Samovar Loose Leaf Black Tea 'Russian Blend'

Tea Information:
Tea: Russian Blend
Type: Black Tea
Packaging: Loose Leaf
Company: Samovar
Purchase: Here
Description: Samovarian Poetry: Smoky, strong, sweet, fruity, caffeine-loaded & certain to warm and to wake.

Flavor Profile: Smoky, sweet, and lightly fruity. Brew it like as you would any other black tea and it is smooth and full bodied with an apricot sweetness, and a light tarry smokiness.

Prepare in your Samovar and it is a potent and exciting astringent, sweet, and deeply smoky treat.

Tea Story: The best Russian Blend you'll ever taste.

One of our most popular custom blends, this black tea infusion is based on the traditional Russian blend from the icy tundras of Siberia. This brew is best sipped after steeping it in the teapot on top of a Samovar, making a very smoky, astringent, super-strong tea concentrate called "zavarka."

Traditionally, you pour a little bit of the zavarka into your cup from the samovar, and then dilute it with hot water to taste. Add a little organic fruit jam, and some milk, and voila, you've got yourself a real wake-up meal-of-a-tea. Our secret blend is lightly fruity, smoky, full bodied...and delicious with or without milk.

If zavarka is too potent for your taste buds, just follow the the brewing directions on the back of the can for a tamed-down, but no less delightful, cup of Russian Blend.

Smoky, sweet, and smooth, this tea will sooth your soul as you contemplate wise words from Russian sages.... such as Tolstoy, "Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them." Ahhh.....
Ingredients: A blend of Chinese black teas and lychee flavor.

Steep Information:
Prepared in store, and bought some for home.

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: (lapsang souchong) smokey
Steeped Tea Smell: (lapsang souchong) smokey
Flavor: sweet, smoky, black tea
Body: Full
Aftertaste: none
Liquor: translucent dark orange oaker

Lightly smokey, less than a lapsang souchong, with the nice hint of fruit.

MilitiaJim had this for breakfast at the Yerba Buena Gardens location. It was a part of the "Russian Service"

Tarragon-Marinated Beets, Smoked Whitefish & Horseradish, Devilled Egg with Caviar, Herbed Crackers, Fresh Fruit, Chocolate Brownie. They say that Tolstoy fueled his creativity by drinking Russian tea from the samovar. See what it does for you. Start with our zavarka, dilute it with a tad of hot water and add milk and sugar.

MilitiaJim experimented with it plain, milk, sugar, milk and sugar. The tea came from the samovar and then was diluted with hot water in a kettle on the samovar.

The location has comfortable benches, outdoor seating, huge windows for natural light and is very cozy. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful.

The box we purchased was a nice recyclable cardboard, containing a plastic bag containing the tea, held shut by metal clip. There was also a sticker included. Not sure why.

Rating: 3/4 leaves


Leaf system:
1=Bleh! not again if it were free
2=Acceptable, if it were free or there were limited other tea options
3=I might purchase this tea from time to time, or select it while out
4=A staple in our cupboard from now on, I will purchase and keep purchasing


At Samovar


At Home




The Box