Lapsang Souchong Tea

 I may have written about Lapsang Souchong tea before, but that would have been before I was using labels, and in any case, I'm not going to try and find that post.

The tea has a very distinct smokey and peaty smell and taste. It actually reminds me of drinking a very peaty single malt scotch whisky. Very much like Lagavulin from the island of Islay in Scotland, known for its several peaty single malt distilleries.

There are a couple of stories about how the tea was first made - both by accident - but the one I like best is about when the Chinese army was marching through the region in the mid-1840s and delayed the tea-making process. The soldiers made beds from the freshly picked tea leaves, and when they departed, the tea had to be quickly dried before it was shipped to market. 

The solution was to quickly dry them over a fire from pinewood chips. The result was a very husky, woodsy, and peaty aroma which became very popular.

You can easily purchase it today online, but you normally won't find it on the shelves except possibly a specialty tea store; and then probably in loose form. I have one and a half boxes left of the bags that I had bought several years ago when I came across them in a grocery store in New Jersey. I bought six and they have held up very well.