Lapsang Souchong

This special smoked tea has a distinctive flavour and aroma, the best Lapsang is produced in the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian where the high mountains with thick pine forests and heavy mist provide the ideal environment for growing top quality tea. Lapsang Souchong is produced  first withering the leaves over fires of pine or cypress wood; then pan-frying and rolling, they are presses into wooden barrels and covered with cloth to ferment until they give off a pleasant fragrance. The leaves are fired again and rolled into taut strips. Then they are placed in bamboo baskets and hung on wooden racks over smoking pine fires to dry and absorb the smoke flavour. When finished they are thick, glossy black strips, and produce a dark red beverage with a unique aroma and taste.