The other day I went to the Teavana store in the mall and decided to pick up some new tea. I decided on the Silver Needle because it is a white tea, and frankly, I need more exposure to white teas. A couple days later (yesterday) I stopped by Teavana (it’s located in the same mall in which I work) to get a cup of a monkey black tea (more about that in another post). It was then that I noticed the Lapsang Souchong. I asked one of the clerks if I could smell it, and after the aroma hit me I was wanting a fix. Lapsang has a smoky aroma; it reminds me of how my clothes would smell after sitting by a campfire for a couple of hours. I settled on 2 oz and headed back to work to have my coworkers smell my purchase. At work, I had a few people take turns smelling it, some of them didn't care for the smell, others thought it smelled of BBQ or bacon. 

Last night I steeped the Lapsang and enjoyed the drink. The only issue I had was that the steam off of the tea would cause my eyes to water in a similar fashion to when I get smoke in my eyes. I think I'll use this tea when I feel the need to enjoy the feel of a campfire in the comfort of my apartment, but without the campfire.

This morning, I steeped a batch of Silver Needle for breakfast. I was surprised to find that it tasted like a light vegetable or chicken broth. This isn't a negative thing for the tea, just a little quirk. My previous experience with a white tea was with the Bai Mu Dan Piña Colada which had a quite different taste. This doesn't imply that I don't like Silver Needle, but think I'm going to need to try it again to get a better understanding.