Russian Country

I am usually apprehensive about trying “smoky” teas. Too often in my experience they used some low-quality base and tried to hide it by overdoing the smoky part. Besides, I tend to agree with many people in China that Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong, the main ingredient of “smoky teas”, is better enjoyed in its more natural unsmoked state. So, I made a cup of Russian Country tea and prepared myself for a disappointment. I was wrong.

This tea combines Lapsang Souchong with 4 other teas and they actually blend quite nicely together. The smokiness is not overdone and is being quite pleasantly complemented by the sweetness of Keemun and the vegetal sourness of Oolong. And Assam and Ceylon, which are often to heavy-handed for me in tea blends, kept their worst qualities at bay. Leather, malt, pine and salted caramel.

I am not a big fun of tea blends that are not built around some herbs or fruit but this one certainly has legs to stand on a reason to exist beyond the necessity to sell less than exciting teas. I most likely will not re-order it but will certainlyenjoy finishing the 100 grams that I bought.

I finally managed to finish a tin of this blend yesterday afternoon. My agency had scheduled our annual staff picnic at the closest state resort park yesterday, but we had rainstorms move in Thursday and it rained all day. I didn’t want to go anyway, so I used the weather as an excuse to skip it. Instead, I spent the day getting a couple meetings out of the way and then went home early to drink tea, play with my cats, and rest. Days like yesterday make me miss the time I spent working from home. I used to hate it because I found it boring, but now I miss the freedom of being able to work at my own pace whilst sitting around in my boxers and a t-shirt and drinking tea all day.

I prepared this tea in the Western fashion. I steeped a full teaspoon of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material emitted aromas of malt, smoke, wood, and pine. After infusion, I began to pick up on touches of brown toast and sea salt. In the mouth, I mostly detected strong top notes of malt, smoke, and pine underscored by subtler flavors of sea salt, brown toast, leather, roasted nuts, and caramel. The finish was smoky, woody, and malty with touches of roasted nuts and leather.

This was a nice, hearty blend. It was not particularly deep or complex, but it was a great blend to just knock back. Though I kind of wish there had been something to better balance all of the wood, smoke, and malt, this was still very solid.

Boy, does this have pronounced aromas. Its taste is smooth. A nice morning cup.

A very good tea from Harney & Sons. I’m a recent convert to Lapsang, so was excited to see the description of this one blended with that tea for a smoother version.

It is smoky but slightly, and all the teas blend together to make a smooth, smooth tea that has no bitterness, no astringency, and a subtle but very there flavor that’s not artificial at all.

When I’m drinking this I find myself hoping for a little spice or something – it feels like that’s missing here, even though it wasn’t really supposed to be spicy. The smell is great and pops as soon as I put the tea in the water.

It’s a good blend that’s a breakfast tea but not really for strong Lapsang fans looking for that kick by itself. For some reason this also has a slight fishy taste to me in every sip. Not sure if it’s just this batch or what, I don’t see that as a note for anyone else but it’s definitely there for me.

Next brew I’ll experiment with a stronger steep. A nice wakeup feel from this one!

I’m not sure what the other tea that was blended with the Lapsang Souchong was because I couldn’t taste anything but the Lapsang. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – but I would have liked a bit more subtly to the flavor.

Tasty! A blend of various black teas, the smokiness from the lapsang souchong only comes in at the very end. A nice lightly smoky tea that offers something different than usual.

I was cleaning out my tea cupboard when I came across a whole set of Harney & Sons samples I had forgotten about from ::mumblemumble:: years back. So I might be reviewing a bit more in the near future. However, I must note that even though the packets are air tight, this tea is a few years old and therefore maybe not the most accurate.

Not a lot to say about this tea. If it were my first smoky tea, then I think that I wouldn’t be very impressed. It’s fine and held up after I oversteeped it a bit. It has a distinct earthy aftertaste — not bad. It’s fine, but I won’t order a full tin. NE

Really nice lapsang. My stomach says it’s strong, but there’s a nice mellower aftertaste, but yeah still smoky. I think I encouraged Shmiracles to get this one because of the name, and because it’s Harney, and because I know she likes lapsang too. I like all novel Russian things, and I have a few Kusmi tea collections in my Amazon wish list that are kind of a dream buy. Someday!

Ah I’m posting this note hours after consuming this tea, which feels a bit wrong because I want to do it justice. I do remember, however, my first experience with a smoky black tea-it was the keemun hao ya a (which is somehow different from a keemun hao ya b, etc…?), and it was from art of Tea. I remember the distinct impression that the tea smelled of barn yard, and unfortunately that association persisted until I finished the sample. I posted about it to you fine folk, and one of you implored me not to give up on smoky teas, and so I did my best to soldier on. I loved the Queen, and she’s got a smoky element to her, and this one also came highly recommended from ifjuly whom I like a great deal.

This tea did smell predictably smoky as soon as I opened the package, although I can’t say I immediately envisioned a barn, which I suppose is a good thing. Once brewed, it retained its smoky smell, but I was also getting hints of burnt chocolate, along with…another smell that I can’t really place. It sort of smelled as though a house was burning-you know that smell that will drift about a most unfortunate neighborhood when a house is burning down? sort of that salty smell that, if not for being born to you on crisp fall or winter air, might actually be more upsetting? I mean, of course it’s upsetting-the thought of anyone’s home burning down is very tragic…oh my god, how the hell did my tasting note feature a burning family home? aaahhh. But basically, there’s an almost salty aspect to the burning chocolate smoke smell of this tea. That particular facet of the smell doesn’t translate into the taste, however. The tea tastes lovely, with hints of dark chocolate, malt, and campfire, and I loved it. I don’t actually know what’s Russian about smoke, but hey, I’ll take it. I also realized that for me (and others, I imagine), enjoying a good smoky tea is a bit of an acquired taste. Mr. Keychange took a sip of my tea this morning and said that it seemed weird but that he could get used to it. I pretty much inhaled the cup alongside my double vanilla buttercream cupcake, and would be happy to have a tea like this in my collection. There’s probably enough left in the sample for another cup.

A substantial blend with just the right amount of smoke for my tastes. This is one of my go-to teas when I need a sturdy cuppa, something comforting and consistent. It’s a really perfectly balanced tea.

Additive note: I used to drink it with some rock sugar and milk and it was brilliant. Recently I went off dairy and sugar, have severe nut allergies and as yet, I have not been able to recapture the previous perfection. It isn’t bad with agave or honey, but it isn’t the same. And coconut milk is really not a great addition to the flavor profile. Neither was soy. We’re going to try some rice milk in this and see how that works.