Lapsang Souchong is not a cultivar, but a “craft-style black tea.”
The term “Lapsang Souchong” refers to:
Lapsang: the authentic production area around Tongmu Guan in Wuyi Mountains, Fujian, China (used to distinguish from imitations made elsewhere).
Souchong: an old term referring to local small-leaf tea trees (not a modern registered cultivar like Taiwan Tea No. 18).
Therefore, “Lapsang Souchong” means:
A traditional craft-style black tea made from local small-leaf trees around Tongmu Guan (mainly Wuyi group teas) and dried with pine wood smoke.
What tea trees are used in traditional Lapsang Souchong?
Traditionally, local Wuyi “group teas”:
There is no single cultivar.
They are proto-tea lines evolved and selected over centuries, known as “Tongmu native group species.”
Leaves are small, thick, and rich in aroma precursors and polyphenols.
Nowadays, some plantations have selected stable lines (e.g., Jin Jun Mei uses buds selected from group species) that still fall within the Lapsang Souchong system.
Clarifying common misconceptions
| Question | Correct Answer |
|---|---|
| Is Lapsang Souchong a single cultivar? | No, it’s a style of black tea, not a specific tea variety. |
| Is there a tea tree named “Lapsang Souchong”? | No such single tree exists, but group species are used. |
| Can Taiwan grow Lapsang Souchong? | You can grow Wuyi group species, but with different processing and soil, it becomes a “Lapsang-style imitation.” |
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正山小種に関する説明
1. 正山小種は品種ではなく、「工芸型紅茶」です
「正山小種」という言葉は以下を指しています：
したがって、「正山小種」という意味は、
2. 正山小種の原材料茶樹とは？
伝統的には武夷山の地元の「群体種」です：
現在は、一部の園区で安定性の良い品系を人工的に育成しています（例えば金駿眉に使われる芽は群体種の選育によるもの）が、依然として正山小種の体系に属しています。
3. よくある誤解の解消：
正山小種の主要な派生変種と差異分析：
1. 金駿眉（Jin Jun Mei）
2. 銀駿眉 / 銅駿眉
3. 正山金芽 / 金小種
4. 桐木紅 / 桐木金紅
5. 煙小種（Smoked Lapsang Souchong）
正山小種の「核心風味構造」は三層からなる：
松木の燻製はPFA（多環芳香烃）を生み出し、これは燻製過程で生成される発癌物質であり、 EU、北米、日本では既に茶葉の検出が禁止されています。真正の煙燻製の正山小種は消えつつあります。無煙がトレンドです。