Anyone familiar with Lapsang Souchong?

[Piston_Pounder]

It's a smoked black tea smoked with pine. I like it as a morning tea and the smokiness definitely isn't for everyone. I was thinking I'd try using it in a smoked porter or something along those lines.

Does anybody know what I'm talking about? If you've tried it, do you think it would be a plausible ingredient in a beer?

The next question would be quantity. It is a very strong smokey flavor and I know that teas can lead to astringent flavors so it might take some experimenting to figure out the proper amount.

Per teaspoon its almost got double the caffeine that coffee does so it would add a little kick too.

 

[bucketnative]

I have tried it, and I agree that it would good in a dark beer. It's a bit like drinking a campfire.

I would suggest adding at bottling based on small samples.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Following this thread - I've been interested in this tea ever since I read Centennial, by James Michener.

I have a recipe for a "Tea and Toast" ale that uses some bready and caramel-y malts to complement the tea. My thinking is that a brown ale or porter would probably be more appropriate, as you suggest, but it might be good for some ideas....

 

[trav77]

It's a smoked black tea smoked with pine. I like it as a morning tea and the smokiness definitely isn't for everyone. I was thinking I'd try using it in a smoked porter or something along those lines.

Does anybody know what I'm talking about? If you've tried it, do you think it would be a plausible ingredient in a beer?

The next question would be quantity. It is a very strong smokey flavor and I know that teas can lead to astringent flavors so it might take some experimenting to figure out the proper amount.

Per teaspoon its almost got double the caffeine that coffee does so it would add a little kick too.

Yep I have some at home right now. To me it reminds me of campfire or the tea equivalent of a heavily peated scotch.

So I think it would work well in any sort of beer that smoked malt generally works well in.

To use it in beer, I would (literally) make a tea of it and add it post-ferment at packaging time. You could grab some commercial bottles of a similar style ahead of time and experiment with the amount of tea to add to get the right smoke balance before you commit to adding it to your full batch.

 

[burninator]

I love lapsing souchong, especially mixed with a pinch of English breakfast.

Might work well in a smoked porter or a scotch ale.

 

[thegreathoe]

While not in beer, I was just over in London and went to a distillery that let you mix your own gin recipe... Which you then bottled and were able to bring back to the states... Cool experience

Anyways, one of the ingredients that I chose was this smoked tea.. It is really powerful and a little goes a really long way.. So just don't over do it, but give it a go and let us know how it works!

 

[Steveruch]

A few years ago I brewed a three gallon batch of smoked porter with one pound of rauch malt that was a bit long in the tooth and I couldn't detect any smoke after fermentation. I had some Lapsang Souchong in the kitchen and brewed some up to add at bottling.
If you really like L S tea you'll like it in a beer. I didn't care all that much for it and will be sure I use fresh rauch malt in the next smoked porter I brew.

 

[Piston_Pounder]

This sounds promising! A lot of my friends always say the tea smells like smoked fish which I can kind of see how they may smell that but it doesn't sound like that comes out at all in the beer.

I am going to have to play around with this. A good ol smoked porter seems like a fail safe for this ingredient so that will have to get brewed. I was also thinking I'd try a lighter malt forward beer with MO and Vienna/ Munich, light but balanced hop profile with the smokey presence.

I'm not the most well versed in hop varieties and who goes well with who so advice is appreciated!

 

[rlmiller10]

This is a great idea. Please post your recipe if you do try it. I love the tea.

I still have a couple of bottles of my winter pale ale which is on the malty side. I think I will do some blending experiments with the last couple of bottles.

 

[Vedexent]

Awesome "love it or hate it" tea; I loved it.

I'd love to see a recipe for this if you make this work

 

[BlackDog56]

I do a Lapsang Souchong infused bourbon (makes a great old fashioned).

One thing I've learned is that not all LS is the same. One batch I bought had an overpowering "perfume" sweetness to it when brewed. I've found that getting my tea at a tea shop that lets me smell both the raw tea and a brewed cup lets me pick the one's that work best.

david

 

[waterskj]

I do a Lapsang Souchong infused bourbon ... david

I do this as a base for homemade Rib/BBQ sauce

 

[teaandcoffee]

There are quite a few different strengths of Lapsang Tea, I read an article about the naming of Lapsangs which I thought was rather interesting. The less common is a tea the rarer the name, for example, Lapsang Souchong Butterfly if not as good a Lapsang as Lapsang Souchong Crocodile, a little bit of pointless information for most but I found it very interesting lol.

I have been making my very own Lapsang Cider and I am close to getting the right consistency, ive tried a few different once from here , its quite funny as my grandson who is 11 calls me a MoonShinner which makes the family smile.