Smoky Russian

i really like the smoky feel of it, its a strong tea, in my opinion it’s a realy good tea for evning

Straight from the zip bag, there’s a lot of smoke in the aroma, the burnt pine twigs kind, plus a suggestion of the full body.
After steeping the smokiness mellows a little, blending into malty and earthy background.
The taste is much more mellow than the classic lapsang souchong, plus it has some great resinous notes from the pine-smoking, slight fruity character in the background and medium astringency.
Great tea with a casual level of smokiness.

Last received sample from my order…
I am sad that I did not order whole pouch! Hmm, it is really delicious!

That says enough, right?
Okay, I know it doesn’t.

Opening tea bag brought me strong smoke aroma. They say it is pinewood smoked Lapsang Souchong; but although I want a smokehouse, we don’t have it. And I don’t know anyone who have. So I can’t be sure if it is pinewood smoke.

But… Brewed tea!
I expected it bit less smoky but actually almost all smoke flavour is gone. But some remained and that’s just right level of it. It was smooth with flavours, little bit of forest aroma/taste (I know you can’t eat forest, but you know what I mean with forest flavour, right). It!s bit meaty too. But that smooth taste and aftertaste…

Base tea isn’t much pronounced, which is bit sad to be honest. It’s smooth, but some malty or sweet flavours would make it little bit better for sure!

EDIT: Tasting note no. 600 !!!

#adventageddon Day One – 1/5

It’s December 1st!! Advent Season is officially here!! I’m doing five advents this year, hopefully posting them daily on instagram – but also I’m going to try my best to keep up with reviewing all five daily here on Steepster as well. Halfway through the month I’ll be adding in a sixth “advent” as well (it’s a “12 Days of Tea” advent) so that’ll bump me up to six daily teas…

This is day one of Bird and Blend’s BYO advent – so what that means is that I hand selected all of the teas coming in that advent; so I know what I’m getting but not the days I’m getting it. I picked this one because it’s a Russian Caravan blend, and I love those – I’ve just not yet had the chance to try this company’s take on it. It was the first one I made today because I thought it would be nice to start the day with more of a “straight” tea, and I liked the idea of a brisk, full bodied smoke blend to help perk me up first thing today.

I liked this one a lot – I think it’s pretty safe/standard for Russian Caravan but I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with that! It’s really quite smokey and full bodied, and very forward with it’s deep woody notes. The finish is a bit metallic/mineral to me but I’m not turned off by that, and there’s a little bit of jammy red fruit sweetness poking through the wood and smoke as well which I’m gonna attribute to the keemun in this blend. It’s well rounded, and the smoke pleasantly coats the mouth and throat.

I don’t know what this blend actually costs – but if it’s not terribly high I think this would be a really solid way to incorporate more Lapsang Souchong into my tea line up. It definitely elicited a pretty big smile from me this morning!

Bird & Blend Tea Advent Calendar – Day 11

I don’t seem to like smoked teas as much as I remember, but I’m usually willing to give them a try. Dry, this one definitely smells meaty – like a barbecue restaurant.

The steeped tea smells earthier, but still reminds me of smoked meat.

I actually quite like this one, which is surprising to me. I guess it’s because it’s rather light-bodied with the oolong included? There’s a nice balance of pleasant earthiness with wood, malt, and a good dose of pine smoke. I’m not really getting meat as much in the taste as I did in the aroma. It’s very smooth, with no bitterness at all after a 3-minute steep.

I’m really digging this one. It’s warm and comforting, making me think of sitting around a campfire with friends, all bundled up in blankets. Lovely!

318/365

This one’s a blend of Lapsang Souchong and Russian Caravan, as you might expect given the name. The base teas are interesting, though, in that it’s a combination of oolong, green, and keemun. I’m pretty sure I’ve tried this one before, although long ago enough that I really don’t remember it at all. I must have been feeling brave, since smoky teas easily scare me off!

As soon as you open the packet, you can tell it’s pretty heavily smoked, but in the way of barbecue and beef jerky, rather than bonfire. It’s pretty strong, at least for my tastes, but it’s not too harsh or acrid, which makes all the difference. It’s actually pretty smooth-tasting (much, much smoother than I expected, if I’m honest!) Given my last few experiences with smoky teas, I’m beginning to wonder whether they are something I can drink after all. I used to find them unpalatable, but I guess that’s the beauty of returning to things – tastes change.

I feel like this one’s composed of an odd mixture of teas, though. The black/lapsang definitely dominate – I mean, how could they not? There are flavours characteristic of green and oolong in the background, but only if I concentrate. If I don’t really focus and think about it, they’re not really detectable. This is pretty perfect on a cold, crisp autumn morning, though. Maybe in future I’ll be less scared.