I was in a Peet's today to get a large decaf, and they had just put out a pot of their Russian Caravan tea. I tried a taste and wasn't ready for what happened. I'm not a big tea drinker, but I had an immediate, strong, positive reaction. This is a bold-tasting tea. It has a smoky flavor, a depth, the over-used word "dark," but smooth and not bitter at all, and for some reason I had an almost emotional reaction. I actually felt for a second like I was in a tent on the steppes hundreds of years ago, a fire heating us, surrounded by Cossacks and Mongolians, haggling over furs.

I am not a tea buyer I'm a coffee drinker. But I bought a tin of this, and will be enjoying it on occasion.

Here is the Peet's description of Russian Caravan,

Well-rounded blend of China blacks, with a full, smooth, slightly smoky flavor.

This tea is not of Russian origin, but is a blend in the tradition of the 19th century Russian tea trade. Horse and camel caravans would spend sixteen months making the roundtrip journey to eastern China and back, arriving in the Russian capital laden with chests of tea. The tea quite likely aged a bit during its long journey, and “Russian Caravan” tea probably improved with the opening of the trans-Siberian railroad. Peet’s Russian Caravan is our own blend of China black teas with a full, smooth, and smoky flavor.