Russian Caravan Black Tea (Large Tin 3.0 Ounce)

I have been trying to find a dark-brewing, robust, smoky, full-flavored Russian Caravan like I used to get in Portland, Oregon. This tea fell short of my expectations... very little of the Lapsang Souchong smokiness and too much fruity perfume for my taste, but we're all different, right? I'll keep looking...Update: The owner of Tea at the Gallery contacted me via email via Amazon regarding this review, offering to send me a sample of their "smokier" Russian Caravan, which wasn't listed among their Amazon offerings at the time I ordered. When it came, opening the bag revealed a very smoky aroma, so I looked forward to a full-flavored cup of tea.I found it, however, to be very one-dimensional, with a feeling on the tongue and a slight chemical taste that I found unpleasant. I tried several cups, comparing it with some nice smoky Lapsang Souchong from Wegman's that I had (which is one of the three traditional components of Russian Caravan, along with one part of Keemun or Assam, and two parts of Oolong) and found the Lapsang considerably more satisfying... no comparison, actually.

I wanted to try a Russian Caravan after reading about this exotic tea on an unrelated website. I find it intriguing, a complex blend of teas both sweet and smokey. It comes loose, which I do not prefer, but it also means you can make it as strong or as weak as you like. One negative is that the ingredients are not listed on the tin, only the countries or origin--it makes me wonder if the interesting flavors come from something besides the tea itself. On the whole, a great find and, for me, worth five stars.

Its hard to get a good russian caravan - often too much assam, often too smoky. This one is great though - nice and brisk with just a little smoke. Not unlike the twinings version a decade ago. Good packaging to preserve freshness as well.

This is a dark and really fruitty tea, I like it best with a little sugar and cream. If you do not care for fruitty tea this is not for you. It makes me think of a black tea with a twist of fruit.

New to Russian Caravan so this is a great tea for my first test. Like the interweaving of sweet and smoky.

This is a very fruity tea. It was not what I think of as a Russian Caravan. Not a bad tea, but not to my taste.