Finest Russian Caravan (TB70)

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!

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.

Just finishing lunch after spending the morning at the courthouse with my daughter. This was our 2nd day in court over custody of her son, who’s father is a control freak & all around @$$#0!3. He has repeatedly tried to use their son to control my daughter & cause her pain, & today I think the judge & lawyers got a view of his true nature. Because of his antics we’ll have to go back AGAIN at the end of August, but today we did get some things ironed out, so that’s an improvement.

Needless to say, I’m behind on my tea drinking! I did have 2 cups of some black tea at the restaurant we went to near the courthouse for breakfast, & that was acceptable (can you tell I’m a grumpus today? LOL)
I also brought my thermal cup & sipped on Bilbo Brew until it was gone.

Now I’m having the last of the Russian Caravan that Sil sent to me on our first trade. It’s a pleasantly bold blend, & although I initially expected smoke, it is not a smokey tea. Thanks again Sil!

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.

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

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….

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.

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!

Tea of the late morning shared with the husband, first sip was a bit dry, then it turned sweet in my mouth. Lovely notes of caramel in this cup, no smoke. Much more enjoyable than the sample six months ago (this one was actually ordered a few months ago by the husband). I brewed at a lower temp and shorter time, probably around 3 mins, I went by smell which was divine. Me thinks this one is a shape shifter.