Lapsang Souchong

Palate. Lapsang Souchong carries tasting notes of oak, citrus, tobacco smoke, whisky, and pine.^[1]

LYS Taproom. At the Leave Your Sword taproom, Lapsang Souchong is served as an iconic match with a tosti made from over-year-aged kimchi and sakekasu brioche, plated with blue stilton.^[2]

General. The kombucha pairs with grilled red meat, octopus, oysters, blue cheese, and poached fruits.^[1]

Declared ingredients: lapsang souchong tea, organic beetroot sugar, water, and kombucha culture.^[1]

Lapsang Souchong Tea — Flavour Base. The single tea used is lapsang souchong, originating from China and blended from several tea gardens under the Essentials line designation.^[1]

Organic Beetroot Sugar — Fermentation Feedstock. Organic beetroot sugar provides the sugar consumed during fermentation.^[1]

Kombucha Culture — Fermentation Agent. A kombucha culture drives the fermentation of the sweetened tea.^[1]

Specifications. Lapsang Souchong is a tea-based kombucha with the following declared specifications.^[1]

• ABV: 2.5%
• Sugar: 0g per 100g
• Line: Essentials
• Origin of base tea: China

Production. The kombucha is unpasteurized, unfiltered, naturally carbonated, and bottle aged.^[1]

Label Artwork. The label artwork depicts the Chochin Obake, a friendly cyclops smoking paper lantern drawn from Japanese yōkai folklore. Leave Your Sword describes the design as inspired by Katsushika Hokusai's One Hundred Ghost Stories.^[1]

The kombucha is naturally carbonated and bottle aged, remaining unpasteurized and unfiltered.^[1]

Lapsang Souchong won a Bronze at the World Kombucha Award 2024 in the Black tea category, and a Bronze at the International Wine and Spirit Competition 2023.^[1]