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I want to be fair to this tea, so I kept drinking it. My daughter says she liked it better as it cooled, and I gave it a chance. It IS a little better as it cools, but still is more astringent that I like. I am a fan of ultra smooth teas! This tea is stronger than the grocery store Lipton Black Pearl, and I would suspect it is similar to German Frisian tea. If you like strong tea, this one may appeal to you. Don’t oversteep unless you enjoy reflux.

In his novel “Night Watch”, Terry Pratchett describes Capt. Sam Vimes tea as “just how he liked it – stewed orange in an old boot”. Vimes would be very happy to join me this morning. The second, and I mean, the VERY second the boiling water hit the tea, a very strong aroma issued forth. This is strong tea. If you are looking for nuance, you won’t find it here. If you want a tea to kick your fanny out the door and remind you to eat your veggies OR ELSE, you can stop looking. This got a 5 out of 5 stars on Amazon reviews so people must love it. Mine came from Bewley’s in Dublin, Ireland where my daughter picked it up for me. We’ll try the Irish Afternoon later…..when we have recovered.

I told my youngest to pick the tea and surprise me this morning, and this is what I got. She knows that this one and Queen Catherine are my favorite morning pick-me-up teas when I am tired or sore and need a little boost! Very nice choice for today.

A nice tea, but when tasted side by side with Harney and Sons English Breakfast (the loose leaf one, not the sachets of Royal English Breakfast) I must say the Harney and Sons wins. Still, it is a very good tea, and I always feel a little more responsible when I drink organic!

What a great tea! This really has nice body, and if there is any smokiness it is ever so light. I made little humming sounds as I drank this one today, and apologized to it profusely for neglecting it for so long. I start trying new teas and forget to go back to my pets….

This was amazing! So light and delightful, sweet and tasty. It was a pale to medium yellow color, and tasted very similar to Golden Monkey from Harney and Sons or Zhen Quo from Southern Season. I think the body was a little lighter in the tea which isn’t a surprise since it really does look like it is ALL golden tips. A very good tea, and a big hit at today’s tea tasting. We did a resteeping and it was certainly drinkable but was weaker than the first steeping.

I had this one long ago, before I knew much about different types of tea and what to expect. I wanted to try this one again since I just had my first really premium oolong, and I found it to be light and refreshing. It is definitely a flowery oolong rather than a fruity one to me. I did a short steep since I wasn’t too sure of this one. Might try it again with a longer steep time.

I am sorry to report that this is NOT a favorite and I am giving this to a friend as soon as I can possibly get this out of my house! It is very heavy on the assam, and I am not a big fan of many assams, though I love Irish Breakfast tea which is usually heavy on assam. This was served at a tea for three, and all three said, “Yuck!” and poured it out, and reached for the pot of Harney Kenilworth Ceylon. It was a tad bitter, rather strong, and frankly, just not a flavor I enjoyed, and I drink lapsangs, oolongs, greens, and on and on, so my tastes are not too picky.

I was expecting smokey tea since this has “Russian” in the name. The aroma of the dry leaves was completely lacking in smoke, but I still thought it would come out in the steeping. Not so! I don’t taste any smoke, and I had a hard time figuring out what I was tasting until I really good it a good sniff. Pepper! I have read several reviews that describe peppery tea, but hadn’t run into one myself yet. Here it is! And it was pretty good. The pepper is mostly an aroma, but perhaps whatever lends the peppery scent is what gives it the full bodied taste and muskiness, because I did think of musk melon as I drank this. Not bad! I added milk and a little sugar, but it was pretty good without additions as well. No bitterness, only a hint of astringency.

Hmmmm. Dry leaves – nice, very light honey aroma. First cup from the pot was unsweetened and no milk. Very smooth, no astringency, light flavor, sweet enough to drink as is, but no where nearly as sweet as Golden Monkey or Zhen Qu. Pretty good.

Second cup – Leaves are out, they have BEEN out, but this cup looks darker and has a stronger aroma. It isn’t as sweet. Is it just me??? I add sugar, but it is too much! Just a tiny dab of sugar will sweeten this one. I also add a drop of milk to counteract the newly sensed strength to what seemed so light on the first cup. Now I have what tastes like a good, but plain Jane, breakfast tea. Hmmm. Maybe I need to do a new pot on a new day and try this one again! It isn’t bad. Just wondering how it changed from one cup to the next from the SAME pot? Must be me!