Anastasia

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Bergamot, Ceylon Black Tea, Chinese Black Tea, Flowers, Lemon, Lime
Flavors
Bergamot, Citrus, Floral, Citrus Zest, Fruity, Honey, Lemon, Malt, Orange Blossom, Tannic, Orange, Lime, Citrusy, Sweet, Earl Grey, Bitter, Tea, Smooth, Earth, Nectar, Wood
Sold in
Loose Leaf, Sachet
Caffeine
High
Certification
Organic
Edit tea info Last updated by Teatotaler
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 45 sec 6 g 19 oz / 561 ml

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101 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I have been absent from Steepster because a large group of people descended upon my home, these people were always needing to be fed, whining about how the shower they took was cold and always...” Read full tasting note
    89
  • “I’ve been sipping away at this without even thinking! My first day of training got cancelled, nooooo, but I go tomorrow. I went to the mall anyway to confirm my suspicions that I have no idea how...” Read full tasting note
  • “I had thist tea with lunch and I greatly enjoyed it. The base was fragrant, full-bodied and a little malty.. The addition of a variety of citrus really worked well with the base. I definitely need...” Read full tasting note
    90
  • “I’m beginning to think Kusmi can do no wrong with black teas. This is the 4th I have tried, and it’s very good. Latte’d it up today, because it’s just one of those days where you’re lucky I got out...” Read full tasting note
    75

From Kusmi Tea

Blend of black teas from China and Ceylon flavored with natural essences of bergamot, lemon, lime and orange blossom. Russian blend.

Tasting advice: delicious plain or sweetened

TEA PROFILE

Origin: China and Ceylon

Main flavor: citrus with a fruity note

Quantity needed: 0,1 oz.

PREPARATION

Time of day: all day

Ideal water temperature: 185°F – 195°F

Recommended brewing time: 3-4 min

About Kusmi Tea View company

Company description not available.

101 Tasting Notes

84
338 tasting notes

Love the unique lemon/lime scent of this tea, which sets it apart from classic Earl Grey. I’ve always love Kusmi Tea’s russian blends and this is definitely a classic.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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60 tasting notes

I enjoyed this tea. It was lovely, and as my mom said, “elegant.” It really is elegant; I could imagine it being served with little scones or something in a lovely tea service… anyway, thanks to Crystal for this, again. :)

yssah

following you :)

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412 tasting notes

I can smell the lime and the orange blossom in the dry leaf and the tea – I’m impressed already. Upon tasting, I’m actually finding the tea to be overwhelmed by the citrus. Maybe that’ll get better as it cools. Ooh, there’s a nice floral aftertaste though.

… Still very fruity as it cools, also floral. Having this with just a bit of honey. Not sure I’d buy a tin of this, it’s pretty distinctive for everyday drinking. I’ll try it with milk next time (how I usually take my EGs)

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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83
111 tasting notes

I’m preparing to move again. When the first mover suggested that I throw away some of my stuff because all might not fit in the truck, I was glad my hubby was otherwise engaged and could not suggest a selection in my “shoes or teas” – the 2 things he regularly complains about the volume. I decided then that I would have to do some of the packing myself to get the maximum of the volume.
Why I am telling that? Because it also enticed me to try to finish some tea samples, even though I know it’s not enough.
This morning is again really hot, 32° before 9am, which makes it a good moment for a light and refreshing Earl Grey type tea. I picked up the Anastasia again to check whether my not so enthusiastic first review required adjustment.
For the sake of comparison, I also brewed a cup of Douchka Goût Russe by DF, which had striked me as being quite similar during my first tasting. Both teas being rather light-bodied with citrusy flavoring.
Anastasia tea-base is light and a bit too light in comparison with the flavoring. But the flavoring is nice, really nice and stronger than what I recalled. Very tangy and citrusy, though mellow enough as a result from a blend of different citrus and orange blossom – this latest being just enough to add smoothness but not too much as to become overwhelming.
It’s indeed a very pleasant moment and I really may consider buying myself a full tin of it someday (clearly the move…)
I upped the rating on this one.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec
TheTeaFairy

OMG! 32 before 9am? Try like the opposite here in Quebec-Canada, minus 30 just a couple of weeks ago! You still drink hot tea in this kind of heat wave?

LaFleurBleue

It was a bit hotter than usual for this time of the day but not that much. I drink most of my teapot more lukewarm than real hot, sometimes even leaving it without the cap to make it cool. And I realized that it was indeed easier to drink something a bit warm than really cold in this kind of weather. Surprising, especially for a former cold-weather tea drinker.
I’ve never been in a colder environment than -15C and cannot imagine going out or doing anything else than sip very hot tea below a super thick comforter, when it’s -30…

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72
62 tasting notes

When dry, this tea had a smell I think I can’t really describe. It didn’t smell much like any other tea I’d ever smelled before, though earl grey would be the closest comparable smell. Like all other blacks I’ve had, I found it needed sweetener to be palatable. Hot and with sweetener, the flavour was something completely unexpected. There was a faint hint of orange blossom, a bit more of lemon, and a real sense of floral. The first thing it reminded me of was actually Kusmi’s rose tea with some peachy kind of overtones, to the extent that my first thought was to wonder whether it had rose in it. When it cools, it’s really more like those pre-made liquid iced teas that are black plus lemon, which is nice—except for the annoying peppery note in it. That damn peppery note! Y u do dat, Kusmi? Hahaha! Seriouly though, it’s a letdown that it’s there, because otherwise this is a nicely fruity, slightly floral black that could be good both hot or cold. As it is, I don’t think I could bring myself to buy it. That demonic peppery element lurks there in every mouthful. It doesn’t even lurk, actually—it’s the first thing you taste. Only after it do you get the delicious tea taste and well-executed fruitiness.

It’s hard to not be on the fence about this. I can’t stress enough how tasty the fruitiness is. When I lived in Australia, I used to drink the pre-made Lipton iced lemon green tea and iced peach black tea, and they’ll always have a place in my heart, though their flavour is hardly groundbreaking or exotic. This tea (once you get past the damn peppery aspect, of course) reminds me of it and I like that.

I didn’t try this with milk (well, I did take a spoon out and add some milk to that just for a tiny test, but the flavour wasn’t tempting), and wouldn’t suggest it, because the fruity flavour is more lemony than orangey, which I think makes it a poor candidate for a latte (and a good candidate for serving iced). I’d recommend giving this tea a try (do try before you buy), and perhaps adding fruit juice like lemon or peach to it, on top of the sweetener. Also, the peppery thing goes away a bit when the tea cools and may have been exacerbated to a degree by my over-steeping (but if it was, presumably the fruitiness was too), so all hope isn’t lost with this. At room temperature, I thought it had something of a classic iced tea flavour (but a bit less fruity), which wasn’t what I was expecting of something whose description makes it seem kind of complex and refined. That’s not a criticism, though if you were expecting something that really balanced all of those citrus ingredients and genuinely represented lemon, orange, and lime all at once, you’d probably feel disappointed.

Update: I raised the rating for this a little bit because on the second and third steepings (the third was pretty weak, so don’t count on it being satisfying), there was almost none of the peppery note, and iced with a bit of lemon juice and sweetener, it was good.

I tried this again, hot, with sweetener, and with no milk. It seems really different to what it was last time. The aftertaste has a beautiful delicate orange flower sense if you really pay attention, and this time, even though I oversteeped it as per usual, there wasn’t an annoying peppery element, and no bitterness. It seems a lot less lemony than I found it last time, but overall, I think I was wrong about my impression that this is no more than a failed earl grey. The more that orange flower element gets to me, the more I want to raise the score of this. I raised it two points, but the taste in my mouth says that wasn’t enough. The tea of adequate strength without being dominating, it’s ladylike without being overly demure, and it’s floral without being perfumey. Not bad, Kusmi! I’d drink it again!

Calla

strange… I drink this tea alot and never tasted the peppery flavor you mention.

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83
493 tasting notes

It used to be my favorite EG. my taste buds changed :( last night it was kinda soapy and artificial. We had it right after Diamond Jubilee by H&S. Hands down Jubilee is winner

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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97
122 tasting notes

I love this tea — the floral notes really make the blend for me. One of my favorites, but it’s so pricey! I guess it’ll have to be one of those “special occasion” teas.

If you like earl grey teas then try this lovely blend. The citrus and orange blossom really make this tea something wonderful.

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80
477 tasting notes

Holy crap, new tea page layout. I don’t know what to think about it (I think I have some complaints, but I’ll leave that out of my tasting notes, I think).

This has been on my wishlist for a very long time, and I finally picked up a tiny 1oz tin from SOKO’s. I think I was considering removing it from my wishlist on account of some people’s reviews on it, thinking maybe it wasn’t for me, but I’m glad I didn’t.

One of the pros I really enjoy about Kusmi teas is their mostly-China bases (China-Ceylon in this case); my favourite kind. You smell the bergamot first, followed by a hint of lime. Brewed, the smell is much weaker (just a hint of bergamot).

The taste is light, the base coming through. Bergamot first, then the lime. Fresh and faintly astringent. I didn’t taste the lemon so much.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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50
16 tasting notes

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.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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83
37 tasting notes

There’s nothing better than having a lazy day off. The only way today could’ve been better was if my boyfriend was here. Unfortunately our relationship is currently long-distance, but hopefully we’ll fix that soon.

Anyway, about the tea; quite nice, actually. There’s a sort of familiar taste to it, but I can’t quite pin it down. This is another smooth one.

I also really like how all these teas seem to be different takes on an Earl Grey.

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