Summer Camp | Smoked Black

Lapsang Souchong is the world's first black tea.  Originally made sometime in the Qing Dynasty, which is mid 19th century, its origins trace back to an accident where the freshly picked tea could not be processed in time to make green tea, but instead was left for days to fully oxidize and ferment.  The industrious farmer decided to persist in its production, creating something distinctly different from the unfermented or semi-fermented teas of the time, he made the world's first black tea.

Summer Camp is made in the most traditional way, meaning it is smoke withered and smoke dried in a old wood cabin that is filled with pine smoke.  The pine fire is stoked in a sub-basement below the cabin for a night and a day, while the tea is placed inside the wood-slatted building.  This is a natural and effective way to not only dry the tea, but to preserve it and infuse it with the charactaristic Summer Camp fragrance of campfires.  While the fragrances on the nose are pine smoke and spices, the taste should be mineral sweet without any overstrong smokey flavors.

Each pack comes with over 6g of tea for a perfect session or two mini sessions gongfu style.