Lapsang Souchong

[GaoShan]

Gaoshan, apart from those you mentioned, I also recommend you try Chawangshop. Talking about silky.. you would probably like it. Only thing it’s a double - smoked/unsmoked tea

Thank you! I've never heard of this vendor having good lapsang, but I might check it out. Any other non-puerh tea I should consider getting from Chawangshop?

[filipes]

I don’t know really… maybe that Dancong looks interesting. But he has little apart from dark tea and puerh…

[Ethan Kurland]

From Wuyi Origin, smoked style Hundred Years 2021: Flavorful w/o harsh edge. Very nice, somewhat simple L.S. tea. Soft & smooth. Smokey flavor is not a burnt flavor (thankfully). Good for me to drink to break up my routine. Good for 3 infusions.

A note about quality & spending $ for it: I am conscious about how high-quality costs so much > ordinary tea & that top-quality only a bit better than one level down can cost so much more $. Sometimes it seems like too much difference.

However, I do not like any L.S. that is not at least high-quality. This L.S. from Wuyi Origin is a good example of why we buy from online vendors w/ some specialization. Reputable vendors w/ broader inventories, such as Harney & Sons or Upton, from whom I gladly bought flavored black teas decades ago, are unlikely sources for this quality of L.S. (Quality not found in supermarkets & not even found in the inventory of vendors who seem to sell almost all teas. Uncommonly good tea most often comes from commonly unknown vendors. We pay for it w/ more of our time & $ than we spend on what is not so rare.)

Package only took about 2 weeks to arrive from China. Cheers

[GaoShan]

From Wuyi Origin, smoked style Hundred Years 2021: Flavorful w/o harsh edge. Very nice, somewhat simple L.S. tea. Soft & smooth. Smokey flavor is not a burnt flavor (thankfully). Good for me to drink to break up my routine. Good for 3 infusions.

A note about quality & spending $ for it: I am conscious about how high-quality costs so much > ordinary tea & that top-quality only a bit better than one level down can cost so much more $. Sometimes it seems like too much difference.

However, I do not like any L.S. that is not at least high-quality. This L.S. from Wuyi Origin is a good example of why we buy from online vendors w/ some specialization. Reputable vendors w/ broader inventories, such as Harney & Sons or Upton, from whom I gladly bought flavored black teas decades ago, are unlikely sources for this quality of L.S. (Quality not found in supermarkets & not even found in the inventory of vendors who seem to sell almost all teas. Uncommonly good tea most often comes from commonly unknown vendors. We pay for it w/ more of our time & $ than we spend on what is not so rare.)

Package only took about 2 weeks to arrive from China. Cheers

I've never had a smoked lapsang from Wuyi Origin, though I've had almost all their unsmoked lapsangs. Can you taste any fruit or other flavours, or is it basically all smoke? Also, are you Western steeping this tea?

I've had a couple good lapsangs from non-specialist vendors (i.e., What-Cha and TheTea), but I agree with you that specialized vendors are the way to go. I consider Wuyi Origin's teas to be high quality, but not too expensive for daily drinking, especially if you buy in larger amounts. I bought 100 g of their Wild Lapsang for $33.

[Ethan Kurland]

I've never had a smoked lapsang from Wuyi Origin, though I've had almost all their unsmoked lapsangs. Can you taste any fruit or other flavours, or is it basically all smoke? Also, are you Western steeping this tea?

I've had a couple good lapsangs from non-specialist vendors (i.e., What-Cha and TheTea), but I agree with you that specialized vendors are the way to go. I consider Wuyi Origin's teas to be high quality, but not too expensive for daily drinking, especially if you buy in larger amounts. I bought 100 g of their Wild Lapsang for $33.

I taste > smoke definitely. Other flavors blend into the smoke too much for me to identify them individually, but fruit is part of that blend. (This week I am also drinking Dayuling Black which would not lead me to be so vague, I would at least say "tart fruit flavors & dried stone fruit..." if straining to be more exact.) The smoked lapsang souchong tastes like licorice tea to a degree. Using modest amount of leaves that I steep 30 seconds or less.

I also bought 100 grams of that Wild Lapsang. We paid about 16% less per gram than what a 25-gram packet would have cost us. (Great minds think alike .

[GaoShan]

A couple weeks ago, I received four unsmoked lapsangs from Daxue Jiadao: 50 g each of their Da and Xiao Chigan and 8 g each of their Laocong Taoke and Diaoqiao. Does anyone have steeping parameters that might help make the most of these teas? I'm planning to tackle one of the 50 g packs first to allow for a bit more experimentation. I usually steep my lapsangs for short periods of time in 195F water, but am open to other suggestions.

For red, I tend to stick with 5-6g/100 ml
Boiling water
15s - 20s, 20s - 25s, 25s-30s, 40s-50s, 1 min-1min10s, etc

For these teas, keep the water very hot and use low tds water.


I use a f1 hongni pot

I'm resurrecting this old post to confirm that this is an excellent tea. I used my normal parameters instead of LeoFox's because I wasn't thinking, but the tea still turned out silky, honeyed, and elegant with notes of apples and minerals. It had a little of that bitter lapsang backbone to give it character. This lapsang is much more understated than some of the fruitier lapsangs I've tried, but it's also much smoother. I too lost track of time during my session.

[Sunyata]

Anyone here has experience with Zheng shan tang? Suddenly in the mood to get some zheng shan xiao zhong (non-smoky), "fei zi xiao" or fancy lao cong hong cha will be good as well. I've had many red teas and sadly, only HOJO's selection makes me want to drink this type of tea.

[filipes]

I've had Lapsang souchong wild and Shui Di xiang.. They are good teas, but it seems to me maybe half of the price is the brand. Try for yourself, but I think there are better alternatives above in this thread (considering the price).

[Sunyata]

I've had Lapsang souchong wild and Shui Di xiang.. They are good teas, but it seems to me maybe half of the price is the brand. Try for yourself, but I think there are better alternatives above in this thread (considering the price).

Thanks for your input! Was wondering if I could ever find a Jin Jun Mei that is of good quality and not a fancy marketing label attached to it. I did some research and apparently this brand is ubiquitous and everywhere... with the fancy packaging its a warning that it may be too commercialized and plays a bigger role in gifting than modest but good small batch, handmade tea.

[GaoShan]

I've had Lapsang souchong wild and Shui Di xiang.. They are good teas, but it seems to me maybe half of the price is the brand. Try for yourself, but I think there are better alternatives above in this thread (considering the price).

Thanks for your input! Was wondering if I could ever find a Jin Jun Mei that is of good quality and not a fancy marketing label attached to it. I did some research and apparently this brand is ubiquitous and everywhere... with the fancy packaging its a warning that it may be too commercialized and plays a bigger role in gifting than modest but good small batch, handmade tea.

I haven't had tea from Zhen Shan Tang, but the prices on Lapsangstore are eye-watering. Have you had the lapsang from Daxue Jiadao? I've personally enjoyed their tea, as have others in this thread. You mentioned TeaHong a while ago, and I recall they have an unsmoked lapsang.

The only Jin Jun Mei I've had is from Wuyi Origin and it's probably not genuine. Zhen Tea in Canada apparently sells a JJM from the inventor of the type. It'sCAD $6 per gram, but since I don't know how much genuine JJM should cost, that doesn't give me much information.

[Sunyata]

I haven't tried anything from Daxue Jiadao. May do so in the future, since I've blown my budget on young sheng puerh (again). As for the other vendor, I've tried a whole bunch of WuyiOrigin's teas from red to dancong to yancha and found them all to be quite abysmal. What a shame that TeaHong is in the midst of relocating to Japan. I guess I'd wait.

[GaoShan]

I haven't tried anything from Daxue Jiadao. May do so in the future, since I've blown my budget on young sheng puerh (again). As for the other vendor, I've tried a whole bunch of WuyiOrigin's teas from red to dancong to yancha and found them all to be quite abysmal. What a shame that TeaHong is in the midst of relocating to Japan. I guess I'd wait.

I didn't realize they were relocating. Japan seems like kind of a hostile business environment, with high shipping rates and usually higher prices. However, Maybe I'm just extrapolating from Sazen, Hojo, TDJ, and other companies located in Japan.

[filipes]

Did anyone try lapsang from Hojo? How does it compare to other shops mentioned so far in this thread?

[Sunyata]

I cant compare it to DXJD. but I its my favorite red tea that I've had.

[Masterjeff]

I've been drinking the nonsmoked hua xiang from hojo, excellent tea, haven't tried any from DXJD either, it's been out of stock for a while.