Smooth and clean with a powerful smoky scent. traditionally dried with smoke from burning pine root. many china teas have a subtle toasty note, but lapsang souchong has a dominating smoky flavor. legend has it that the smoking process was discovered by accident. during the qing dynasty, an army unit passing through a village camped out in its tea factory, which was filled with fresh leaves awaiting processing. when the soldiers left and the workers were able to return, there was not enough time to dry the tea the customary way. so they lit open fires of pine wood to hasten the drying. upon taking the tea to market, to their surprise the new tea created a sensation. today, lapsang souchong is first withered over pine root fires, then panfried, rolled and oxidized. the leaves are then placed in bamboo baskets and hung on wooden racks over smoking pine fires to dry and absorb the smoke. the result is a powerfully smoky aroma coupled with a sweet and mild taste. each 4 oz tin of loose leaf tea makes about 40 cups.
