Lapsang Souchong
Realized there wasn't a dedicated thread, so I thought I'd start one.
I've heard that the classic style is slowly going extinct, due to regulatory issues that make getting the proper wood for smoking within the traditional growing region difficult. Jin Jun Mei ensures that the tea-growers will do well, but some folks think it competes with Lapsang for the same bushes.
My personal favorite, Hu-Kwa, might not count, as it is a Taiwanese lapsang copy that developed during the U.S./China trade embargo to replace true Lapsang, and that remained in Taiwan after the embargo lifted.
I am also a fairly minor Lapsang enthusiast, as if I drink too much smoked tea I tend to feel a little queasy. I am not a smoker of other things, which probably reduces my smoke-tolerances.
Does anyone have any favorites? How do you brew it?
I've heard that the classic style is slowly going extinct, due to regulatory issues that make getting the proper wood for smoking within the traditional growing region difficult. Jin Jun Mei ensures that the tea-growers will do well, but some folks think it competes with Lapsang for the same bushes.
My personal favorite, Hu-Kwa, might not count, as it is a Taiwanese lapsang copy that developed during the U.S./China trade embargo to replace true Lapsang, and that remained in Taiwan after the embargo lifted.
I am also a fairly minor Lapsang enthusiast, as if I drink too much smoked tea I tend to feel a little queasy. I am not a smoker of other things, which probably reduces my smoke-tolerances.
Does anyone have any favorites? How do you brew it?
This is an article that is maybe of interest: https://anmo-art-cha.com/blogs/blog/tea ... part-three
Guess it sort of similar to some Puerh, a step that was once necessary, but is ultimately considered a fault by tea drinkers and let to rest until it subsides over time.
Guess it sort of similar to some Puerh, a step that was once necessary, but is ultimately considered a fault by tea drinkers and let to rest until it subsides over time.
From the link shared by Bok:
I like both smoked and unsmoked lapsang, but have found it difficult to find smoked lapsang of decent quality for many years now.A: Can you tell us a little about the history of Lapsang?
J: Lapsang is over 400 years old already. Yet the Lapsang we see in the market today only exists for less than 20 years: unsmoked Lapsang. For centuries, Lapsang was traditionally smoked with pine. This is still the case nowadays, but it is much rarer and most of the market is filled with unsmoked Lapsang as this is much more aromatic and flowery and therefore more popular among tea drinkers.
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I am so sorry to read that, Balthazar. I thought the reason I have not enjoyed smoked lapsang souchong for years was because I had developed my palate taking me past such....
Hopefully we'll run across some great quality w/o needing to work at it. I don't miss superior L.S. but would not mind having a bit.
Hah, maybe it's actually nostalgia's "mental huigan" that's playing a trick on meEthan Kurland wrote: ↑Wed Oct 27, 2021 9:54 pmI am so sorry to read that, Balthazar. I thought the reason I have not enjoyed smoked lapsang souchong for years was because I had developed my palate taking me past such....
I no longer actively seek out smoked lapsang, but if I'm making an order from a vendor that carries it I might throw in a sample and hope for the best. In recent memory I've ordered from Lazy Cat (their "Yanxun Xiaozhong 2018"), White2Tea (a bunch of the lapsang offerings they carried last year) and Chawangshop (their "2019 Tong Mu Guan sample set" which featured a smoked and unsmoked version). I was underwhelmed by the first two, but positively surprised by CWS (ended up buying the last 400 grams he had in stock). I also remember liking the smoked "Original Lapsang Souchong" from Jing Tea Shop, but it's been five years since I had it (the same 2014 version that they still offer 25 gram samples of).
I agree with @.m., subtlety/balance/integration is key and that's where most of the smoked-to-death versions on the market fall short. Luckily I have Anhua heichas to fill most of my demands for this.
If you want a reference point for "good" smoked xiaozhong aka Souchong, grab the top end stuff from either Junde or Zhengshantang, the two most well established Tongmu producers with history behind them, preferably with at least a year or two of resting. Not necessarily the best possible you can get but they set the standard.
Lapsang Souchong whether smoked or not range in quality hugely, just like any other category of tea, whether it be yancha or a particular category of green, etc. and not much in general can be said when the market is flooded with mass produced stuff.
Thanks for the recommendations. Specific reference points such as this are really useful. Planning an order for when prices hopefully normalize after Single's Day. Might add something from Zhengshantang.tjkdubya wrote: ↑Thu Oct 28, 2021 8:28 amIf you want a reference point for "good" smoked xiaozhong aka Souchong, grab the top end stuff from either Junde or Zhengshantang, the two most well established Tongmu producers with history behind them, preferably with at least a year or two of resting. Not necessarily the best possible you can get but they set the standard.
https://lapsangstore.com/pages/lapsang-souchong
However...considering these prices, it is probably smarter to buy from DaXueJiaDao
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Depending on your definition of "easily available", JD/Taobao/Tmall is an option (although it might be hard to find anything with a bit of age - I haven't browsed).
E.g. Zhengshantang's JD store
For example:
https://m.tb.cn/h.ff5gB4R?sm=8a8f77十202 ... 装野生红茶散装50g
Yes, browse through the Taobao of a producer like Zhengshantang. Above is an example of one of their nicer stuff, running $1.50+/g. And of course they produce a ton of cheap stuff as well.
Like I said, it's a huge range, and you can try to sort through and generalize about different brackets of tea, but quite impossible to do that about the entire category as a whole.
https://m.tb.cn/h.ff5gB4R?sm=8a8f77十202 ... 装野生红茶散装50g
Yes, browse through the Taobao of a producer like Zhengshantang. Above is an example of one of their nicer stuff, running $1.50+/g. And of course they produce a ton of cheap stuff as well.
Like I said, it's a huge range, and you can try to sort through and generalize about different brackets of tea, but quite impossible to do that about the entire category as a whole.