St. Petersburg

So today I went on a little hunt around town for the Caramel blend by Kusmi (saves on shipping ;)… but sadly neither of the two stores I went to had it! I’m going to have to wait for Christmas or make the trek to the Champs (which is never something I do for fun because frankly, it’s tourist hell…) So instead I decided to go for the St Petersburg.

I always get a bit anxious when trying blends. This is probably because my past consists of way too many cups of cheap tea blends brewed for too long (eugh). But I’m happy to say that I’m quite impressed by this blend!

I love how smooth it is. One can definitely feel (and taste) the caramel. It’s in that beautiful little bubble right before you get to sweet so it can be enjoyed at any time of day. It smells absolutely amazing as well! I’d like to try to bake with this… hehe.

I am quite happy about this addition to my cupboard!

This tea reminds me of Earl Grey. A nice, nutty orange flavor. This is lovely without additives.

I love, love , love this tea. I treasure my little box of St. Petersburg so much that I am only willing to use a small amount of tea leaves each time! :P I always drink it plain, which is delicious enough. The fruity berry note is so fragrant and delightful. The caramel is sweet but subtle, so to me it tastes more like honey. Highly recommend to anyone who loves Mariage Freres’ Marco Polo. :)

Trying this one again this evening… There isn’t the opening tang of bergamot present but what I do find as I smell the dried leaves is a berry or dark cherry perhaps? I’m not one for the caramel note but I am secure in the soothing characteristics of vanilla.
I let it steep for 4.5 to 5 minutes as I was desirous of a dark tea this evening. Feeling overwhelmed at the moment and moody… this might fit the bill. The addition of milk was a perfect touch and yet it doesn’t mask the bergamot and citrus notes fully.

There is much to say on this cup but I will leave off for the moment. The grumpies have got me and if I smoked tonight would be a two cigarette or fine cigar sort of night. I mean it no injustice as this is a very handsome tea. Ciao

This tea is lovely. It smells lovely brewing, like berry jam. It tastes just as sweet… The caramel tastes more like just a plain sweetness, but the berries are strong, and the whole thing blends well. The tea is a dark brew, and takes on a slightly creamy mouthfeel, like a tea with coconut pieces. When brewed properly, this blend doesn’t get even slightly bitter… A plus for sweet tea drinkers!

Stick caramel in a tea and I’ll drink it, and this one is no exception. I like the fruity notes. It tastes very smooth.

This is a downright yummy tea from Kusmi. I like to call this a “dessert tea” becaus thats just what it reminds me of, dessert. When sugar and milk are added it has a taste similar to fruit dipped in caramel. This is a great tea to serve to guests after a meal.

Got this tea as part of Kusmi’s Russian Teas sampler. It came in a cute little tin.

I’ve got to say: this tea is hands down my favorite tea from Kusmi that I’ve tried. It’s got a warm, candy-like aroma that just permeates the air—I can smell this tea steeping from the opposite side of my living room. For me, the fruity flavor isn’t as overwhelming as it can sometimes be in other flavored teas. It’s got caramel, but not in a cloying way. Most caramel teas require milk and sugar for me, but this one is delicious plain, sweetened, or as a soy latte.

It’s always so nice when you write a big lot of text for something and then your computer gets crazy and you lose all of it. Thanks very much, laptop. You’ve done well!

Anyway, I was surprised to see that many reviews if this either made no mention of the berry element or downplayed it. To me, it’s primarily a black tea (an assertive one that isn’t dominated by the other flavours) with the second most noticeable flavour being very much the red berries and then caramel. If I’m really looking for it, I can taste just a “vibe” of the bergamot (mostly at the end up the mouthful), but it’s really only a wisp.

The taste and smell of this in a latte reminded me a lot of these chocolates you can get in Australia called strawberry Caramello Koalas. If you’re not from Australia, you probably have no idea what that is, but it’s just milk chocolate filled with a strawberry caramel centre and I’m pretty sure it’d be no different to any of those generic-type boxed chocolates with the gooey strawberry centres. I don’t like any of that, so the fact that the tea reminded me of it wasn’t really a selling point, but the tea was actually pretty enjoyable. It was perhaps a bit too dessert-y with the sweetener and soy milk, but I thought even the aroma of the brewed tea with nothing added was quite heavy on the berries and caramel, so I don’t know think it’s one of those teas that gives you a lot of options. I don’t know—it just felt like a bit much to me to have that strong berry plus caramel plus sweetener plus soy milk. Arguably, you could leave out the sweetener and milk, but when it smells like something from a chocolate box, that doesn’t seem like a good option.

If you don’t like black tea to begin with, you probably won’t like this. It could be that I’m more sensitive to the taste than other people because I haven’t drank that much black tea in my life, but anyway. Also, the dry smell isn’t really an indication of the taste of this tea. It smelled much more citrus-sy (when I didn’t even taste citrus in the brewed version), but really, I always smell these bags before I brew them and the Kusmi ones often don’t taste like their dry smell.

I have another bag of this from my sampler pack to try, but my feeling is basically that this is a nice tea for a change of pace, but it’s not a “regular basis” to for me. It’s just a bit too weird to have all these elements coming together at once in one drink.

One of my favourites. Fruity berries, floral note and sweet caramel. I never use sweetener or sugar so when Im in mood for sweeter tea- thats the one. I find it the best for spring, I prefer more spicy teas for winter. Very smooth taste as always with Kusmi.