Harney & Sons Loose Leaf Black Tea, Lapsang Souchong, 3 Ounce

This is my favorite black tea variety. It is very strong and has a kind of earthy, smokey, full-bodied flavor. The quality is excellent--fresh and the leaves are the right size for brewing. If you like Lapsang Soughing, I highly recommend it.

Love this tea! Surprisingly yummy, would be a great tea for winter time.

I was introduced to Lapsang souchong tea at, oddly enough, the Boston Tea Party museum. Harney & Sons is not the same company as my first experience, but they do produce and nice deep flavored tea with a delicious smoke that was comparable to the Oliver & Pluff brand from Boston. The leaves were extremely fresh with a deep aroma. For those that are unfamiliar, the production of lapsang souchong includes drying by pinewood smoke, thus giving it a very, very smoky aroma and taste. This may turn a lot of people off. I feel it enriches the tea for a deeper flavor and stronger profile as far as black teas go. I am not a fan of cigarettes at all, to me this is more like a campfire smell and might be better appreciated during the winter months. I really like the flavor and feel it provides a hearty cup of tea.

I read the reviews on here and other reviews about Lapsang Souchong Teas and was determined to give it a try. So, I pulled the trigger on this. 3oz of loose leaf tea goes a long way and it comes in a tin, which I like and prefer. I would say this tea is an acquired taste, however I liked it right away. It doesn't have a campfire smell, so much as it has a smoked smell, like of good tobacco or beef jerky. It's basically a smoked black tea and it has that smokey flavor and appeal to it. It's not bitter and doesn't have an odd tanin or resin taste to it, which comes with pine smoked anything. It did briefly have this interesting jerky hint, almost savory, which actually complimented the natural sweetness that tea has (yes, it sounds weird but good tea has a natural, subtle, very subtle sweetness when brewed righy). The after taste for me is very smokey, like after a pipe, just without the need to brush afterwards. Some might like that, some might not. This isn't a dessert tea, at least not to me. I find it fine on its own, without sugar or honey, though cream would be nice. If you don't like the taste, then you will have something to set on the mantle to add a nice aroma to the room, or a nice black tin to use for some odds and ends. I would recommend if looking to try a stronger, heavier type of tea.

Best tea I've ever tasted. Very smokey with a pine scent, which is exactly what I was after. I'd highly recommend to anyone interested Lapsang tea.

I love all Harney and Sons teas and usually buy directly from them because they cost less and are constantly having sales of 20-30% off, but I bought the lapsang souchong here because it was a better deal. This is a wonderful, really well balanced tea with a perfect amount of smoke. If you like smoked teas and campfires, this is definitely for you. But even if it’s not for you and maybe you already bought some and don’t know what to do with it because it’s too smoky, don’t throw it away, this tea has so many different uses. For culinary use, you could use it to add smoke flavor to foods and use it for indoor smoking, or steep it in bourbon or another liquor to give it a smoky flavor. You could grind it and add it to sea salt and pepper for a smoky spice rub. But my favorite use for it is to blend it with other teas, it is fabulous blended with Earl Grey, Vanilla or Lavender teas to give them a different twist, or add it to a citrus tea to create your own Russian Caravan style tea. The possibilities are endless, I hope you’ll give this wonderful tea a try.

When I opened the Amazon envelope, the smell was divine. Then, it occurred to me: why would I get such a strong scent of this tea when the boxes (yes I did buy 2 🙄) were still sealed? Well, that’s because they aren’t. There is a small piece of tape on two sides of the box. Then when you open the box, the loose leaves are loose in the box and not sealed in any bag at all. The metal lid does not provide any seal at all. Not the pungent smoky smell I expected. I thought, maybe it’s my nose. So I boiled some water and poured it over a full strainer - one of those that come with a little chain and a hook for an 18 oz mug: 2.5 Tbsps of loose leaves. I remember thinking this’ll be too strong. I don’t like strong tea. But nope. Wouldn’t even get dark. Have you people heard of sealing freshness in a vacuum bag…??? Apparently not. Won’t be purchasing this brand anytime soon. Waste of money. NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL.

This tea has a very strong peaty aroma and flavor. I use a quarter teaspoon added to other black teas for a light smokey flavor I prefer.

Rich, smokey aroma, subtle flavour...

Spent my first 43 years of life in vain without this tea! It's massing and eye-opening, in all sense. The single malt of black teas -- oaky, leathery, smoky.

mild smoky aroma and subtle flavour, very enjoyable cup of tea. like very much the tea-tin which i shall keep and reuse. classic

good tea. pricey.

Lovely taste with no bitterness. Not quite as smoky as I like but that’s just my taste.