Red Tea · 2025

2025 Smoked Lapsang Souchong

Name: 2025 Smoked Lapsang Souchong
Price: 72 AED
Availability: InStock

AED 72

Qualifies for free shipping

Traditional pinewood-smoked red tea from inside the Wuyi protected area. Hand-picked, hand-smoked, with the savoury smoked-fish character that proper Lapsang is built around.

Estimated delivery Tuesday, 12 May

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Why this tea

01
Properly smoked, not lightly smoked
Most "Lapsang" on the international market is the modern style with most of the smoke removed. This is the traditional version
02
From inside the Wuyi protected area
The original geographic home of the style. Hand-picked, hand-smoked over pinewood by the farmer who runs the operation
03
Savoury before sweet
The smoked-fish aroma is what serious Lapsang drinkers reach for. If you've only had the light modern version, this will read as a different tea entirely

What is Smoked Lapsang Souchong?

Lapsang Souchong is where black tea (hongcha) started. The original style was developed in the Tongmu area of the Wuyi mountains in Fujian, where the leaves are smoked over pinewood fires after the standard red-tea processing. Most Lapsang sold internationally is the modern light-smoke version, which has lost most of the smoke entirely. This is the traditional version: smoked properly over pinewood, the way the style began.

The signature note is savoury rather than sweet. The dry leaf has a smoked-fish character to the aroma that some drinkers find startling on a first encounter. Underneath the smoke there's the red-tea body you'd expect from a proper Wuyi hongcha. The sweetness arrives behind the smoke rather than next to it.

Oxidation

Low

High

Stimulation

Low

High

Fermentation

Low

High

Body

Low

High

Tasting Notes

Pinewood smoke and savoury smoked-fish aroma. Dark amber liquor, full body, sweet undercurrent that arrives behind the smoke.

Smoky

Savoury

Brewing Instructions

Amount

5g per 200ml

Temperature

90-95°C / 194-203°F

Infusions

Up to 10

Infusion Time

10 sec (+5 sec every new infusion)

Needs Rinsing

Yes

Origin

Wuyishan, Fujian

Cultivar

Wuyi Cai Cha

Elevation

1300 meters

We tried a sample of this Lapsang on our first sourcing trip, and we kept coming back to it. The smoked-fish aroma was the part that pulled us in. Strange on a first sniff, then the thing we kept brewing the sample for.

A friend in China introduced us to a farmer who works inside the Wuyi protected area, and we made the trip up to meet her on a later visit. The road in is long and the area itself is quiet. Hand-picked leaves, hand-smoked over pinewood, the way it's done there.

Aging & Storage

Keep sealed in a cool dark cupboard, away from heat, light, and anything strong-smelling. The smoke can leak out of a loose seal, and a tight one keeps it where it belongs.