Details:

This special smoked tea has a distinctive flavor sometimes referred to as tarry, and is a special tea from Fujian province. The Fukienese word ‘souchong’ means subvariety - that is a subvariety of other black teas from the Wuyi mountains of Fujian. When Lapsang Souchong was first exported to western European countries and became famous on the international markets - it was no doubt due to the distinct aroma and flavor. Interestingly the best Lapsang is produced in the nature preserve located in the Wuyi mountains where the high mountains with thick pine forests and heavy mist provide the ideal environment for growing top quality tea.

Real Lapsang Souchong is rare as Wuyi is a small area and there is great demand for it, hence one can expect that real Lapsang Souchong will taste different from what one may find elsewhere. There is a great difference between real Lapsang Souchong and widely available Lapsang Souchong.

Cup Characteristics:

A smooth crisp character with the remarkable and heady aroma of a pine and oak wood fire.

Infusion:

Tending bright with reddish hues

Grade:

Special Leaf Lapsang Souchong

Manufacture Type:

Orthodox

Region:

Fujian is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait. The name Fujian comes from the combination of Fuzhou and Jian'ou, two cities in Fujian. The name was coined during Tang Dynasty. Most of Fujian is administered by the People's Republic of China (PRC). However, the archipelagoes of Quemoy and Matsu are under the control of the Republic of China (ROC) based in Taiwan. Thus, de facto there are two provinces (in the sense of government organizations) with the same name. The two sides are rendered in different Romanizations. The PRC side renders the name of the province in Hanyu Pinyin, yielding "Fujian", while the ROC side renders the name of the province in Tongyong Pinyin, Wade-Giles and Postal System Pinyin, resulting in "FuJian", "Fuchien" and "Fukien", respectively.

History & Origin:

Legend claims that the smoking process was discovered by accident. During the Qing dynasty, an army unit passing through Xingcun (Star Village) camped in a tea factory filled with fresh leaves awaiting processing. When the soldiers left and the workers could get back into the premises, they realized that to arrive at market in time, it was too late to dry the leaves in the usual way. So they lit open fires of pine wood to hasten the drying. Not only did the tea reach the market in time, but the smoked pine flavor created a sensation!

Tea Production:

The method of production is as follows: The leaves are first withered over fires of pine or cypress wood. After pan-frying and rolling, they are presses into wooden barrels and covered with cloth to ferment until they give off a pleasant fragrance. The leaves are fired again and rolled into taut strips. Then they are placed in bamboo baskets and hung on wooden racks over smoking pine fires to dry and absorb the smoke flavor. When finished they are thick, glossy black strips, and produce a dark red beverage with a unique aroma and taste. It is generally consumed with sugar or milk. Depending upon one’s palate the taste can be light and intriguing or it can be heavy and overpowering. Lapsang Souchong is best described as an acquired taste.

Hot Tea Brewing Method:

Bring freshly drawn cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1 teaspoon of tea for each cup into the teapot. Pour the boiling water into the teapot. Cover and let steep for 3-7 minutes according to taste (the longer the steeping time the stronger the tea). Pour into your cup (though not recommended add milk and sugar to taste.)

Iced Tea Brewing Method: This is generally not a tea that is consumed cold

Tea & Health

No matter what your age, tea delivers a multitude of health benefits that range from: being cardio-protective, a good source of fluid and being friendly to your teeth. As educated people we know the importance of eating a balanced diet that contains five portions of fruit and vegetables, plenty of complex carbohydrates and restricted amounts of saturated fat. However, when it comes to what we drink, even health experts can get a little confused. In a recent survey of health professionals, only 23% of GPs thought that tea could be included in the daily fluid allowance, whereas more than a fifth of practice nurses believed tea to contain the same amount of caffeine as coffee.

Not All Tea Is the Same

Roughly 2.5 million tons of dried tea is produced each year, and about 20% of it is "green tea", which is made by steaming the fresh tea leaves lightly, and drying them quickly. The rest of it is called "black tea", and it involves fermentation of the fresh tea leaves. For medicinal purposes, green tea is considered superior to regular black tea, since it has as much as five times more of the polyphenols that are of interest to us as potent anti-oxidants and cancer preventives. The composition of the green tea varies with the geography, climate, seasonal fluctuations and the methods used in growing it. When tea is harvested, they are supposed to take only the leaf bud and the two adjacent young leaves. Older leaves are considered inferior, and they have much less of the medicinal polyphenols. Usually, a good quality green tea has about 10% by weight of polyphenols. Our teas are of the best quality which promotes the high concentration of polyphenols.