St Petersburg

I recently ordered this and the Caramel tea from Kusmi and was really excited to try this, based on the description, it seemed right up my alley.

It didn’t disappoint me, I can taste the fruit, and the sweetness of the caramel, and of course the bergamot which basically seals the deal that I’m going to love it, since it reminds me of a fruity earl grey.

To me, it’s sort of like what Davidstea ‘The Earl’s Garden’ (which I love) would be if it tasted less artificial. I will add to this after my second taste!

I accidentally steeped it about ten degrees higher than recommended on the tin so next time I will do it accurately and report back!

Edit to add- it’s definitely more tea flavoured than anything else, I mean the flavouring is definitely subtle!!

Scent: Floral and Caramel
Color: Orangish-Brown
Wet Leaf Scent: Caramel and Woodsy
Taste of Tea: Primarily Caramel and black tea taste with Bergamot and a little wood-like taste.

The dry tea smells like a straight earl grey, the pungently citrus scent of bergamot pretty much all I could smell. When the water was poured it a sweeter, more berry like quality came through.

To me the tea still tastes mostly like an earl grey tea, although the bergamot is sweeter and there’s a bit of a smoother, creamy quality to it. As it cooled I also caught hint of the red fruits but I didn’t really taste much caramel – I could smell it but my tongue just wasn’t catching it.

This tea reminds me of Earl Grey. A nice, nutty orange flavor. This is lovely without additives.

So today I went on a little hunt around town for the Caramel blend by Kusmi (saves on shipping ;)… but sadly neither of the two stores I went to had it! I’m going to have to wait for Christmas or make the trek to the Champs (which is never something I do for fun because frankly, it’s tourist hell…) So instead I decided to go for the St Petersburg.

I always get a bit anxious when trying blends. This is probably because my past consists of way too many cups of cheap tea blends brewed for too long (eugh). But I’m happy to say that I’m quite impressed by this blend!

I love how smooth it is. One can definitely feel (and taste) the caramel. It’s in that beautiful little bubble right before you get to sweet so it can be enjoyed at any time of day. It smells absolutely amazing as well! I’d like to try to bake with this… hehe.

I am quite happy about this addition to my cupboard!

I love, love , love this tea. I treasure my little box of St. Petersburg so much that I am only willing to use a small amount of tea leaves each time! :P I always drink it plain, which is delicious enough. The fruity berry note is so fragrant and delightful. The caramel is sweet but subtle, so to me it tastes more like honey. Highly recommend to anyone who loves Mariage Freres’ Marco Polo. :)

I make two-hour-long trips downtown for tea. And I did so again this time, for this little House Decoration store that I learned (through the internet) also sold Kusmi teas. I was planning on buying a bunch of their Russian blends (maybe even the whole Russian giftset), but she was mostly out of them. The ones she WASN’T out of, she had sold out of the tiny tins and only had the HUMONGOUS tins left. So she gave me samples of two, and I bought a third little tin.

This is one of the samples. Although she only gave me two teaspoons, so in order to conserve, I used a level teaspoon full, and 6 ounces of water.

It smells like bergamot and caramel, it tastes like red berries and vanilla. I’m also getting caramel on the tip of my tongue. I think this would benefit from a bit of sugar, as JacquelineM said, but I haven’t any and don’t feel like going upstairs to fetch some. Otherwise, the flavours are very subtle, but still very enjoyable.

I think I will have to get a tin of this, when they come back in stock.

Second steep has a stronger caramel note, followed by the fruit.

Everthing about this tea just makes me think warm and soothing embrace. I really love this black tea from kumsmi. The caramel infused in the tea is the embracing feature and honestly, on a cold day when I like to walk outside or just do my homework, St. Petersburg is one of my go-to’s. I don’t like brewing a full pot of this tea, just the mug. But it is good for more than one steep ( abt. 2-3). So save the bag if you feel like having more later.

Trying this one again this evening… There isn’t the opening tang of bergamot present but what I do find as I smell the dried leaves is a berry or dark cherry perhaps? I’m not one for the caramel note but I am secure in the soothing characteristics of vanilla.
I let it steep for 4.5 to 5 minutes as I was desirous of a dark tea this evening. Feeling overwhelmed at the moment and moody… this might fit the bill. The addition of milk was a perfect touch and yet it doesn’t mask the bergamot and citrus notes fully.

There is much to say on this cup but I will leave off for the moment. The grumpies have got me and if I smoked tonight would be a two cigarette or fine cigar sort of night. I mean it no injustice as this is a very handsome tea. Ciao

This tea is lovely. It smells lovely brewing, like berry jam. It tastes just as sweet… The caramel tastes more like just a plain sweetness, but the berries are strong, and the whole thing blends well. The tea is a dark brew, and takes on a slightly creamy mouthfeel, like a tea with coconut pieces. When brewed properly, this blend doesn’t get even slightly bitter… A plus for sweet tea drinkers!

Stick caramel in a tea and I’ll drink it, and this one is no exception. I like the fruity notes. It tastes very smooth.

This is a downright yummy tea from Kusmi. I like to call this a “dessert tea” becaus thats just what it reminds me of, dessert. When sugar and milk are added it has a taste similar to fruit dipped in caramel. This is a great tea to serve to guests after a meal.

Got this tea as part of Kusmi’s Russian Teas sampler. It came in a cute little tin.

I’ve got to say: this tea is hands down my favorite tea from Kusmi that I’ve tried. It’s got a warm, candy-like aroma that just permeates the air—I can smell this tea steeping from the opposite side of my living room. For me, the fruity flavor isn’t as overwhelming as it can sometimes be in other flavored teas. It’s got caramel, but not in a cloying way. Most caramel teas require milk and sugar for me, but this one is delicious plain, sweetened, or as a soy latte.

It’s always so nice when you write a big lot of text for something and then your computer gets crazy and you lose all of it. Thanks very much, laptop. You’ve done well!

Anyway, I was surprised to see that many reviews if this either made no mention of the berry element or downplayed it. To me, it’s primarily a black tea (an assertive one that isn’t dominated by the other flavours) with the second most noticeable flavour being very much the red berries and then caramel. If I’m really looking for it, I can taste just a “vibe” of the bergamot (mostly at the end up the mouthful), but it’s really only a wisp.

The taste and smell of this in a latte reminded me a lot of these chocolates you can get in Australia called strawberry Caramello Koalas. If you’re not from Australia, you probably have no idea what that is, but it’s just milk chocolate filled with a strawberry caramel centre and I’m pretty sure it’d be no different to any of those generic-type boxed chocolates with the gooey strawberry centres. I don’t like any of that, so the fact that the tea reminded me of it wasn’t really a selling point, but the tea was actually pretty enjoyable. It was perhaps a bit too dessert-y with the sweetener and soy milk, but I thought even the aroma of the brewed tea with nothing added was quite heavy on the berries and caramel, so I don’t know think it’s one of those teas that gives you a lot of options. I don’t know—it just felt like a bit much to me to have that strong berry plus caramel plus sweetener plus soy milk. Arguably, you could leave out the sweetener and milk, but when it smells like something from a chocolate box, that doesn’t seem like a good option.

If you don’t like black tea to begin with, you probably won’t like this. It could be that I’m more sensitive to the taste than other people because I haven’t drank that much black tea in my life, but anyway. Also, the dry smell isn’t really an indication of the taste of this tea. It smelled much more citrus-sy (when I didn’t even taste citrus in the brewed version), but really, I always smell these bags before I brew them and the Kusmi ones often don’t taste like their dry smell.

I have another bag of this from my sampler pack to try, but my feeling is basically that this is a nice tea for a change of pace, but it’s not a “regular basis” to for me. It’s just a bit too weird to have all these elements coming together at once in one drink.

I was a diehard fan of Prince Vladimir, that is until I tried St Petersburg! It’s lush, soft and is rather inspiring. I highly recommend this tea!!

This is one of my pretty teas.
Pretty as in: Standing in my teashelf looking handsome.

The tea itself is orange in color, smell sweet and taste like… Tea.
It’s sweet, but that’s the only “note” I caught beside the taste of a black tea.
Neutral like Sweden, I guess.

It’s actually nice to sip while I am eating cereal.
So I guess it’s good for breakfast, when you just need a little strong tea-tasting tea to keep you company.

I did not expect to like this one. For one — caramel? In tea? Come on now. But you know what? It totally works. This is a wonderful blend. There is a slight hint of fruit (which usually I don’t care for) and it completely works with the flavors. I was so pleasantly surprised! Resteeping made it lose it’s flavor, understandably. This is another winner from my Kusmi Essentials box! I recommend picking one of those up, fellow tea drinkers. I’m a new Kusmi convert.

MMMMmm Tasty the berry flavors are nice,along with the bergamot. nice black tea

A very distinctive Kusmi tea. It tastes a little like candy shop, but not in a nasty synthetic way! Sweet and fruity, but full-flavoured. Not an everyday tea, but a very good one.

This is a sample from my Kusmi order. I got a sampler tin, and I think this is in that too, so hopefully I like it :D

Smells good, tastes good. Better notes once it cools and I’m done with work stuff. :)