Lapsang Souchong from Dream About Tea
Fellow tea-blogger, Alex Zorach, recently posted his top 10 list of China’s “Unappreciated” teas. I enjoyed reading it, and began to think of the various teas of each type that I had tried. So here is my response to Alex’s list, with brand recommendations for most of these unappreciated Chinese teas:
- Shou Mei (寿眉): I love Shou Mei. It is a naturally sweet white tea that offers a lot of flavor. Very nice hot, it makes a killer iced tea as well. Try cold-brewing it with some lemongrass for a truly delicious thirst-quencher. My favorite Shou Mei comes from Dream About Tea, a wonderful tea shop in Evanston, IL that also does mail order.
- Chun Mee (珍眉): Can’t say I’ve tried this one. Or if I have, I don’t remember doing so.
- Gunpowder Tea (珠茶) : I am not particularly fond of green tea, and think that most gunpowders are positively dreary. But Jing Tea in the UK does a very nice, fresh version, and I particularly like Mighty Leaf’s Marakkesh Mint, which has a base of gunpowder green tea.
- Se Chung (色种) Oolong : As Alex notes, there are different types of oolong that can be classified as Se Chung. Teas Etc’s Huang Jin Gui is perfectly splendid, as is LeafSpa’s Se Chung Oolong tea.
- Qi lan(奇兰) Oolong : I know I’ve had a Qi lan, but can’t recall a brand off the top of my head. Sorry!
- Young Sheng (Green or “raw”) Pu-Erh : Dream About Tea has some good ones, and even more are available in their brick and mortar store. Invigorating stuff. Vroom, vroom.
- Lapsang Souchong (拉普山小種) : This can be utterly foul, or it can be a total revelation. Harney & Sons does a very nice Lapsang Souchong, as does Dream About Tea, the later being a lighter and fruitier than many that I have tried.
- Keemun (祁门): Alex is right that the “elite” Keemuns can be hella expensive. But there are some bargains to be had among the “lesser” varieties. Narien’s Keemun Imperial is a case in point.
- Jasmine Tea: Jasmine tea has a pretty broad appeal, and it seems that every company has their own version. The best that I have ever tried, however, is made by UK-based Canton Tea Company. Their combination of silver needle white tea and real jasmine is simply exquisite.
- Rose-scented Tea: Dream About Tea’s Rose Black tea is lovely, and particularly good on ice. Kusmi Christmas Tea
is flavored with rose, almond, and other spices, and is quite delicious, though particularly suited for wintertime.
I’d love to see lists from other tea bloggers! Get writing, and post your links in the comments below!
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It’s exciting to see ideas carried forward and developed into discussion like this! Now I have more teas on my list to try!
If you want a recommendation of a Chun Mee, my personal favorite is Upton Tea Import’s Chun Mee Dao Ming, but I tend to like stronger (more bitter) teas…a smoother one from Upton is Chun Mee Moon Palace. Given that you don’t like gunpowder tea as much, my intuition would be that you would prefer the moon palace tea. But…chun mee is in a sense a very typical Chinese green tea, so you may end up just not liking that style as much.