Santa brought me some lapsang souchong teabags for Christmas. I had run out of them sometime in the middle of last year. This was no great tragedy as, let’s be honest, it’s not very nice, is it? But I missed it a little bit. Not much, just a little bit. I half-noticed there never seemed to be any in the supermarket, so I asked for some for Christmas.
You never get over your first encounter with lapsang souchong. The stuff’s incredible, and not necessarily in a good way. The name, so satisfyingly singsong to say, is rich with promise, but when you first go nose to nose with it you can only imagine there’s been a dreadful mistake. It’s like it’s made from the bark of trees that have narrowly survived forest fires. Drink this? You must be joking!
