Loose Leaf Tea
| sample |
$3 |
 |
| makes 10 cups |
| 4oz |
$10 |
 |
| 14¢ per cup |
| 16oz |
$24 |
 |
| 12¢ per cup |
Teabags
| teabags |
$8 |
 |
| 15 teabags |
Description
Black tea from the Fujian province of China. Lapsang Souchong tea (also called Russian Caravan tea) has a famously smoky aroma and flavor. To create this, tea leaves are dried in bamboo baskets over pine fires, achieving a perfect balance of smoke and tea flavor. Our 'Eroica Caravan' typically draws strong reactions: you'll either love it or hate it.
Story
The Lapsang Souchong tea is often referred to as Russian Caravan. The name refers to the long, overland journey that tea would travel on from China to the markets in Moscow. Chests of tea would travel on camelback, often taking a year to complete the journey. Russian-bound tea was famous for the smell of the many campfires it would absorb along the way. And thus, the smoky tea varieties became associated with Russia, and often have Slavic or Russian monarchy names, like Czar Nikolai or Ekaterina.
"My first experience of a smokey tea and I’m loving it! I thought that I was prepared for the smell, but wow – it truly smells like a campfire. Then I had my first cup and was blown away. My palate isn’t very sophisticated so I can’t go into depth more than to say that taste vs. smell is so unique in a good way for me. Plus I get to pretend I’m a fire-breathing monster fueling up for the day when I drink this."
"This tea may be an acquired taste, but I don't plan on drinking it long enough to find out. The smell is overpowering and the tea just doesn't taste good. It is like drinking liquid smoke. The quick verdict - it stinks and tastes horrible."
[ 5 mins @ 212°F ]
"I bought this after reading about it elsewhere online, and don't regret that I did. It's very smoky but I'm accustomed to that taste and appreciate it. It smells a lot stronger than it is, so you have to give it a fair try. A note, though, a lot of my co-workers didn't like it when they tried it, so it is probably an acquired taste, of sorts."
"NOT my cup of tea! Just getting past the smell is bad enough....I was brave; I tried it -- but one sip is quite enough for me."
"When they say smoky they mean smoky!! It was all I could taste, it overpowered many of the other more subtle flavors I appreciate in bad tea. "
"This is one of those wonderful items that as a human, we choose to consume despite more primal senses telling us not to. Encountered in the wild, we would stay away from anything like Lapsang Souchong. This, this is tea. I control my tea."
[ 5 mins @ 212°F ]
Recommendations
Tea Recipes (containing Lapsang Souchong tea)
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