| Description: If you like single-malt whisky and fine cigars, then this is the tea for you. Most say it was invented when soldiers took over a tea factory in Xingun (Star Village) during the Qing dynasty in China. When they finally left, the workers had to dry their tea in record time to sell it at the market. In desperation they lit open fires of pine to speed the process, and wood-smoked Lapsang Souchong was born. (MK Kosher) Ingredients: Organic Chinese black tea from Fujian Province Caffeine: 2 (Medium) How to Brew: 1.25 tsp 98°C/208°F 4-5 min (From DAVIDsTEA: Lapsang Souchong Star) Steph's Thoughts: This is definitely a campfire kind of tea. It smells like wood smoke and pine branches, and reminds me of summer camp. When I was a teenager, I volunteered as a counselor at a summer camp. Once a week, we would pack up our stuff and spend a night in the woods. We would cook dinner over a fire, sleep in a tent, more often than not get rained on, learn new skills, and also learn things about ourselves, often to our surprise. When we returned to "civilization" (or at least, indoor plumbing) from our foray into the wilderness (ish), we would inevitably come back smelling like wood smoke. Our clothes, our hair, our skin, our VERY BEING was infused with wood smoke, and it radiated from our pores. Some of us would dash into the shower to slough off the "stink." Others of us would savour the aroma of our smoke-infused selves, resigning ourselves to the shower when it was our turn. These are the memories this tea invites. I don't know if this is a tea that one would drink straight on a regular basis. It is very smoky, although you can taste the pine and the black tea. I had mine with milk, which seems to take the edge off a little. It's how the Guides at the Polo Park store recommend it. I can DEFINITELY see using it as a marinade, or in a sauce while cooking. If you want to infuse a smoke flavour into whatever you're cooking, brew this tea and use it. I have a recipe from DT that is basically salmon, milk, and this tea. Upon doing further research, I'm convinced that it can enhance your barbecues, soups and meat dishes! I did a brief Google search for recipes with Lapsang Souchong, and one of the websites I came to suggested putting a bit in a spice ball and putting it in your vegetarian soups and stews to add a little bit of the smoky bacon flavour without actually putting any meat or meat stock in. My brother in law sent me a recipe for Cheddar Ham Chowder (which is AMAZINGLY FABULOUS!) that I might spice up with this tea - maybe instead of 2 cups water, I would do one cup water and one cup tea, OR two cups tea, depending on how smoky I wanted the chowder. Hmmmmm... Now I want to go play! One reader on Steepster suggested mixing a little bit of this with the Oh Canada! to have "maple bacon flavoured tea." I think that I would really like to cook with this tea rather than drinking it. There's a wonderful Tea Rubbed Pork Chop recipe with Lapsang Souchong that I'd like to try, in addition to my chowder experiment. And now, thanks to all my research, and my tea, I want to go cook. Except I didn't actually buy a bag of Lapsang Souchong; I only bought a cupful. And thanks to my review, my cupful is gone. Oh dear. Verdict: Iffy on its own, but would be an amazing additive to cooking. |
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