Russian Country

A bit disappointing for me after Harney & Sons superb Lapsang Souchong. It’s a good Russian tea, but I like more smoke, tar, and peat bog on my tongue.

Drank this on the beach with my toes in the ocean. That made it a 100 in my book, but I guess I’ll rate it on just the tea. :) The waves were full of fish this morning, it was so cool! http://www.flickr.com/photos/8126244@N06/8009003017/in/photostream

This is a nice blend, the lapsang is softened by the other blacks (though I can do lapsang straight). It’s got a great flavor to it, I’ll have to do a more in-depth review later when I can pay attention to flavors and taste more.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8126244@N06/8009001518/

This tea scared me. At first when smelling the wet leaves it was smoky and reminescent of a puherh with a horsey, fishy earthiness. The fishy part is what had me worried until I took my first sip. This is a very round bodied tea. It does have a light smoky taste that I think comes more from the aroma than the tea itself. It also has nutty notes. Very pleasing all in all. Thanks to ashmanra for sending me a sample to try.

I’m not a fan of Lapsang so I got this to try it again in a less potent blend. It really wasn’t wretched. I think I might slowly be turning to the dark side.

Popped the top off this one as soon as it was freed from the delivery box. I have waited for a long time to order this one and was looking forward to the experience for quite some time — and took a sniff and sadly did not like the scent. I sat it aside and brewed a cup of Rose Scented Tea (from this same shipment) instead.

The biggest surprise from this tea became evident after I decided to try a cup adespite the somewhat flat, smoky scent of the dry leaves. I discovered that during the brew, the heat of the water releases a tantalizing complexity, smokey, spicy and delicious. A real treat for the senses!

Just finished up a tiny pot of this. When I opened the sample the other day, the strong, smoky scent — almost reminiscent of smoked salmon — made me set it aside until I was in the mood to be a little more adventurous. Apparently, that day is today.

I was, once again, very pleasantly surprised. I can see why Harney and Sons has such a great reputation after working my way through these samples!

The smoky aroma mellows a lot once it’s brewed. The tea itself is still very smoky, but it stops short of being overwhelming, giving it a nice, strong flavor (just like I prefer!). It’s a good, complex tea, too, a real eye-opener that would be great to wake up with. I’m sorry I didn’t try it earlier.

I bought this on a whim after reading a review of a gentleman who drank this tea while reading long Russian tomes (Tolstoy’s War and Peace). It isn’t just the English major in me that pounced on this coupling of images. The scent of books and a smokey, full cuppa…. Well, I am a fan of the occasional wintry smoked tea, especially because it brings to mind 19thc Russia, or frosted windows by a rustic fireplace…

I can best describe this tea as a Lapsang lite. It has a smokey taste that drowns out any flavor undertones. This tea blend did not work for me.

Smells smokier than it tastes. It’s a fairly mild, light tea – not terribly complex, but very pleasant. I’ve been craving smokey teas lately but full-fledged lapsang souchong is a bit much for me – as others have said, Russian Country is a nice gateway option.

Tried a sample with my latest H&S order. Not as smoky as other Lapsang Souchong teas I have had, which in my case is good. I’m not a big fan of overly-smoky tea. This blend is pretty mild and I am enjoying it as an afternoon pick-me-up.