Souchong Black Tea
- What is Souchong Black Tea?
- Where did Souchong Black Tea come from?
- How many types of Souchong Black Tea are there?
- How to Brew Souchong Black Tea?
- How to Choose Souchong Black Tea?
- Preservation Methods for Souchong Black Tea
- Price of Souchong Black Tea
- Tongmuguan Black Tea Brands
What is Souchong Black Tea?
Souchong Black Tea is the earliest black tea in China and the world.
Because it is produced in Tongmuguan, it is also known as Tongmuguan Souchong Black Tea.
Souchong Black Tea was the most famous black tea exported from China to England at that time.
Where did Souchong Black Tea come from?
It all started by chance, the origin of Souchong Black Tea was accidental.
In ancient China, during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Qing army attacked Wuyi Mountain in Fujian Province and came to Tongmuguan.
As soon as the tea farmers saw the army coming, they left the tea leaves they were processing and ran to the mountains to hide.
The Qing army came to this village and ate, drank, and lived there. Many Qing troops slept on the tea leaves.
The next day the Qing army withdrew, after the withdrawal the people back, to see the tea leaves and fresh leaves have turned red, it was too late to do other processing, so they rushed to use pine firewood to dry, and then knead tea.
After the tea was made, they began to taste it and found that the tea made in this way had a great change from the previous, before it was green tea broth, and now the brewed tea broth is red!
Tea farmers don't want to waste the tea leaves and bring this tea to the tea market to sell.
Many customers have drank this tea and feedback that the flavor is delicious! Later they optimized this tea process.
This is the origin of Tongmuguan Souchong Black Tea.
How many types of Souchong Black Tea are there?
Two types of processes
1. Traditional craft (pine smoke aroma)
2. Modern craft (floral flavor)
There are generally two types, one with traditional craftsmanship and one with modern craftsmanship.
Traditional processes:
Traditional Souchong Black Tea has pine wood drying in the production process, which gives it a unique pine smoke aroma.
The soup color of souchong black tea of traditional craft is slightly darker, with the unique aroma of pine smoke.
The Wild Souchong Black Tea offered by iTeaworld is made using traditional techniques.
Wild Souchong Black Tea is made from wild tea trees and has a pine-smoke aroma.
Modern processes:
The modern process is basically based on nectar flavor.
The biggest characteristic is that the tea soup is orange-yellow in color, with an obvious floral aroma and no pine smoke aroma.
iTeaworld's Souchong Black Tea is made using modern techniques and has a floral aroma with a hint of sweetness.
How to Brew Souchong Black Tea?
Choice of Tea Set
Usually, you should choose an open bowl.
You can use a glass or porcelain gaiwan for brewing.
The tea leaves can fully unfold in this open bowl, which is more conducive to the release of tea leaves.
Brewing Temperature
Loose Leaf Black Tea is usually brewed in water between 80 and 90 degrees Celsius.
We are now choosing this traditional crafted Souchong Black Tea, which is pure wild tea and wild alpine tea.
For high mountain tea or wild tea, it is recommended to use 100 degrees of water.
Brewing Time
The first three brews are usually 10 seconds.
Between three and seven brews, we can add about 5 seconds in turn.
In traditional Chinese Kung Fu tea, if using a gaiwan, add 1/3 of the amount of tea (1/3 of the capacity of the gaiwan).
Compared with Yunnan Black Tea or Yingde Black Tea, the amount of tea for Souchong Black Tea is appropriately less because it is relatively less oxidized.
How to Choose Souchong Black Tea?
New tea lovers:
We recommend choosing a modern refined Souchong Black Tea.
Because it is just pure nectar flavor that suits most people's taste.
Senior tea lovers/people who like traditionally crafted tea:
We suggest choosing traditionally crafted Souchong Black Tea.
Drinking traditional Souchong Black Tea warms the body and has the effect of replenishing the pancreas.
The traditional craftsmanship of Souchong Black Tea is drying with pine wood and then charcoal, the overall feeling is very mellow and rich.
The modern process is a bit cleaner.
Preservation Methods for Souchong Black Tea
Whether it is a traditional or modern craft, try to keep it sealed, The black tea should not oxidize too fast and do not absorb moisture.
You can use self-sealing bags, or use tinplate boxes, and tinplate cans, or use tinplate cans.
Keep it sealed in a place where the temperature is below 25 degrees Celsius and the humidity is below 65%.
Shelf life of black tea
China's regulation should be 24 months to 36 months.
After the 1990s, tea drinking has become more popular and the aesthetic dimension of tea drinking has been rising.
Then there are also many people who found that in some traditional small-breed black tea, the longer the preservation of the tea, the more flavorful it is.
Price of Souchong Black Tea
First of all, distinguish whether it is inside or outside Tongmuguan.
Tea inside Tongmu Pass is definitely more than twice as expensive as in other places.
Please note that even inside Tongmuguan, there are high mountain tea and wild tea.
Tongmuguan inside the real old tree wild tea to a few thousand dollars per catty, so there is no way to clarify the purchase price!
The second needs to clarify the origin of its raw materials and its process characteristics.
On the basis of the same raw materials, the same process, and flavor, choose the one with better cost performance.
This is a suitable method, but it is difficult for consumers.
Over the years, we have also been honing our skills to understand what type of tea fits what price point.
iTeaworld insists that customers can get better quality for the same price.
Tongmuguan black tea brands
Nice brand
1. ZhengShanTang Tea
2. YuanZheng Tea
3. Junde Tea
Tongmuguan black tea is in a small category, there have been a few brands that do very well.
One is Mr. Jiang Yuanxun, the founder of Tongmuguan black tea, who founded ZhengShanTang.
He has two brands, Zhengshantang is his premium brand and Yuanxun is his mid-range tea brand.
The other one is the founder of Jin Jun Mei tea handmade, which is Mr. Liang Jun de with his brand Junde.
Basically, if you buy the Tongmuguan black tea from Junde, Zhengshantang, and Yuanzheng, you will know what it tastes like.
Apart from trying the authentic Tongmuguan Souchong Black Tea.
You can also buy iTeaworld's Souchong Black Tea online to try it out.
iTeaworld's two types of Souchong Black Tea are very good in terms of both raw materials and craftsmanship and are priced at a very reasonable price, making them cost-effective.
