Apricot Accord

For centuries, diligent monks in the Wuyi Mountains have grown tea and indigo plants in neatly terraced plantations. In 1646, their monasteries were attacked by Qing soldiers from the north. As the monks were forced to flee, they smoked batches of tea leaves over pinewood fire to preserve their crops. This would become the smoky lapsang souchong tea. Mixing with the fresh mountain air and the incense from nearby shrines, the intoxicating plumes of indigo smoke captured the colors of the Wuyi Mountains and their dramatic river narrows.