Gout Russe 7 Agrumes

This is another one from Auggy and I have to admit that when I unwrapped this tin, my immediate thought was ‘Russian gout?’ O.o So that’s what it’s called in my head now. Russian gout. It probably has rather a lot to do with the fact that I don’t speak French.

Anyway, it’s a black base flavoured with seven types of citrus fruits, first and foremost among which appears to be bergamot, when going by the aroma. Both the leaves and the steeped cup is heavy on the aroma and then with the other fruits slightly more in the background and just strong enough to make it not a variation on the Earl Grey theme.

When it comes to the flavour it’s evened out a bit more, but I can’t say I can pick out the different fruits individually. It’s all just a mixture of generic citrusness on a black base.

It’s quite pleasant actually, and it reminds me of the Kusmi Russian blend sampler I had once; a combination of Anastasia and Troika I think would produce something quite similar to this. That makes it a rather heavy sort of flavour, where those two Kusmis I remember as being fairly light on the feet. I think I preferred those two respectively over this more lumbering beast. I would have liked to have seen a little more ‘lift’ in this, if you understand what I mean by that. It feels a little to me like there might have been just one ingredient too many in this combination.

Still, though, if what you’re looking for is just something citrus-y without requiring anything more specific than that, then this is a good choice.

sipown! thank you *hallieod for sending this along for me to try. I didn’t think i’d enjoy this much as there is a strong bergamot flavour to this. However, I’m open to trying things just in case! Overall? I wouldn’t ever order this myself but it’s not as iscky to me as i thought it would be. The base is rather smooth and the bergamot is softened by the other citrus fruits in the blend. My only wish? that this was a bit sweeter. There’s a bitterness from the fruits that makes this less pleasant than it could be. Still though…not too shabby :) Thanks Hallieod!

I love citrus, particularly those in the sweet orange category, though I have a fondness for all citrus types. Thus I simply had to try this tea out. Seven types of citrus! Whee!

The smell of bergamot is the strongest scent in the dry leaf, but there is a note of lighter sweetness too – the sweet orange, I believe. Post-steeping, it’s a heady mix of citrus. Nothing distinctly stands out; instead it is a sweet, fragrant, dark, silky, exotic scent that smells slightly different on each sniff. Sweetness here, tangy there, a dash of spice. It all kind of swirls together and I’m finding it rather sensual and dizzying. Or maybe the dizziness is coming from the constant sniffing.

The taste doesn’t seem as sparkly as the smell, but it’s nice. I get bergamot on the front end, a flash of bitter orange on the back, a nice clean aftertaste with a bit of… lime peel? and a general citrus flavor (slightly sweet) throughout. It becomes a little sweeter and more floral (from the bergamot, I suspect, though perhaps the grapefruit) as it cools, but it still doesn’t sparkle as much as the scent.

I think the strength of the bergamot in this makes me think Earl Grey-thoughts and I was personally hoping for a bit more sweet orange out of it. But looking at it from an EG perspective, I quite like it.