Lapsang Souchong smoked

Lapsang Souchong — The World's Original Black Tea

Also known as: Lapsang Souchong, Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong, Smoked Black Tea, 正山小种

Meet the tea that started it all.

Lapsang Souchong is widely considered the world's very first black tea — the original, born in the Wu-Yi mountains of Fujian over 400 years ago.

This is the classic smoked version: bold, warming, and completely unforgettable. One of the most famous Chinese teas in the world, and for good reason.

What Is Lapsang Souchong?

Lapsang Souchong comes from the Wu-Yi region of Fujian, in south-east China — the birthplace of black tea itself. It's made from a hardy local tea bush and, in the traditional style, dried over smouldering pine.

That pinewood smoking is what makes it famous. The dry leaves are full, strong and slightly twisted, a rich dark red, carrying a distinctive smoky-pine aroma with a fragrant trace of flowers and Chinese dates underneath.

Why Lapsang Souchong Is So Prized

Real, traditional Lapsang Souchong is genuinely special — and there's a reason the good stuff isn't cheap.

• A tiny, protected origin. The heart of production is Tong Mu Guan, deep inside a national park and nature reserve. Strictly limited land means genuine core-origin Lapsang makes up only a tiny slice of China's black tea.
• A demanding craft. The signature smoky aroma comes from drying the leaves over burning pine in a traditional smoke-house — slow, skilled, labour-intensive work.
• Often imitated. A lot of what's sold as "Lapsang Souchong" is cheap outside-region tea with a heavy, one-note smoke. The real thing has that smoke and a deep longan-and-date sweetness underneath.

What you're really tasting in a good Lapsang is the smoky pine and the sweet longan soup — not just a label.

Here is where and how the smoky pine was done.

What It Tastes Like

Bold, smooth and warming.

The smoke hits first — like a campfire in a pine forest — but underneath runs a real sweetness, a longan-and-date richness that rounds the whole cup out. It's a big, characterful tea that lingers.

It's wonderful with rich, savoury food — meat dishes, curries, anything with depth. And here's a lovely detail: stored well for a year or two, the smoky edge mellows into a smooth, roasted-nut warmth.

Where Lapsang Souchong Sits in the World of Chinese Black Tea

Four of our most-loved Chinese black teas — see the difference in the cup:

Modern varieties recently created, and much loved

Traditional classics

Smoked or Unsmoked?

We carry Lapsang Souchong both ways:

• Smoked (this one) — the traditional style, dried over pine. Bold, smoky, classic.
• Unsmoked — the same Wu-Yi tea, without the smoke, letting its natural flower-and-date sweetness shine.

New to Lapsang? The smoked is the iconic experience — the one people picture when they think of this tea. If smoke isn't your thing, the unsmoked is the gentler way in.

The Perfect Match: A Yixing Zisha Teapot

A bold black tea like this belongs in a Yixing Zisha teapot.

The unglazed clay holds heat, rounds out the body and gathers up all that smoky, longan-sweet aroma — a fuller, mellower cup than porcelain can give. For a rich tea like Lapsang Souchong, it's a perfect match.

Brew this Lapsang Souchong the right way

— check out our professional Brewing Guide, Storage Care and The Origins below 👇