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, 正山小種, 烟熏红茶, 煙燻紅茶, 桐木关, 桐木關

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 👇