Czar Nicolas II

Note to Self, where to get this http://parthenonfoods.net/Russian-Royal-Tea-Delux-Loose-250g/M/B000LQOJ6E.htm

I found this tea at our local international foods store. I love this place because it is the only location in my area where I can acquire the great Scottish foods that I grew up on, such as, meat pies, bridies, and sausage rolls. The store also has a fairly large selection of loose leaf teas that are mostly Russian. Let’s check out this one…

The tea comes in an interesting thin cardboard box, adorned with individual color pictures of Czar Nick himself and his wife. This colorful packaging reminds me of the containers of many products sold during the 1950s, particularly European goods.

I opened the inner silver foil envelope to access the leaves. They were long and brown with a potent sweet and flowery aroma, almost like perfume. I don’t prefer flowery teas, but this aroma was not unpleasant.

I steeped the leaves for five minutes at 212 degrees as recommended on the colorful box. The brewed liquid had a faintly flowery and sweet aroma. The color was dark gold.

The tea tasted much like it smelled. It was medium-strength, semi-sweet, and flowery. If I had to identify the flower, I would guess, rose. I actually liked the flavor. It was smooth. There was no astringency. The aftertaste was gentle and did not overstay its welcome.

This is one of the few flowery teas that I have liked so far. Of course, though, I like anything that is sweet, so maybe this sensation on my palate over-ruled the flowery contribution. If you happen to run across this product, give it a try. I don’t find anything offensive about it.

My coworker said this is the best rose-scented black tea of all time. We are going to have a face-off between it and Mark T. Wendell’s Rose Congou.