St. Petersburg

I was really excited to try this one! Kusmi’s blends all sound really unique and yummy. :) (I really wanted to get their Russians or Essentials samplers, but both are out of stock, and I’m impatient, so I bought this and Prince Vladimir, since these are the ones I wanted to try the most. :P)

The leaves smell reeeeally yummy. :) I definitely smell the bergamot, but the caramel also comes through really well. The vanilla and fruit are there too, but to a lesser degree.

Brewed, I smell black tea with a hint of caramel. Mmm.

Drinking it, I definitely taste the fruit. It’s nice! It’s not too overpowering. And I definitely taste the caramel, too. It brings some creaminess to the tea. It’s really smooth, anyway, but it just makes it even yummier. :) It did get a liiittle bit strong this time, though, so I’ll have to experiment for next time. :P But it’s great for this morning! :)

Yaaaaay my teas showed up. I wanted to try this one the most so I had to make an entire pot of it first!

[Sidenote: Does anyone want to do a quick check of a couple informal reports for me? I ended up with a partner who was too good to actually do a peer review for me considering she only uploaded one of her reports instead of two. They’re both just over a page long so if you’re someone who has to regularly write memos, esp. trouble/investigative reports, you would be REALLY helpful unlike this girl.]

So yeah I made a pot of tea expecting to have two things to edit and I only had one. I’m trying really hard to give her the benefit of the doubt but in class she’s like, oh I’ll have it there in a couple hours! And nope.

I love this one! I’m not really picking up on caramel at all, but the berry flavors are nice, along with the slightly floral flavor. Maybe that’s supposed to be the bergamot? It’s really not coming off as citrus for me.

I took the water off the stove before it boiled so maybe I will let it actually boil and see if that coaxes out a bit more, maybe steep it a bit longer. I like how it is right now though. It’s like a smooth berry Earl Grey.

I’m revisiting a lot of my old teas in an attempt to use them up before they go stale. Looking back on my old note on this tea I’m a bit surprised to find that this time I can in fact taste the red fruits that I couldn’t before. They’re subtle but similar to the grenadine flavour in a Monk’s Blend.

08/01/2013
i love my 5 russian tea sampler pack i got from kusmi!
the tins are lovely. each smells so potent and decadent. and the russian theme adds a bit of romantic stoicism to each sip.
it’s a literary cup!
my boyfriend declared that the tea was ‘so smooth!’ on first sip, and he didn’t even know what kind i gave him. he could just tell that kusmi was different from the others i’d been brewing for him. and i think that says something.
i don’t get that heavy of a citrus flavor, but it is there. definitely. it adds to the dryness overall.

24/01/2013
has anyone made a spreadsheet for their tea?
if so, what kind of info did you keep in it?
am i over doing it?
i mean, steepster has all the info anyways kinda right, so is this really necessary?
and i could just keep a list of the special steep times for the exception teas?
idk
my sister’s friend said i need TEAHAB.

28/01/2013
we all just wanna drink our tea down to a manageable amount don’t we?

many of us have decided to try to not buy more tea in 2013 until we drink what we have and make room for the new purchases. i’m no exception. i also have 2 drawers of tea in my kitchen (*see ref a & b) and a 3 rd that i call ‘the-tea-i-shouldn’t-have-bought’ drawer because i have no proper place to put it. it’s the drawer where i put my new orders when they arrive, as a holding place until i have an empty tin or something available for storing them in.

well yesterday i freed up 3 tins and this morning i just finished this tea, St. Petersburg, as well.
goodbye St. Petersburg. you are a healthy stable cup and i will see you again i’m sure.
and i will also use your tin for years to come.

a.) http://instagram.com/p/Uh6QRIoc-a/
b.) http://instagram.com/p/Uh6GZyIc-N/

Thanks Sil for this one!

I have been wanting to try Kusmi for a long time. Glad to have had the chance to try this one. Before I double checked the description of this tea, I smelled the dry tea. It smelled like vanilla and cherries. Then I smelled the brewed tea and it smelled like a generic Ceylon breakfast tea. So my first thought was that there was some scent contamination. Then I read the description and thought, well I was right on the first smell. As the tea cooled, the brewed tea began to smell more of caramel, vanilla and cherries. After seeing the suggested brew temp of 195F, I think I might have used just too hot water, and that is why initially there wasn’t much smell. Happy it ended up working out in the end though.

The brewed tea tastes of vanilla and cherries. As it cools more and more, it has a thick, creamy texture. There is a very faint, sweet, citrousy type flavour, like orange campino candies. But I am not getting too much bergamot. This would definitely make a great after meal tea. It keeps getting better and better as it cools.

I have always wanted to love Kusmi tea – the tins! So pretty, and stackeable (a really important attribute for residents of my tea corner). But whenever before I have had Kusmi tea, I have always been underwhelmed. It´s not totally fair to judge a tea by how it´s prepared on cafés and teashops, so I have always meant to give a fair trial to Kusmi tea. And this is it, got 50 grams of St Petersburg (and such a pretty pretty bag they gave me!), brewed it semi-carefully ( tap water, attention to temperature, and medium attention to time) and well here goes.

I don´t really like it. It smells interesting, very interesting, caramel and bergamot and fruity, very intense. Brewed, I get fruit and caramel and interestingly the bergamot is not overpowering. But rather than a symphony the flavours are all like an instrument tuning, a lot of flavour and it seems to be clashing somehow. And I I do not like the base tea, must retest again, it came up bitter. I will keep retesting, got nearly 50 grams to play with, but maybe I can not brew this up any better than those cafés. Meh.

Smells good.

I get a non-specific fruity flavor and mild bergamot. I think I need to try this again when I’m paying more attention. I had this at work and kept having to concentrate to keep my mind on my task as hand and forgetting to notice what I was drinking.

It wasn’t bad – I did finish the cup. ;)

This one called out to me this morning when I was trying to decide what tea to have. The dry leaves smell lightly fruity, like a fruity currant aroma. There is also a hint of sweet bergamot and caramel. The tea in the cup has a black tea and bergamot aroma. There is a malty flavor with a slightly sweet fruity finish. There is a strong citrus aftertaste that is just a little too lemony for me. I like this tea, but I don’t think it will become a favorite of mine. It’s a nice version of a light Earl Grey, but fruitier and sweeter. Thank you, whatshesaid, for this sample!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell lightly fruity and of sweet bergamot and caramel. Tea liquor aroma is of black tea and bergamot.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Malty flavor with a slightly sweet and fruity finish. Strong lemony citrus aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Malty flavor with a hint of fruity and citrusy sweetness. Main flavor is sweet lemon.

Well, how to say that in English…the word BOF in French is exactly the expression of my feeling about this tea.
I cannot say I like it but cannot say the inverse.
I recognize some qualities but I am very disapointed by the difference between the smell of dry leaf and what I get in my cup.
Maybe too much caramel vs red fruits for me.

Pretty tasty – fruit and caramel, yes – but I think I liked Prince Vladimir better. This reminds me of something I’ve had before, but I’m not being able to place it. Blue moon, maybe? Except that it really doesn’t have the apple notes, hmm.

It is very nice, and sweet enough to drink plain, but would probably benefit from a dash of sugar. I’ll try that next time, since Kusmi considerately puts 2 of each tea into the sampler!