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I must thank Auggy, the wonderful “swapstress” for this generous sample. At first I was enthralled by the strong, true coconut aroma. I really don’t think I had had a flavored pouchong before so I carefully followed the instructions.

As others have written, this has a delightful buttery and biscuit-y quality. The coconut mingles delightfully with the pouchong like two sophisticates bantering intellectually at a cocktail party. Or tea party, I should say.

Thank you so much to Auggy who sent me this after I begged and beseeched.
I’ve got a theory about this tea. My theory is that a shipment of Marco Polo was making a grand voyage around the world on the a tea vessal as elegant and sumptous as the Queen Mary 2 ocean line. Only the best for Mariage Frère’s Marco Polo. The ship washed ashore near Cape Town, South Africa and poor Marco Polo had a bad concussion and wandered the streets in a fugue state. Then a Rooibos Ruffian came along in a dark alley and took advantage of Marco Polo.

Thus was born “Fall in Love”. I taste the same berry notes as Marco Polo, but this love child has those crude Rooibos elements that I don’t like very much.
If anyone can spin gold out of a rooibos, it is Mariage Frères, and if I had to drink this again, I would not complain. But I will not buy it.

It’s me, honey, not you….

I don’t like Rooibos. As a senator from Minnesota used to say, “I deserve good things. I am entitled to my share of happiness. I refuse to beat myself up. I am attractive person. I am fun to be with. I’m good enough and I’m smart enough” and I can still not like rooibos. It’s taken me a while to admit it. To realize that all those unfortunate tea episodes had to to with rooibos. From now on I’m going to use decaff teas or straight herbals without this sawdust.

I got some of this tea because of the good reviews. I got myself a really nifty ice-tea maker from Lupicia and made this. It’s got lemon shining through the saw-dust. The predominant taste, for me, is the rooibos. As you can tell from the other reviewers, I am in a minority. This iced tea makes me want a pure lemony black decaff ice tea for my next pitcher.

Thanks to Auggy who sent me the most gorgeously packaged teas ever, I am now sipping this tea. What a magnificent Lapsang! This tea exemplifies all the reasons I love the Lapsang Souchong in particular and smoky teas in general. I am not surprised by the wide range of ratings.

Certainly the aroma is absolutely indicative of a smoky tea. The aroma and the taste got me to thinking of Russian literature. I know that this is not labelled a caravan—but I thought of Boris Pasternak. One of the first literary controversies I was aware of was his Nobel Prize, gratefully accepted and then rejected, probably because of pressure from the Soviets. So I started reading his poetry and then I read his sweeping epic, “Dr. Zhivago” (the book is better than the film, which I haven’t seen for 40 something years).

This tea tastes like Yuri and Lara huddled up in a small cottage with the fire aflame. As Yuri Zhivago ventriloquizes Boris Pasternak, he reflects on winter:

“It snowed and snowed ,the whole world over,
Snow swept the world from end to end.
A candle burned on the table;
A candle burned.”

This tea reminds me of the insistent beat and flame and flare and flicker of the candle burning on the table as the fire roars in the fireplace and the Samovar boils away.

Golden Moon has at this point my vote for Best. Lapsang. Souchong. Ever. I know I’ll drink more—for me the land o’ Lapsang is largely an undiscovered and yet to be mapped country—but I’m placing an order.

I know that this review is more evocative than specific but for what do we live but to be evoked into sensations, emotions, nostalgias, memories and tea, like poetry and music, is a wonderful vehicle. This Golden Moon Lapsang Souchong (spasibo, Auggy), has taken me back to late 19th and early 20th century Russia.

The dry tea smells just like a Peppermint Patty. This tea is a tasty confection that leaves my mouth feeling fresh and satisfied. It’s more subtle on the mouth, but as Culinary Teas notes in their description: "It should be noted that natural flavors tend to be somewhat ‘soft ‘ and the flavors slightly muted, but for many this is a refreshing change and one of the desired attributes of our naturally flavored teas. "

Keeping that in mind, I appreciate the tea more. There is no hint of anything synthetic or unnaturally brassy. It’s a very nice marriage which, like the delightful York’s Peppermint Patty, tends to draw out the peppermint with the chocolate as a supporting player. So far the best peppermint/chocolate I have had.

I was disappointed with this tea. I had a sample of it and thought that I was probably putting too much tea into my blend, but I wanted to use the entire sample. I thought it ended up being very insipid.

I’ve had tea-bagged Chai that is more flavorful than this chai, which tastes mild and characterless to me. I do like big, bursting, pyrotechnics in my chai and have a plan to try to make my own blend ultimately. I like my Chai to be a big brass band and this is a leeeettle tiny piping from a tiny piccolo.

I feel rather tragic that I cannot appreciate the little things. It reminds me of Jack Osborne fighting with Kelly because she did not appreciate the “little things” in life, like the return of the McRib to McDoof’s. Or maybe I’ve just grown to expect the whole hog instead of a riblet?

I got this tea bag from the Travelling Tea Box which Angrboda so thoughtfully started. I wanted to try a new Genmai-cha, despite some skepticism about it being bagged. The tea bag had the lovely aroma of toasted Rice crispies and tea. I was really glad to have this little taste treat. It inspires me to consider that not all tea bags contain terrible tasteless leavings. I would look at this brand and some other quality tea bags for the future if I need to travel.

A very pleasant surprise!

I like Black Dragon. It is lighter than other Lapsang Souchongs I’ve tried, but that’s not bad. This tea might be a good beginning brew for anyone who is trying to develop an affinity for the Lapsang Souchong. It could be a staple for those who like their Lapsangs to taste a little bit less like the dregs of a Webber Grille. I can certainly see this tea as a cupboard staple.

SECOND STEEP: In the second steep the natural sweetness really emerged full-throttle (if sweet can throttle this did it!). I still like the tea a lot. My affinity for smoked/sweet flavors is all the more satisfied by the second steep. It feels a bit as if somebody put a very sweet Bar-B-Q sauce in my tea.

I, too, got this tea as a free sample from Upton Tea Imports. Right now I don’t know if I can write an objective review. I brewed the tea, a mix of longer and shorter leaves, happily. The dry tea did indeed smell fragrant and I wonder if the elusive aroma is the muscatel aroma that I’ve heard described. It tasted as if there were a bit of jasmine involved.

Then I got into a dispute with my grey cat, Bongo, about the dispensation of some horseradish flavoured sharp cheddar cheese. He wanted the cheese; I didnt’ want him to have it. I proffered a small bite; he wanted to snag a large piece. In this war with the feline cheese mendicant I forgot my tea. At least 8 to 10 minutes had passed. I knew the tea was ruined. Nevertheless, I poured some milk into the dark brownish-red brew and sipped. How forgiving is this tea! It was not at all bitter. It didn’t taste overcooked or oversteeped: it did taste strong and pungent but pleasantly so.

I can become a convert to Darjeelings quickly when I consider how this sweet tea bounced back from the abuse I had hurled at it and was very tasty indeed. As I drink more and more tea, I do become much more interested in unblended teas and in teas without the frou-frou that I typically love.

Next time, I will be more attentive, but I’m thrilled with the tea. It was like the heady sense of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. I will continue with my sample packet, but this is going on the short-list of must-purchase teas.

My first order with TeaSpring was a speedy delight! It was thrilling to get a package from China. I think that it took no more than 10 days (including weekends) from the time I placed the order to the day of arrival.

This oolong has an intriguing taste. I would call it “peach trees a bit before ripening”. It has elements of grass, floral gardens, and young fruit. The leaf is very very long which makes measurement a bit of a challenge, but it’s always delightful to see such a long leaf. The leaf is also really multi-tinted with yellow and green and white shadings that are a real pleasure to look at.

After a brief infusion, I enjoyed a subtle, flowery tea which very much belongs in the early spring. It is not as grassy as some greens and not as astringent as some oolongs can be. It very much is a light yet complex treat, redolent of a walk through a sedate yet aromatic orchard in early spring.