There are many legends that speculate on the origin of smoking tea, and the common thread through all of them is an accidental discovery (examples include: bandits burning down a tea shed, accidentally leaving tea stock in campfire smoke on trade routes from China to Europe). We are inclined to believe that the discovery was accidental indeed. These days Lapsang Souchong is processed in a 3-4 story smoking shed called a qinglou. At the bottom of a qinglou is a wood oven where horsetail pine is burned, producing smoke throughout the levels of the shed. The leaves are withered on the top levels, oxidized on the middle levels, and dried in the bottom levels.