I like nothing better on a snowy morning than a pot of smoky Lapsang Souchong tea. It smells like a campfire, bringing back all kinds of cozy memories.
There are a number of brands of Lapsang Souchong. Twinings makes a very creditable teabag version, and there are excellent whole-leaf varieties available through the fabulous Upton Tea Imports.
My favorite is the Hu-Kwa brand shown above. It is imported by the venerable Mark T. Wendell Tea Company in West Concord, MA, not far from where I work.
Lapsang Souchong is on the menu at the Dunbar Tea Room in Sandwich, on Cape Cod, although I think they use a lesser brand these days. We always get a pot of that. I like it with the Fisherman's Lunch of cold smoked mackerel, although that may not be to everyone's liking. Dunbar's usually has the Hu-Kwa in their gift shop.
I have also found it at The Cheese Shop in Concord, MA, and a number of other good gourmet shops.
A couple of interesting tidbits about Lapsang Souchong tea: it is made from big, old tea leaves rather than the tender tips popular with lighter teas. It has less caffeine than other teas. And you steep it for a long time, five full minutes or more.
In fact, it has to steep quite a long time before it gets tannic and bitter. This means that a pot of it served the traditional English way, with the leaves in the pot, stays delicious in the pot far beyond the time when an expensive Darjeeling would have got tannic enough to make your teeth squeak. (That's why we always get the Lapsang Souchong at the English-themed Dunbar's!)
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