Kusmi Tea

This one I have to ride the fence on. I’m still not sure if I really like it or not! The first time I brewed a pot I was really put off by the sheer strength of the “citrus” smell. I put the word “citrus” in quotes because the smell is clearly “citrus” in nature, but not one of the citrus essences used in the tea (bergamot, lemon, lime and orange blossom) really stands out above the rest. Instead I was left with with an aroma is so complex, it wound up reminding me of some sort of cheap citrus-based furniture polish or floor cleaner (harsh, but true). Normally teas using some form of citrus as flavoring are my favorite, so I had high hopes for this one and maybe that was its undoing. What saved this from being a total disaster for me was I wound up getting a pretty nasty cold the week after this arrived. Being a hardcore tea-drinker I like to whip up a black tea with honey and lemon when I get the sniffles. Since this one already had MAJOR citrus content anyway, and I did not want it to go to waste I just brewed up a pot and added some honey + milk. It wound up doing such a good job soothing me when was ill it has now become a staple at my house for when allergies and viruses attack!!! So I hate to say this is a great “sick-time” tea, but for me that’s exactly what it has become. So if you’re sick or just a huge fan of strong (yet unidentifiable) citrus flavors in your tea, give this one a shot.

I gave this a go and (sorry to everyone who loved it) but I honestly found the flavor very odd and just not very good. The novelty of the licorice was not lost on me though. I did find it fun to take a sip, and then feel the natural “sweetness” build in the back of my mouth. That was certainly a very interesting experience. However, on the basis of pure taste alone, I did not find this blend very appealing. I could just be a victim of my own palate here though, as I’m not very partial to herbals. Make no mistake, although this blend does contain some black tea, it consists predominately of the other herbal ingredients (ginseng and liquorice roots, spices, guarana seed and pink pepper). Maybe that’s why it put me off. At the very least I can use the remaining tea from my sample canister for a quick “pick-me-up” (guarana seed has double the caffeine of a coffee bean). If someone would like to suggest some sort of alternate preparation method, I’d be happy to revisit it.

As my other tasting notes indicate, I’m a big fan of Kusmi teas. Given that this is listed on their site as one of their most popular teas of course I was obligated to give it a go. I can honestly say I’ve never experienced a tea quite like Prince Vladimir. From the initial aroma to the final brew, it is a decidedly unique tea. In fact, the first time I opened the canister in the presence of one of my friends and he had a whiff, he asked me if the contents were legal!!! Like most Kusmi teas, the final brew is very smooth with virtually no bitterness and the spices are easily discernible on the palate with or without adding sugar or milk. In my opinion it is the unique nature of this tea that is its most endearing quality (as opposed to the taste alone, which is still quite good). Its always fun keep some on-hand to expose my “non-hot-tea drinking friends” to “something different”. This is just a fun tea, period.

Delicious wish english muffins or a nice sourdough toast. Lovely aroma, with nice citrus tones. Perfect for a cool morning.

Now this Chai I can handle…pretty good, actually. It’s just enough spice to let you know it’s a chai but the food pairings are endless – too.
It’s not too dark, not to light, not over the top spicy and not much for smell but it is tasty, it is blended well, and it is a good pairing with most foods – I can already tell!

Pretty average for a Jasmine Green tea (which I am not usually fond of to begin with) but this isn’t bad. I like and appreciate the fact that there isn’t that Jasmine aftertaste that lingers…it’s sweeter at the end instead…Thank you for that Kusmi.

Pure bliss. It makes my day brighter, music sound better and it makes my taste-buds smile. An perfectly balanced flavor and a to die for aroma. 100% Perfect.

I was a diehard fan of Prince Vladimir, that is until I tried St Petersburg! It’s lush, soft and is rather inspiring. I highly recommend this tea!!

Oh yes! MUCH BETTER! Note to self (and others who are interested..) a little goes a long way!

A solid green tea once prepared correctly! LOL

Smell…green grass/plant and flower smelling cigar…like smell…

The green tea is VERY powerful…so much so that I hated the taste at first. I am going to try this one again right away because the leaves expanded so much that I think it was my fault for starting with too much of the loose leaf…so stay tuned…

I just wanted my first act as a Steepster member to rate this excellent tea. We have a small tea room in the city where I live. The proprietress over-ordered on this one month and (amazingly) was kind enough to give me a free tin (she knows how I love to try new teas). I’ll admit my first brewing left me less than impressed. I felt the flavor was a bit artificial, yet I found myself coming back to this tea over and over again. I finally hit on what it was I liked so much. The SMOOTHNESS of this tea. I found myself trying at one point to over-steep it to bring out the tannins and make it bitter, yet the flavor remained smooth and consistent (to my palate at least). After going through several other black tea blends by Kusmi Teas I’ve found this to be a consistent quality with most of their blacks. Maybe its a process, maybe its the quality of the leaf, I’m no expert, I just know that Kusmi Tea produces some of the smoothest drinking tea on the planet. That (I think) is why they are so appealing to many tea drinkers. Since my Troika experience I’ve had many other teas by Kusmi, but this remains my favorite. If you like Earl Grey and Orange but hate tannin, you owe it to yourself to give this a try.

Troika is a nice, modest Earl Grey. I had hopes that this trio of flavors would send me off on an old-fashioned Russian reverie and into the land of a 19th century novel where the samovar is always heated.

My impression of Kusmi teas is that they are excellent and subtle; they are geared towards a sophisticated and worldly palate. The cultivated mondaine might drink this at 4 o’clock. I prefer a bolder, brasher Earl Grey. I like to be stunned by flavor. With my tea I am like a 1980’s lady who reeks of opium perfume and wears gowns by Bob Mackie.

Troika is for the elegant, refined palate. I would call it a very scholarly interpretation of an Earl Grey. It held up very well to a second infusion.

Finished the can. :( Fair thee well my fond friend… until we meet again in a tea garden far from city smog.

This tea has an alarming almond aroma (alarming in a good way, almost divine). Every time I open the tin I am inspired to bake almond infused cakes and cookies. I call this tea my gateway tea… only it leads me to fiend for pastries. Parties and more tea. :)

I was surprised by this tea. Eventho I cannot pick out much of an almond type taste I know what I like and I like this tea.

I can taste a sweetness to it but not a nutty flavor. The nose almost has a florally-mint to it but not quite.

Regardless it’s tasty.

Earl Grey…light on the bergamot! It’s kind of tasty but not really memorable.

My last cup of this…I really hate running out of tea that I like esp more than one tea at once…sigh…

My first cup of the day and it was nice! Only have enough for one more cup tho! Bummer…

First cuppa the morning to ya! :P

Almost finished drinking a cup of this too…alittle behind on my postings. It’s been crazy here today…busy,busy, and weather storms-a-brewin’ BLAH! I hate Winter…but at least I have HOT TEA! :)

YUM…perfect this morning! Tasty! Upping a point!

This is NICE! The Earl Grey is mellowed down by the orange and mandarin believe it or not. If you aren’t fond of Earl Greys give this a try…you might like it! The orange and mandarin both pair nicely and are not overly citrusy and do not have an overpowering aftertaste.

Amazingly soft and charming floral aroma. This tea is my first experience with floral teas and a darling in my collection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Grass
For info on different kinds of Buffalo Grass.

This caught my eye and HAD to try!

These leaves sure like to boogie! Neat to watch!
Liquid has some floaties tho…like particles, that’s all.

Yup! Smells like Grass.

Ummm…I don’t think I like this…

It has a refreshing quality to it after you get passed the grass and green tea…
Well, maybe it’s not awful…

It might grow on me…it might have potential…will have to revisit but for now…I’ll give it a little above 50