Samovar

Try this again and upping my rating a little tiny bit. It’s growing on me, or maybe the bottom of the packet is a better mix. All I know is I feel like I’m getting more flavor now. Mmm, yuzu.

A much lighter tea than I expected, although the water may have been a little too cool the first time I brewed it. I like a bold sencha, so I was surprised by the mildness. The yuzu is nice (although I agree the smell of this tea is heavy on the yuzu, so I was surprised when the tea itself was a nice mix). I may re-rate depending on how the next new steep is – it’s a very pleasant tea, but not amazing at this price point.

Wow. Yeah, mate and I? Not gonna mesh. This is kind of like drinking a mint-flavored reed mat. This shows though how sweet Samovar’s Sweet Yerba Mate is. Because this? Not sweet. The tasting notes say bittersweet and I’ll agree. It’s not bitter like an oversteeped tea but there is a certain something to it that made me think of bitterness, maybe in a herbal/nature-y way. Nothing bad, just really unexpected.

I admit it, I made a face when I took the first sip (unexpected, you know). But each sip after that got easier and by the end of my cup, I was okay with this tea. Well, okay-ish. It still tastes like a mint-flavored reed mat but I will say that the mint is quite nice in this – and I’m saying that as a not so big fan of mint. So for those that mesh well with mate, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say this is a pretty tasty one, at least with how the mint blends with it. There’s no raw or rough herbal edge to it. So it’s a very smooth reed mat. I just notice it has eucalyptus in it so that might be contributing to the smooth blend. (And maybe it’ll help me with my stuffy sinuses.)

Anyway, certainly different but likable for a mate. Overall I prefer it more than the Sweet Yerba Mate because this doesn’t make me think of a commune with goats.

Soft texture, rising pepermint flavor to a smooth end. Naturally sweet but yet nothing similar to an overly sugared peppermint candy.

I got a sample of this as part of the same experiment described in my note here:

http://steepster.com/teas/harney-and-sons/6603-organic-rooibos

As I mentioned, I’m now more about de-rooibosing my life except for the very few blends I really really like. So I’m gonna drink this one and say goodbye to it, I expect. It would take something on the order of a miracle for me to want to order plain rooibos. But if anyone could make me do it, Samovar probably could.

Initially though, we’re not off to the best start. I sniffed the dry needles next to the Harney ones and the Harney ones have a more robust smell and a much more pleasing one. The Samovar smells shallow by comparison, and there’s a scary thing about it. Um. Well…. there’s no pretty way to say this. It has a note that reminds me a little of stale urine. Now, before I met pu erhs I might have run screaming from this sort of smell, but fortunately I’ve matured some. And doubly fortunately, the smell is not strong and it goes away after the mixture is exposed to air for a while. Like the time it took to write this much. I wonder whether it had something to do with how the rooibos interacted with the plastic of the sample package?

There’s a sign of redemption after brewing. The color is unbelievable. Deep, ruby red, almost garnet. The aroma is pretty nondescript, which I view as a plus. It signals to me that this may be an obedient rooibos, which may make their rooibos blends work the way I like them. Really, it doesn’t smell like much of anything.

The flavor is, frankly, pretty similar to the aroma. There is a rooibos-like flavor, but it isn’t strong. It has a clever citrus note, which I don’t think I’ve experienced in rooibos before.

Because it is so un-rooibosy, it’s pretty good. It’s the first thing I’ve had from Samovar that hasn’t made me want to rush to order it immediately, and unless someone discovers tomorrow that the Samovar rooibos is in fact the fountain of youth, I will not be buying it. But it does help me understand why some of their rooibos blends have been so popular, and it makes me pretty interested in trying them.

Odd flavor but pretty herbal. This one was ok… Had it at Caffe del Doge

A very unique flavor for iced tea with a lovely herbal aroma.

And I’m Back! Hiatus over! And I’m sooo angry!
…BECAUSE… every tea I LOVE is a limited run or gets discontinued. Like this one.
Moving on!
This is not something I would have ever normally ordered but I was dealing with a lot of crap in my head and read a lot of reviews stating that matcha and high grade Japanese greens can help with things like seasonal depression and other things like that. Was that vague enough? ;) So this was my lets drink it every day… it’s being discontinued so I can’t beat the price… experiment tea. I should probably add in here that I’m not usually the biggest Japanese green fan so when I first got it I did not like it.
But! for the sake of behavioral science I kept drinking it. And now… I like it. I know that the flavor puts a smile on my face but I have no idea if those studies mean anything. I guess if I suddenly get very sad starting tomorrow we’ll have an answer.
So yea! I’m actually finding I like it better than matcha because I’m learning I’m not the biggest fan of the texture of it. This kind of tea gives me that kinda flavor with out me choking on my own saliva. AWESOME.
Also like matcha… if you let this tea hang out in a cup or pot too long it does develop some bitterness. So I try to drink it as quickly as I can without burning my esophagus to a cinder.
:)

It’s different. The smoke, Earl Grey and other flavors blend really well together. Rooibos is pretty up front. There is a slight tar/bitter taste at the end. I need more time with this to fully appreciate it but it’s good.

I’ve been drinking this all week—this makes my favorite iced tea ever. I’m not particularly fond of it hot, but when it’s iced—yum!
I usually just add a little liquid stevia to sweeten it up a bit (not enough to be called ‘sweet tea’, but just enough to take the edge off) and it’s fabulous. Yum.
For the record, I made this as sun tea, so I let it steep in the sun for probably five hours or so. Very delicious.

Not a bad pu-erh. However, I just gotta say that for the periods of my life where I qualified as a maiden, I doubt my ecstasy was much like this.

Warm, dark, earthy, and not fishtank-y. (Always a bonus). I am not getting the sweet that others are, but I’m enjoying my cup.

The depth of the color on this one is amazingly dark and wonderful.

Apparently I had this about a month ago. I didn’t rate it since I wasn’t really sure about it, mate being well outside my normal range of teas. But instead of thinking it over, having some more and rating it, I managed to forget all about this tea. So okay, forgetting I’ve had the tea certainly doesn’t speak favorably for it, but at least it wasn’t so horrible that it scarred me – because that’s the wrong type of memorable. Anyway, I’m prepared to give this one another go and actually rate it this time.

Huh. I think mate and I just aren’t going to develop a close relationship. It’s a little too woodsy and autumnal for me, but not in a crisp-autumn-day-spent-hiking-through-the-woods type of way that I could get behind. Instead, it’s more of an I-live-on-a-commune-with-goats-and-never-shave kind of way. Which isn’t to say that commune living with goats is a bad thing. It’s just that I like my razor and my husband says I can’t have goats (or alpacas) because I’d let them in the house. (He’s right.) So even though this is (very) sweet from the licorice and has a simultaneously clean and cuddly taste, I think it is a little too natural tasting for my personal tastes.

ETA: Dropping the rating a lot (a lot). Licorice apparently gives me bad heartburn. This tea killed me for hours after the cup was done.

Mate scares me. I’ve had a total of two sips of it in my life. Not a fan. But this is Samovar and they kind of make me like wacky things. So I will give it a shot.

It smells like dusty hay but without the sweetness of my grandparents’ old barn. There’s a little sweetness in there but it isn’t hay sweetness, it’s the anise. Which honestly made me think of peppermint on my first sniff, but I figured it out on my second. When the hot water hits the not-leaves, there is a whoosh that smells of dirt and sweet almost-mint . It makes me think of the smell pu-erh would give off if you set it on fire (but without quite so much lapsang souchong burning).

The liquid is… not so appetizing. Murky and kind of brackish-looking green. I am attempting to stare the tea down (instead of drinking it) but darn it, it hasn’t blinked yet. Totoro has nerves of steel. Okay, must buck up and drink.

Huh. It’s really not bad. Tastes very herbal and has a sweetness that reminds me of chamomile but the anise give it a little tingle/sting down my throat. There is hay and sweet and dry and tingly and a fresh, sweet, herbal-y aftertaste with a hint of anise feeling. It’s the love child resulting from a secret pu-erh and herbal tisane affair.

This is so different from my norm, I’m not sure what I think about this yet. Which could be good since I had to do that with Ryokucha and I’m fairly addicted to that now. I don’t think I will develop an addiction for this yerba mate, but then I wouldn’t have imagined it with Ryokucha either, so I suppose only time will tell. That and the crack Samovar adds.

Much like Morgana in her tasting note from this tea I also work from home and needed something to get me up and going. I took a Zyrtec allergy pill last night and then went to bed and did not wake up till 10:00am OMG! I am so glad I made my husband a good meal last night because it put him in a good mood and I was going to owe him one for pushing my 14 year old out of bed and to his summer events this am and they did it all without waking me. Well I will secretly admit I did hear them but I was too tired to move!!

Anyway on to the tea I have had this one before from Lena and I loved it so Ricky sent me some more along with lots of other goodies! Thanks Ricky I really appreciate all the tea and the thought you put into it by researching what I liked and sending out a custom sampler to me it was very thoughtful and I love it!! The tea is just the right kick I need to get me going it’s strong but not so strong that it requires milk and sugar which is a good thing as I don’t like to ever add milk or sugar to tea. It is a slightly brisk tea and I believe it was Auggy who said that this tea states “I AM TEA” and I would have to agree it does.

A great morning or brunch time tea!!

Finally getting around to trying this one Thanks to Lena, Thanks Lena! I have been drinking my morning black teas but mostly drinking iced teas during the day as it has been so hot here. Anyway I needed something to get me up and rolling this morning so that I could start my tomato sauce early and make the rest of dinner later this way I could work while tomato sauce was simmering.

Anyway did I tell you I love the Breville One Touch it is awesome and I do love it. While I was food processing tomatoes Breville made me tea Yay! On first sip I thought woah this is strong and bitter I think I over steeped it and maybe went too hot with the water temp I did 212 for 5 min. Next time I’ll try lower on both temp and steep times. Anyway after the initial shock to the tastebuds which made me think I might have really screwed up and have to through this pot of tea out I bravely took another sip and it wasn’t bad at all!

I don’t know what was up with my first sip but glad I continued on as it wasn’t bad I get a very faint cinnamony taste and faint hints of floral. I cannot wait to try this tea when prepared properly it is on my list for tomorrow morning. Thanks to Lena for the generous sample I get a second (third and fourth) chance with fresh leaves. Thanks again Lena!

Update: Much smoother at 3 minutes! I like it. It also gives me that caffeine kick which I need.

Good, smooth tea with strong jasmine flavor but a little bit rough on the end.

Started my day with this tea. Sweet, but not too much. Really delicate for a yunnan. Someone mentioned they thought it was more like a ceylon, that is probably why I like it. While reading the reviews for this tea, I noticed someone said it reminded them of PG Tips, so I did a side by side comparison this morning.:
BB is sweeter smelling and tasting and slightly more astringent, no need for additives. Good plain. It does get bitter as it cools. Which is big draw back for me, at school my tea tends to cool before I can get it all drank. BB is good. Pricey. But good.
PG is bolder and benefits greatly from a milk & sugar addition. PG is good, economical and you gotta love that monkey:)

I really like this tea. It is not bitter. It is very smooth and stands good alone or with the addition of milk/cream. Just the right amount of sweetness. This is a tea I could see myself ordering a tin of…but that shipping is high:( sigh…

Thank you Ricky for sending me some awesome tea samples, this being one of them!
Yunnan. Let’s see, my first tea love was a Yunnan. This is smoother than that first love. It is bold, but not too much. The smell is a pleasant tea smell. I added a dot of milk that I agree with Doulton that the milk “relaxes the tea.” The astringency is mild, which is good for me since I seem to be sensitve to astringency. It is better than the bagged english breakfast teas I have tried and loved. I seem to go seasons with my tea drinking, I drink one or two teas almost constantly, then I move one to something else for a season. Will this tea be part of a tea season for me, can’t tell at this moment. This is my first Samovar tea and I am pleasantly pleased with the experience.

This is a sample that I purchased from Samovar a while back… and just now getting around to trying it.

This is one of the better tisanes I’ve ever had. Generally, I prefer tea to tisane, although, there is a place in my life for tisanes – especially later in the evening (and since it is 12:30 in the am, I think that qualifies!) when I’m starting to think about heading to bed.

The flavor is very fresh and vibrant, yet the tea is very soothing. It is a very nice tea to have at the end of a long day. I suspect that this would be very refreshing as an iced tea too. Now that I’ve had a chance to really try this, I wish I would have gone ahead and bought the 2 ounce tin, rather than just the sample package… this is one that I would like to enjoy again, and also share with friends.

Perhaps I will have to remember that when I get around to placing another order with Samovar!

If I decide to have unroasted Yerba Mate , blended w peppermint is the only way to cancel that fuzzy hayish flavor of the mate. The more I sample mate , well, the unroasted kind, I just am not crazy for it.

Now this is a great yerba mate blend for summer (and much better than that vile licorice-mate blend I had yesterday)…The grassy flavor of the mate dulls the sharpness of the peppermint and the peppermint dulls the grassy flavor of the mate. This is heaven and full of caffeine…perfect chilled

After this cup – I am out of this lovely gem…bummer…
This tastes incredibly smooth today. YUM.

There is a slight juiciness to it and even slighter pine type taste.
What a terrific cuppa!
Better than I remember…this calls for a point increase!