We called our friends in Fujian in early spring and reserved pine wood for tea smoking, anxiously awaiting our space in line. Our Puer all blended and ready in Yunnan, we shipped the blends to Fujian in summer. A veteran Lapsang smoker spent 3 days smoking our tea, smoking at temperatures from 100C to 120C in an old style Lapsang smokehouse in Tongmuguan village. The unity of old school Fujian tea processing techniques with high quality base materials yields a totally unique smoke experience that pushes the tradition of smoked Puer tea in Yunnan (both the recent intentional and haphazard unintentional versions). The pine smoke character is laced through the blend with an intense nose that will settle into the base of the tea with aging, eventually transforming into a rare combination of flavors and aromas that few Puer teas can mimic. As for the tea blend, you can imagine that we wouldn't phone-in a blend that requires so much planning and legwork to process, suffice it to say it's fantastic. Burly, full bodied, deep returning sweetness, layered nuance and heavy feel. Obviously this tea is a natural fit for cigar lovers and Scotch whisky fanatics who want tea in the morning, but this tea is a surprise that will likely garner even fans who are wary of smoke as well. This is the mini version and each mini is ~7g. For aging, we recommend that smoked teas be sealed and separated from other teas, as the fresh smoke will pass along to the teas next to it. Or you can keep them with your cigars.
