Lapsang Souchong Tea Latte (or Teapresso Latte) by Chagee

Lapsang Souchong is supposed to be a unique black tea from Fujian province in China, made by smoke-drying tea leaves over a pinewood fire. So it's supposed to have a strong smoky flavour with hints of pine even. I thought that would go amazingly in a latte, especially with the more intense teapresso form. So I was keen to try this Lapsang Souchong Teapresso Latte by Chagee.

Lapsang Souchong Tea Latte (or Teapresso Latte) by Chagee

After actually trying the drink, however, it did not turn out as I expected, and I wonder if perhaps the combination of the brewing method and milk amount was a mistaken idea.

Overall, I failed to taste much top notes such as the supposedly famed smoky flavour, if at all, let alone pine. It tasted like a super thick and overbrewed black tea that was overloaded with too much milk, such that the base to middle (or heart) notes (such as bitterness or body notes) were overemphasised and the milkiness dominated, and the delicate nuances of fragrances or complexities were lost.

Specifically, it tasted like an overbrewed thick assam tea or English breakfast tea, poured over a blend of thick milk and evaporated milk and just a little bit of sugar (like half a teaspoon). It was mostly malty in flavor, with only a vague hint of smoky or woody notes that I'm not sure if I imagined. Between the malty notes and the thick milk that dominated, I struggled to discern much else. Even the standard milk tea options or milk teas from Indian tea shops felt more fragrant and complex than this.

I enjoyed that the sweetness level was low (I normally select 0% where possible or the next lowest option, which was "no additional sugar" in this case). 

Incidentally, this photo below is how it looked after stirring, to give you a sense how the thickness of the tea vis-à-vis the milk.

Lapsang Souchong Tea Latte by Chagee - stirred

I suspect that this disaster could have been one of three factors, or all of them:

a) The smoky aroma and pine notes from the lapsang souchong leaves are best extracted delicately through the normal brewing process, whereas the harsh teapresso method failed to bring along these delicate fragrances or else overemphasised the darker malty tea body flavours such that they overpowered any delicate complexities.

b) The milk might be too much for the subtler flavours such as pine, but maybe also smoke scents. The last time I tried a good smoky tea (some Russian variety from TWG), it was brewed in water, and I added just 20% or so of milk. Perhaps a 75% milk ratio somehow disrupts the balance or causes those flavours to be absorbed by the milk's fats and proteins.

c) There's a small possibility that perhaps the leaves weren't stored well and lost some fragrance along the way, as such top notes tend to be lost first when you store things for too long. But I doubt so, because Chagee is known for fragrant teas.

The next time, I think I'll try the normal lapsang souchong milk tea and see how that fares. If it's much better, then I would honestly be disappointed in how Chagee curated their tea latte menu - they should really pick teas with strengths that shine with the teapresso extraction method and lots of milk, not top-note heavy ones like these.

Discover other tea lattes

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