Finest Russian Caravan (TB70)

Sample of the morning from Upton Tea Imports. :)

I may have steeped this for too long, I kinda lost track of time. I was just reading the other’s tasting notes and a few have remarked how it smells and tastes like darjeeling, honestly I am not picking that up here…

It’s a very strong black tea, I suspect it’s a keemun blend with some ceylon in it, perhaps. There’s a very faint bit of smoke in here. I was able to drink it plain but I also found the flavor to be flat and muddy (and that is how I feel about keemuns in general), so a bit of soymilk perked it right up and made it better. I still don’t taste any darjeeling but if I do a shorter steep, that may become more prominent. Luckily I have enough of the sample for a few more cups.

This is a good morning time tea, dark and strong but I prefer the Russian Country from Harney and Sons.

When i picked this one, I actually thought it would be a smokey tea for whatever reason. This tea has no smokiness to it. There’s actually almost a fruity taste happening here which confuses me often in straight blacks :) it’s not malty…to me this is a sweet black with some sort of taste to it that makes my mouth feel full. so maybe i’m having a weird morning haha

I really thought this would be more smoky and heavier on the Lapsang Souchong. It only has a very little bit of smoke to it – very subtle. I’ve had two cups already this morning. It is a good tasting tea tho! It has a sweeter finish than I expected as well. Overall good – a few surprises – but good!

I love this tea. As it is getting warmer (well really hotter) , a dense , heavy Mountain Malt does not appeal to me in the AM right now. This tea is a whisper of smoke but again I don’t want to wake up w a roaring barbecue during the summer. It has a sweetness in the aftertaste so this is a nice light breakfast tea in the summer months.

The second in the British Blend Sampler. The web site’s description for the plain Russian Caravan says it has teas from India, China, and Formosa, so this must as well. There is some tippiness to the leaves. Also some twigginess. I wish my senses were sophisticated enough to be able to tell what’s what from the sight and smell of the leaves. I looked up Russian Caravan and Wikipedia says it is a blend of Oolong, Keemun and Lapsang Souchong.

Which is fascinating because after it steeps, it smells like Darjeeling to me. Doesn’t taste so much like it, though. There could well be oolong in this. The mouth feel is soft and silky, and there’s a nutty/stone fruit butteriness to the flavor. I don’t taste smoke except maybe barely in the finish, so if there is lapsang in this it’s a very small amount. I am thinking that what I smelled as Darjeeling is probably Keemun. It has a sort of grapey fruitiness.

The aftertaste is sweet and slightly buttery. I’m in yumsville, liking this one quite a bit.

Yes this does have an aroma similar to a Darjeeling. When I first tried this sample I was intrigued by the aroma. I must admit I was expecting something smoky. It was fruity and light after 4 minutes. I have to admit this is a nice evening tea….

This has a light smoky flavor, almost barely noticeable, and as others have noted this seems to have Darjeeling and Keemun in it. I can taste a little bit of cocoa and a slight sweetness bordering on fruity. I steeped this one for four minutes and it’s still very mellow. I was hoping for something strong before essay writing but this seems to scream afternoon or evening tea!

Well, this was the tea I made myself this morning. This was also the tea that I accidentally dumped all over the carpet after only a few sips. Boo! So I’m going to hold off on rating this because a few sips just isn’t enough time to make an accurate judgment (well, unless the tea is truly awful but this one wasn’t). I did manage to have 2 thoughts about this tea before dropping the rest on my carpet. 1) This isn’t smoky like I was hoping. Instead it’s more toasty, which is a little sad. And 2) If this is their ‘finest’, I kind of hate to see their regular because the leaves here are large, non-uniform, a bit twiggy and the taste didn’t strike me as overly spectacular.

But who knows? Maybe it turns into liquid gold on the 10th sip – and since I didn’t get to that sip, I’ll have to wait until next time.

Bummer…I love smoky teas and this one just wasn’t. It tastes like a blend of oolong, keemun and darjeeling. I would say that this tea is an afternoon tea. It really wasn’t robust or brisk enough for breakfast. However, this is not a bad tea. It has a nice light mouthfeel and fruity notes. It has a sweetness to it and is a tea I would drink again, but not one of my favorites. I may add some Lapsang Souchong to it to see what happens.
2.5g/8oz

Thank you to Lori for this sample!

I am with Morgana on this one. I smell and taste darjeeling. I don’t know if it is really in there, but that is what I get. It is smooth, not too astringent, and I really don’t detect any smoke at all. It has good flavor, though, was decent both plain or with milk and sugar added, and ….I think…..it may be reminding me of Margaret’s Hope 2nd Flush FTGFOP. That’s the darjeeling I am sensing, I suppose. Maybe the tiniest bit pepper-y, too?

Part of the British Tea Sampler from Upton. I was wary of this tea and would not have ordered it on its own, had it not been part of the set. I’m so pleased it was included, because I think it may turn into a close race between this and PG Tips as my favorite tea.

In the tin: no extraordinary notes stood out, slightly smokey, black tea.

Brewed: Again, smells and looks like a standard, plain black tea. Tasting it however, Wow! This is really good. I progressively added sugar, and ended up with more sugar in the cup than I normally add to any black tea, but I like a strong, sweet tea.

This makes a terrific all day tea.

More Upton thunderdome-ing. Today it’s TB70 Finest Russian Caravan (India, China, Formosa) against TB86 Richmond Park Blend (Keemun, Ceylon, Darjeeling).

This one isn’t bad really, though it’s a bit tannic and bitter and slightly astringent. There is a hint of smoke but not much, not enough for a smoky tea lover like me. The thing is, it’s so in between two things—basic black tea for breakfast, say, and truly smoky stuff—and not remarkable enough at either that I find myself just wanting a cup of either smooth breakfast tea OR headier, smokier stuff. I would rather drink their Baker Street blend any day.

Tastes smoother and richer with some milk and like 2 grains of raw sugar, but still, disappointing.

Prefer this over Richmond Park, but they’re really not anything alike (have never had anything like the Richmond Park to be honest) and that’s not saying much given I REALLY didn’t care at all for that one.

I have to concede with Morgana and Dan there is definitely Darjeeling in here and though I like a good Darjeeling I normally brew them lighter and I feel this one adds a bitter dryness at the beginning and this is after lowering the time and temp. Packet says India, China and Formosa. The Formosan is likely an oolong and I think it has the notes I like at the end of wine and butter. Not sure if the China black is Keemun or Lapsang, I get the pepper and hint of smoke but there is something that reminds me of other British blends I don’t like. All in all the tang and butter at the end is not making the dry front worthwhile. It was something I was just curious about trying so not terribly disappointed. It’s just meh with cream and sugar.

Nice smoky quality to this tea. Very Drinkable.

This is a household favorite. There’s nothing glaringly special about this tea, but we go back to it again and again. It smells lovely and has a mild, unobtrusive taste. The flavor is lost under sugar or milk and best enjoyed on its own. I drink it by the pot. But, pressed to say what it tastes like, I can’t say. A nice blend that tastes like tea? It’s not sharp or acidic or smokey. It doesn’t need doctoring. I’ve yet to oversteep it. It’s nothing ‘special’ but yet we drink it all the time, even hot with dinner. This is one I’ll always keep around.

Slight smoke, as others have said. I don’t generally like smoky tea, so this is a nice change of pace for me. The slight smoke is pleasant. Lots of depth to this cup.

Sadly, not impressed. Perhaps it was my preconception – I had expected a noticeably smoky RC, a Lapsang-Lite so to speak.

To its defence, after the initial dissatisfaction with the gulp a buttery and a very slightly pepperish taste lingers on the mouth.

But I refuse to give up, next time I will try this with 1.5 teaspoons of dry leaf. Let’s see what happens then.