Lapsang souchong substitutes

Spanish smoked paprika delivers wood smoke in dry form, which is exactly what lapsang contributes to a rub or a stew. The teabag adds back the tannin, bitterness and brown colour.

Best for

dry rubs and vegetarian bacon-style seasoning, stews, chilli, lentils and beans, barbecue sauce and marinades, smoky salts and popcorn seasonings

The best all-round answer for savoury cooking. Smoked paprika is sweeter and fruitier than lapsang's resinous pine smoke, and it adds red colour and a faint pepper flavour, so a mushroom bacon made with it looks redder and tastes rounder and less tarry. Use the sweet, not hot, version unless you want heat, and add it early enough to bloom in fat.

Condensed wood smoke in water, the most direct way to put lapsang's defining note into anything wet.

Best for

marinades, brines and braises, vegan bacon, jackfruit and tofu, barbecue sauce, baked beans and soups, smoky cocktails

Extremely powerful and easy to ruin a dish with, so measure in drops and taste as you go. It is purer smoke than lapsang, without the pine resin, malt or tannin, so the result tastes more like a barbecue and less like tea. Hickory is the common type; if you can find applewood or mesquite, apple is closer to lapsang's gentler side.

Any other pinewood-smoked black tea. Russian Caravan blends usually contain some lapsang; tarry souchong is a heavier, smokier grade of the same tea.

Best for

drinking, tea-smoking meat and fish, tea-brined chicken and tea eggs, smoky syrups and cocktails

This is the only true like-for-like swap, so if a shop has it, take it. Russian Caravan is milder and maltier with the smoke as a background note, so use half again as much if you want lapsang's punch. Tarry souchong is stronger and more medicinal, so use about a third less and brew it briefly.

For tea-smoked duck, chicken or fish, line a wok or heavy pot with foil, spread the mixture, set a rack above it, cover and smoke over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes.

Best for

tea-smoked duck, chicken, tofu and fish, smoked eggs, smoking cheese or nuts briefly

Better than using lapsang leaves alone, because the smoke comes from the sugar and rice burning rather than from the tea, and lapsang was only ever contributing an extra smoky top note. Adding a small handful of dry pine needles or a few untreated wood chips takes it closer to lapsang's resinous character. Do this with the extractor on and the windows open, since it makes real smoke.

Two other dry smoke sources already in many kitchens.

Best for

finishing rubs and seasoning blends, soups, beans and braises, cocktail rims and roast vegetables

Smoked salt is the subtlest way in and lets you dial smoke up at the end without changing anything else, though it obviously also adds salt, so reduce the recipe's salt to compensate. Chipotle brings heat and a raisiny fruitiness along with the smoke, which is delicious but noticeably hotter and sweeter than lapsang.

Assam, Ceylon or a robust breakfast blend, used when lapsang is the beverage and no smoked tea is available.

Best for

drinking, when nothing smoky is on hand, recipes where lapsang was one tea among several

Worth being blunt: there is no substitute for lapsang as a drink. Plain black tea gives you the body, tannin and colour and none of the campfire, so the cup tastes ordinary rather than dramatic. A grain of smoked salt or a single drop of liquid smoke in the pot is a crude fix that works better than you would expect, though it can taste synthetic, so add the tiniest possible amount.