Today’s tea review is a Joseph Wesley tea – Black Tea No. 7 Lapsang Souchong. My tea came with a letter stating that this particular Lapsang Souchong is made the traditional way – NOT smoked over pine needles. Interesting. I associate Lapsang Souchong as drinking a steeping of my husband’s BBQ Smoker, so I wonder how a traditionally made Lapsang Souchong would taste. For housekeeping information, Joseph Wesley’s black tea No. 7 (Lapsang Souchong) is harvested from Wu Yi Shan rock cliffs, made by tea artisans in Tong Cheng Village in Fuijian Province, China.

Joseph Wesley primarily sells high quality black teas, all direct sourced and single origin.

I love the tin design, very modern and sexy! The tin sides are cardboard with a metal lid and bottom.

The tea is vacuumed sealed inside with an enclosed with an embossed information card.

Dry Leaf

Right off the bat I notice something different. When you smell other Lapsang Souchongs’ dry leaf they have a mega smokey BBQ smokey scent. The Black Tea No. 7 Lapsang Souchong smells sweet like grapes without a speck of charcoal. The dry leaf is gorgeous – long, thin gentle twists of black tea, all deep brown with the odd light highlight.

Steeping Instructions

The instructions on the tin state to steep the Lapsang Souchong at a 190 to 195f water temperature for 2 to 2.5 minutes. For further infusions add an additional 30 seconds. This is a lower than usual water temperate for a black, which is usually 212 or 200F but I went with the instructions anyway.

Tasting of Joseph Wesley black tea’s Lapsang Souchong

The Black Tea No. 7 Lapsang Souchong steeps up a gorgeous clear auburn color with a fruit bread scent.

First Infusion: Oh wow! Black Tea No. 7 Lapsang Souchong sips in fruity like dark skinned plums and raisin over a malty rich base. There is a bit of dark chocolate mid sip, like Cadbury fruit and nut chocolate bar. The finish is lightly brisk with a 2/10 dryness with the peak of dark rich chocolate at the end of sip. The texture is lightly silky like I moisturized my mouth in the most delicious way possible. As the tea cools, there is a bit of barley notes.

Second Infusion: Wow just as good as the first infusion but much more rich and complex! This infusion still has that fruit chocolate malt thing going but now with a bread crust note to it. The tea is much richer in flavor that I feel full just by drinking it. Black Tea No. 7 Lapsang Souchong is like the steak of teas, LOL!

There is also an interesting tartness and burnt caramel edge to the fruit flavor at the end of sip.

Third Infusion: This round of tea is sweeter and less rich but still loaded with flavor. I’m enjoying the raisin, plum, malt and burnt caramel notes over the light dry texture.

Fourth Infusion: This is quite impressive that Black Tea No. 7 Lapsang Souchong has gone for this many infusions for a western style steeping. With the fourth infusion the flavor has lightened. I did an extended steep for this one to an additional 1.5 minutes to milk out the flavor. The flavor is lighty fruit plum with a touch of light caramel. Fantastic finish to the tea session!

This tea is so delicious that the tea pet didn’t get a drop. Oh well, have some cheese with a Tea Owl.

With Cheese: This is new – tea with cheese! No, this is not like my occasional twitter rant that my tea doesn’t taste good with kraft macaroni dinner. Impressively, Black Tea No. 7 Lapsang Souchong with cheese is excellent as the cheese counters the tart leaving a smooth cup of tea. Fantastic, you need to try this tea with cheese, tea peeps!

Comments

Joseph Wesley tea – Black Tea No. 7 Lapsang Souchong is amazing! Love it! Exceeds expectations! I was in awe that this tea didn’t taste overly smokey, just a little burnt caramel sugar.

I want afternoon tea with Black Tea No. 7 Lapsang Souchong! The malty and rich flavor would pair great with tea sandwiches and we already know it’s great with cheese. The fruit finish, especially in the last two infusions, would be great with fruit tarts and creamy desserts. Yes. I need this with afternoon tea!

This lapsang souchong is very easy to drink for someone new to tea, as well as full of flavor and complex enough for a seasoned tea drinker to love. A comparable tea would be Whispering Pines’ Ailaoshan but not as bready and more complex. In the end, Black Tea No. 7 Lapsang Souchong is a must try for black tea fans! A must try for a tea drink who wants a not-over-the-top smokey Lapsang Souchong!

Joseph Wesley black tea – check them out. On top of awesome tea they have some great tea ware that I’ll blog about in a future post. I was going to post about the tea pet and tea together, but the tea would of stolen the show!

(tea provided for review)

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