Lapsang souchong, sometimes referred to as smoked tea, is a black tea that is originally from the mountainous Wuyi region in the province of Fujian in China. It is distinct from other types of tea, as the leaves are traditionally smoke-dried over pinewood fires, imparting a distinctive flavor of smoky pine. Xiǎozhǒng or Siu2 zung2 refers to the larger, coarser tea leaves that are found lower on the branch. Lapsang souchong is a member of the Bohea family of teas, but is not an Oolong tea, as most Bohea teas are.. Lapsang souchong from the original source is increasingly expensive because of increasing demand for this variety of tea, as Wuyi is a small area.
History
The story goes that the tea was created during the Qing era when the passage of armies delayed the annual drying of the tea leaves in the Wuyi Mountain. Eager to satisfy demand, the tea producers sped up the process by drying the leaves over fires made from local pines. According to some sources, Lapsang souchong is the first black tea in history, even earlier than Keemun tea. After the lapsang souchong tea was used for producing black tea called Min Hong, people started to move the tea bush to different places, such as Keemun, India and Ceylon.
Processing
“Souchong” refers to the fourth and fifth leaves of the tea plant, further away from the more highly prized bud of the tea plant. These leaves are coarser than the leaves closer to the bud and have fewer aromatic compounds. Smoking provides a way to create a marketable product from these less desirable leaves. The leaves are roasted in a bamboo basket called a hōnglóng, which is heated over burning firewood, which contributes to the dried longan aroma and smoky flavour. Pinewood is used as the firewood for lapsang souchong and imparts the characteristic resiny aroma and taste.
Chemistry
The aroma of lapsang souchong is derived from a variety of chemical compounds. The two most abundant constituents of the aroma are longifolene and α-terpineol. Many of the compounds making up the aroma of lapsang souchong, including longifolene, originate only in the pine smoke and are not found in other kinds of tea.
Flavour and aroma
Lapsang souchong is noted for its rich aromas and flavours which include pine resin, woodsmoke, smoked paprika, hints of dried longan, the evocation of peated whiskey and fine cigars. It is common for even rather strongly brewed lapsang souchong tea to lack the bitterness common with other tea varieties.
Reputation
Lapsang souchong has a high reputation outside China; it is viewed as an export tea inside China. It was drunk by Winston Churchill and Gary Snyder, who referred to it in Mountains and Rivers Without End.
In Phantom Thread, when Reynolds Woodcock, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, meets Alma for the first time in the dining room of an English country hotel, he asks her if Lapsang souchong is available, and orders a pot of it when she confirms that it is.
In The Mentalist, Lapsang souchong is the drink of choice of protagonist Patrick Jane.
