Russian Country

I got this because I was missing my Russian tea from the Covent Tea Garden. It smells smoky in the tin but not overwhelmingly so.

There is a bit of lapsang blended in this tea. It has a slightly smoky flavor but is very slight so it reminds me of the Scottish Breakfast blend from Peet’s I like so much. This is an easy one to drink plain. I am finding it smooth and mellow with not a lot of astringency. It’s true this tea is a bit on the lighter side so I might try a 5 or 6 minute steep next time. I found it very enjoyable, nice for the morning time. I wonder what else is in here, someone mentioned keemun perhaps. It isn’t as sweet or intense as the Baker Street Blend or Hu Kwa for sure, but whatever it is, I like it…

I used to not be a fan of smoky teas at all, I guess they are growing on me a bit. I do find the lapsang blends to be less intimidating than a straight lapsang.

Update: I did try this with soymik and I don’t recommend it that way, seems a lot better plain.

Special Thanks to Amy Oh for this one – I got your envelop today! Thanks so much!

This smells like a gentle LS. I agree with Amy Oh on this completely!
With the gentle LS – it seems to be paired with something else…like…maybe, a Breakfast Tea…Scottish or English, maybe…or something slightly bakey-cakey, even…not sure.

I like the mystery, tho.

And this is tasty. I like it! It’s satisfying without being overly smoke.

Slightly more than 100 pages into War and Peace and I can’t believe I didn’t have the guts to pick up this book before. It’s bulk scared me. But man, is it a fast read. I needn’t have been scared, it’s such fun I feel like I want to lock myself in a room with it and only come out to make tea. But alas, that’s unlikely. I have to go to that wretched weight work out soon and then we might go see Toy Story 3 or at least I’d like to if we can pull it off.

In any case, I decided drinking something with the word Russian in its name would at least keep me feeling like I’m locked in the room even if I’m not. In the sample packet this one smells nice and smoky, as I’d anticipated, very much like the H&S straight lapsang with the volume turned down by a half to two thirds.

After steeping its aroma is a bit milder. I wonder if Keemun is one of the four teas in here? Maybe Ceylon as well? The underlying tea has a sort of sweet, woody smell to it with a bit of smoke.

There’s a mild smokiness in the flavor, which is actually quite nice, and there is also some gentle woody flavor. I could see this one being a nice morning tea. Although I haven’t tasted it in a while, this one is making me think of Upton’s Baker Street Blend but without the perkiness. If there is darjeeling in this, I can’t tell. This one has a mildly smoky flavor that would make a nice segue into smoky teas for someone interested in giving them a try but not yet up for the very tarry, piney strength of the more intense lapsangs.

This is going to make it into my Russian run off, for sure.

Hmmm…I can taste the keemun and lapsang most distinctly. The pinewood forest campfire flavor is tempered by freshly baked biscuits. Yum….smoky biscuits! :)

There is a refreshing tang of astringency with each sip. Not bitter but tannic, in a good way—“brisk”.

Russian Country can be considered the “gateway” to much bolder teas. Or a lapsang blend for the uninitiated. The smokiness is there but its boldness is tamed by the other yummy black teas.

Interesting…but not too complex—pretty good choice for a lazy weekend!

A bit disappointing for me after Harney & Sons superb Lapsang Souchong. It’s a good Russian tea, but I like more smoke, tar, and peat bog on my tongue.

Drank this on the beach with my toes in the ocean. That made it a 100 in my book, but I guess I’ll rate it on just the tea. :) The waves were full of fish this morning, it was so cool! http://www.flickr.com/photos/8126244@N06/8009003017/in/photostream

This is a nice blend, the lapsang is softened by the other blacks (though I can do lapsang straight). It’s got a great flavor to it, I’ll have to do a more in-depth review later when I can pay attention to flavors and taste more.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8126244@N06/8009001518/

This tea scared me. At first when smelling the wet leaves it was smoky and reminescent of a puherh with a horsey, fishy earthiness. The fishy part is what had me worried until I took my first sip. This is a very round bodied tea. It does have a light smoky taste that I think comes more from the aroma than the tea itself. It also has nutty notes. Very pleasing all in all. Thanks to ashmanra for sending me a sample to try.

I was a little afraid of this one when I smelled the dry leaves, but I needn’t have been. It is very smooth, a little sweet, and the smoke is not overpowering at all. It was good enough to have a second cup. Went really well with cheese cubes and whipped chocolate bar Aero bar.

Popped the top off this one as soon as it was freed from the delivery box. I have waited for a long time to order this one and was looking forward to the experience for quite some time — and took a sniff and sadly did not like the scent. I sat it aside and brewed a cup of Rose Scented Tea (from this same shipment) instead.

The biggest surprise from this tea became evident after I decided to try a cup adespite the somewhat flat, smoky scent of the dry leaves. I discovered that during the brew, the heat of the water releases a tantalizing complexity, smokey, spicy and delicious. A real treat for the senses!

I’m not a fan of Lapsang so I got this to try it again in a less potent blend. It really wasn’t wretched. I think I might slowly be turning to the dark side.

Just finished up a tiny pot of this. When I opened the sample the other day, the strong, smoky scent — almost reminiscent of smoked salmon — made me set it aside until I was in the mood to be a little more adventurous. Apparently, that day is today.

I was, once again, very pleasantly surprised. I can see why Harney and Sons has such a great reputation after working my way through these samples!

The smoky aroma mellows a lot once it’s brewed. The tea itself is still very smoky, but it stops short of being overwhelming, giving it a nice, strong flavor (just like I prefer!). It’s a good, complex tea, too, a real eye-opener that would be great to wake up with. I’m sorry I didn’t try it earlier.

Ahhh smoky tea. This tea is very smooth and very tasty. Only a touch of lapsang souchong which is good for my tastes. This is really not a heavy tea. Its light on the tongue with a hint of sweetness. I could really learn to like this tea a lot.

Smells smokier than it tastes. It’s a fairly mild, light tea – not terribly complex, but very pleasant. I’ve been craving smokey teas lately but full-fledged lapsang souchong is a bit much for me – as others have said, Russian Country is a nice gateway option.

Tried a sample with my latest H&S order. Not as smoky as other Lapsang Souchong teas I have had, which in my case is good. I’m not a big fan of overly-smoky tea. This blend is pretty mild and I am enjoying it as an afternoon pick-me-up.

This tea smells very strongly of Lapsang Souchong, but doesn’t deliver it in the taste, which surprisingly had a bit of licorice to it. As it cools, there’s more smoke, but it’s not a particularly good tea