Samovar

This is one seriously strong cup of tea.

The color to which it brews is a brazen reddish-bronze. Sitting on my desk in a clear glass mug, looking down into the bottom from the top, I can almost not even see through the tea…and my cup is sitting on a white napkin on top of a blonde desk.

Trying to describe this one is going to be difficult. It’s a very savory tea, but slightly bitter. I’m not talking about the sort of bitterness that comes from oversteeped black, though I’ll readily admit that after my first sip I wondered if I hadn’t overdone the amount of tea steeped or the steep time (given this one says it can go up to 5 minutes, that seemed unlikely). It’s more like the bitterness you get when you try bittersweet chocolate or high-percentage cacao dark. That bitterness connects to a very notable taste of earth and soil and, in a development that reassures me that my impending confrontation with my fear of pu-erh may not be a total disaster, I like that earthiness. It isn’t a dry earth, it’s a moist and humid and black rich earth…and fortunately, it seems to want to do little more than play foundation for the raisiny sweetness responsible for the tea’s umami deliciousness. Rolling the tea over my tongue, I’m able to get different sensations toward the back and the sides of my tongue, flashes of sweetness or bake-y malt.

There is a slight pinch at the back of the throat that hasn’t decreased as the cup has cooled, and I’m again not sure if that’s my steeping or just the briskness of the cup itself, as this is my first time sitting down with this tea, but it doesn’t seem to want to go away. Not scratchy, not completely scratchy, but pinchy. Just a bit. It’s a very strange finish to have when the flavor profile of the cup is so completely dark and smooth.

I don’t think I would have this every day, but there are certainly mornings where I want a cup of tea that seems like it could dissolve a spoon. This one qualifies. In fact, the longer I sip it, the more I feel as though…

…you know, if tea were chocolate and not tea, then this tea would be the dark chocolate to the milk chocolate of the Golden Spring that I’ve made my staple go-to black tea. They both share the raisin-sugar mouth-watering umami deliciousness, but this tea is darker, bittersweet, earthy, full-bodied, stiff and smooth and the Golden Spring is lighter, brothy, full-bodied and made for downing in mass quantities.

Not sorry that I bought this at all. Looking forward to trying it with milk and sugar for sure…something I think the Golden Spring doesn’t quite hold up to as well as this could.

Whoa whoa whoa. I am blown away by this! This tastes VERY oily and salty, with a bit of pepper. It reminds me of eating duck in Paris. I only drank this tonight because I’m out of almost everything else and I’m drinking it like most other teas. Not the traditional preparation with milk (which now I know I’ll love even more). Gotta make this the real way tomorrow…

After visiting Samovar in San Francisco over the summer, I’ve become a frequent buyer of their teas and this was one of the first I purchased online.

Personally, I feel so much better in the morning when I wake up and have breakfast while sipping on a fresh cup of Samovar Breakfast Blend. It’s not too strong of a black tea, but it has a relaxing, soothing aroma to it that is always pleasant in the mornings.

I was/still am a coffee addict, and this was what got me into tea. The toasted rice adds a nice “cereal” taste for the non-tea drinker. Once I got used to this everything else in the tea world has tasted wonderful.

This tea engages you when you first open the tin. The mixture of the tea leaves and rose buds is visually enticing. The aroma as you steep this tea has the floral notes of rose water which is to be expected. However, that same rose flavor is a little over powering when drinking the tea. That is not to say it is unpleasant and if you like floral teas then this is definitely one to try. I haven’t given up on this one, but I believe it may be too floral for my tastes.

The third steeping came out very weak. This has been sitting on my shelf with one serving left for a while. I thought that it produced many steepings with other cups. Maybe it was was weak because it was the last of the cake.

This is my first Pu-erh tea, but I believe like others have said its not a bad place to start. After brewing, the aroma was earthy and reminded me of the smokiness of a Lapsang souchong, but not as heavy. I am currently on my third brewing at there is no bitterness. The flavors have become more subtle with each brewing, but overall the flavor is quite pleasant. A whole new world of teas has been discovered. Looking forward to more Pu-erh teas in the future. I started the first brewing at 3 minutes and have added a minute with each brewing.

I know that I’m supposed to be drinking swap tea right now, but I had to make something to accompany an exhausted me to physics the other night and I couldn’t risk bringing something that could be potentially bad. Enter Royal Garland.

This tea is simply fantastic. I sat there through lecture, and going over our latest exam, but in my head I had visions of tropical vistas with the scent of thickly humid flowers wafting about. It was delightful. Sweet, floral, delicate, sugary, but with a buttery, almost starchy component that keeps it grounded and gives it substance and dimension.

I want to add that I am totally noticing that plantain flavor now. It’s light, and more noticeable on the aftertaste for me, but definitely there. I rather like it.

Also, I wanted to add [and I think that sophistre commented that this made her think of a white tea] that during my visit to Samovar, Jesse mentioned that this was actually a white tea processed as an oolong. Not only do I think that that is fascinating, but it totally explains the flavor profile to me.

Royal Garland continues to remain high on my list of favorite teas. If it’s not careful, it may climb higher.

I feel the need to say that I found myself drinking this again this afternoon and I realized that I didn’t even talk about multiple steeps on this tea.

Second and third cups of this tea at the cooler temperatures for me taste like I am drinking sugared flowers. [If I go beyond three it has to sit longer than I am typically patient.]

Nectary, light, floating, delicate, sparkling, sugared flowers.

Drink of studying champions.

I fail to understand how I failed to log this tea. Fail. Fail. FAIL.

Y’all, this tea is good. Like, teen girl squad SOOOO GOOD!

At the higher temperatures it’s a bit dark, and I, like Auggy, much like it in the lower range of water temperature. It’s not bad at the higher ones by any means, but it unlocks these flavor profiles that I love with the cooler water so it’s all about the subjective preference for me.

The scent of the steeping leaves has a vegetal quality about it. At times, I almost smell cornbread. But the tea. The tea is where the magic happens. Walk with me.

This tea is like the embodiment of a specific type of commercial. You know, like shampoo or soap commercials where colorful exotic flowers and/or fruits fall across the screen amidst slow motion splashes of backlit water. Or perhaps washer commercials set in brightly tropical environments where long bolts of colored silk slide, defiant of gravity, through an impossibly transparent underwater environment while softly invigorating Enya-like music plays in the background.

This tea bombards my senses with lush, botanical florals that I can’t identify and nectary fruits, while remaining soft in flavor. It has that sense of denseness and humidity about it – like when you step into the tropical climate exhibit at a zoo, garden, or science museum. And yet the tea is light and smooth.

A very, very light buttery flavor cuts seamlessly in and out of the flavors. There is a hazy yet crystalline sweetness that caresses the tip of my tongue when the liquid is swished around. The overall effect is one of a natural, renewing freshness that radiates outwards until it saturates my consciousness with unfathomably delicious flavor.

It’s a direct line to tropical warmth, and since actually going to Hawaii isn’t at all feasible at the moment, right now [heh, especially now], I’ll take it.

The last bit of the pu-erh Takgoti sent me. I got three good steeps out of the leaves, the first one dark and earthy, nothing much new there. The second one (@ 3:30) was lighter but still deeply earthy and reminded me a bit of a yunnan tea. The third steep (@4:30) was lighter still and it had some surprisingly sweet, almost fruity notes.

I don’t think I’d buy this tea, at least not in large quantities – though I would love to try other pu-erh teas and see how they compare. This tea is something I’d consider an aquired taste and for that reason I’m not going to knock it even though my palate still isn’t entirely sure if it likes it or not.

I thought the first sip of wine I ever tried was absolutely wretched, but I gradually got to like it and now I enjoy a glass with meals. I think the same philosophy might apply to pu-ehr teas. ;)

I rinsed the tea for a bit longer than last time – about 30 seconds. It seemed to have removed most of the decaying-fish scent and it made the resulting tea a little less overpoweringly earthy. Don’t get me wrong, it still tastes like this tea is stiff enough to stand a spoon up in it.

I think I’m starting to enjoy this pu-erh, although I feel like it needs something sweet to go with it to cut some of the flavour.

Another tea from Samovar-pusher Takgoti. ;P

So this is the first genuine pu-erh tea I’ve had the chance to try (Numi’s Chocolate Pu-erh was nice but not really the same thing) and I was really excited about it. I heated the mug and I gave the leaves a rinse with boiling water before steeping it. At first it smelled like fish, and not fresh fish either, but several weeks old rotting fish. Yeah, ew. Thankfully as the tea steeped the scent slowly changed to something earthy-smelling.

The taste is quite earthy too, but not like just regular dirt – it’s a rich, loamy dirt full of decaying plant matter…I made it sound gross didn’t I? Sorry, it’s the ecology student in me talking. It’s a powerfully strong, ‘dark’ tea that I find I can’t drink quickly, but small sips seem to work – problem is, it’s getting cold. I am noticing that as the tea cools a bit of a sweetness creeps in aswell.

This is a fascinating tea and I’m glad I got the chance to try it. Do I like it? I’m not sure to be honest. I think pu-erh might be an acquired taste, though I’ll certainly strive to acquire it! ;)

Another night that seems to call for a big ol’ pot of Wei Chi Cha. Oh yes indeed.

Sometimes one needs a nice tart tisane. Just enough orange peel to sweeten it around the edges. Some nights are just like that. Not just a cup, but a whole darn pot of this lovely stuff.

I like the versatility of this tea. At 3 minutes and it’s a smooth, sweet, medium bodied tea that is bold enough to be breakfast-worthy but nice enough to make me happy without additives (even in a travel tumbler, which is a bit of an achievement). Steeped for 5 minutes though, it turns into a stout, growly, super-chewy full-bodied breakfast blend that cries out for a little milk to smooth the edges. So on mornings like today when I want a kinder wake-up tea, I can reach for this one. But on days that I need something to slap me in the face and shake me awake? Yeah, this works well then, too.

I could really get in to having stouter Yunnans for my first-thing-in-the-morning tea. Between this and Andrews & Dunham’s Yunnan, I’m finding that I love having a bold, slightly aggressive but still surprisingly smooth tea first thing in the morning. This one is probably a hair less growly than the Tiger but it has a slightly sweeter, fuller taste that makes it quite nummy. No milk or sugar is needed though it stands up to it very well. Quite a nice way to start the day – stout enough (and with enough caffeine) to give me a good wake up but smooth enough that I don’t need to add anything to it to make it friendly. I imagine it is somewhat similar to starting the day with an expensively smooth coffee.

I meant to grab Scarlet Sable to bring with me to work but this one is in the same size and color container so… oops. But my Russian blend caffeine ran out about an hour ago so I need something else to perk me up. Sadly, my office has not instituted nap time. (Item #762 on the list “Things to Enact When I Rule the World”).

Smells thick and chocolaty. And raisin-y. The smell is cuddly. The taste is happy. Bright. Snuggly. Sweet. Brisk. And hopefully the caffeine content will lead to the ability to write full sentences.

This tea boldly states, “I AM TEA.” It makes me think of standard teabag tea. If standard teabag tea was actually good. It reminds me of the smell that comes from the Luzianne bags as I make the husband’s gallon o’ iced tea. They strike me as being in the same taste family. But this one? This is the heights to which a standard teabag blend like Luzianne can only hope to achieve. This is a typical, normal, standard, plain tea blend made good. No. Made GREAT. Full, round flavor. This is tea.

And caffeine. Please. Let there be caffeine.
3g/8oz

The dry leaves smell fruity. This is good – one of the first Ceylons I had tasted strongly of raspberry and, while I am not a huge raspberry fan, that tea pretty much set the standard for ‘good’ Ceylon in my world. Something beyond a plain ‘tea’ taste. This one isn’t quite raspberry smelling – the scent is a little bolder and thicker than your average raspberry. I can’t place it but I like it. The leaves are pretty, too. Long and wiry twists each at least an inch long.

The cup smells a bit darker than the dry leaves. Nothing excessive. There’s a bit of brown sugar smell, or something similar. The taste is sweet and mild with a hint of dryness at the end that might develop more with a longer steep (if you’re in to that sort of thing). The main flavor is tea but it’s got some fruity or honeyed hints about it. I can’t specifically pick out what type of sweetness is in there, but it is close – I feel like it is teasing me.

I haven’t had a ton of straight Ceylons (4 or 5 maybe) but I’d have to say that this one would rank #2 in that grouping. Not quite the dripping with raspberry but not flat and fully default tea either. Overall though, I’m just not all that into Ceylons. I think I want to try this with milk as Samovar suggests. So rating subject to change.
2.8g/8oz

Finished off the last of the sample Takgoti gave me. I got three good steeps (2nd @ 4:45, 3rd @ 6:00) out of it before it’s light, lilac/floral flavour started to fade too much. I generally don’t try to wring more steeps out of a tea once it starts telling me that it’s done – even if I could.

It’s a nice oolong, but I don’t think I’d buy it – it’s not a bad tea, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve had better oolongs IMO (the one from the Jade Teapot being a good example).