definitely novel, maybe more so than for any other type range.  But then in terms of pleasantness, refinement (one level quality relates to), or intensity of the experience they're often not as positive.  For buying random versions of them online storage issues often all but ruin them; mustiness can be a main aspect.  

In the last week or two I've written about a 2010's version that had probably been stored near incense, picking up a flavor input that seemed foreign.  So far none of that has impacted these tea samples, and it has only been that quality was exceptional for some and more medium range for others, or so it seemed to me.  We'll see how these go, or rather I already have, since I often write intros and conclusions during editing.  One is really good, very novel and pleasant, and the other just good.

Review:

2014 Lapsang Souchong:  interesting!  That picked up a lot of spice tones with the aging, it seemed.  It almost tastes like a spiced tea version.  I was expecting this to not be a smoked version initially, and there is no smoke, but it's hard to say how that flavor input would've held up over 11 years.  

It balances pretty well.  There is mixed spice input, which I'll try to break down more next round, then a warm toffee sweetness beyond that, and some neutral warm-toned base mineral.  There is no sharp black tea edge, but even in newer, higher quality Lapsang Souchong versions there might not be much of that.  Feel is interesting, especially for it being the first light round, a bit rich.  It seems clean and refined.  All in all it's pleasant to experience.  

Going back and comparing it to the other version a touch of sourness stands out, which is more evident in comparison.  First impressions can miss things like that.

1995 Dan Cong:  there's quite different spice standing out in this.  I don't remember spice tones picking up that much in aged tea versions before, but then I've probably never tried an 11 year old Lapsang Souchong or 30 year old Dan Cong.  This is a little sharper and more pronounced, like clove.  

The other came across as a mix of different flavors, that were hard to separate.   There is some fruit or floral base beyond that spice in this, and warm mineral again, but the sharper and more pronounced spice range really stands out most, and kind of blocks experience of the rest.   It will be interesting to see how these evolve, how the flavors transition in relation to each other.

Lapsang Souchong #2:  I brewed that first round about 20 seconds, and I'm going to stay with using decently long infusion times, maybe 20-some this time instead.  Drinking these brewed light would also work, using faster infusions, and they would produce more rounds, but I expect the effect will be most positive with intensity bumped to a medium-high level.  Or at least infusion strength; we will see what extracts.

More spice, no surprise.  It's mostly in a cinnamon related range.  There is a little sourness to this.  From being stored a bit damp?  Maybe.  It's far from ruined; that kind of works with the sweetness, otherwise clean flavored nature, spice tone, and underlying warmth.  But I suspect that people would have different natural tolerances or preferences for or against that inclusion, the sourness.  It was off-putting in a Thai shai hong style black tea I tried with Huyen and Seth, for her, and I still love that tea.  It might be more common in Dian Hong range than for other black teas, related to some processing form input.  I don't remember ever trying Lapsang Souchong that seemed sour to me, but earlier on I probably wouldn't have noticed it.  

To me this tea is good.  For others reaction to that one flavor input might decide it.

Dan Cong:  an interesting spice and aged wood tone has picked up.  This is really interesting.  It tastes like really aged furniture, a bit towards Chinese medicinal spices, what those Chinatown shops tend to smell like.  One note is still related to clove, but there's a lot more going on, all across spice and wood-tone range.  

Some lower quality aged sheng pu'er tends to taste woody, in a completely different sense.  That tends to taste like well-cured lumber, while this is a hint of cedar, or towards incense spice range, just not exactly that either.  It tastes like what I'd imagine exotic Chinese medicinal root spices might taste like.

Would this naturally be appealing or off-putting for many people, the same question I just asked of the other tea version?  I would think the novelty would generally be positive.  The overall balance is nice too; it's not musty, or heavy across an odd flavor range, lacking body / feel, or too dry in some odd way.  A bit of toffee sweetness helps the rest tie together well.  For well-aged sheng two different problems can enter in, that haven't here.  Those can be musty and earthy so that they require a few infusions to clean up, or some versions just tend to fade.  This definitely changed due to aging input, but not in those ways.

Lapsang Souchong #3:  I brewed these a little longer, to see what happens when they are pushed a bit, on towards a minute.

Spice is still pleasant in this, still mostly centered around cinnamon range, but more complex than just that.  Sourness is reducing, even brewed strong.  It's not unusual for some aspects to "burn off" over a few initial rounds, and that seems to have happened.  It comes across as a little sweeter, cleaner, and more balanced, with warm tones playing a larger role.  A toffee sweetness stands out.  Other warm tones seem to include just a touch of leather, not the musty horse saddle range that can turn up in hei cha or some pu'er, but a lighter, sweeter note.  It's tempting to go on and on about types of leather, but ultimately not informative, so I won't.

Dan Cong:  this changes every round, which is an interesting effect.  A lot of the description I already covered still applies, but the overall balance is quite different, and I had been listing out a lot of range before.  Wood still stands out, but a very novel form of it, a touch of cedar, well-aged furniture, and then the overlap with Chinese medicinal herbs.  A sappy feel enters in, connecting with one part of that, the unusual herb or spice range.  There are bark spice tisanes one can seek out, not cinnamon, and not like cinnamon, that this might resemble.  There is a lot going on.

It's not so unusual for some aged teas to fade, but this absolutely did not do that.  It's unique, clean, complex, and balanced, expressing flavor range that isn't familiar at all.  I suppose this is what one might hope aged tea would be like, it just usually isn't.  I'm guessing that the sheng and shou versions in this set might seem kind of ordinary to me, which I'll get around to checking on, but this doesn't.  One more round will tell enough of this story.

Lapsang Souchong #4:  kind of the same.  This may be fading a little already; an input like aging might transition the material to include novel range but could also cost it intensity and the ability to brew a lot of rounds.  The same can come up with oxidation and roasting steps.  

This tea isn't done, but it might've passed the most interesting part of the infusion cycle already.  Or the next couple of steeps could still be regarded as more positive than the first 3, since the sourness transitioned out.  This one I brewed a little faster so the intensity dropped some, but it's still fine.

Dan Cong:  it's interesting brewed lighter; different flavor range comes out.  A lighter spice range emerges, almost including a citrus note.  Aromatic range is interesting.  It tastes like aged furniture, but not in the musty sense, instead related to those fragrant preservative oils that are used in some places (like here in Bangkok, where old traditions and practices sometimes stick around).  This also isn't better brewed so light, but it is interesting trying it in different ways.  It still works.

Conclusions:

Those teas really were on the way out; they kept brewing, but they were already declining by then.  The 10+ infusions theme relates more to younger, powerful teas, not those so transitioned by aging input.

The Dan Cong was a really unique experience.  I've been a little skeptical that it really improves teas much to age most for 10+ years, but it held up, and changed into something very novel.

The storage input to the Lapsang Souchong wasn't quite as positive; a light early sour note threw off results a little.  I'd expect that being stored with more humidity in the tea made that difference.  In the past people often talked about re-roasting teas, to keep them dry and positive in character, but it later seemed like storing them well-sealed at an appropriate humidity level works out much better.  They're not changing related to fungus and bacteria inputs, fermenting, as sheng pu'er and other hei cha are, so they don't need limited air input and a higher degree of humidity to support that microbiome.

I'm not sure that everyone can appreciate what a market value for a well-stored, high quality, novel 30 year old oolong might be.  There isn't much of that around; it could be hard to identify that.  I wrote about types and transition patterns in aging oolongs before, back in 2020, and mentioned reviews of a half dozen versions of different ages.  It had seemed a lot of what had been around was already sold by then, with some pricing getting a bit crazy.  The TeaDB blog wrote about that awhile back (this time in 2016, but I was looking for something else).  Pricing for everything mentioned was all over the map, in both posts, often way over $1 a gram, but one thing would be the same from both:  those aged teas selling in 2016 to 2020 are probably all gone now.

Or are they?  I looked up one I tried earlier on, well before 2020, a 1995 Thai Qing Xin oolong from Tea Side (a Thai vendor), and it's still available.  It sells for $40 for 50 grams, exactly the same rate as this sample set.  I thought it would be sold out, or would sell for more if available.  Two Moychay aged oolongs (one Qilan listed here, and another) from 2004 and 2006 sell for 24 and 30 Euro for 50 grams; a little less, but those are a decade younger.  I guess that it's still out there.  This vendor sells 70s Dan Cong, for around $300 for 50 grams.  If you have an open enough budget this 95 version isn't the far extreme.

For people seeking out this kind of experience this set has been reasonable, a mix of really exceptional and unique versions and others that at least represent the range fairly, and the value seems fine.

ITeaWorld Wild Lapsang Souchong and non-wild version

 

Back to it, maybe the last review of teas from this set, since I think there are a couple of others, but this covers most of it.  I've already reviewed their other black teas from Yunnan and Yingde, and a Tie Guan Yin and Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong.  Results were a little mixed but pretty good, in general, comparing quality level and aspect experience to the quality level implied by the pricing.  The one Yunnan black tea (Dian Hong) and Dan Cong were representative of the normal range, and pleasant, both slightly better than I would've expected for teas from a resale vendor.

But is this a case of that?  They present themselves as involved in the growing and processing steps, not only buying commodity versions.  It doesn't necessarily change a lot either way, but the background can help place how to take any specific claims, eg. that a tea is wild grown, or from a certain elevation.  Their online content looks detailed and diverse at first glance but then when you read closer it's a bit general.  That's hard to place.  It could be that translation issues make it hard for them to communicate details, and that as a new company (a new brand; they mention an earlier history as a different tea company) they had to make all the content that exists within the last year, so of course vendors with many years of history are going to have developed more detailed supporting content.

From there I could speculate, mentioning how I interpret vendor claims in general, who I tend to trust more or less, but it wouldn't add much.  In the end to some extent the tea speaks for itself.  But not entirely; if a vendor makes claims that seem a bit off--which comes up--then you can't really trust any of the rest of what they communicate, about teas being organic, wild-sourced, genuine examples of the type or source area described, etc.  

To the extent the teas match expectations quite well, that the style is what it should be, that's an indicator that they're being open and honest.  I personally often take very general vendor content as an implied negative, descriptions that don't say much, because that content could be copied from anywhere, and doesn't communicate in-depth knowledge of background, but I have ran across examples of vendors selling fantastic, very authentic teas who barely create any supporting content.  

Small Thai producers come to mind; it's hard for them to describe even basic aspects or origin details in English, but in many cases the teas are obviously as genuine and positive (for a typical style) as they come, and the more you talk to the vendors the more you know that you can trust them.  Two people come to mind who I would almost trust with my kids, even though I've never met them in person; the most positive and genuine people I ever talk to really help support my faith in this world, partly offsetting sensational news cycles and all the rest.  Of course that's a bit of hyperbole; I can only think of one other family of close friends we've left our kids to spend time with ever, including relatives, so we just don't trust our kids with anyone, barring that one exception.

About this next set I've probably made a mistake before even starting; flavored teas generally work better brewed Western style, because it gives them infusion time for the right proportion for the added flavor to emerge, in this case smoke.  I'm brewing them Gongfu style; I used two packets of each sample to set proportion where I normally do, at 7 grams per 100 ml gaiwan.  It'll still be fine but for the first two infusions I'm probably going to just keep mentioning the smoke proportion will normalize later.

I thought for sure this would be one unsmoked and higher quality wild source origin version, and one familiar smoked version, since that's the normal two forms, but both are smoked.  So be it; good smoked black tea is really special.  It's going to be a bit much getting through 4 or 5 rounds but I can always take a break and get a snack, and reset the whole process.  It'll be interesting to see if any of the typical fruit aspect common to wild Lapsang Souchong versions can show through past the smoke.

ITeaWorld website wild Lapsang Souchong description (this is $30 or so dollars per 100 grams, 30 cents per gram, what I expected).

Unique smoky pine aroma and longyan aroma, from wild trees.

Wild tea is more natural. Sexual tea tree varieties and well-developed root systems. Grow in a pristine ecological environment. Picked 1 flush a year.

There's a little more there for description but it mostly only mentions a floral aspect.  I just ate a bunch of longan this week, from a local market.  If you ever see a dried fruit version of that it's well worth trying out.  They did add origin location in that listing too:

From the Mountains of Guangxi, Guilin at an Altitude of 800m.High Mountains Produce Good Tea.

This is interesting:

Sweetness does stand out, but oxidation level seemed moderate.  Even the brewed color they showed in a series doesn't match my own results; theirs is much lighter.  I suppose they could've been brewing this tea very lightly, since they showed 10 rounds worth, and I'm drinking the fifth while I edit this post.  Pushing the tea a bit made sense to me, using 30 second or so infusion times at double the proportion they recommend.  For brewing they did recommend using quite hot water, between 95 and 100 C, full boiling point, and that seems best to me too.

the non-wild plant version:  (selling for a bit over $15 for 100 grams, maybe 18 cents a gram)

The raw materials of the tea come from the abandoned tea gardens in Guangxi, China. After the 1980s, these tea gardens were left unattended. They have an abandoned history of 30-40 years. An abandoned tea garden refers to a tea garden that used to be managed by humans. It was abandoned later and has been in wildness for a long time.

No pruning. Higher brew tolerance.No chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used. More natural flavor. Older tea trees. Sweeter taste. Organic tea is grown in the natural environment. No chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used. Safer and healthier.

From the Mountains of Guangxi, Shanglin at an Altitude of 1200m.

They mention a flowery character elsewhere but that's it for aspect description.  

The abandoned tea plantation theme is interesting; that does come up, or variations of that, growing areas left in a more natural state.  Why would tea plants be left abandoned, when the Chinese tea industry has faced fairly high demand over the past 20 years?  I don't know.  If it's not a main local production area an earlier production experiment could've been abandoned.  That theme is familiar from a number of other areas; I can think of similar examples from five other countries (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Georgia, and the Philippines).  It's less common in China, because fluctuations in the economy and tea demand take a different form there than elsewhere.  Here's their image of what that looks like:

Review:

wild Lapsang Souchong version:  smoke does stand out more than the rest, one part of brewing this in what could be considered the wrong way, although that's not clearly determined yet.  The smoke input seems positive, warm, aromatic, and clean.  Of course based on the other teas being ok I didn't expect this to contain fake smoke or anything like that, but smoke input can vary a lot, and this seems as it should be, a tasty pine version.  I'll add more about other flavors next round.

non-wild Lapsang Souchong:  more shows up beyond the smoke; that's the opposite of what I expected.  It really doesn't mean much because both are just getting started.  There's something really unusual in this version, maybe along the line of a sassafras root effect.  I would anticipate that will be even more positive as intensity and complexity evolves, but we'll see.  I'll give both a slightly longer round next time than I usually would, well over 20 seconds, to cut short round of round of comments about how the teas are still early into transitioning.

wild version, second round:  interesting!  It makes me think back to the last time I had any smoked tea; it's been awhile.  Ian of Yunomi shared some awhile back, if I remember right, surely not this version, but along that line.  That was 6 years ago; crazy.  I've tried a couple of falap or bamboo pu'er versions with smoke input since, and two different Indian smoked black teas last year.

That Japanese version was unusually interesting and positive related to novelty, as a whisky barrel aged version, and this version is interesting too.  Smoke level is quite significant but it balances ok, with a clean and sweet profile from the rest.  It's probably going to work out that if I do 5 or 6 rounds worth of tasting the smoke will extract faster, and I could tell more about the rest later on.  Often some more subtle fruit or floral notes can emerge earlier in the rounds, in any teas, so it may not be indicative of what is mixing in with smoke now.  It's hard to place, really.  A faint cocoa note might be present.

other version:  smoke is quite light in this; odd that faded so fast.  It does include interesting spice or tisane range.  One part of that isn't so different than that aromatic, complex, hard to isolate black tea range present in Lipton, the overall balance they blend to draw out.  I'm probably reminded of that because I drank Lipton yesterday at work, triggered to do so by seeing posts about standard tea-bag teas in Discord discussion.  I had been drinking Dilmah tea-bag tea at work (we changed office location and I didn't put any tea or device back in the new one yet), and as expected Dilmah (standard lower medium quality Ceylon) is better than Lipton.

Let's do a more complete flavor breakdown for both next round; I think even evolved a little further that tisane / spice note will be hard to place.  It's interesting how these are the opposite of what I expected, with smoke input heavier in the wild origin material, and the other showing novel and non-standard aspect range.  

The non-wild version is a good bit lighter in color, less red; it may be backed off in oxidation level (that's pretty much the one input that would cause that), and that's also causing unusual flavor output.  That's not necessarily positive or negative; the experienced results determine that value judgement.  In the best cases a careful producer adjusts standard inputs to optimize the potential of a given source material, or I suppose oxidation level could just be a little off instead.  It comes up a lot with oolongs, or adjustment of oxidation level related to Dian Hong, in some cases going way lower than typical to make "shai hong" (sun-dried versions) that aren't as sweet and complex initially but have potential to transition positively with limited aging input, over 2 to 4 years or so.

wild version, third infusion:  well-balanced; I think this is right at the peak of it all settling in together, so I'll ramble on about it.  Smoke is light, which to me is at a good balance point, maybe only slightly a lesser input than the rest, but that gives the rest room to be experienced.  So by "light" I mean that it doesn't blast through as is common with commodity grade Lapsang Souchong versions (which can be pleasant; you're kind of signed up for that in buying one).  The rest is quite pleasant, just perhaps a bit subtle to compete with the smoke input.  Sweetness level is fine, and there's a bit of faint cocoa or quite mild fruit range beyond that, maybe more towards roasted yam than fruit, but it's not distinct and pronounced enough to make for a clear list.  

There's a chance that this tea might've been better unsmoked, that it wasn't really intense enough to balance smoke input as well as other versions.  I think most higher end or wild origin Lapsang Souchong isn't smoked for a related reason, because it's regarded positively without that input, appreciated for what else it is.  Any strong charactered black tea could stand in to complement smoke input, and a bit of rough edge or heavy flavor range might improve results, where a more refined, balanced, and distinctive tea might be better left alone.  

In the other black tea review I mentioned that Dian Hong versions often don't express a lot of higher range / forward notes compared to including depth and complexity, the cocoa / dried fruit / roasted yam or sweet potato, and I think that's another good example of aspect range profile of black tea that shouldn't be smoked.

At any rate this is fine, awfully refined and evenly balanced for any given smoked Lapsang Souchong version, which is good.  Keeping the smoke input light made a lot of difference, even though it's even lighter in the other version.

other version:  fading in intensity a little already; strange.  For where both these teas are pushing them for a 30 second or more infusion time might make sense.  I think they'll both make another 3 or 4 positive infusions but that will probably relate to really stretching them after the next couple, so this next round will be it for these notes.

the wild version is inconsistently oxidized, which doesn't mean anything in particular

wild version, 4th infusion:  smoke fades slowly, and the rest of the tea is a bit subtle, but it still comes across as a complex experience, it's just low in intensity.  Considering other aspect range I tend to see as "quality markers" might help place it; what about mouthfeel and aftertaste?  There's limited astringency range in this tea, related to that characteristic edge, and the feel isn't relatively full either.  It has depth of body, but just enough to support the rest, still below average in intensity.  It doesn't vanish from your mouth after you drink it, but aftertaste experience is limited too.  That's normal enough for black tea, so to me it's not really a negative input, it just doesn't add much.

Refinement stands out as most positive for this tea.  The feel is light but silky, the flavor is subtle but it does include supporting cocoa range, and standard black-tea depth, the warm tones.  Then it's a little odd because you don't turn to a smoked black tea for refinement, but there it is.  You can always bump intensity just a little using longer infusion times and boiling hot water, and that would extract a little more for warm mineral depth and a slight added feel edge.  But you would have to like it or not like it for what it is, you couldn't force it to be a more intense version of tea.

other version:  smoke is gone, and that unusual root-spice edge is all the stronger.  How much one would like this tea comes down to preference for or against that input range.  I like it, but then I've repeated that I like the deeper and unusual tones in Yunnan black teas a couple of times in this, and this is part of what I'm talking about, how that can include spice range too.  Again if someone wanted a full-blast, heavy smoke experience, supported by astringency and earthy flavor rough edges, these teas just aren't that.  To me they're better than that, but preference is a funny thing, there is no one clear and objective "better."  Match to standard expectations, the most type-typical range, wouldn't be met by these, but that's par for the course with smoked teas, that there isn't one narrow standard range.

I brewed these for another round for over 40 seconds (which I don't time; it's just to give an idea), and intensity did pick back up.  There's not much new for transition to report though.  Smoke strengthened in the first example, and fruit picked up in the second, which I'd not really been mentioning.  It's a bit non-distinct but maybe along the line of cooked pear.

I'll skip going much further with any conclusions for these, since I've been concluding a lot.  They're good.  It makes me consider just how good, trying to place quality, but for teas like this style matters as much or more as an abstract quality level.  Some people would love them, and others could find them lacking.  Anyone most interested in an intense blast of smoke and heavy-range, intense black tea would be disappointed.

To place quality level, which I just basically said isn't necessary, it works to compare them to Wuyi Origin's versions, to Cindy's teas, which are the best Lapsang Souchong versions I've ever tried.  They're not that good, related to general quality level, but they're not that far off those, which is high praise.  Cindy's teas tend to be priced in an atypical 30 to 50 cent per gram range, which can generally relate to lower quality teas normally selling for 20-30 being overpriced, or versions others would sell for 50 to 75 cents, or even a dollar or over per gram, being moderately priced and good-value, which is the case for hers.  

I'd expect these are more in the 20 to 30 cents per gram range, as sold, and they're good value for that.  I've not read their listings yet, as I write this initial draft, so if that's way off I'll need to add one more sentence here.  I'll go back and add them prior to the tasting section now.  Later editing note:  just under 20 cents for the non-wild version, right at 30 for the other.  

I looked up Cindy's Lapsang Souchong (Wuyi Origin's), and their wild version lists for less than the others, at $33 per 100 grams, with an old-tree version listing at $57 per 100 grams.  Interpreted one way they're slightly different categories of tea; these ITeaWorld versions are a good value for these styles and quality level.

Smoky Muscatel Gopaldhara Autumn Flush Darjeeling

In picking which tea to review I looked through what my friend Ralph liked best in his Instagram based reviews, and noticed one of these teas from Gopaldhara is smoked.  That should be different.  Of course Lapsang Souchong is the main smoked tea, the traditional Chinese version, and I've tried a version from Japan before that was nice, one smoked using the wood from whiskey barrels to give it even more complexity.

I tend to never read any description of teas before reviewing them, to approach them with a clean slate, since hearing a description will influence what you pick up, but it seems like a reasonable time to make an exception.  I'll read and copy Ralph's description here, from his Instagram post:

thedailytealegraph

2021 Smoky Muscatel Lapsang Black FTGFOP1 Autumn Flush from Gopaldhara, Darjeeling, @gopaldharateas

The tea variety is an AV2 bush grown in high elevation at an average of 6000ft (1830m), the tea gets heated over pinewood for the smoked flavor.

1st infusion: great! A rounded, sweet, fruity and smoked Lapsang aroma, where the smoke is nowhere bitter or too intense, just obvious enough to blend in very balanced and add to the flavor. Minerality is nice as well and gives an oily viscosity.

2nd infusion: it's a bit lighter, but still very sweet and fruity, the pine smoke shows some slightly fresh sour notes now with a very tiny bit of bitterness in the background which is just typical as these notes are naturally in the pine needles and the smoke itself...

Daily facts: a great version of a Lapsang Souchong and as a Darjeeling tea it's even more fruity and sweet than the usual Chinese Lapsang souchong. It might be not as thick and powerful in the mouth as other versions, but totally makes up for that with sweetness, fruitiness and quality.

Daily rating: 4.8/5

Sounds good.  Maybe I can even keep the description short to adjust for including two reviews here.

One thing that stood out was calling this "Lapsang," since that seems to reference that Chinese tea type, Lapsang Souchong, which this isn't (I don't think).  In looking up their website description, cited at the end, it doesn't include "Lapsang."  That's probably better, since everyone would already know what smoked black tea means.  Of course comparing the character / aspects to the main smoked black tea type, Lapsang Souchong, makes a lot of sense.

It occurred to me just as I was pouring the first infusion of water into the gaiwan that Western brewing might work better, since the smoke flavor might extract faster than the rest using multiple infusions / Gongfu style.  I guess I'll know better soon enough, but trying it brewed both ways would tell the full story.

Review:  

first infusion:  it is smoky, and smoke flavor is extracting faster than that of tea.  It could still fall into a normal range balance next round, since surely one fast infusion didn't rinse off the smoke, and tea flavors should be ramped up a lot even by a second round.  The smoke effect is nice.  It's hard to get the level to balance, which I can judge better next round, but a pronounced but still clean effect is also important, which is easy enough to assess this round, since smoke dominates.  It tastes like pine smoke.  Dryness is at a good level, adding an edge to the feel and aftertaste, but that could easily be rough, and it's not.  Too strong and a pine smoke aftertaste would seem a bit cloying, but this is still just pronounced.

second infusion:  it's a cool effect the way that both tea flavor and smoke ramped way up, even for using a fairly fast infusion time, under 10 seconds.  This would brew good intensity tea Western style at a moderate proportion.  Smoke is still a little strong in proportion, but for Lapsang Souchong that can be normal.  I've tried much stronger.  The smoke isn't balanced with sweetness and tea flavors but it still works, and that should even out next round.  

The effect is clean; a heavy mineral base and higher end smoke make this tea intense, but it's not rough, overly earthy, or sour.  A touch of sourness is present, or maybe even a medium level, but it works in relation to the sweetness, other flavors, and smoke taste.  It's going to be hard to judge if these infusions wouldn't be better combined.  I could've "stacked" the last half of the first three rounds, but I just thought of that too.  My mind is running behind in planning out this tasting session. 

third infusion:  tea sweetness and flavor ramped up, with smoke dropping back in proportion.  I don't think it's fading just yet, but this was a really fast infusion, drawing out less of that.  The way it balances makes for a pleasant effect.  A dry feel to the tea, a good bit of edge, but not astringency roughness, works well along with the strong flavors.  That feel reminds me more of good Assam than Darjeeling, which tend to either be smooth or have a sharper bite, but not so much the dryness, which seems to pair with the malt flavor in Assam.  

Sweetness is a little towards molasses, but it stops short of that, landing more where a sweet version of cured leather smells.  Or it's like the sweet scent in pipe tobacco, which may or may not translate over to the taste of that smoke; I've never smoked one of those old style pipes to find out.  With the smoke in this it might remind someone a lot of a pipe tobacco effect.  There is other range, beyond the heavy mineral base, it's just hard to break out as a list, beyond the smoke and the rest I've described.  It's complex.  

fourth infusion:  that "other range" is really emerging this round.  I can see how someone might like this better combined together as two more complex infusions, or how some others would rather experience it layer by layer like this.  Smoke, heavy mineral base, and dryness are still present, but the leather / tobacco sweetness is developing quite a bit.  A bit of citrus seems to develop, along the line of orange peel, or maybe red grapefruit instead.  The leather tone is slightly woodier, but sweet and rich, along the line of cured (aged) sawdust.  That's a favorite scent from my childhood, from lots of playing on a huge old pile of sawdust that was part of a long forgotten sawmill operation on my parent's property.  No one had any memory of that sawmill, or the trees, but judging from old pictures the land had been clear-cut decades before.

I grew up in the upper-middle left of this photo, near an old drive-in movie theater

a mall replaced that drive-in movie theater, and some forests regrew

fifth infusion:  spice tones ramp way up in this; it's cool that it changes round to round.  Citrus is still there, with mineral and smoke dropped way back.  If I had brewed this using a conventional two round Western approach I'd expect this infusion range to be a part of the second infusion.  The form of that spice is catchy, but hard to pin down.  Towards cardamom, just including a touch of fennel seed?  It might even lean a little towards clove, or that aromatic aspect could tie back to the grapefruit citrus.  It's probably the best that it's been, even with the smoke mostly faded.  The dry astringency is dropping out too, giving it a rich and full feel.

sixth infusion:  all of the rest fades a little to give way to a more conventional wood tone. This is probably finally on the decline.  There is still plenty of positive complexity, but I would imagine it will just get woodier, and although the intensity isn't easing up quickly stretching infusion time to keep that up will draw out less positive flavor range.  Citrus might seem more like dried orange peel now, a bit warmer.  

I checked the next round and it's just as positive; this might be fading but it's not fading fast.

Conclusion:

Quite positive!  The level and type of smoke input was nicely balanced, which makes a lot of difference. The tea input seemed well suited for that, heavy in flavor but sweet and balanced.  The form of astringency seemed a little unusual in relation to what I expected, dryness versus light edge, but it worked with the rest of this tea character.

The comparison tasting against Ralph's impression didn't work so well for using two completely different brewing approaches, but it did match well enough. That fruit he mentioned seemed to take the form of fresh orange, then red grapefruit, then dried orange peel.  Of course smoke was a primary flavor in the first few rounds, with some sourness joining that, and a lot of mineral range.  The rest was harder to interpret, but I saw it as contributing a lot, especially in the 4th and 5th infusions.  It was cool how earthiness similar to pipe tobacco transitioned to spice range.  Even up to the 7th round this is nicely balanced and complex, and not finished.

I can't really place this in relation to higher quality smoked Lapsang Souchong; I've just not been drinking any versions of that for years.  The last I tried was clearly artificially smoke flavored and I guess that put me off.

I've tried a lot more unsmoked Lapsang Souchong over the past 5 years or so, and I suppose this could be a little similar to those.  I always did like smoked versions, but it's hard to find versions where the smoke balances well, or where that input isn't a bit off in taste, too sour or contributing a harsh aftertaste, or where using low quality tea doesn't limit complexity detract from overall effect.  This doesn't seem to suffer from any of those flaws.  The strengths and positive aspects that do shine through are quite pleasant.  

Gopaldhara Darjeeling Smoky Muscatel – Clonal Black Tea

This Darjeeling smoky muscatel tea is designed for those who are fond of good quality clonal black tea with smoked preparations. This Darjeeling black tea is made from AV2 bushes which is one of the most flavorful cultivars of Darjeeling; heated over burning pinewood shavings, which contributes to the sweet fruity and smoky flavor with a honey finish. As we are using pinewood for smoke, it also imparts a little pine resin aroma and muscatel flavor taste...

The Gopaldhara smoky muscatel tea is made with hand-picked leaves collected from Darjeeling at 5500 to 7000 FT elevation during the Autumn Flush season. After a little rolling, the tea leaves are passed through the pine smoke chamber several times to get the smoked flavor... 

I've been discussing what "muscatel" means a little lately, and it's strange that there isn't a clearer meaning.  Let's consider two meanings, from the source of all mostly correct but incomplete knowledge, Wikipedia:

Muscatel (/ˌmʌskəˈtɛl/ MUSK-ə-TEL) is a type of wine made from muscat grapes. The term is now normally used in the United States to refer to a fortified wine made from these grapes rather than just any wine made from these grapes. This fortified muscatel became popular in the United States when, at the end of prohibition, in order to meet the large demand for wine, some poor strains of muscat grapes (used normally for table grapes or raisins) mixed with sugar and cheap brandy were used to produce what has since become infamous as a wino wine. This kind of fortified wine has, in the United States, damaged the reputation of all muscat-based wines and the term muscatel tends no longer to be used for these "better" wines in the United States.[1] In other markets the term Muscatel, or Moscatel, refers to a wide range of sweet wines based on these grapes.

So I always thought it referred to a strong version of wine, towards grape, raisin, and brandy in flavor, also leaning towards heavy citrus.  In my mind I was working backwards from what is present in tea, but then who knows, maybe I was always way off, or completely inconsistent.  The tea version description:

Muscatel refers to a distinctive flavor found in some Darjeeling teas, especially the second-flush teas. It has been described as a "distinct sweet flavour" that is not present in other flushes or tea from other localities,[1] a "musky spiciness," [2] "a unique muscat-like fruitiness in aroma and flavour,"[3] or "dried raisins with a hay like finish."[4] Though difficult to describe,[4] it is prized by tea aficionados.[5]

The flavor develops in part through the action of sap-sucking insects, jassids and thrips, which partly damage the young tea leaves. The tea plant then produces terpene as an insect repellent. This higher concentration of terpene produces the muscatel flavor.

Right, so sort of related to Oriental Beauty oolong.  This tasted like citrus to me, a little, maybe just not so much like grape or wine.

Wuyi Origin Wild Lapsang Souchong

I'm reviewing the 2020 version of Wuyi Origin's Wild Lapsang Souchong, one of several samples Cindy sent, really to share tea, not so much for review.  Looking back this will be the fourth year in a row I've tried this tea (with others here).

It goes without saying that the highest quality versions of Lapsang Souchong are not smoked, but I’ll still say it.  That's not a knock on smoked versions, they're just not made from teas like this.  The traditional story is that this was the first black tea type in China, "discovering" the processing approach, with leaves left in the middle of processing when a hostile group passed through.  Then the partly finished leaves were later dried over pine smoke to salvage the harvest, already oxidized, and the effect turned out to be desirable.  This is a fairly common theme in Chinese tea myths, that of accidental discovery.  It’s missing the input of a local deity or statue come to life, the other most common theme.  

It’s hard to imagine that with tea being consumed for centuries (or millennia, really) and oxidation occurring relatively naturally that it wasn’t long-since apparent that more oxidized versions of black or white tea could be produced.  Black tea differs by adding a rolling or kneading step to bruise the leaves, then air contact, with a heating step used at the end to fix the oxidation at a certain level (or sun-drying, depending).  Cindy mentioned that their Lapsang Souchong is also roasted, which I don't remember being typical for any black teas.

Before too much more rambling on I'll also mention Wuyi Origin's description of the tea:

This wild lapsang souchong  , We call it as  wild tea, because it does not have a fixed tea garden, just in a hill, and the tea trees are scattered around every corner. Before harvest picking every year, we have to go up the mountain several times to see the growth of the germinated tea tree. Our tea pickers always look for leaves in the weeds when picking this tea garden. I think there should be 2-4 different varieties in this tea. The spring of 2020 is relatively dry, and the germination of tea is also uneven. This year, the output of my wild lapsang souchong  is 20% less than last year.

Black tea is picked and sorted  by hand, so in terms of appearance, the tea strips are relatively uniform. 

It was specially selected to pick the tea leaves in the sunny day , and after 12 hours of withering, half an hour of rolling  and then 6 hours of oxidation  The tea has a very obvious natural citrus and creamy aroma, slightly milky feel. Tea soup is as sweet as honey water.

That description works.  There's a pronounced mineral base flavor input too, but the citrus, sweetness, and creamy feel really stand out.  There's more on the different types and processing steps in this blog post by Cindy.

I wanted to mention how bias works out for me with vendor sources.  Of course I’m biased towards vendors I’ve had a long and positive history with, as is the case with Cindy, who I consider a friend.  To some extent I see my own reviews as objective, as not relating to bias as an input, but of course that probably comes into play.  We tend to experience some of what we expect to.  At times that can relate to a contrast from what is expected, adding the opposing type of input, potentially shifting a perspective to be even more negative if very positive results were expected, or vice-versa.  

That extends all the way to the experience of individual tea aspects in tasting; if you expect to pick up citrus in a tea then if anything remotely like citrus is present then you’ll identify it as that, when a neutral, blank-slate take wouldn’t include noticing that.  I wrote these notes before reading that description, to be clear; all the going on about citrus may have related to remembering it from last year, but it couldn't have tied to reading the vendor description that I only added here during editing.  

That effect can relate to sequences of themes emerging across multiple reviews.  Another tea blogger once mentioned getting into a cycle where he noticed cherry in every black tea review.  He said that he had to go back and pull that back out of notes in cases where it wasn’t most pronounced, because his own expectation was adding it as an interpretation, along with the flavor aspects actually present.  I tasted apple in this tea, similar to cider, and probably wouldn’t have noticed that if it hadn’t been present in a much stronger form in a black tea version that I reviewed yesterday.

Bias aside, Cindy’s teas, Wuyi Origin’s, are some of the consistently best teas that I ever have a chance to try.  I tend to not buy teas on this quality level, because with significant awareness and demand paired with that quality--as would be the case for any main tea category type, as for these--the market price is higher than my budget tends to support.  As an aside this tea sells for $34 for 100 grams, an absolute steal given that almost no tea I've tried selling for around $1 / gram is ever this good.  General and specific type also affects demand, and pricing, but I don't think another version that's much like this would turn up on the Western tea market, anywhere, at any price.   

In rare cases I’ll buy something that's not on the inexpensive side anyway, but that tends to apply more to impulse or special-case buying in person, when a tea that I’m seeing in front of me is priced beyond what I would normally spend.  Shopping online the entire internet is the competitive environment, the marketplace.  It’s easy to compare how $100, or whatever sum, would spend out in different places.

I wouldn’t even recommend people new to tea try versions at this quality level.  It’s not that someone couldn’t appreciate the experience, and how the aspects come together, but instead that to me it makes more sense to explore a broader range and get personal preferences and brewing practice sorted out first.  For example, it’s only a judgement call and not an objective truth, but to me brewing this particular black tea Western style would be a waste.  That said if someone was committed to that approach and wanted to explore better tea range it would definitely work, and results wouldn’t be that different.  They would be slightly, marginally more positive if you could control the brewing results more carefully, but the tea would be fine either way.  

Someone could pick up a gaiwan and experiment on that with this tea, but it would seem more reasonable to explore other teas first, then get to this one once some of those themes are in order.  To some extent I’m talking about getting the most value from it, so tied to cost, but really as I approach teas price is a factor but I’m talking more about what is appropriate for each tea.  If you could happen to find an amazing Nepalese black version that is somehow on this general quality level for cheap, at the same cost as an upper-medium quality level Assam (which can happen; source types vary, and demand per region can be inconsistent), then that brewing advice would apply to it too.  No tea of any type I've tried from Nepal is quite this good, but I mean in the general range, and Nepalese teas can be quite pleasant and refined, and distinctive.

Sometimes supporting a specific vendor can be of interest, even for reasons that fall outside tea quality concerns, or trust in relation to products being as-described.  To me that range applies quite directly to supporting Cindy’s family, a true case of a tea producer selling products directly, so they are what they are said to be.  It’s hard to imagine wanting any producer or reseller to fail in their business, but it’s also harder to feel a connection to supporting larger corporate operations, or tea vending based on multiple steps in a resale chain.  

This also connects with a very pragmatic concern; once a tea has been bought and sold a couple of times--how that often works--the true history of what it is would most likely be lost.  If this wasn’t a real example of wild Lapsang Souchong, or grown where it was said to be, or if pesticides were used in making it, then the harm in the difference would probably be limited (as long as your pesticide contact remained moderate), but the final experience wouldn’t be the same.

Review:

It's odd trying these teas out of the two different cups (per the last review Moychay sent me three devices along with some teas to try, two cups and a gaiwan).  It seems it comes across as earthier, for using more earthen forms of cups.  Then of course it's brewed a little light, as the first round almost always is as I brew teas.

It's great tea; that part never changes.  The sweetness and refined flavors are amazing, the fruit hit, over a very positive other deeper toned flavor structure.  Fruit includes a great balance of warm and sweet citrus, trailing into ripe peach.  That earthier undertone is hard to describe.  It's like molasses or dried fruit gives the rest depth.  Mineral plays a role, but that part is harder to pick up in this round, at this light infusion strength.  Of course there is nothing remotely resembling a flaw present, no sourness, no mustiness, or rough edged aspect.

Second infusion:   intensity picks up. That fruit tone balance is just perfect.  It's not fair comparing this to any other version of tea I've ever tried, so I won't.  Saying things like citrus, peach, or honey doesn't make a start on describing the actual experience.  A rich fruit tone with more depth reminds me of apple cider, probably in part carried over from experiencing a tea more like that yesterday, with more actual tartness and sourness.  One part of what is going on in this tea could be described as tart, but not in the same sense those Russian and Yunnan black teas were.  It's so moderate that it would be odd to make such a reference.  Achieving this degree of balance, of flavor complexity, may have depended on including a little of that range, that is so well integrated and faint that it doesn't come across as tartness at all.

The feel seems to merge with the rich taste, as a smooth fullness that coats your mouth, a creamy feel.  Then that carries over to an aftertaste range that still includes some of that creamy feel, along with the rich, sweet, intense fruit flavor carrying over.  This is an exceptional tea.  It may even be better than prior versions of it, although I can't judge across years like that, and temporary subjective impression varies for different reasons (mood, what I've been drinking, how much sleep I got).

Third infusion:  this tea is just fantastic; it insults it in trying to break that experience into parts to describe it.  Mineral is really picking up, adding depth.  A rich range of mineral adds a nice base, with part of that coming across a bit like salt.  The fruit tone moves off the sweetest, brightest range, but isn't less pleasant for transitioning to slightly deeper tones.  A bit more fruit like dried mango is coming out.  It gets repetitive saying that a tea version is among the best I've ever tried but this is definitely there.  It's hard to imagine this particular style being any better.  

That citrus tone really makes it all work, as all the parts do, integrated together.   The citrus alone is complex, covering a higher end zest range, and deeper tones, some type of warm orange.  Then there's slightly warmer apple, the dried mango, a rich mineral base, and some other aromatic tones rounding out the rest.  It's a lot going on but it comes across as tightly integrated, and simple.

Fourth infusion:  I think that mineral is maxed out; it can't increase any more.  The rest hasn't changed so much since last round, so I'll leave it at that.  I won't be able to cover the remaining rounds, at least until later, for going to a swim practice, and I usually just leave off the review notes at that point then, not picking it back up.

It's interesting using different teaware.  I expected to not like using a different gaiwan but it's fine.  The rougher cup is interesting, the way it feels, and it pulls out so much heat that tasting it immediately is fine.  Being new to me I don't have a developed opinion on either cup.  The smoother version has a much more conventional feel; I really do like it.

Conclusions:

Just fantastic tea, one of the best versions of any tea that I've ever drank.  I think this was marginally better than earlier versions, which were also fantastic.  A few more rounds lost some range and intensity but the mineral really came out in later rounds, making those extra pleasant in a different way.  I suspect that dry weather limited leaf growth (tied to Cindy's comment about picking less) but increased flavor intensity.  But what do I know.

A bit of tragedy to round out this post:  my wife broke the more conventional looking cup, on the very first day that I drank out of it.  I'll go with the standard next thing to say and interpret that as a lesson in impermanence.  The sting that remains is a further lesson in attachment, about how I'm not above feeling regret that serves no purpose.  I loved that cup, just not for long.

Wuyi Origin wild Lapsang Souchong and honey Jin Jun Mei

Lapsang Souchong left (or both, in a sense, but JJM is on the right)

I recently mentioned using a Wuyi Origin Rou Gui version in a water type comparison test, which sort of worked as a review, but not as an overly detailed account.  That kind of made sense but kind of didn't; to a degree that was disrespectful to that tea version.  Here I'm trying two really exceptional black tea versions from them (provided for review by Cindy, or really probably more related to sharing tea to try, since she is an angel among tea producers and vendors).

For anyone familiar with their teas or really exceptional versions of these two tea types these need no introduction, but I'll add their descriptions all the same:


Wild Lapsang Souchong 2019

Location: Tong Mu guan (桐木关)
Harvest date: 4/10/2019

This  harvest we did a more standard  picking, one bud and two leaves, more uniform  looking. It is from a more late harvest than most normal Lapsang souchong, so the leaves are quite thick. Using the traditional un-smoked Lapsong souchong processing skill we kept its natural essence.

Feature: Un-smoked with a ripe peach aroma, it has a very obvious Milky flavor. It last more than 10 infusions. There's no bitterness even when you steep the tea for a long time. It has a quite bright tea soup that's orange color.  


Thinking back on my review description(during the editing) I bet "caramel" would describe part of the range I didn't do justice to capturing, the warm, mild sweetness along with that creaminess.


2019 Jinjunmei (honey aroma)

Location: Huang gang shan (黄岗山)  of Tong mu guan 
Harvest time: 2019.3.19th
Cultivar: Fu yun #6  
Fermentation level: full-fermented 
Picking standard: Early spring buds ,using all the first infusion buds to be processed 


Feature:  Huang guang shan is the highest moutian in Tong mu guan (桐木关）which is the original place of the Jinjunmei and Lapsang souchong. It is about 1600m height, the whole year with foggy weather.  The special growing environment  creates this very exquisite tea.

Carefully picked and processed, each leaf is compact.  The liquid is bright orange color. With strong fragrance of Orchids, and the sweet "charm of Honey" after taste. Enduring many infusions, and stand steep, no any bitter feel. This is my competition grade Jinjunmei of 2019 harvest in my family. In 2017 and 2018 harvest this one Jinjunmei won different Titles in USA and Australia Tea Competition. This one 2019 Harvest I  think it  is excellent, from the looking, aroma, tasting, brewed leaves looking. Very delicate and exquisite tea. 

4.5g -5g  tea  into 100-110ml gaiwan  by 85-90 C water to brew.


Even though it might not seem possible both are a lot better than the descriptions make them sound, even the second.

These list for $18 and $16 for 50 grams of each, and as I see it that's almost giving them away.  Selling for double that these would be a great value for tea this good.  On my limited tea budget ordinarily I can't relate to spending 50 cents a gram and up on tea versions, even if variations in quality level and demand have that make sense for some versions, but these are that good but still selling in a different pricing range.  I just hope the people who buy it can appreciate what these are.

Reviews:

Lapsang Souchong:  it's always surprising how good this tea is; maybe it would be no matter how many times I tried versions of it.  Talking about tea quality levels drifts into discussion of versions being true to type, expressing clean and balanced flavors, appropriate sweetness, or thick rich feel, maybe onto aftertaste effect, or related to quality markers, aspects that serve as an indicator for that type.  Beyond all that teas that are truly on a next level just come together, and breaking it down doesn't explain anything, if anything leading away from describing the actual experience for boiling it down to a word salad of descriptions.  This tea is like that.

A primary aspect is a rich, warm sweetness, a fruitiness paired with a really well balanced lighter earthy range.  The fruit isn't so far from a warm version of citrus, not identical to the chen pi effect, but not so far off it.  It extends into something like ripe peach, just richer and warmer than that.  The earthiness is so clean, well-balanced, and distinctive that it's hard to describe.  It's a little towards a malted grain, leaning from there to a lighter cured leather, but it's none of that.

I'll do more with describing aspects next round, or take the opposite approach and switch over to writing poetry, describing only indirectly related experiences and feelings.  This tastes like a warm fall day feels; something like that.

JJM (right) brewed slightly stronger, but looked similar first round

Jin Jun Mei:  this has more body and warm mineral than I expected.  It's still sweet, similar to honey, and the closest aspect description I could give to that is the scent of fresh bees' wax.  Processed bees wax smells kind of the same, in a candle or a lip balm, but when you are near a piece or a large section of honeycomb a kind of different impression comes across.  Again this is clearly one of the best teas I've ever experienced.  It's funny how that's hardly even about subjective preference or a judgment call with these, it's just what they are.  If you don't absolutely love them then you just can't relate to that type range, but it's not a shortcoming on the tea's side.

This is slightly overbrewed, per an optimum.  I was thinking that as I was starting, that I've roughly matched the amount of dry tea but this will come across as more intense, throwing off a parallel approach to brewing.  It doesn't matter since this isn't that kind of comparison anyway; I just happen to be tasting them together.  I brewed these for around 10 seconds or so, which was roughly ideal for the first, but too long for this one.  It's not ruined, or off, or astringent, but an optimum would be slightly lighter.

Honey and bees' wax stand out, with a warmth and sweetness similar to malted grain beyond that.  It's not the malt in Assam, or Ovaltine, but still related to that broad set.  The feel is a bit thick in a unique way, that's not the exact same form you usually experience in other teas.  The body hints towards a light form of dryness but stops short at just being full, perfectly balanced.  Level of sweetness, overall intensity, complexity; as with the first tea version it's all perfect. 

Going back and trying the first version again it's nice how it trades out some of that warmth for a fruit tone that really pops, but both are amazing in their own ways. 

This is the kind of tea that people buy but don't talk about, loving it but not saying a word online, because there's only so much out there.  As demand goes up and it sells out faster pricing would probably creep up too.  I've reviewed these before; I have no concerns about letting the cat out of the bag.  Some of those people have me to thank for letting them know about it, not that I ever hear much of that kind of feedback. 

A bit on my understanding of how all that goes: Cindy (and her family) are selling most of what they produce within China, probably not really for any less than what these are selling for, because demand and awareness of tea is much, much higher there.  It's not as if the wealthiest level of society there can't afford tea that costs a lot more than this, or if that's a very small set of people.  Price could go up a little if level of demand shifts but producers like them could just sell more to "the West" instead. 

Related to an online discussion subject I didn't add a lot of input to, there's a different story about how there are other types of producers out there who could ramp up production if demand shifts a lot more than I'm talking about.  Countries like Vietnam, Nepal, and Indonesia are making a lot of quite good tea, but it would be possible for them to ramp that up fast.  The amount of old-tree tea that's growing wild and unharvested throughout South East Asia is only now coming to a lot of small producers' attention. 

No other country will be producing tea as good as these versions any time soon (except Taiwan and Japan; different cases), but it's just a matter of time until growing, harvesting, and processing skills draw closer to even, a trend that already shifts a little year by year.  This one Laos black tea was a bit stunning but that had to be a fluke.

Second infusion:

Lapsang Souchong:  this is brewed a little light, using a fast infusion time (maybe 8 seconds), and the balance is still great.  Probably closer to 15 seconds would be optimum, but this tea will work well at a range of intensities.  Feel is still full even brewed light, not structured, dry, or astringent, just with a light fullness.  I'm not really doing that fruit aspect range justice; it seems complex, but at the same time simple.  I just had a nice ripe mango with breakfast; those are similar, covering bright citrus range and deeper warm fruit.  It didn't taste that much like mango though, the comparison works better to describe the general range and complexity. 

There's a distinctive light wood tone that comes across in better Lapsang Souchong that this includes.  It's a little like balsa wood, a warm, kind of muted tone, hinting towards dryness, not far from aged hay.  In some versions without as much sweetness and fruit range that can make the tea seem a bit flat, emphasizing that particular aspect, in a less pleasant form.  In this it balances really well.  There is mild, underlying mineral range as well, and a darker wood tone closer to a spice or tree bark.  It comes across as simple but also complex, in a different sense, very clean and well balanced.

Jin Jun Mei:  warmth picked up even more in this.  It's still closest to bees' wax, along with a dark version of honey, but there's something else to it, another way to describe that.  Malted grain kind of works, it just seems a bit non-specific, and it's more helpful to use descriptions of actual common food items.  It starts in towards the rich depth of molasses, it's just hard to describe how that works at a much lighter level, well-integrated with other subtle flavor range.  It's interesting how the warm honey and wax range extends in one direction and a separate brighter tone gives it lots of range and complexity.  It doesn't quite extend to citrusy but part might relate to a warm, light floral tone.

Third infusion:

I'll try to brew the Lapsang a little longer and the Jin Jun Mei shorter this round, optimizing both.  To some extent one could arrive at similar results by adjusting proportion but for me it works well just varying infusion time round to round to get the level right.


Lapsang Souchong:  the balance of the earlier aspects may have shifted a little but this is most changed for getting infusion strength right, letting go just over 15 seconds.  The hit of well-balanced flavors is a great experience.  This isn't really what I'm talking about when I'm telling people still on tea bags or grocery store teas about how good better specialty / orthodox teas can be; it's at least a full level above that.  It would almost be a waste to even try this before exploring more of a medium level range of teas.  One wouldn't appreciate it in the same way, and then later on other teas wouldn't be on the same level (in some ways) before it was possible to even appreciate why it is exceptional.

I tend to recommend Dian Hong (Yunnan black tea versions) as a good starting point for better black tea instead, because those span a range of character types, are positive in lots of different ways, and lots of decent versions don't cost a lot.  Pretty good unsmoked Lapsang Souchong that doesn't cost very much would turn up but versions that taste more like cardboard would probably be more common.

Jin Jun Mei:  this does work better slightly lighter, although a balance right in the middle would be better yet.  It's a forgiving tea in terms of being very pleasant slightly too strong or too weak, without astringency as a concern, but optimizing it relates to letting it shine brightest.  There's a lot going on that could strike a great balance when dialed in properly, not just work well.  Buds-only black teas can not only be intense (although the opposite can be true, often more so for large bud versions) but they can also usually produce a lot of pleasant infusions, so this tea should be far from finished, probably not even half finished.

I don't intend to keep describing rounds though; aspects tend to shift in later rounds for black teas but it's typically not as with sheng pu'er, where transition can move into different ranges (or become far less pleasant, depending on the tea).  I'll try a couple more and if anything stands out I'll note it, but let the round by round approach drop.

the teas kept brewing lots of great infusions

I did brew more Lapsang Souchong leaves, but the JJM was more intense

Conclusions:

Not much to add; these did produce a lot of additional amazing infusions, but it was nice drinking those without making notes, focusing on the experience instead.  I've lost count and the teas aren't finished; it must be around 10 infusions already.  Out towards that the character changes a little for drawing out infusion time to keep the intensity up but they're both still exceptional.

I don't regret focusing a lot more on sheng pu'er over the last two years; it has been nice getting that partly sorted out.  I would've expected to get further so many examples and reviews along but exploring that range takes some doing.  Teas like these are great for cutting out that sort of process.  There are some variations for aspect range within these two types of teas but the main thing is trying higher and lower quality versions.  No tea is ever the best possible example of a type, there's always something else out there, but these are towards the high end for sure. 

my favorite picture of Cindy