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Taking a wee little break from tasting all of my new Kusmi teas and relaxing with this. From all the first-time notes I’ve been writing the past couple of days, it’s nice to just sit back and sip without thinking too hard about the flavor profile. I’m having it with sugar and whole milk this time around, and I think next time I try this I might do two sachets if I’m going to put milk in.

Do any of you lovely people have a good method for making hot or cold tea lattes? Please share if so, I have several teas I would like to try this way! :D

Another Russian tea from Kusmi! I’m rather surprised I haven’t been dreaming of bergamot after trying all of these over the last couple days… The dry leaf on this one has that familiar strong bergamot scent, but I can also pick out a whiff of orangeyness (I’m not sure I can discern the difference between orange and mandarin).

Brewing up the cup, the liquid has a lovely bergamot aroma with just a small sidenote (is that a thing…? I think it is) of a sweeter citrus. I tasted it hot and got the usual generic flavor that I’ve gotten from almost all of these teas when they’re freshly made, which is black tea with bergamot and maybe a wisp of something else. So I went the usual route, added a small amount of sugar and did some dishes while I waited for it to cool down a bit. I was definitely rewarded for my patience – like its brethren, this tea becomes much more interesting when it’s warm or room temperature. The black tea base seems quite mild to me, and smooth. The bergamot flavor is prominent but not overpowering, and the orange is not so much a separate flavor as a harbinger of better, more juicy bergamot flavor. I feel like this would be a good choice for those who enjoy a plain Earl Grey but want the bergamot to have that little… je ne sais quoi.

After trying all of these teas, I became curious what the difference is in their bases. I could definitely taste that a couple of them had a slightly stronger or bolder black tea flavor and some were more mellow. So after checking the ingredients lists on all of the tiny tins, this is what I’ve come up with: St. Petersburg and Prince Vladimir are both exclusively Chinese teas (it does specify “teas” as a plural so it is a blend), Anastasia is a blend of Chinese and Ceylon, and Bouquet of Flowers and Troika are both blends of Chinese, Ceylon, and Indian teas. Interesting. Good to know I’m not crazy for thinking the bases tasted different. :D

Aw, this is the last of the five Russian Blends I have. I’ve really enjoyed tasting and comparing them all – they are all similar enough but each has its own little personality added. Next project: try them all iced and as lattes!

This is the third free sample I received with my Kusmi order, and I was actually kind of excited because I had seen this tea on their website and thought it sounded interesting. Hooray coincidence! The dry leaf in the tea bag smelled delicious – it had a very strong and sweet marzipan or almond paste scent. I brewed it for 3 minutes at 175.

The brewed cup also had a fairly strong marzipan scent, but I could also smell the green base. I added a very small amount of sugar right off the bat because I couldn’t resist with the marzipan flavor. After tasting the fresh brew, I was a little disappointed by how light the almond flavor ended up being. I don’t know what kind of green tea this is, but it tasted pretty mild with a little bit of bitterness. I let the cup cool, trying it every so often, but I was never really satisfied with the level of marzipan flavor. I think I would prefer a more strongly flavored black version of this.

I have to say, I was rather shocked when I smelled this tea. The other Russians I have tried from Kusmi have smelled overwhelmingly of bergamot. I was therefore not prepared for this one to have such a spicy smell. That being said, it was a very pleasant surprise – as soon as I got a whiff I was very excited to try this. The dry leaf has a very strong scent of spice (anise maybe?) along with a heavy bergamot smell. There are also notes of vanilla and other citrus present.

I was surprised that the brew smells strongly of black tea with added bergamot and spice scents (the spice is a little bit different than in the tin, more of a clove maybe?). The first thing I noticed is that the black tea base of this tea tastes much stronger or harsher to me than the other blends I have tried. The tin simply says it’s a blend of Chinese teas. When the tea is hot, the predominant flavors are bergamot and a surprisingly mild but warming spiciness that I would categorize as a blend of different spices. I added a very small amount of sugar. As I let it cool, I really started to taste the vanilla and the lemon, which I must admit are perfect with the spice. The bergamot became more of a background flavor than I would expect. There is supposedly grapefruit in this blend but I could never seem to pick it out, which I actually am glad of. I don’t feel the extreme tartness and bitterness of grapefruit would mesh well with this.

Overall, I enjoyed this tea very much and I just know that it would be fantastic with milk or as a latte. Must try!

Trying this one again with a shorter steep. The first time, it was delicious but with a little bitterness and I didn’t think it fair to impose a rating when I’d obviously steeped it incorrectly. So this time I lowered the steep from 3:30 to 3 minutes.

The aroma of the cup remains the same, a sweet and tart fresh strawberry scent among that refreshing “greenness” of the tea. It seems 3 minutes was the secret weapon because there is next to no bitterness in this cup but there is still plenty of strawberry yumminess. Trying it hot, it’s a lovely vegetel green tea taste with a mild but obvious strawberry flavor. I kept trying sips as I let it cool and the strawberry became more and more prominent, and it began to have the most interesting tangy effect on the back of my tongue. This really made me believe the strawberry flavor, and it lingered after each sip. I can only imagine how delicious this tea would taste iced – that will have to be the next thing I try. If anyone has any cold brewing tips, I would greatly appreciate your input!

Another adorable tin! This one is a pale pink (not quite pastel but not bright either) accented with a lovely mint green. The dry leaf has a very strong and somewhat sweet rose fragrance, but I also smell a bit of mintiness. It’s a tad bit perfumey but after my experience with Kusmi’s spearmint green, I knew it wouldn’t be this strong in the actual cup. I’m unsure what type of green tea this is, it’s apparently Chinese and the leaves are thin, twisted, and a dark sort of mossy green with some shiny silvery bits. I brewed for 3 minutes at about 175 degrees.

The aroma of the brewed cup is equal parts “green” and musty rose, with a hit of mint in the background. I tried this straight up first. I do enjoy the flavor plain, there a light bitterness in the green tea and the rose flavor is very present, but it does not overpower. The mint note is there at the back, mild and lingering, and it creates a slight cooling sensation after the sip.

After I had let the tea cool and kept trying it to test the flavor, I added a small amount of sugar and I feel this helped the rose to really shine. The bitterness subsided and the now sweet rose flavor melded perfectly with the mint (I tend to prefer sweet mint flavors so keep this in mind). This tea makes me think of lavish afternoon tea parties with petit fours and tiny, delicate finger sandwiches. Yum!

This is third for me to try out of my Russian blends (thanks again to Boychik for setting me straight on how to brew these :)). Like the previous two, upon opening the tin, the smell of bergamot is overpowering. I think I can catch a little whiff of lime though, which makes me excited to try this. I did the usual brew of 3 minutes at about 200 degrees.

The aroma of the brewed tea is mostly bergamot, but I am able to pick up on some sweet orange and a little note of lemon. I’m not sure whether the lime is there because I find it difficult to separate all these different citrus scents from one another. I had fully intended to try this one without any sugar (I feel I should wean myself off of sweetening my teas in general because I feel like, in some cases, it interferes with my tasting of all the flavors). However, I don’t think I can drink a bergamot tea straight – I found it unpleasantly bitter or something. So I added just under a teaspoon of sugar (foiled again!).

When I first tasted this as it was still very hot, I could mostly just taste black tea with bergamot. I’m beginning to see this as a pattern with these Russian blends from Kusmi. I let it cool, taking a few sips every so often to see how the flavor was changing, and it’s interesting to note how the effect of sugar becomes more and more apparent as a tea grows colder (at least, in my opinion). I found that I enjoy this tea much more when it is just warm as opposed to hot, and I can now pick out the flavors of lemon and orange, and possibly a slight floral note (I take it this is the orange blossom). The lime seems to manifest itself as a kind of aftertaste on the back of my tongue. Overall, I really like the combination of citrus flavor in this tea.

(thanks again Boychik for all of your helpful advice)

This is a single tea bag sample that I got with my Kusmi Tea order today. When I opened it, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this one is a muslin sachet (I was disappointed that the first sample I tried was not). It’s amazing to me to look at the craftsmanship of it – I mean, it’s most likely done by machine like most things are nowadays, but it is very cool nonetheless. The string is actually a length of a sort of looped/stitched thread and then the tag is actually stitched to it, which I find amazing. There are zero staples or glue in its construction. Smelling it, I catch a vague musty floral scent not that dissimilar to a chamomile. There is also a hint of herbal scent.

The brew has a light, musty floral scent, but at the forefront is a strong aroma of dill. Upon tasting it, I found that it tastes pretty similar to a chamomile tea, but it has a quite prominent dill note. I have never encountered this in a tea before, and I must say I quite enjoy it. I added a small amount of sugar, otherwise I feel this could have passed as a savory tea.

While this certainly isn’t my favorite tea, I find it very interesting and I really appreciate the chance to try such a unique taste. Thanks, Kusmi!

This is my second steep for these leaves. I lowered the time from 4 to 3 minutes and then added another 30 seconds since it’s the second steep. The brew smells very green and floral and still has a touch of peach fragrance. The tea has a mild to medium vegetal taste with a lot of floral flavor still. The peach is still there, but it has devolved into more of a vague sweet fruitiness that I wouldn’t have identified as peach if I hadn’t tried the first brew. The floral in this cup lingers on the back of the tongue for quite some time after a sip. There is also a faint bitterness at the end that is not entirely unpleasant. Overall, still a very tasty tea! :)

Trying this tea next on a request/recommendation(?) from Boychik. This is the second I’ve tried out of my Kusmi Russian Blends pack. The dry leaves have an extremely strong bergamot scent, there might be a tiny bit of floral smell but it’s really hard for me to tell again the bergamot. I used the same brewing technique that was suggested to me for St. Petersburg, since it’s a very similar tea.

When I smell the brewed tea, I definitely get a distinct floral note in conjunction with the bergamot, which is considerably milder than in the dry leaf. I must say, I really love the taste of this tea! I can taste the black tea base, which seems mild and smooth, and I can definitely taste the bergamot, but it doesn’t overpower. There is a definite floral note, though I couldn’t say what type of floral (other reviewers have suggested lavender, but I don’t know its flavor well enough to say)). I also get a subtle note of citrus other than the bergamot – I looked up the ingredients and found this to be mandarin or orange. I also added a small amount of sugar to mine which really works to bring all the flavors together.

I was surprised to see that quite a few people hated this tea. I don’t know if maybe they’re not consistent in the formula or if they have changed it over time. Or maybe I’m crazy, woo! :D I can’t wait to try this with a splash of milk.