the library

Lapsang souchong

Sweet & rich· tea coffee cacao

What it is

Lapsang souchong is a black tea from Fujian, China, traditionally dried over smoking pinewood fires.

What it tastes like

On the nose: smokey, phenolic, spice-clove, citrus. Among its measured molecules: 2,3-dimethylthiophene, 4,5-di-epi-aristolochene, dihydroactinidiolide, 4-ethylphenol, isoeugenol.

Every one of its 15 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.

• p-cresolaromaphenolreads as phenolic (PubChem)Measured in 7 of 341 ingredients.cite

  listed among the 'large number of phenolic substances' enriched in the second-grade tea, 'with floral, spicy, and smoky aromas' — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Results §3.3, sentence on Figure 3e,f)
• eugenolaromaphenolreads as cloves (PubChem)Measured in 19 of 341 ingredients.cite

  listed among the phenolic substances enriched in the second-grade tea 'with floral, spicy, and smoky aromas'; the paper attributes their accumulation to the smoking step, citing that 'smoking was conducive to the accumulation of phenolic substances in Lapsang Souchong black tea' — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Results §3.3, sentence on Figure 3e,f)
• linaloolaromaalcoholreads as spicy, citrus taste (PubChem)Measured in 91 of 341 ingredients.cite

  reported under its systematic name '3,7-dimethyl-1,6-octadien-3-ol' as a main substance of both the super-grade (floral/fruity) and the second-grade (green, herbal, fruity) samples — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Abstract; Results §3.3; Conclusions)
• creosolaromaphenolMeasured in 7 of 341 ingredients.cite

  one of four compounds present in less quantity in the super grade than in the first grade ('2-ethylhexanol, creosol, benzaldehyde-4-methyl- and phenol-4-ethyl- are less in A than in B'), described as 'sweet, woody, fruity, and slightly floral' — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Results §3.3, sentence on Figure 3d)
• alpha-terpineolaromaalcoholreads as floral, lilac (PubChem)Measured in 54 of 341 ingredients.cite

  'first-grade tea (B) showed a notable presence of terpenes such as α-Terpineol and Citral, all associated with floral and fruity aromas' — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Results §3.2, discussion of the Figure 2e heat map)
• 1-octen-3-olaromaalcoholMeasured in 38 of 341 ingredients.cite

  named as a key contributing compound of the first-grade samples' 'floral, sweet, woody' aroma, described in the results as carrying 'earthy, floral, sweet, woody, and green aromas' — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Abstract; Results §3.3; Conclusions)
• 4-ethylphenolaromaphenolreads as sweet smokey (PubChem)Measured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  one of the four differential compounds between the super and first grades — 'phenol-4-ethyl- are less in A than in B' — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Results §3.3, sentence on Figure 3d)
• 2,3-dimethylthiophenearomaMeasured in 1 of 341 ingredients.cite

  named among the main substances of the second-grade samples — the only sulfur heterocycle the paper singles out — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Abstract; Results §3.3; Conclusions)
• 4-ethylguaiacolaromaphenolMeasured in 11 of 341 ingredients.cite

  named as the smoke marker: 'C contains 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol with a rich smoky flavor during the smoking and baking process of Lapsang Souchong black tea', and in the conclusions as 'the large amount of smoky substances, such as 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol in C'. The same sentence in §3.3 also spells it '2-Methoxy-4-ethylphenol' — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Results §3.3 and Conclusions)
• D-limonenearomaterpenoidreads as citrus (PubChem)Measured in 10 of 341 ingredients.cite

  named in the abstract as one of the substances behind the super grade's 'floral and fruity' odour, and in the results: 'The main sweet, floral, and fruity aromas in A are mainly attributed to compounds such as D-Limonene, 3,7-dimethyl-1,6-octadien-3-ol, and 3-Hydroxymandelic acid, ethyl ester' — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Abstract; Results §3.3)
• geraniolaromaalcoholreads as sweet rose (PubChem)Measured in 26 of 341 ingredients.cite

  'Heat map analysis (Figure 2e) revealed that terpenes, alcohols, and phenols were significantly enriched in super-grade tea (A)... Key compounds like Geraniol and D-Limonene possess floral or floral-fruity aromas' — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Results §3.2, discussion of the Figure 2e heat map)
• geranialaromaterpenoidreads as lemon (PubChem)Measured in 21 of 341 ingredients.cite

  named with α-terpineol among the terpenes notably present in the first-grade tea — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Results §3.2, discussion of the Figure 2e heat map)
• isoeugenolaromaacidreads as spice-clove (PubChem)Measured in 4 of 341 ingredients.cite

  listed among the phenolic substances enriched in the second-grade tea 'with floral, spicy, and smoky aromas' — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Results §3.3, sentence on Figure 3e,f)
• 4,5-di-epi-aristolochenearomaMeasured in 1 of 341 ingredients.cite

  named among the key contributing compounds of the first-grade samples' 'floral, sweet, woody, green' character — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Abstract; Results §3.3; Conclusions)
• dihydroactinidiolidearomaterpenoidMeasured in 2 of 341 ingredients.cite

  named among the main substances of the second-grade samples, whose aroma the paper characterises as 'green, herbal scent, fruity, and slightly sweet' — Pang et al. 2024, Foods (Abstract; Results §3.3)