Smoke in pu-erh - processing? leaf? aging?

[expatCanuck]

This is a cross-post from that other tea forum. ...

I've very much enjoyed some pu-erh teas with smoky/tobacco notes, tho' I find Lapsang Souchong (LS) to be, for the most part, vile. Too over the top (like virtually all Jasmine oolongs that I've tried). Perhaps I've just not found a good source.

My reading indicates that LS smells/tastes smoky because of its processing.

I was wondering whether the smoky notes in some pu-erhs is likely a result of processing, aging, the leaves chosen, some combination of the foregoing, or something else entirely.

Learned wisdom welcome.

Thanks.

- Richard

 

[Hobbesoxon]

Lapsang souchong, such a wonderful tea. I've never found a good outlet to buy some of my own, though, and remain searching. Do please let me know if you have any recommendations.

Regarding the smoke, lapsang souchong is smoked over pine wood to give it that familiar character. As with most adulterated teas, this usually means that the quality of the leaves is often not quite top-notch.

With pu'er, there is no explicit smoking stage. Any smoke that you detect is due to either the characteristics of the leaves, or some interesting residue from the processing. It's usually very light. Opinion is divided about whether or not it's A Good Thing, but I think, like everything, it has its place.

Recently enjoying everyone's favourite 2008 Xiaguan FT Baoyan mushroom, I was struck by the smokiness. In the context of Baoyan, it's highly complementary, for example.

Some cakes are wok-fried to halt the leaf oxidation (and prevent it becoming hongcha); some cakes are steamed. Either can introduce smokiness. Similarly, after pressing, some cakes are dried by one of a variety of means, which could introduce smokiness. Horses for courses.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

 

[expatCanuck]

... Horses for courses. ...

For the benefit of those who might otherwise have to google this phrase (as I did ), it's roughly equivalent to 'YMMV' or, perhaps more accurately, 'mileage varies'.

 

[netsurfr]

For the benefit of those who might otherwise have to google this phrase (as I did ), it's equivalent to 'YMMV'.

I was about to do just that and then I rolled down to your post!

 

[Jim]

Great post, very interesting.