The name "Lapsang Souchong" doesn't appear in the national standard at all — it's an international trade name for what the standard actually calls Souchong Black Tea, which covers two genuinely different sub-types, not one uniform smoked product.
Lapsang Souchong is the English name most people know for what China’s national standard actually calls 正山小种 (Zhengshan Xiaozhong) — and that gap between the trade name and the standard name turns out to matter.
GB/T 13738.3-2012, the national standard covering this tea, defines souchong black tea as tea made through withering (with pine smoke), rolling, oxidation, drying (with pine smoke) and refining. The pine smoke isn’t a finishing touch — it’s applied during withering and again during drying, built into the process from early on.
Two products, one standard. This is the detail most English-language tea writing flattens out. GB/T 13738.3-2012 actually covers two separate products:
- Zhengshan Xiaozhong (正山小种) — produced inside the Wuyishan Nature Reserve, specifically Tongmu Village, Xingcun Town, Wuyishan City. Four grades: Superior, then Grade 1 through 3. Documented aroma is a distinct longan-dried-fruit note or pine smoke, with the top grade described as pure, high and long, carrying a mountain character and a longan-soup-like taste.
- Yan Xiaozhong (烟小种) — produced outside the reserve, made using the standard gongfu black tea process and then smoked with pine. Five grades. Aroma is described simply as pine smoke — no longan character, no mountain character documented — and lower grades may carry a rough, green note.
These aren’t the same tea at two price points. A product from outside the protected reserve is, by the standard’s own definition, not Zhengshan Xiaozhong at all.
About the name. The standard’s official English title is “Black tea — Part 3: Souchong black tea.” It does not provide an English name for 正山小种, and it never uses the term “Lapsang Souchong” anywhere. That name is an international trade convention that grew up around the tea over time — useful shorthand, but not an official translation, and this page doesn’t present it as one.
Moisture is capped at ≤7.0% for Zhengshan Xiaozhong, with a water extract minimum of ≥34% at Superior and Grade 1, dropping to ≥32% for Grades 2–3. Yan Xiaozhong’s water extract runs slightly lower: ≥32% at Superior and Grade 1, ≥30% for Grades 2–4.
The useful buying question isn’t “is it smoked?” — both sub-types are. It’s which souchong you’re actually getting: Zhengshan Xiaozhong means pine smoke plus a longan-style fruit character from inside a defined reserve; Yan Xiaozhong means pine smoke from outside it. Both are legitimate, standard-recognized products — just different teas.
See Jinjunmei, grown in the same protected Tongmu Village area but made without any smoking at all, and the Chinese Black Tea guide for how souchong fits among China’s black teas.
Look · Dry leaf
Top grade (Superior) described in the national standard as thick and tight (壮实紧结), black and glossy (乌黑油润); lower grades progressively looser and more mixed in color.
Smell & taste
Typical aroma: longan dried fruit, pine smoke. Flavor tendencies: mellow, sweet aftertaste. Body: medium-full. These vary by batch, storage and brewing.
Brew · A starting point
Try 5 g in 150 ml water at 90–100°C for 15–30 seconds. Fully decant before tasting.
Read the wet leaves
Top grade described in the standard as tender, soft, wrinkled, bronze-colored and even; lower grades noted as slightly mixed.
Sources & review
Compiled by ChinaTea101's editors from Chinese national and industry tea standards and reference material, then fact-checked. Last reviewed 2026-09-25. How we check claims
- Standard GB/T 13738.3-2012 红茶 第3部分：小种红茶 (Black tea — Part 3: Souchong black tea) — National Public Service Platform for Standards Information (SAMR). Current standard; status checked on the national standards platform. View source ↗