Lapsang souchong (AKA Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong) is a black tea modelled after the first ever black tea produced, legend has it a group of farmers were forced to leave their tea harvest in a hurry shortly after picking, they returned some time later to find it heavily oxidized, rather than take home to sell what they considered bad tea they decided to roast and drink it then and there, so with pine wood from the surrounding forest they fired this oxidized tea and found the taste had transformed and it was a wholly different sensation, thus black/red tea was born.

Grown and produced in Wuyi, Fujian, China, unlike the more traditional and widespread lapsang souchong, this is a more modern style that foregoes the pine smoke of old to let the taste and aromas of the leaves left unsmoked shine for themselves. The result is a medium bodied black/red tea with with a faint aroma reminiscent of strawberry and toasted ginger, mostly present in the dried leaves. It brews a dark tarnished gold to amber and provides a moderate caffeine effect. In early infusions the tea is primarily sweet, but by the 3rd infusion savoury is the more dominant flavour, the prevalence of tannins also reduces each infusion. It leaves a slightly fruity aftertaste in your mouth and a warm feeling in your stomach.

Processing:

After 8 hours of withering the freshly picked leaves are rolled, then left to oxidize for 5-7 more hours, next the tea is is dried at about 90°C for 3-4 hours, after this the older, larger leaves and stems are sorted out and the maocha (unfinished tea) is loaded onto bamboo trays and roasted over a charcoal fire for 4-6 hours at 90-105°C, this tea is made without the use of pine wood or a smoking house (yan feng), making it an “Unsmoked” Lapsang Souchong.

This tea will quickly get quite bitter if brewed for too long.