Premium Lapsang Souchong

Of all my collection of Lapsang Souchong this one has always been unique for its creamy potato note, its not really sweet potato, more like starchy white potatoes eaten raw in flavour but creamy like scalloped potatoes, it also has cocoa notes, honey, a complex mix of spice that mixes cinnamon with a spicy sweet floral note with hints if longan and cherry.

I have always had this tea steeped at lower temperatures to emphasise the crwaminess, but today I flashed steeped it for about 10 seconds with boiling water. The broth is quite pale in the first steep but it is very flavourful with stronger honey and cocoa notes than I noted in this tea before. It remains very smooth and creamy and has a touch of malt and a light grainy note to add to the above flavours. The leaves are very beautiful, dark black, small and glossy.

The second steep is a red gold toned broth that smells of honey, spice, cherry and cocoa. The cocoa is more robust this steep and the broth tastes a bit starchy and is thicker while retaining its creaminess. The cocoa, malt, and cherry notes and a bit of clover nectar are up front supported by the honey and spice with a grain and potato note mixed with a hint of molasses. Quite enjoyable.

This tends to be a quite resilient tea and I tend to get at least 7 infusions out of it even when my steeping time begins at 1 minute. Altogether a very nice tea if you like more fruity, sharp malt notes in your Lapsang.

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*I purchased this tea from an Aliexpress dealer and it is available from time to time from several dealers.