Beautiful Botanicals by Joanne Howdle
Lapsung souchong tea. Picture: iStock/MilenaKatzer
Camellia sinesis is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. The leaves, leaf buds, and stems of the botanical are used to produce tea.
The genus Camellia has two varieties – sinensis from south-west China and assamica from the state of Assam in North-Eastern India. Together the two varieties of Camellia are the source of all teas.
However, it is the way that Camellia leaves are treated after they are picked which determines the type of tea that you end up with. It is also the reason that distinct types of tea look, smell, and taste different.
Common names for Camellia sinesis include tea plant, tree shrub and tea tree.
The tea plant has bright green shiny leaves that have a serrated edge and are hairy on the underside. The leaves of the tea plant are not harvested for the first three years of the botanical’s life as during this time the leaves produce very low-quality tea.
The tea plant needs sufficient time to pull nutrients from the soil to produce a full-flavoured tea. After three years the leaves are handpicked in the spring when they are young. The flowers of the tea plant are small and white, and they typically bloom in the autumn, appearing in groups of two to four with seven to eight petals. The tea plant produces brownish-green fruits.
Lapsang souchong tea, which is revered as the ancestor of black tea, is made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis. It is distinct from other types of tea due to its unique flavour of smoky pine which is comparable to fine cigars and a single malt whisky.
The name of the botanical itself refers to Lapsang which means “smoky variety” and souchong, referring to the fourth and fifth leaves used to create the tea. Lapsang souchong originates from Tongmu Guan in the Wuyi Mountain, Fujian Province in south-east China, which is where, legend has it, black tea was born.
During the 16th century, an Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) promoted the use of whole leaf tea instead of compressed tea. Tea processing skills at the time were still rudimentary and most teas produced were pan-fried green tea. The technique of oxidizing tea leaves – a key feature of black tea – was a result of serendipity.
Legend has it that one spring day in the mid-1600s, a military troop passed by a tea farming village in Wuyi Mountain and decided to camp overnight at a tea farmer’s house. The tea farmer had finished his morning harvest of fresh tea leaves when the troop arrived.
When he saw the soldiers, he got scared and ran to a nearby mountain. The next morning when the tea farmer returned to his house, he noticed his tea leaves had turned brown. Desperately trying to salvage the leaves, he pan-fried the leaves and then smoked them with pine wood to darken the colour of the leaves.
Little did he know that the smoked flavour would become Lapsang souchong, the most beloved tea in Europe. The next day, the tea farmer took the tea to the market. While the locals did not care for the tea, the Dutch tea traders were enamoured by Lapsang souchong’s unusual pine smoke scent, so much so that they returned every year to buy enormous quantities for export to other European countries.
Lapsang souchong became popular throughout Europe because it lacks the bitterness that can come with other black teas. Therefore, Lapsang souchong does not need to be sweetened and can be brewed strongly.
It is a full-bodied tea that can be prepared with or without milk. In addition to its consumption as a tea, Lapsang souchong is also used in stock for soups, stews, and sauces or otherwise as a spice or seasoning.
Smoky gins are becoming more popular and in gin production the clean smoky pine flavour from Lapsang souchong tea excites the tastebuds and the finish is long as the deep rich smoke lingers on the palate.
Joanne Howdle
• Joanne Howdle is interpretation and engagement manager at the multi-award winning Dunnet Bay Distillers Ltd.