Lapsang souchong

Lapsang souchong
拉普山小種

Type:	Black
Other names:	正山小种 (pinyin: zhèngshān xiǎozhǒng)
Origin:	Mount Wuyi, Fujian Province, China
Quick description:	Souchong smoked over pine fire, smoky taste.
Temperature:	boiling water (100°C or 212 F)
Time:	2–3 minutes
Quantity:	3 grams

Lapsang souchong (/ˌlæpsæŋ ˈsuːtʃɒŋ/; Chinese: 拉普山小種; pinyin: lāpǔshān xiǎozhǒng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: l a̍p-pho·-san sió-chéng; literally "sub-variety from Lapu Mountain"; cantonese: làai póu sàan síu júng) is a black tea (Camellia sinensis) originally from the Wuyi region of the Chinese province of Fujian. It is more commonly named 正山小种 in Chinese (zhèng shān xiǎo zhǒng) and 正山 小種 Japanese (seisanshōshu). It is sometimes referred to as smoked tea (熏茶). Lapsang is distinct from all other types of tea because lapsang leaves are traditionally smoke-dried over pinewood fires, taking on a distinctive smoky flavour.

Lapsang souchong has a high reputation outside of China, but it is viewed as "tea for Westerners" inside China.

"Souchong" refers to the fourth and fifth leaves of the tea plant, further away from the more highly prized bud (pekoe) of the tea plant. These leaves are coarser than the leaves closer to the bud, and have less aromatic compounds. Smoking provides a way to create a marketable product from these less desirable leaves.

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 (meaning "Black tea produced in Fujian"), people started to move the tea bush to different places like Keemun, India and Ceylon.^{[citation needed]}

Xiǎozhǒng (小種) means "sub-variety". Lapsang souchong is a member of the Bohea family of teas ("Bohea" is the pronunciation in Minnan dialect for Wuyi Mountains, which is the mountain area producing a large family of tea in South-East China).^{[citation needed]} 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 drying process by having their workers dry the tea leaves over fires made from local pines.

Lapsang souchong from the original source is increasingly expensive, as Wuyi is a small area and there is increasing demand for this variety of tea.^{[citation needed]}

Flavour and aroma

A black tea, lapsang souchong has a rich colour

High grade lapsang souchong possesses a taste of dried longan for the first few brews.

Lapsang souchong's flavour is strong and smoky, similar to the smell of a barbecue or campfire, or of Latakia pipe tobacco. The flavour of the pine smoke is meant to complement the natural taste of the black tea, but should not overwhelm it.^{[citation needed]}

Tea merchants marketing to Westerners note that this variety of tea generally produces a strong reaction, with most online reviews extremely positive or strongly negative.^{[citation needed]}

Tea connoisseurs often note that Formosan lapsang souchong typically has a stronger flavour and aroma, the most extreme being tarry souchong (smoked, as the name implies, over burning pine tar).^{[citation needed]}

Smoke roast

The smoke roast (熏焙) version is roasted in a bamboo basket called a honglong (烘笼), which is heated over burning firewood which contributes to the dried longan aroma and smoky flavor. Pine wood is used as the firewood for lapsang souchong and contains the characteristic resin aroma and taste.

Chemistry

The unique aroma of lapsang souchong is due to 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.

Notable consumers

It was Sir Winston Churchill's preferred tea, a habit which he acquired together with cigar smoking early in his military career while in Cuba, and always brought him a reminder of his campaign days of youth.

In American author James A. Michener's 1974 historical novel Centennial, Rocky Mountain fur trapper Alexander McKeag describes lapsang souchong as "a man's tea, deep and subtle and blended in some rugged place [...] better even than whisky."