Tea Traditions: Russia

A Little Bit of History:

Tea arrived in Russia in 1638 when a Mongolian ruler gifted some to the Tzara of Russia.  By 1679 Tea was being traded with nearby China, and was transported by camel caravan.  The transport was quite costly and at the time only the rich and famous could afford to drink tea.

Photo by Catherine Murray

Over time improvements were made to the route and it became easier to make the journey.  Tea was being transported in greater quantities and more frequently, so that by by 1796, Russia was importing 3 million pounds of tea, at a decreased price, which opened the market to the middle and lower class.  Soon after the railroad was built, which of course made the product even more accessible to the masses.

Tea Tradition:

Russians drink primarily black tea made from loose leaf tea.  It is brewed differently than how we typically brew our tea.  Loose leaf tea is brewed in a small teapot with a high concentration of tea leaves to water.  The brew becomes very concentrated and is very strong.  Russians refer to this brew as 'zavarka'.  Once the liquid is brewed, a small amount of it is poured into a large cup and then boiling water is added.  The amount of water added is adjusted by individual to the the strength of tea that they desire.  Tea is drank either black or with milk, and is often sweetened with jam!!

Traditionally a samovar is used, however has now been replaced by electric kettles for ease of use.  The Samovar is pictured below and usually has a spot for the tea concentrate to keep warm up top, and the large belly of the pot is filled with water and kept hot.  The hot water is accessed by a spout at the bottom of the large water belly.  

Tea must be served with food, otherwise it is considered to be rude.  The samovar is a symbol of hospitality and comfort.  In Russia tea is used for socializing, and you will always be offered tea and snack at somebody's house.  

Although the method of brewing and consuming tea differs from what we are accustomed to, the tradition of being social, sharing and caring is the same everywhere.  It is a consistent theme across all tea traditions, and part of the reason why I enjoy tea so much.

I have never tried the Russian way of tea.  Has anybody had any experiences with this tea tradition?

The Science of Taste

Tea 103 from the Tea Sommelier course put on by the Tea Association of Canada is finally here!  This module is somewhat different from the others in that it's not so much about tea, history terroir, etc.  It's more about how we taste.

In this first week we did two tastings:  The first involved tasting sensory.  So we chewed down on a coffee bean, honey, salt, lime and a tomato!!  The objective of this was to demonstrate where on the tongue certain flavours are concentrated.  So the coffee was to show bitterness, and how the main area we taste bitter is at the back of the tongue.  Sweet is on the tip of the tongue, salt on the sides of the tongue near the front and sour on the sides of the tongue near the back.  If you are interested you can do this experiment as see for yourself how these flavours are predominant in those area.

Let's get tasting!!

The tomato was an interesting one.  It is a fifth sense that has been put forth by the Japanese.  They refer to to this as Umami - and represents the flavour savoury.  It encompasses the whole mouth working together producing this explosion of flavour that is - well savoury, full bodied and all encompassing.

We aslo did a cupping.  They were all teas that we had cupped before except for Mao Jian.  So we basically did Sencha, Gyokuro, and Mao Jian, and then we did First Flush Darjeeling, Second Flush Darjeeling and black tea from Nilgiri.  The purpose for this is to really learn about cross sectional cupping and be able to identify teas not just as to what class it belongs, but also to identify the country and the region within the country, as well as the particular style.

The Mao Jian was a new tea for me and I found it to have a spinachy taste, that light and refreshing.  I enjoyed this tea very much.  The color of the liquor is very light, like straw.

Errors in tasting can happen for a variety of reasons.  For example say you read on the package of the tea what the expected flavour is suppose to be, then you have predisposed yourself to taste that.  Sometimes even the packaging could cloud your taste judgement.  Perhaps the product is packaged in colors and graphics that appeal to you - then the tea is more likely to be appealing as well.  Another error that I've noticed already is if my palate isn't totally clean when I taste the tea, then sometimes the lingering flavours on my palette distort what I am actually tasting.  There are so many ways that our taste can be distorted or influenced without us really even knowing it is happening.

Does anybody have any other barriers to effective tasting that they could share?