Russian Country

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Assam Black Tea, Ceylon Black Tea, Chinese Keemun Black Tea, Lapsang Souchong, Oolong Tea
Flavors
Caramel, Grass, Leather, Salt, Smoke, Sweet, Brown Toast, Malt, Marine, Pine, Roasted Nuts, Wood, Fishy, Licorice, Bitter
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf, Sachet
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Marlena
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 15 sec 5 g 11 oz / 313 ml

From Our Community

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55 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I got this because I was missing my Russian tea from the Covent Tea Garden. It smells smoky in the tin but not overwhelmingly so. There is a bit of lapsang blended in this tea. It has a slightly...” Read full tasting note
    91
  • “Sipdown no. 30 of the year 2014. Revisiting the delights of tea after some time away feels in some ways like being a tea virgin all over again. I remember the first time I encountered smoky tea...” Read full tasting note
    79
  • “Special Thanks to Amy Oh for this one – I got your envelop today! Thanks so much! This smells like a gentle LS. I agree with Amy Oh on this completely! With the gentle LS – it seems to be paired...” Read full tasting note
    87
  • “1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped six minutes 30 seconds, drunk bare. Yep, lost track of time again. The tea did not get bitter. It did get POTENT. I am very awake right now. Holy snappin...” Read full tasting note
    97

From Harney & Sons

A blend of four teas along with an additional touch of Lapsang, this is a softer version of Smoky Lapsang Souchong. This tea is reminiscent of the teas that were carried by camel across the Asian deserts to Russia. As Norwood Pratt quips: “the only choice was one hump or two.”

About Harney & Sons View company

Since 1983 Harney & Sons has been the source for fine teas. We travel the globe to find the best teas and accept only the exceptional. We put our years of experience to work to bring you the best Single-Estate teas, and blends beyond compare.

55 Tasting Notes

58
259 tasting notes

A bit disappointing for me after Harney & Sons superb Lapsang Souchong. It’s a good Russian tea, but I like more smoke, tar, and peat bog on my tongue.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
gmathis

I like your descriptive nouns…conjures up images of Sherlock Holmes.

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85
248 tasting notes

Drank this on the beach with my toes in the ocean. That made it a 100 in my book, but I guess I’ll rate it on just the tea. :) The waves were full of fish this morning, it was so cool! http://www.flickr.com/photos/8126244@N06/8009003017/in/photostream

This is a nice blend, the lapsang is softened by the other blacks (though I can do lapsang straight). It’s got a great flavor to it, I’ll have to do a more in-depth review later when I can pay attention to flavors and taste more.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8126244@N06/8009001518/

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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92
61 tasting notes

This tea scared me. At first when smelling the wet leaves it was smoky and reminescent of a puherh with a horsey, fishy earthiness. The fishy part is what had me worried until I took my first sip. This is a very round bodied tea. It does have a light smoky taste that I think comes more from the aroma than the tea itself. It also has nutty notes. Very pleasing all in all. Thanks to ashmanra for sending me a sample to try.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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13 tasting notes

I’m not a fan of Lapsang so I got this to try it again in a less potent blend. It really wasn’t wretched. I think I might slowly be turning to the dark side.

gmathis

I’m right behind you. The last lapsang souchong I tried (Mark T. Wendell Hu-Kwa) wasn’t terrible.

Tiegster

This is now one of my favorite teas.

gmathis

Proof that tastes do change over time! (P.S. Good to see you back!)

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96
55 tasting notes

Popped the top off this one as soon as it was freed from the delivery box. I have waited for a long time to order this one and was looking forward to the experience for quite some time — and took a sniff and sadly did not like the scent. I sat it aside and brewed a cup of Rose Scented Tea (from this same shipment) instead.

The biggest surprise from this tea became evident after I decided to try a cup adespite the somewhat flat, smoky scent of the dry leaves. I discovered that during the brew, the heat of the water releases a tantalizing complexity, smokey, spicy and delicious. A real treat for the senses!

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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80
82 tasting notes

Just finished up a tiny pot of this. When I opened the sample the other day, the strong, smoky scent — almost reminiscent of smoked salmon — made me set it aside until I was in the mood to be a little more adventurous. Apparently, that day is today.

I was, once again, very pleasantly surprised. I can see why Harney and Sons has such a great reputation after working my way through these samples!

The smoky aroma mellows a lot once it’s brewed. The tea itself is still very smoky, but it stops short of being overwhelming, giving it a nice, strong flavor (just like I prefer!). It’s a good, complex tea, too, a real eye-opener that would be great to wake up with. I’m sorry I didn’t try it earlier.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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80
39 tasting notes

I bought this on a whim after reading a review of a gentleman who drank this tea while reading long Russian tomes (Tolstoy’s War and Peace). It isn’t just the English major in me that pounced on this coupling of images. The scent of books and a smokey, full cuppa…. Well, I am a fan of the occasional wintry smoked tea, especially because it brings to mind 19thc Russia, or frosted windows by a rustic fireplace…

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49
152 tasting notes

I can best describe this tea as a Lapsang lite. It has a smokey taste that drowns out any flavor undertones. This tea blend did not work for me.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 45 sec

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83
333 tasting notes

Smells smokier than it tastes. It’s a fairly mild, light tea – not terribly complex, but very pleasant. I’ve been craving smokey teas lately but full-fledged lapsang souchong is a bit much for me – as others have said, Russian Country is a nice gateway option.

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63
259 tasting notes

Tried a sample with my latest H&S order. Not as smoky as other Lapsang Souchong teas I have had, which in my case is good. I’m not a big fan of overly-smoky tea. This blend is pretty mild and I am enjoying it as an afternoon pick-me-up.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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