Samovar

By the gods, I love this stuff1. Yesterday, I had to collect Mum from JFK at around 7:30 in the morning. That’s around the time I usually go to sleep, so I ended up staying up the night before, afraid I’d sleep through. So there I am, 4:30 in the morning, slightly bleary-eyed and more than slightly frazzled, packing a bottle of water and a fuzzy throw for Mum. All that remained was the tea.

Once upon a time, I had only one loose tea—Ocean of Wisdom—and that’s the tea I would’ve made and taken with me. Now I have so many loose teas to consider, so many yummy (and untried) options, and the very thought of having to guess (at that hour) what Mum might like and what I should try was doing my head in, so I ended up selecting the same one: Ocean of Wisdom. It’s just so good. And the fragrance is just so heavenly.

This note, though, is about the second infusion I prepared when I got home. I have to admit that I rarely bother with second steeps, never mind multiple ones. I’d be a horrible oolong taster, given that many times, the best flavour of an oolong emerges in the third steep (and beyond). That said, I gave the second steep a try because this tea can get really expensive, compared to the others in my cupboard: my 4.4oz packet was USD$19, and Samovar recommend using 2-3 tbsp per 16oz/473mL. That’s only about 8 servings! Since it’s rooibos (and therefore naturally caffeine-free) and my favourite blend, I could go through that in a couple of days. Eep! So I was thinking I’d try and stretch it out a bit by steeping again or using less tea next time.

Anyway. The interesting thing about this is that the second steep is a completely different tea. Gone was the warm, sweet, woodsy rooibos flavour I love, and I couldn’t detect most of the other ingredients, either. Really, it just tasted like cloves and ginger. And it was awesome. It was this potent, spicy brew that felt so great hitting my throat, which is a bit vexed with me for taking it to the petri dish we call an airport. I was really surprised by the level of gingery spice, a level that I hope for in my ginger tea blends but rarely get. (To be clear, it’s surprising because the first steep isn’t at all piquant.) The second steep is also slightly astringent, but only on occasion, not throughout the cup.

From now on, this will be a two-steep tea for me.

Tea amount: 2.5 tbsp
Water amount: 16oz/~475mL
Additives: 2 tsp demerara sugar
Dry mouth factor: 4/10 (second steep only, first steep is 1/10)

1 http://steepster.com/bleepnik/posts/57991

This is the best tea I’ve had thus far. I tried it for the first time at Samovar Tea Lounge and bought a tin for myself. At the time, I hadn’t yet started steeping loose tea and it looked like it was going to be too much and last forever. I was mistaken. The tin recommends using 2-3 tablespoons of tea per 16 ounces of water, more tea than I’ve yet been instructed to use; consequently, the tin empties pretty quickly, especially if you simply can’t get enough of the tea.

As others have said, it’s a very warm, mellow tea that does what chamomile is supposed to do: warm you to the tips of your fingers and toes, loosen those tight muscles, and help you relax. In addition, it has such a smooth, comforting flavour and lovely fragrance that just steeping a mug makes me happy. One of the nicest things about it is that although cinnamon appears in its list of ingredients (it seems I can’t seem to get away from that stuff), the overall flavour and fragrance are both extremely well balanced. Cold weather + Ocean of Wisdom = very quickly depleting stock. Fortunately, I’m headed back to San Francisco in two months so that I can re-stock in person; this time, I plan to buy more than one tin.

I am adding this to my shopping list right now. This was another smokey sample that I thought about throwing out… and once you can get past the smoke (see last review… this isn’t part of the tea, just part of my particular samples) it’s amazing. And I typically don’t like vanilla tea at all. It’s perhaps my least favorite flavoring. But this one is just enough to make you think of vanilla without being overwhelming. Yum!!

This is really quite good. I was a little worried when I read the description of this tea because I’m not particularly fond of tart… but, this is “tart in a good way.” And what I mean by that is that it is not really pucker-y or sour, but more of a sweet-tart kind of tart… but without that candy taste.

The berry flavor is really pronounced here, and it overpowers the flavor of the rooibos, which is quite alright with me.

I found this to be rather enjoyable. A nice tea to sip in the evening.

A tale of woe, from It’s All About the Leaf
http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/1370/tea-review-samovar-tea-lounge-royal-garland/

Dear Tea Companies,

Your packages’ brewing instructions matter.

No Love,
Me

Let me explain. I have run into many a situation where I’ll get some amazing sounding tea. I’ll read the instruction on the label, and do what it says. I have to trust that the company who gives me a tea, knows how to make it the best. It will look lovely, the leaf will smell lovely, and the brew will be the most beautiful color ever.

And then that first sip will make me cry. Wonky preparation details will take my little cup of heaven and make it undrinkable.

Such was the case with my first experience with Royal Garland by Samovar. Many of my on-line tea friends experience heighten states of being when they have Samovar teas. So I was really looking forward to the experience of this tea. And then I got it, and read the package where it called for 2 tablespoons of leaf being steeped in 5 ounces of water for 3 minutes. MEH?? I know some teas, especially the fluffier ones, break that 1 cup = 1 tsp golden rule, but this sounded really funky. And everything I’d read says that more leaf = shorter steep. This just couldn’t be right.

But, I decided to trust the tea company. The leaf was gorgeous and smelled amazing. But when I tried that brew… Oh, when I tried that poor abused cup of tea, I almost sprayed the room. It was horrid. Bitter, astringent, and just plain awful. And it was a goodly portion of my tin, since it had called for so much leaf. It honestly took me a good few months to think about trying the tea again.

But, luckily, this tea story has a happy ending. I, after asking around for suggestions of brewing parameters, played with brewing some additional cups. And I’ve gotten the brew to where it’s pretty darned good. It’s a light yellow color, with a clean and slightly astringent flavor with overtones of cashews. I can get multiple yummy steeps out of the same, much smaller, amount of leaves. This is a really nice oolong. Just don’t use the preparation techniques on the container!!

Best tea ever! But why does it have to $25 for 25 grams? I could drink this every day! It is naturally sweet w/a starchy background. Oddly I detect a subtle sugar cane (like the kind that you chew and suck the sugar out of….) – yes that is what is tastes like- the starchy flavor of sugar cane.

Been trying shorter steep times: 30 sec, 1 min, 1,5 mins. – 2 tbs, 16 ozs. So far, flavor is strong.

This tisane really surprised me. I was expecting an ordinary mint rooibos blend.

The peppermint is extraordinarily strong in this blend – so strong that it practically eliminates any rooibos flavor whatsoever. The addition of bergamot curbs some of the peppermint notes – this doesn’t taste like mouthwash.

It is rather delicious. I can taste the pine taste to this – it is quite unlike any rooibos blend I’ve yet to encounter! Very good!

Wow – this is good. It is much better than I thought it would be. I am always a bit skeptical when it comes to tisanes with ingredient lists that begin with hibiscus as their main ingredient. But this one is blended well… not extraordinarily heavy on the hibiscus, and the other ingredients help cut through some of that tart flavor.

It is pleasantly tart, with a little sweetness, and a really nice hint of lavender in the finish. I like this very much.

I received this in the mail completely by surprise from SeyKayYay. I wasn’t expecting it, but I was overjoyed to receive it. This makes the third US-produced black tea I’ve tried. The first and second belong to Charleston. And, I will echo every other description here when I say it’s unlike any other black tea I’ve tried. If I were to come up with a metaphoric comparison, it would be a Yunnan gold taste with an Assam body and a sweet Keemun finish. That’s the closest I can come up with. It’s also the only black tea I’ve come across that *requires * at least a four-minute steep to get the full effect. I tried it at three first, and it was too light. At even four minutes there was no astringency, no bitterness, a chocolaty palate, and a smooth maltiness. Different, indeed.

…AND it lasts two very strong infusions. Just F.Y.I.

Full Review: http://www.teaviews.com/2011/01/15/review-samovar-hawaii-grown-black-tea/

So here’s the thing about this tea – it’s very light, subtle, but surprisingly well-rounded.

Being accustomed to the more deeply-steamed senchas, most of the senchas I have had are strong, robust, and bursting with flavor. This is a much more restrained fare, but I find it growing on me more and more.

The coloring foreshadows the sparkling, almost weightless qualities the flavors hold; it brews into a very pale yellow-green. The scent is a bit more vivid. Though slightly faded in comparison to some other senchas, it still holds that roasty, grassy quality along with something else underneath that’s difficult to place. It’s kind of sweet and a little salty. Hyacinth mixed with the ocean.

And then the main event. As I started drinking this, I thought it tasted okay, but that it was weak. Then the flavors started to build up as my taste buds became accustomed to it; it is a deceptively lively tea. First off, I will say that the aftertaste on this is rather amazing; a hint of bitter that is counterbalanced with a fresh sweetness that found me staring, openmouthed, at the wall for a few minutes before my dog nudged me out of it for some belly rubs. I probably looked like I was having a stroke, but it caught me off guard and it’s taking me a very long time to finish this cup because I keep on riding the aftertaste.

The flavor of the liquid reminds me of biting into iceberg lettuce, or a sweet green pepper. The finish as I swallow is more a roasted and makes me think of corn.

This is something to drink slowly and savor – especially the aftertaste, which is kind of magical. And I don’t know if it’s the tea or the fact that it feels really good to be home or some combination of both, but I had a very frenzied day at work today and I find myself feeling incredibly relaxed at the moment.

Time to go for a second steep.

Had the day off yesterday, and therefore the opportunity to take this final Samovar sample pack home and cook it up according to the directions on the label. I used regular white sugar as the sweetener and a Tbsp of Mariage Freres cinnamon-orange black tea as the extra as I thought those flavors would probably blend well.

As it was boiling on the stovetop it smelled really good – spicy and warm, perfect for a crisp fall day. The flavor was quite pungent – the sweetness was right on the mark but there was one element of the spice flavor that was really strong, and I have a feeling it was the cardamom. I did note several pods in the packet and find for me that this flavor, though I like it a lot, can easily go over the edge if overdone. If I were to try this again in the future I’d probably make sure there were no more than one or two cardamom pods in there. That’s just a matter of personal taste though; in general I found this to be very tasty and well balanced in the other spices – cinnamon, clove, pepper, ginger all found a home.

This is a very good Earl Grey, although I don’t know if I’d agree with Samovar in saying that this is the best Earl Grey in the world. I like that this one lacks that floral aspect. This one has a very lemon-y taste to it, much more so than a typical Earl Grey. It is very citrus-y and not so flowery.

This tea… is a quandary to me.

Sure, it’s a Chinese green. But most Chinese greens are roasted. Not steamed. So this tea is unique! It takes a varietal from China that is either just steamed, or it is roasted and steamed. And it’s done quite well.

So, I like it very much for being a pure Chinese green tea. It’s lovely. But… when compared to the Japanese teas I obsess over, I find it to be a bit flat.

I’m with @takgoti @teaplz and @Ricky. This tea was good for a Chinese green, but in the end it just made me want a really good Japanese green tea.

I meant to write a tasting note on this when I drank it [which my handy-dandy Steepster subheading tells me was 11 days ago] but I didn’t. But NOW HERE I AM, SO HERE WE GO.

[Sorry, I accidentally hit caps lock, but am now thinking that I like it that way.]

I am sure that it is not going to come as any sort of surprise to anyone here that I find this tea delicious, but hear me out.

First, it is distinctly a sencha tea. It has that deep, grassy freshness I have come to associate with the better senchas I have had.

But then I almost immediately noticed a sweetness. It was almost crystalline, like the sweetness I taste in Royal Garland, but after some swishing and aeration, I began to taste a different dimension within it. It was darker, with a tartness, and then it socked me at the back of my tongue: cherry. It almost reminds me of black cherry, but that is what it undeniably was, and once I had identified it, it pervaded the tea with a rush of Summer that made me smile.

As I sit here and drink the tea now, I can pick out the cherry sweetness more easily. It floats above the lower, sencha notes. It reminds me of the first time I went white water rafting on the Snake River in Oregon. I was probably about ten or eleven, my brother a couple of years younger. At one point on the trip, our instructor let me and him go to the front of the raft, holding on to the rope lines so we could fully experience the rush of bobbing and weaving down the rapid runs [and scream at the top of our lungs]. The day was sunny, but the water was brisk and chilly and alternately misted and crashed into us as we made our way down the river.

Looking to either side of the raft, the banks of the river were lined with trees, boulders, and moss. The water was clear, excepting the areas where the rapids churned and frothed, and the sunlight beating down made everything sparkle. During our short stay at the front of the raft, I began to notice that there were a large number of butterflies fluttering above the river. They dotted the entirety of the course; bright little jewels dancing above the coursing liquid below. They seemed unafraid of the water and I continued to spot them whether our path was smooth and calm or chaotic and frenzied; flapping and skimming atop of one of the best rides nature has to offer.

This tea immediately sent this memory into my head. The sencha, though not frantic like the river could get, provides a deeply mellow, yet intensely fresh base of flavor. The Sakura floats above it like the butterflies, fluttering before landing to rest briefly and grace your senses with a burst of tangy, cherried sweetness. Both halves move apart and together, weaving to create an incredibly special experience.

As the tea cools, the sugared notes in the tea become more pronounced and spin together with the high grassy chlorophyll flavors that sencha begins to exert. Like the cherry blossoms, it seems that the magical melding of flavors in this blend is somewhat ephemeral. This is not a tea to be made when it is going to sit in a cup while you read the paper or work on something [like a long tasting note].

I think I shall like it most when it is made for a few minutes of mindful concentration and alertness. Possibly shared with a friend or two, but undoubtedly saved for a special occasion when the movement of time can be momentarily suspended.

My first Yunnan tea! Very interesting… On first taste it seems like any other black tea, but once you “get to know” it, you realize it’s a little more complicated than that.

I am honestly stunned at the natural flavour that is coming from this tea. I’m not normally one to put any sugar in my teas (especially when it’s the first time I’m tasting it) but this tea tastes like it comes with sugar already!

To be honest, I felt that the complex flavours that this tea has were coming out more and more as the tea got cooler. This is definitely one of those teas that I don’t have to worry about cooling down too much. Very drinkable at room temperature!

Definitely a smooth tea, and definitely one that I will have to keep my eye on when I make my next order from Samovar. Time to go for my second steep and see what happens…

I ordered this sample, I had heard some good things about this chai so I needed to find out for myself!

I split the brewed tea into two different cups so that I could have one for tasting without any additions and one for tasting as a latte.

Without Additions: Well, as most of you probably know, I’m pretty biased when it comes to chai, as I do believe that my own chai is the best ever. That being said, this chai lacks something. I was reading the label on the sample (which, may I say, I do have a tremendous appreciation for – the labels on these samples are very comprehensive), and it suggests adding a tbsp. of “your favorite black tea” – which suggests to me that this tea lacks a certain “umph” – and it does. The body of this tea – the base – seems relatively thin.

The spices, on the other hand, are delightful. Not too spicy, with a certain sweetness to it that I’m quite enjoying. This would really be an excellent masala chai if it had a stronger black tea base.

With honey and steamed milk: It is quite good as a latte, although, again, it suffers from a thin tea taste. The milk and honey do give it a little more consistency and a nice texture on the palate, as well as bring out some of the delicious spices. But the tea is still dreadfully thin on taste.

Backlogging. Drank this in the morning. I only have 2 more black tea samovar samples left, and this was one I was holding off to drink expecting it to be good.

It was definitely a good cup, strong, malty, delish… but after having so many other black teas from samovar it’s just not that special overall.

Oh yum! Now I can see why everyone loves this tea. It’s amazing! Sweet, rich and flavorful! LOVE this!

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

I have had this tea on my shelf for far too long. I’ve just been too lost in my black teas that I ended up forgetting that I had this in the first place. But here we are, trying it out at last!

I remember when I first got this tea, I read the description and it sounded like I’d really like it, so I went ahead and did what I normally never do: buy a large tin of it before getting a chance to try it. When I received the tea, I remember smelling it and being kind of thrown off my feet at first. That was NOT what I was expecting at all from a green tea.

But here we are, months later, and I’m taking another sniff of the leaves and I’m not sure why I was so thrown off when I first smelt it. Sure, it’s not exactly what I’d expect, but it isn’t a bad kind of smell. So I decided to pack this one into my traveler and head into work with it today.

First impressions: Yes, this is good. It’s definitely got that roasted texture to it. It’s dark for a green tea (though I have yet to have too much experience with greens) yet still quite light. I guess I should say that for a green tea, this is a very full bodied tea. Your taste buds get flooded with roasted, nutty, malty flavour that is hard to describe.

Personally, I get more of a greenish smell from this tea than I do in its taste.

Side-note: The leaves in their dry state are very brittle and quite long at times. I noticed immediately that once I poured hot water over them, most of them turned into smaller pieces of the leaves, as if the water snapped them like a twig before they went soft. Interesting…

I can definitely see myself coming back to this one this winter. The only question now is, why was I turning my back to this one for so long?

This one is blowing my mind. It is probably one of the best tasting oolongs I have every had. Seriously.

It has the subtle flavor that I love about oolongs. But instead of being crisp, it’s got a creaminess to it, which totally contradicts the pale clear liquid. There is a sight fruity note in it, but very mild. It’s not a “fruity” tea at all. Other sips, I can taste a “green” note, which must be the pine. Sweetness, a little bit of a rawness character to it, mild in flavor and color. Just all around goodness. I could drink this all day and just think about each cup. I think this one will have to be for special “I have nothing on my calendar” days!

And let me tell you, the leaves are HUGE. Even dried. Opening the bag and peering in, it looked like they put the whole plant in there (except for the twiggy parts). But they are a beautiful green color, like they were dried not that long ago.

Fantastic. Heaven in my cup. I’m sure I said that before, but this one is really amazing.