I got a sample of all of the W2T lapsangs to compare. This is an interesting one.
“strawberry” is surprisingly accurate, though it’s subtle. The taste reminds me specifically of the aftertaste of freshly picked strawberries — a taste I’ve not encountered in tea before. Definitely don’t go in expecting bold candy-like strawberry-ness though.
My sample had a noticeable amount of sticks and yellow leaves among the leaves, but those clearly don’t hamper the taste. The best session I’ve had with this tea so far was gong fu with quite a lot of leaf. In a (for me more usual) 5~6g/100ml gong fu session I mostly noticed the aforementioned strawberry notes (along more typical lapsang flavors), but adding more leaf brought out an impressive aroma of tropical fruits and orange zest, and later steeps had notes of blueberry and dates I hadn’t noticed before. A very nice thick texture too, though not as “luxurious” as the Fruit Bomb Lapsang.
When brewed western style I thought it was a bit unremarkable. Not bad, but definitely not at its best.
This might actually be my favorite of the 2020 White2Tea lapsang souchongs.
Flavors: Blueberry, Citrus, Dates, Orange Zest, Strawberry
