A delightful tea that was very easy to appreciate, but had a lot of depth when I paid more attention to it. Thank you to my parents for choosing this tea and giving me a sample!

Dry leaf, which is relatively finely broken, is mildly but very pleasantly aromatic, suggesting a gentle black tea. The smell of the dry leaf reminds me slightly of the Royal Tajiri Tea from Kenya, one of my favorite teas of all time.

Brews a dark-colored cup, with a brisk flavor and full body, yet a lighter aroma. The aroma contains nuances of muscat grape and caramel like some Darjeeling teas, and also has notes of spice and smoke (the smoke is very subtle--if you're used to classic Russian Caravan blends, this is much less smoky). Overall though, the taste and sensations on the palate are more like a Ceylon tea.

Gracefully brews a second cup--similar to and almost as good as the first. The second cup had a suggestion of spearmint in the aroma, which I find surprising as dark black teas rarely exhibit this quality in their aroma. I used boiling water for both, 3 minutes for the first, 5 for the second, with good results.

I thought this tea had a reasonable price. I also can see this appealing to people with a wide range of tastes. It has a well-rounded character and would make a good everday tea, but also has some interesting nuances to appeal more to connoisseurs.

Given this tea's flexibility and ease of brewing, I can see the name and recommendation that this tea would work well for brewing in a Samovar.

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