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Lapsang souchong (; ) or Zhengshan xiaozhong (, 'Proper Mountain Small Varietal') is a
black tea Black tea (also literally translated as red tea from various East Asian languages) is a type of tea that is more tea processing, oxidized than oolong, yellow tea, yellow, white tea, white, and green tea, green teas. Black tea is generally st ...
consisting of leaves that are smoke-dried over a
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
wood fire. This smoking is accomplished either as a cold smoke of the raw leaves as they are processed or as a hot smoke of previously processed (withered and oxidized) leaves. The intensity of the smoke aroma can be varied by locating the leaves closer to or farther from (or higher or lower in a multi-level facility) the source of heat and smoke or by adjusting the duration of the process. The flavour and aroma of smoked lapsang souchong is described as containing empyreumatic notes, including wood smoke, pine resin, smoked paprika, and dried longan; it may be mixed with milk but is not bitter and is usually not sweetened with sugar. The tea originates from the
Wuyi Mountains The Wuyi Mountains or Wuyishan ( zh, c=武夷山, p=Wǔyí Shān, poj=Bú-î-soaⁿ; formerly known as Bohea Hills in early Western documents) are a mountain range located in the prefecture of Nanping, in northern Fujian, Fujian province near t ...
region of
Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...
and is considered a Wuyi tea (or bohea). It is also produced in Taiwan. It has been labelled as smoked tea ( 熏茶), smoky souchong, tarry lapsang souchong and lapsang souchong crocodile. While the tea leaf grading system adopted the term ''souchong'' to refer to a particular leaf position, lapsang souchong may be made with any leaf of the plant, though it is not unusual for the lower leaves, which are larger and less flavourful, to be used as the smoking compensates for the lower flavour profile and the higher leaves are more valuable for use in unflavoured or unblended teas. In addition to its consumption as a tea, lapsang souchong is also used in
stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...
for soups, stews and sauces or otherwise as a
spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...
or
seasoning Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, and/or salts, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". Salt may ...
. Beginning in the early 21st century, an unsmoked variety of lapsang souchong was developed in the village of Tong Mu Guan in the Wuyi mountains. The unsmoked variety has become increasingly popular, particularly in the Chinese domestic market.


History

The lapsang souchong originated in the
Wuyi Mountains The Wuyi Mountains or Wuyishan ( zh, c=武夷山, p=Wǔyí Shān, poj=Bú-î-soaⁿ; formerly known as Bohea Hills in early Western documents) are a mountain range located in the prefecture of Nanping, in northern Fujian, Fujian province near t ...
during the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
, although there are earlier examples of smoked teas. Purportedly, lapsang souchong was first created in 1646, as civilians in the Wuyi Mountain areas fled from Qing soldiers who were advancing through the area on their Manchu unification campaign against the
Southern Ming The Southern Ming (), also known in historiography as the Later Ming (), officially the Great Ming (), was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and a series of rump states of the Ming dynasty that came into existence following the ...
. Before they fled, to avoid spoilage of newly plucked leaves, batches were quickly dried over fire and buried in sacks. Afterwards, despite the odour, the tea leaves were shipped and sold to the Dutch traders. At the time, the months-long journey from China to Europe necessitated preservation methods and the partial oxidation of this Wuyi tea, an
oolong Oolong or Wulong (, ; ; , "black dragon" tea) is a traditional semi-oxidized Chinese tea (''Camellia sinensis)'' produced through a process that includes withering the leaves under strong sun and allowing some Enzymatic oxidation, oxidation to ...
tea graded as bohea or souchong, was better able to preserve its quality. The smoky souchong tea sold and the Dutch returned to request more. There is an alternative story that soldiers during the
Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of ...
(1850–1864) interfered with tea processing by using sacks of freshly picked tea leaves as bedding and delaying the drying which had to be hastened by using heat from pinewood-fuelled fire. The trade name would later become ''lapsang souchong'' from the
Fuzhou dialect The Fuzhou language ( zh, t=福州話, s=福州话, p=Fúzhōuhuà; FR: ), also Foochow, Hokchew, Hok-chiu, or Fuzhounese, is the prestige variety of the Eastern Min branch of Min Chinese spoken mainly in the Mindong region of Eastern Fujian ...
: La (pine) Sang (wood) with souchong meaning "small sort" referring to the leaves used. Prior to the British East Indian Company's adoption of the terms ''black'' and ''green'' to categorize teas, the tea leaves coming from the Wuyi Mountains area were referred to as ''bohea'', with ''souchong'' ( 小种) referring to a different grade. Before ''lapsang'' came into use, the term ''smoky souchong'' was used to describe this tea leaf. Lapsang souchong that is produced in Taiwan is often referred to as ''tarry lapsang souchong'' or ''lapsang souchong crocodile''. The word ''souchong'' would later be integrated into the tea leaf grading system to refer to the fourth and fifth leaves which are the larger, broader leaves. The British East India Company included Souchong teas as its common imports to colonial America.  In the Boston Tea Party, 35 chests of Souchong tea were destroyed.


Cultivation and processing

Lapsang souchong is typically made with the larger, coarser leaves of the Bohea
cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
of the plant. The Bohea cultivar has been bred to more readily absorb the smoke flavouring. The coarseness of the lower leaves also allows the smoke to more readily adhere to the leaf. The addition of the smoke flavour makes the lower concentration of aromatic compounds in these larger leaves, relative to the younger leaves and the bud, less relevant to the taste of the final product. However, any leaf may be used in the production of lapsang souchong, and, indeed, the young leaves and bud are used in Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong. is used for smoking, though other woods, such as cedar and cypress, are sometimes used as well. Smoked lapsang souchong is manufactured similar to black tea but with an intermediary step of
smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...
or the addition of an artificial smoke flavour. There are several ways this smoking may be accomplished. The traditional means, referred to as ''Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong'', is to entirely process the leaves within the smoke house, equivalent to a cold smoke, though most of the smoke flavouring is instilled during the final drying phase. The indoor withering is done with the leaves laid out on bamboo mats and turned at intervals, followed by a period of rolling to break cell walls and initiate oxidation. The leaves are transferred to cloth bags where they are allowed to oxidize for 5 to 6 hours with a quick pan-firing to the seal the cell walls and halt the oxidation. A second rolling (twisting) then occurs followed by 8 to 12 hours of drying in the presence of smoke. Generic lapsang souchong uses a similar process but with leaves collected from more distant farms. These leaves are partially processed (e.g. partially withered or oxidized) after plucking and then transported to a centralized smoking facility where they are hot smoked. Smoking may also provide a means to create a marketable product from older or less flavourful leaves. Customization can be accommodated by varying the duration of the smoking or placement of a batch relative to the source of heat and smoke, in addition to the leaf selection. The smoke shed has several upper floors or lofts made of wooden slats where leaves can be laid out, allowing batches to be closer or farther from the source heat and smoke. In addition to Fujian, tea smoking facilities are also located in Taiwan where the lapsang souchong is known for being more heavily smoked.


Preparation, flavour and aroma

Like other
black tea Black tea (also literally translated as red tea from various East Asian languages) is a type of tea that is more tea processing, oxidized than oolong, yellow tea, yellow, white tea, white, and green tea, green teas. Black tea is generally st ...
s, lapsang souchong is typically brewed with water at boiling or a little less than boiling, . It can be infused once, for 3 to 5 minutes, with 2 to 3 grams (one
tablespoon A tablespoon (tbsp., Tbsp., Tb., or T.) is a large spoon. In many English-speaking regions, the term now refers to a large spoon used for serving; however, in some regions, it is the largest type of spoon used for eating. By extension, the ter ...
) of loose-leaf tea per 150 millilitres ( 
cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...
) of water used, or through multiple infusions using 5 grams for 30 seconds to one minute at a time in 110 millilitres of water. The aroma of the dry leaves is described as having intense empyreumatic notes reminiscent of bacon while the liquor is known for its lingering smoky flavour. Other flavours associated with lapsang souchong include wood smoke, pine resin, smoked paprika, dried longan, and peated
whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...
. Lapsang souchong lacks the bitterness that can come with other black teas, so it does not need to be sweetened and can be brewed strongly. It is a full-bodied tea that can be prepared with or without milk. 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 Terpineol is any of four isomeric monoterpene, monoterpenoids. Terpenoids are terpene that are modified by the addition of a functional group, in this case, an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol. Terpineols have been isolated from a variety of sources ...
. 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.


Tea blends and culinary uses

Lapsang souchong is used in blends of black tea to provide a more full-bodied flavour and a more robust aroma; for example, it may be blended with an
Earl Grey tea Earl Grey tea is a Tea blending and additives, tea blend which has been flavoured with Bergamot essential oil, oil of bergamot. The rind's fragrant oil is added to black tea to give Earl Grey its unique taste. However, many, if not most, Earl Gr ...
. The blend called Russian Caravan consists of approximately 60%
Keemun Keemun ( zh, t=祁門紅茶, p=Qímén hóngchá, l= Qimen red tea, c=, cy=Kèihmùhn hùhngchàh) is a famous Chinese black tea. First produced in the late 19th century, it quickly became popular in the West and is still used for a number of c ...
, 20% lapsang souchong and the remainder roasted
oolong Oolong or Wulong (, ; ; , "black dragon" tea) is a traditional semi-oxidized Chinese tea (''Camellia sinensis)'' produced through a process that includes withering the leaves under strong sun and allowing some Enzymatic oxidation, oxidation to ...
; the blend is intended to invoke thoughts of camel caravans en route from China to Russia in the 19th century delivering goods such as black tea which could absorb some of the campfire smoke during their months-long journey. In British culture, lapsang souchong has been popularly associated with
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
, who enjoyed the tea, but it is used more in Russian-labelled blends, especially those sweetened with spices and citrus. With its wood-smoked flavour, lapsang souchong is also used as a
spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...
for flavouring or
seasoning Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, and/or salts, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". Salt may ...
foods. As well as being added to
stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...
for soups, stews and sauces, lapsang souchong is also a spice in vegetarian recipes, a component in meat rubs, and a flavouring for boiled eggs. When prepared as a tea (rather than used as a seasoning), lapsang souchong pairs well with meals of tuna, cod, game, and eggs, or with brunch.


See also

*
List of smoked foods This is a list of smoked foods. Smoking (cooking), Smoking is the process of seasoning, flavoring, cooking, or food preservation, preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Foods have been smoke ...


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapsang Souchong Black tea Chinese teas Chinese tea grown in Fujian Wuyi tea Smoking (cooking) Smoked food