“Such a bad move. Please bring back the original. This nothing like the Lapsang that Twinings sold. A distinct chemical aroma with sweet chamomile, soured milk and rough woody notes in the mouth. I will not be buying again.. Come on Twinings you can do better.”
“I have enjoyed drinking Lapsang Souchond tea for decades and this appalling substitute is so disappointing and I will have to change to an alternative brand. Please bring it back and do not try and sell this as an alternative, it will devalue your brand, what are you thinking?”
“One star because I can't give fewer. Vile, artificial taste and not a patch on the real Lapsang flavour. Sorry, Twinnings, but if that's the best you can do, you lose my custom.”
“I have to say, I am pretty upset. I loved Twinings Lapsang. It's the only tea I've bought for years. Assuming this was simple rebranding, I just took my first sip. It's beyond disappointing. It's not just not very smokey or bland, it's actually unpleasant. Sadly, having been a loyal customer for a long time, I will now have to look elsewhere. I can't drink this and I won't be buying it again. So very disappointed.”
“This is so disappointing! Twining's Lapsang and Dark Grey were my favourites. The whole family drank Lapsang every single day for years, and more recently also Dark Grey.. Angry they've been discontinued - this is no substitute.. Tastes thin and smoke is acrid, a marketing and product management fail. Sacrificed on the altar of Fad. Please bring back the proper thing!”
“When my partner came back from the shops and said this is what they are now selling instead of Lapsang my heart sank to the floor. Well we thought let’s give it a try. It’s got the oddest smell of some sort of chemical I couldn’t quite identify. What ever this smell is you can taste that in your mouth. Very unpleasant. It’s like someone is trying to poison me. It has a watery Insipid flavour with a horrid after taste. Lapsang is my only thing I indulge in , I don’t smoke or drink but may have to unless you bring back Lapsang . It’s the only tea I like. A massive blow . Please bring back Lapsang.”
“This is nowhere near as good as Lapsang Souchong. On Twitter, Twinings cited "challenges importing the blend" as their reason for discontinuing Lapsang Souchong and replacing it with this. Honestly, that just sounds like corporate double-speak for "we can't make as much profit as we'd like off of this product".
Either way, this new "distinctively smokey" product tastes very artificial. It's like they took a "regular" tea and added flavouring to it, thereby creating something with all the authenticity of bacon flavoured pub snacks, complete with the chemically after-taste. This is really not good at all. I struggled on but I could not get through my first box. I have since found an alternative supplier of a very nice blend of real Lapsang Souchong who do not seem to be facing the same "challenges". It's so nice to have real Lapsang Souchong back (and to have discovered a very nice tea supplier who delivers direct to my door). Shame that Twinings couldn't rise to the challenge but I have to thank them for pushing me to find a very nice alternative way to get my tea.”
