Gongfu Sipdown (1419)!
This is the tea that I started last night’s virtual tea hangout with. Overall I’ve been pretty impressed with all of the teas I’ve tried from Lapsang Store but I think this is the one that’s spoken to me the least? It wasn’t bad at all though, just a different sort of flavour profile than what I usually lean towards in a black tea. Very brothy/umami and savory with thick woodier notes and a little bit of a gamey/leather kind of “musk” to it? Also some bitter cacao notes, and a beeswax style dark honey note.
I don’t know why it didn’t speak to me because none of those are flavours in black tea that I dislike – I think it just pushed a bit too hard in terms of the umami/woody kind of vibe for what I wanted in that moment. I appreciate and recognize the quality of the tea though; maybe in a different setting this would have been delicious & I would definitely still recommend this to others if any of the notes above are things that you typically like a black tea.