Lapsang Souchong 2020

I got my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine last Friday and I couldn’t be happier. The only side effect I had was a mildly sore arm. This is one tiny step toward having a normal life again!

This is Wuyi Origin’s most affordable Lapsang, made as I understand from another farmer’s leaves on the border of Fujian and Jiangxi. It’s the spring 2020 harvest. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of baked bread, caramel, wood, sweet potato, and anise. The first steep has notes of sweet potato, caramel, honey, wood, baked bread, malt, and anise. Citrus and some astringency emerge in the second steep, and I get a nice sweet potato/bready aftertaste. The third and fourth steeps are more woody with some hay, black pepper, brown sugar, and tobacco notes, although the sweet potato/bread/citrus is still going strong. The next couple steeps are less sweet with more woody and mineral notes, with a lot of baked sweet potato in the aftertaste. The tea has a nice, viscous body, even though the progression of flavours from steep to steep isn’t too dynamic. The next few steeps become more tannic and astringent, though there’s still plenty of sweet potato and caramel. The session ends with faint sweet potato, malt, tannins, and minerals.

If I hadn’t tried Wuyi Origin’s Old Bush Lapsang Souchong, I’m sure I would have been more impressed with this tea. As it is, it’s less complex and full bodied than the OBLS. However, it’s quite pleasant and I’ve almost finished my 25 g pouch.

A simple (unsmoked) lapsang souchong, done well.

This lapsang doesn’t feature a lot of fancy fruity or floral accents, but instead focuses entirely on that characteristic base lapsang souchong flavor.
Taste is strong but balanced. The bitterness in particular is very pleasant, balanced by subtle sweet notes and a hint of refreshing citrus and cardamom on top. Earlier steeps are dark and comfortable with notes of hay and beans, later steeps get lighter and show a bit of plum.
Some astringency is always present but it stays in the background.

I really enjoyed this one gong fu style. The leaves pack a punch, in one session I did 14 steeps and could’ve gotten a few more out of it. Western style steeping tends to make a more boring, one note brew in my experience, so it doesn’t seem like very versatile tea.

The price is very fair I think, one of the cheaper teas on WuyiOrigin. If you like lapsang souchong, I would recommend it.