Smoky Russian Caravan is a blended black tea, made to emulate the style of Russian tea from the days of trade caravans running from China to Russia. Russian Caravan is a tasty and interesting blend, smoky yet balanced. In fact, the best comparison I can make is to Springbank or Talisker, smoky yet balanced single malt scotches. The smoke in Russian Caravan comes from Lapsang Souchong, a mellow Chinese black tea that is dried by smoking over a fire, traditionally pinewood, which is blended with Keemun and another unspecified Chinese black tea.
Russian Caravan smells great on a cold winter afternoon. Quality Lapsang Souchong has a deep, rich smokiness, and the aroma is a lot like a campfire. In fact, if we continue with our scotch comparison (I'll probably do that a lot), Lapsang Souchong is like an Islay single malt. The Keemun imparts a strong malty flavor, with a hint of dried fruit. Keemun is often used in English Breakfast blends, and although it's not one of my favorites, it works very well here, adding some malt and natural sweetness to the campfire smoke. This tea has a nice smooth feel in the mouth, coating the tongue nicely, and with very little astringency. Curiously, the smoke diminishes throughout the cup, though it remains on the nose. The flavors linger on the tongue for a while like a good scotch, and leave a mild aftertaste of smoke.
I purchased this as a loose tea from Special Teas, a nice tea website based out of Stratford, CT. I made this in my tea ball, with about 1 1/2 teaspoons of tea for a 10 oz. mug, and let it brew for about 3 minutes. A splash of milk and a spoonful of agave nectar, my usual sweetener of choice, rounded out my cup.
Overall, a solid B. A great pick-me-up for cold weather, and a fine tea for scotch enthusiasts.
Sounds interesting! I'll have to keep an eye out for this.
ReplyDeleteDammit, now I need to pick up some tea brewing stuff:p This one sounds interesting, though!
ReplyDeleteJacob - I like it because it's not as over the top smoky as straight Lapsang Souchong. tend to be cautious with smoky things...I like them, but get overwhelmed easily.
ReplyDeleteMark - All you really need to start is a teaball or an infuser cup and a teakettle. A teaball is just a latching mesh metal ball on a chain that lets hot water get to the tea, and an infuser cup is a nifty cup that lets the tea brew, then drain out into a mug below. You can lso find a teapot and strainer for pretty cheap.
An update...with the demise, so to speak, of Special Teas, I tried a different blend of Russian Caravan, from Culinary Teas. I found it not nearly as smoky and fruitier. My guess is less Lapsang Souchong, more Keemun. Not a bad blend, but I liked the other one a bit better.
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