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To bring the thrust of this thread back onto Russia/Russian culture , I'd like to ask the following :
Which is does anyone else here happen to like Russian tea ?
I myself am far from being able to call myself a true connoisseur , particularly since I buy unbranded , but I still do have a samovar at home and use it frequently when I have the time to do so .
To bring the thrust of this thread back onto Russia/Russian culture , I'd like to ask the following :
Which is does anyone else here happen to like Russian tea ?
I myself am far from being able to call myself a true connoisseur , particularly since I buy unbranded , but I still do have a samovar at home and use it frequently when I have the time to do so .
The most common and popular "Russian" tea in Russia is just basic Ceylon tea. I think in the US they sell it as "Russian Samovar" or something, IDK. I haven't been impressed. For black tea, English Earl Grey is hard to beat.
What's delicious IMO is some of the green Central Asian brick teas. They are made to be combined with milk or cream. The better ones are heavenly! But you generally have to go east in Russia to find them easily. At the public markets.
The most common and popular "Russian" tea in Russia is just basic Ceylon tea. I think in the US they sell it as "Russian Samovar" or something, IDK. I haven't been impressed. For black tea, English Earl Grey is hard to beat.
What's delicious IMO is some of the green Central Asian brick teas. They are made to be combined with milk or cream. The better ones are heavenly! But you generally have to go east in Russia to find them easily. At the public markets.
I'm not sure if I've ever drank Central Asian brick tea before , though it's possible that I have back when I ordered FSU originating tea from abroad in bulk from a distributor based in ( IIRC ) Prague of all places .
These days I buy Russian tea locally in smaller amounts , while hoping to perhaps go abroad someday in order to do some tea scouting so to speak .
I must say that it's funny that Russian tea is apparently sold under the name of samovar in the States , since said word obviously denotes a container that can be used to make tea as opposed to a type of tea , but I suppose that's just another quirk of American style advertising .
I'm not sure if I've ever drank Central Asian brick tea before , though it's possible that I have back when I ordered FSU originating tea from abroad in bulk from a distributor based in ( IIRC ) Prague of all places .
These days I buy Russian tea locally in smaller amounts , while hoping to perhaps go abroad someday in order to do some tea scouting so to speak .
I must say that it's funny that Russian tea is apparently sold under the name of samovar in the States , since said word obviously denotes a container that can be used to make tea as opposed to a type of tea , but I suppose that's just another quirk of American style advertising .
No, I was wrong. I recall now it's called "Russian caravan". Some regular tea shops carry it, and all the Russian and Ukrainian grocers carry it. Well, maybe the Uke grocers don't carry it anymore, but before the war you could find it in any E Euro grocery store. It's nothing special, IMO. I don't think you can get the Central Asian green tea in E Euro shops, though.
The Ukrainian shops carry a line of home-grown herbal medicinal teas that are interesting: mostly fruit teas of various sorts, and rose hip tea. You could start there, if you have a shop like that in your city or state.
edit: Hot tip: Someone on a thread in the Canadian forum said, that Canadian tea tends to be stronger and more aromatic than American brands. If you're up for tea scouting, it sounds like Canada could be worth a visit or two.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 09-21-2022 at 11:07 AM..
Highly suspicious of these foundings. How did Gorbachev die all of a sudden just 7 to 9 months after the thing that forever ruined Russia? Gorbachev made the +14 new countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan) successfully leave the USSR Soviet Union back in 1980's/1990's. Even got awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Well popular and remembered. Unfortunate to go from the extremes of that one that made Russia worthy up to 2021 to Putin the horrible since 2022-?.
People in Russia better be mourning over the very recent death of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev.
In one of those news articles listed, a paragraph citation of quoted source: "Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet ruler, was shocked and bewildered by the Ukraine conflict in the months before he died and psychologically crushed in recent years by Moscow’s worsening ties with Kyiv, his interpreter has said."
Thanks for the underlined piece of news. Yes, he was from Ukraine after all, so it stands to reason that as a Ukrainian, and a former Russian head-of-state, he would be shocked, bewildered and psychologically crushed by recent developments.
How did he die? The way anyone dies. He was 91. That's pretty good longevity for a Soviet leader. Or for any Russian or Ukrainian, for that matter. It's actually exceptional, given the statistics from over there. Let's see how well Vlad does in the longevity department.
But I get your drift; perhaps being shocked and psychologically crushed shorted his life by a few years.
Thanks for the underlined piece of news. Yes, he was from Ukraine after all, so it stands to reason that as a Ukrainian, and a former Russian head-of-state, he would be shocked, bewildered and psychologically crushed by recent developments.
How did he die? The way anyone dies. He was 91. That's pretty good longevity for a Soviet leader. Or for any Russian or Ukrainian, for that matter. It's actually exceptional, given the statistics from over there. Let's see how well Vlad does in the longevity department.
But I get your drift; perhaps being shocked and psychologically crushed shorted his life by a few years.
He was from Stavropol Krai (Southern Russia), but yes he was a mix of Ukrainian and Russian heritage as most people are in Southern Russia and Ukraine.
No, I was wrong. I recall now it's called "Russian caravan". Some regular tea shops carry it, and all the Russian and Ukrainian grocers carry it. Well, maybe the Uke grocers don't carry it anymore, but before the war you could find it in any E Euro grocery store. It's nothing special, IMO. I don't think you can get the Central Asian green tea in E Euro shops, though.
The Ukrainian shops carry a line of home-grown herbal medicinal teas that are interesting: mostly fruit teas of various sorts, and rose hip tea. You could start there, if you have a shop like that in your city or state.
edit: Hot tip: Someone on a thread in the Canadian forum said, that Canadian tea tends to be stronger and more aromatic than American brands. If you're up for tea scouting, it sounds like Canada could be worth a visit or two.
Canada/anywhere else on the other side of the pond is way too out of the way for me , but I may consider visiting any one of the East Slav states after this current fiasco ends for tea scouting .
In fact I might even end up going to Central Asia , which would carry the added bonus of seeing a part of the world that would be completely new for me , unlike North America .
Until then I'll have to make do with buying what I can , here in the ex Habsburg hinterlands .
Canada/anywhere else on the other side of the pond is way too out of the way for me , but I may consider visiting any one of the East Slav states after this current fiasco ends for tea scouting .
In fact I might even end up going to Central Asia , which would carry the added bonus of seeing a part of the world that would be completely new for me , unlike North America .
Until then I'll have to make do with buying what I can , here in the ex Habsburg hinterlands .
I didn't realize we're not on the same side of the pond. OK, well, if you're interested in some serious travel once things calm down in that part of the world (look at it this way: at least you won't be traveling on an American passport ), I would recommend the Lake Baikal region, especially the east side of the lake, which is in the Republic of Buryatia. Good tea in the public market, a beautiful city with a large neighborhood by the river bank full of old traditional architecture (very picturesque), signs of Asian and Buddhist culture (a Tibetan Buddhist monastery outside of town that survived the Soviet period fully functional).
But if you prefer to avoid Russia, sure, any Central Asian "stan" will do.
I didn't realize we're not on the same side of the pond. OK, well, if you're interested in some serious travel once things calm down in that part of the world (look at it this way: at least you won't be traveling on an American passport ), I would recommend the Lake Baikal region, especially the east side of the lake, which is in the Republic of Buryatia. Good tea in the public market, a beautiful city with a large neighborhood by the river bank full of old traditional architecture (very picturesque), signs of Asian and Buddhist culture (a Tibetan Buddhist monastery outside of town that survived the Soviet period fully functional).
But if you prefer to avoid Russia, sure, any Central Asian "stan" will do.
Yes I've been living in Europe for the past 18 years now , even though I'm American as apple pie ...
I may very well not travel on an American passport , though that remains to be seen , what with it perhaps coming in handy in ( say ) certain Central Asian republics with a better perception of Yanks .
I appreciate your recommendation FWIW and perhaps the day will come when I'll get to create a thread on here featuring my ( hopefully ) raving reviews of Buryatian tea , interspersed with pictures of this Tibetan Buddhist monastery you've mentioned .
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), I would recommend the Lake Baikal region, especially the east side of the lake, which is in the Republic of Buryatia. Good tea in the public market, a beautiful city with a large neighborhood by the river bank full of old traditional architecture (very picturesque), signs of Asian and Buddhist culture (a Tibetan Buddhist monastery outside of town that survived the Soviet period fully functional). 
