Russian Caravan

3 star rating

October 10, 2007

Cris B. 360 reviews Send Message | Add to Friends

Smokin' Black Tea

I offered to brew a cup of Russian Caravan tea after dinner for two guests; they both turned up their noses and politely passed on my invitation. It's understandable. The pungent scent wafts through the air, even before you open the box and take a teabag out of it's envelop. The aroma reminds me of smoldering wood with notes of burning rubber tires. For some strange reason, I like it...maybe it's a vitamin deficiency I have or because I am used to garden dirt and soot under my nails from pinching off blackened candle wicks with my fingertips. I have to say that Russian Caravan is not for everyone.

The name Russian Caravan evokes imagery. A copywriter has spun a romanticized tale that fits on the side of the box, about a 19th century Czar, and camel caravans traveling from afar. Night after night the smoke from their fires permeated their precious cargo of black tea from China.

Obviously, silver-tongued merchants continue to this day to pawn off their smoke-infused tea as a deliberate and distinctive taste to be desired. Perhaps in some cultures, a pine-smoked black tea is an exquisite, exotic, intoxicating experience, but in America, most tea toddlers prefer something more delicate, floral, herbal, fruity or spicy that doesn't offend their senses. Like "stinky cheese" connoisseurs, perhaps there is a cult following for "stinky teas" that warrants Choice Organic Teas decision to risk adding this unique pine-smoked black tea to their selection of black teas. A few may buy to try...and some, like me will like it.

Cris B.'s keywords: tea, black tea, organic, organic tea, Russian Caravan, organic certification, fair trade, China

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