China Tarry Lapsang Souchong

Flavour profile

Soft, gentle black tea mingles with a warming, smokey finish. Very reminiscent of of whiskey, warm fires and a good cigar.

Aroma profile

Beautifully understated smokey aromas, with peaty back notes of a good scotch and a good cigar.

Did you know

Lapsang Souchong is the world’s first black tea. Originating from Tong Mu village in the famed Wuyi Mountains in Fujian province, China, legends abound as to how it came to be made. Two of the most popular are that tea production, which was then compressed into cakes, was forbidden towards the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), due to alleged corruption and malpractice. As a result many of the factories were raided, equipment removed and many of the Wuyi Mountain producers shut down their operations for 150 years or so. When production started up again, mistakes were made as much of the process had been forgotten, and so the traditional green teas accidentally oxsided, resulting in black tea, which was then dried over pinewood fires, giving the tea a lightly smoked character. The other legend is that during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) soldiers passing through the village of Tong Mu, comadeered a tea house, falling asleep on bags of freshly picked tea leaves. The weight of the soldiers oxidised the leaves and they also had an unpleasent aroma of unwashed soldier! Wondering what to do to save the leaves, one factory worker suggested drying the tea over pinewood fires instead of the usual bamboo to try and disguise the smell of the damaged tea. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, with tea makers using young local sappy pinewood, to dry the leaves which imparted a smokey flavour to the tea, which was then exported to the West, where it was much enjoyed and therefore the practice continued. To this day, most Lapsang Souchong is exported rather than drunk in China.