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One more from the Samovar black tea sampler pack. I’ve been a little shy of lavender as a flavor rather than a scent, so I’m not expecting miracles from this blend. The dry leaf does have a noticeable proportion of lavender blossoms in it, and the aroma of the leaf and the tea reflects that – no mistaking that presence!

I think this works out better than Golden Moon’s Earl Grey/Lavender blend, as the herb portion tastes fresher, but I still don’t feel like I’m being won over to the ingestion of lavender. The two flavors work together well, but it’s not for the faint of heart; even after 3.5 minutes it is a strong drink that actually imparts a little bit of burn to the back of the throat.

Interesting to try, but I won’t be going back for more.

Last time I tried this it turned out a bit too bitter, so I’ve notched down the temperature and steeping time and I think it works much better. I’m still getting noticeable roastiness, some green vegetable flavor, and just the right amount of astringency. It’s nice to finally get the parameters right on this one!

I’m really pleased with this one! I’ve loved Lapsang Souchong for a long time, but never would have thought about pairing the smokey with the fruity. It threw me off when I saw that this was a blend of black tea and lychee; one of my favorite fruits as it so happens, so how bad could it be?

In fact, it’s really, really good. It’s not as deeply and intensely smokey as some other LS varieties out there (cough, cough – Golden Moon – cough, cough), but it is blended so skillfully with the fruit that the sweet flavor just feels like a natural extension of the smoke. Brilliant!

With cream and sugar the smoke is scaled back to be more present in the aftertaste, letting the fruitiness come to the fore in both taste and texture. I didn’t have any jam to mix in as suggested by Samovar, but I’d love to try that in the future.

Really enjoying this one today – it’s tasting particularly fresh and healthy, which is very welcome on this grey and cold day. I’m getting buttery vegetables from it, a little bit of natural sweetness, and just the slightest bit of astringency. Three steeps so far, and each one of them very tasty!

Now it’s time to start digging into my Samovar black tea sampler pack, and no better place to start on a rainy Monday morning than with their Breakfast Blend. The dry leaf has a nice appearance, with visible golden tips mixed in.

Four minutes in just boiled water and I’ve got a medium-dark brown liquor that has a typical black tea scent with hints of malt and spice. The taste is good – it is brisk, i.e. just the right amount of astringency, and there are peppery/spicy notes that remind me a little of Golden Moon’s Sinharaja, though not as pronounced. This tea is tasty straight up, and with cream and sugar it’s a nice, comforting way to get going at the beginning of the week.

This is becoming a Friday afternoon favorite – fresh and full of fruit and floral notes, decaffeinated and just right to start winding down from a busy week.

This was the last sample bag of Samova tea I grabbed recently, and the one that seems to have the longest ingredient list, including lots of different types of fruit and herbs. I was a bit wary to see that hibiscus is in this, for although I like that flavor straight, especially iced with lots of sugar, I also know it can overpower other players in a blend.

They recommend 8 minutes of steeping and after doing that I was surprised by how mellow the drink still was. It’s a nice medium-pink color, with a mild generically fruity aroma. I definitely get the tartness of hibiscus, but there are other well-developed flavors in there as well, including sweetness which is probably from both the apple and the licorice, and berry juiciness from the strawberry. Although it’s fine hot, I think I’d prefer it steeped up strong, sweetened and then iced.

Another Samova teabag I picked up on a recent trip – this sounded like a nice blend of black and herbal flavors, with mint predominating but ginger, coriander and others also in the mix.

The suggested steeping time is four minutes, but we’re there now and the liquor is looking a bit timid, so we’ll leave it in for another minute.

That’s better. It’s medium greenish-brown now and has a really nice scent to it, mixing mint with a floral/fruity note. On first sip I can taste the hibiscus that also plays a role, so I’ll put in a little sugar to take the edge off the tartness. Mmm, even better now – though I can’t really taste any of the black tea that’s in there, I do feel like it gives the drink a more robust character than it would have with just the herbs. There are some nice flavors in there, the mint pairing nicely with the cardamom. Not a bad one at all.

Coming back to this one for another try. This time I’m noticing much more the toasty flavor which overlays the vegetal and fruity notes – especially after I let the tea cool off a bit. A second steep for a slightly longer time reveals a more buttery texture as well as the background roastiness. Third steep was fairly weak and didn’t note any new flavors.

I chose this one as my final evaluation sample from Arbor Teas, as I’ve had good experiences with tuo chas in the past and wanted to see how this one measured up. I like that each piece is individually wrapped – it just appeals to the packaging nerd in me. The smell of the cake is mild, with a little bit of grain/cereal to it.

I gave it a quick rinse in hot water and then set it up for four minutes of steeping. The resulting liquor was dark and cloudy brown, and did not have the same level of reddishness to it I’d gotten used to seeing in pu-erhs. My first impression of the flavor was its full and savory character – similar in that way to the Camel’s Breath tuo cha from CTG, but dialed back just a bit.

This does not have the wonderful sweetness I got from Arbor Teas’ special grade pu-erh, but it does have lots of deep, stewy flavors. This might sound crazy, but I can actually imagine this iced next to a plate of ribs. Okay, that might actually be really nasty, but those are the kinds of flavors this one reminds me of. Looks like there’s plenty of strength left for multiple steeps, so I’m planning to give this another couple rounds later today.