Lapsang Souchong 正山小種

Lapsang Souchong also known as Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong is a classic black tea from Wuyi mountain, Fujian, China. It is considered to be the world’s first original black tea and has a history of over 400 years. Lapsang Souchong was traditionally smoked over pine wood fire, which creates its characteristic smoky profile with sweet characterful notes of fruits, cocoa and malt. Legend has it that this type of tea was invented during late Ming dynasty (1568) when an army passed through Tongmu and delayed the annual drying period of tea there. In order to speed up the drying process, tea producers smoked the leaves over pine wood fire, and thus Lapsang Souchong was created.