Lapsang Souchong

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Black tea from the Fujian province of China. Lapsang Souchong tea has a famously smoky aroma and flavor. To create this, the finished tea is given some extra drying over smoking pine fire, imparting a sweet, clean smoky flavor to the tea. This tea sometimes gets a bad rep for being brashly smoky, but really fine examples aren't like that at all. Adagio's Lapsang Souchong is very approachable: clean and slightly cool smokiness in the aroma, like menthol. Sweet, refreshing smoky flavor, crisp and edgy. Golden-coppery color in the cup; the mark of a Lapsang that hasn't been smoked to a jerky. Sweet pine flavor, lightly evaporating finish. It's amazing all the dimensions of 'smoky' you can experience in one, very well made cup of tea.

There are many grades of Lapsang Souchong. The smoking takes place while the fresh leaves are withering, and again while they're being rolled and oxidized. To do this, elaborate smoke houses, several stories high, are used. At the bottom level is the pine fire, which must be carefully controlled so its fresh, sweet fragrance isn't lost. The tea is spread out on each level of the house, and holes are cut in the floor to allow different amounts of smoke through. The tea master monitors the smoking diligently, being mindful of how the fire is behaving and how to filter the rising smoke through the levels of tea.