Frontier Natural Foods Products 2929 Lapsang Souchong Organic Tea, 16 Ounce

It's becoming harder and harder to find a truly smokey Lapsang Souchong (LS) tea. Many are mixes of other standard black teas giving a bland overall taste. But this LS gives off the sweet, smokey aroma LS and Russian Caravan (RC) teas are known for. It's been so long since we found a decent LS/RC tea that I can't remember how difficult it is to re-brew the first-spent leaves. I made a pot of tea of about 500 mL to 4 heaping teaspoons, steeped for 5-min-30-sec. Then I rebrewed the leaves for 1-hr. The first brew was not as strong as I was hoping for. The taste, though distinctively woodsy, was much milder than LS/RC tea from the early 2000's. Maybe international manufacturing (or safety?) protocols have changed... Still, the first batch was enjoyable--just too weak at 1-tsp/125mL. Next time, I'll try 1-tsp/100mL.The second brew--even after an hour of steeping--was watery. I wouldn't re-brew this tea less than overnight. Even so, LS is the best black tea to us. We won't buy any other kind. And even though I'm embarrassed to admit it, I much prefer LS to even the highest quality green or oolong teas.We looked at several brands of LS here on Amazon, but we settled on Frontier's because it's the brand we trust at our neighborhood COOP AND the price on Amazon beat the price of just about every other brand per unit weight. There's probably a stronger LS out there, but Frontier's organic LS is priced competitively for multiple cups per day.

I read the reviews like your doing and couldn't decide which brand to buy. Ultimately I chose this because it wasn't pre-bagged and the price was good. Now i'm drinking a cup every morning and couldn't be happier. Because it's not pre-bagged, I can brew it stronger or weaker to my liking, and because there's a pound of it I may die before I run out, ha. If this is your first foray into "boot grease tea"--"pine smoke tea" then don't buy this large quantity as you may not enjoy it. All won't be lost though cause it makes a great brine for chicken too!

After reading the reviews for all available Lapsang Souchong teas, I ordered the Frontier Bulk one pound package.Upon opening the package I noticed a distinctive "pine like" odor...I am accustomed to a smokey aroma which I absolutely love from my Lapsang Souchong...I've often sat with the tea beside me wondering who was burning a wood fire.The tea, once brewed, did not give off that aroma.I also noticed, when transferring the tea to my tea tin, that there was an inordinate amount of dusty flake and approximately 50% tea leaf.In the tea's favor...there is no bitter aftertaste.

I'm a big fan of Lapsang Souchong. I go through it quickly, so I decided to order a larger amount, and this 1lb package was a great deal. I was initially a little worried that buying in bulk would mean that I'd get a lot of an inferior product, but I have to say that I've been pleased with the quality of this tea. I would definitely order it again (though it will hopefully take me a long time before I'm ready to reorder!)

SUPERB - Wonderful Smoky Delight = 5+ Stars -

Value and quality

I love the pungent flavor of the tea and relish each cup.

I received this tea in the mail in great condition without a bunch of excess packaging. It is a loose leaf tea, which I like. The tea tastes great, my kids even like this smoky flavored tea. If you've ever wondered what bacon would taste like as a tea, this is it! I like it straight with nothing added, but I can imagine a nice heavy cream would taste nice in it too!