# Lapsang Souchong

> Black tea from the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian, withered and dried over smoldering pine: tar, resin and a faint sweetness, a campfire and an old library in one cup. Contains caffeine.

Price: 16.00 USD · in stock

## About
A winter afternoon, a book open on your knee, and a cup that smells of woodsmoke before the water even touches it. Lapsang souchong is black tea from the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian, withered and dried over smoldering pine rather than charcoal or hot air, so that tar, resin and a faint sweetness settle into the leaf.The story goes that it was invented by accident: a passing army delayed a batch of tea, and the farmers, rushing to dry it before the next harvest crowded the sheds, fired it over the nearest fuel to hand, pinewood, and found the result worth keeping. Whether or not every detail is exact, the method has held for roughly four hundred years, and the tea became a favorite of European drinkers who wanted their cup to smell of woodsmoke and old libraries rather than flowers. It is still hand-processed in small batches, the leaves dark and twisted.How to useSteep a teaspoon for three to four minutes in water just off the boil. It holds its own against milk and is just as good plain. Like any black tea, it contains caffeine.Bring the campfire indoors for the long evenings.