Lapsang Souchong
Lapsang Souchong ( Chinese 正 山 小 種 / 正 山 小 种 , Pinyin zhèngshān xiǎozhǒng ) is a Chinese specialty tea , a so-called smoke tea. Genuine Lapsang Souchong comes from the Zheng Shan part of the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian Province and is rare because the Wuyi Mountains are a relatively small region and at the same time there is a great demand for the tea. There is a big difference in taste between real Lapsang Souchong and something that comes from other regions and only bears the name "Lapsang Souchong".
Manufacturing
Strong, large leaf black tea is in the smoke of smoldering pine roots , or on burning, resin-rich spruce smoked , in a pan roasted , rolled and oxidized before it is again ready smoked in bamboo baskets over pine or spruce. This gives Lapsang Souchong the strong smoky taste that is characteristic of this type of tea, reminiscent of a campfire and superimposes the actual tea taste.
Lapsang Souchong is either drunk pure or mixed with other types of tea to give them a spicy smoky note. Sometimes this type of tea is also used to add flavor to cooking.
Lapsang Souchong does not become bitter even with longer steeping times, so it is suitable for use in samovars .
Well-known consumers
- It was Sir Winston Churchill's favorite tea, which he learned to appreciate along with cigars during his military service in Cuba .
- In the book Colorado Saga (English original title: Cenntenial ) by the American author James A. Michener , the trapper Alexander McKeag Lapsang Souchong describes:
"A man's tea, deep and subtle and blended in some rugged place [...] better even than whiskey"
"A tea for men, profound and astute and blended in a wild, rough place [...] even better than whiskey."
- After her fiancé broke off their engagement, Miss Celeste Temple, from the book Die Glasbücher der Traumfresser (English original title: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters ) by the author Gordon Dahlquist , drank exactly this tea:
“She stayed in her room for a whole day and refused to eat anything other than the bitterest Lapsang Souchong (neither with milk nor with lemon). Even this tea was just a thin, rust-colored brew diluted with water that neither stimulated nor tasted. "
- In Spaceship Enterprise - The Next Century , Lapsang Souchong was originally intended by actor Patrick Stewart to be Captain Picard's favorite drink, but was then replaced by the better-known Earl Gray .
- Colin Hay , singer of the Australian band Men at Work, mentions tea in his song "Beautiful World".
- In the TV series The Mentalist , Lapsang Souchong is the favorite tea of the main character Patrick Jane, an avid tea drinker.
Web links
- Short entry at Teesorten.de
- Short entry at Teesorte.com
- Tea News The Lapsang Souchong: one of the most extraordinary types of tea
Individual evidence
- ^ Mary Lou Heiss, Robert J. Heiss: The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide , digitized on Google Books , Random House LLC, March 23, 2011 ISBN 978-1-607-74172-5
- ↑ Patrick Stewart -Beavis and Butt-head's biggest fan on theft, tea and Tetris , July 1998 on tripod.com, accessed March 27, 2014
- ↑ Lyrics of beautiful world on Colin Hay's website, accessed March 27, 2014