This was an interesting read for me! I especially enjoyed reading about the different ways of drinking the tea. I can't imagine the amount of research it would've taken you to do this piece. Love love it!
Thank you for your kind words! 💕 I'm delighted the article resonated with you so deeply. While the research process wasn't swift, it was time well spent—accompanied by many delicious cups of tea.
During the pandemic, I developed my own ritual with my grandmother's beautiful tea cup. First thing, I would put on a very nice dress. Then when the coffee was ready, I would sit looking out the window, slowly pouring the hot brew and warmed half and half into the elegant porcelain. Starting the day this way set the tone for the rest of the hours. There are not many nice memories of the pandemic, but this teacup ritual is one for me.
This is a magnificent ritual. LOVE it! And very autumnal, perfectly fitting the mood of early autumn. Soon the hellish heat will subside, and I'll be drinking hot tea or coffee in the mornings. I'm actually one of those for whom it begins today, although in many European countries it's customary on the day of the autumnal equinox — September 21.
Culturally in the US, Labor Day (first Monday of September) marks the end of summer but technically we also recognize the equinox. I think that had its roots in the times when schools began the day after Labor Day. Now schools begin early in August.
Oh! What a fantastic article! Thank you for putting so much time into your research. I want to go back in time and get some tea from a Russian tea house!
I begin every workday (I work from home) by brewing a pot of tea with my late grandmother’s service. That first sip is like nothing else! My favorite morning brew is English Breakfast, but I love Japanese Sencha as well.
My favorite alone-time activity is to go to our local coffee shop with my book and journal and sit down with a pot of tea. I often have to walk the new young employees through where the teapots are and what to do with them. 🥰
When my daughter has friends over, I often make tea with biscuits for them. They love to go into my china cabinet to pick out a favorite cup. Tea service is not something many children experience here in the States, and I love that when her friends walk through the door they now ask if we’re going to have tea.
What are favorite modern Russian Teas, Dana? I’m going to have to find some to purchase online to try!
It's nice to know that the article was so well-received. But it seems you're a true tea enthusiast; you'd fit right into a 19th-century tea house in St. Petersburg. As for tea in modern history, it's pretty much the same as in Europe. The same packs of well-known brands like Lipton, Twinings are sold in stores, basically the same as in European stores. Everyone chooses a flavor to their liking. There are many stores with loose leaf tea from China and India.
The only unusual thing I can recall is the preparation method—they make a very, very strong brew called chifir. But that's rare too, as teenagers mess around with it, thinking chifir can give some sort of narcotic effect.
There's also Ivan tea. It is made from this plant, and it mostly grows near St. Petersburg. You can still buy collections or pick it yourself in the field.
I make a pot of tea every morning. I drink about 3 cups. I enjoy English breakfast, Pu’erh, Earl Grey, Barry’s Tea Gold Blend, Vahdam Indian tea, Assam, Chai, Darjeeling, and Golden Monkey. I use bags or loose leaf tea.
You are a true tea enthusiast, Annette. At some point, I switched to coffee in the morning because it's easier to brew. But tea is still a drink for enjoyment for me. I don't know the taste of all the types of tea you listed. I'm hearing about Barry's Tea Gold Blend for the first time - I'll have to buy it and try it!
My favorite types of tea are green or oolong. I love brewing them in a teapot.
What an excellent article, really enjoyed reading this! I’m still kicking myself for not purchasing those metal/glass cups when I did my trans-Siberian train journey when we had lovely strong and sweet tea from ‘provodnitsya’ in those glasses! I only drink sweet black tea when I travel for some reason, whereas home it’s a proper builder’s cuppa with milk and no sugar:) And I love herbal teas as well. Matcha is also special. Basically anything hot from tea leaves, of good quality, is my jam 🫖
What a brilliant read! I love tea and found it so interesting to read about significance of tea in Dostoevsky's life as well as Russia in general. Thank you for doing all this research and sharing it with your readers.
Dana, I am catching up on the chats. I loved your tea “article” & photos. I learned so much; esp about how the samovar is used. I have always loved tea. My grandmothers from Cornish & Scottish heritage had rituals & i have lived in several countries where tea drinking was highly developed/enjoyed. Wonderful memories all.
Thank you so much, Karen! I'm delighted that you found it informative, particularly the details about the samovar. Your experiences living in countries with rich tea traditions must be fascinating. Tea has a remarkable way of creating lasting memories and uniting people across cultures.
As a lover of tea, this was an amazing and informative read. I never tried a samovar and now I'm aching to. Will the taste be different than with my boring electric pot? It's fascinating how tea became a staple in so few centuries. And those bloodied blocks of sugar will give me nightmares! Thankfully I take my tea black 🥲
It's hard for me to say how much the taste of the same tea would differ when prepared with a samovar versus an electric kettle. It's more about the atmosphere. When I drank tea from a samovar, it was in the countryside, surrounded by nature. We heated the samovar with firewood and pine cones, so there was the scent of a coniferous forest. I haven't tried drinking from a samovar in an apartment, and in fact, the last time I did was almost 10 years ago. It's a rare event in modern times; few people in cities have samovars. And a new one is more of a souvenir and not cheap.
What an amazing article, so much work for you, and so fascinating. A bit sad that such a ritual is now reduced,mostly, to the use of a tea bag.
When I was a child I do remember my mother sometimes having more formal afternoon teas at which the 'good' tea cups, fancy table cloth, small cakes, etc were used, and friends or neighbours were invited.
Other times, someone would "pop in" as we termed it and there would be tea at the kitchen table, but, back then, always with tea brewed in a pot, and hot water to keep topping it up. Long before the days of tea bags. Some people took milk and sugar, others not. I always drink unsweetened, black tea.
I also remember my grandfather tipping his tea from cup to saucer and drinking it that way. Back then, people often quickly dipped hard biscuits into their tea to soften them, but it's years since I've seen that.
Back then, late 1940's and 1950's, coffee was very rarely drunk in Australian homes, only tea. Coffee was a drink for the rare occasion of going to a restaurant, a rather fancy one at that. Now coffee is probably drunk as much as tea.
About sugar: On my recent holiday in Vietnam, I took a photo in a Saigon market of about ten different types of sugar on sale there. I tried to post it on this thread, but failed; it went to 'Notes' on my page. I was fascinated that the Vietnamese have different uses for all these sugars.
Wow, thank you for sharing these stories. It's fascinating to see personal history through the lens of tea traditions. You've painted such a vivid picture that I can easily imagine your rituals!
I still occasionally dip cookies into hot drinks (not just tea, but coffee too) — though I rarely see others doing this. Usually, I indulge in this habit alone at home. Perhaps we're all secretly savoring this pleasure away from prying eyes.
The coffee situation in Russia was similar. It remained rare and unfashionable until the 21st century, only becoming widespread when Western coffee shops started appearing. Before that, we had instant coffee packets (Nescafe) and dreadful 3-in-1 mixes. Good coffee was a challenge to make — it was typically prepared in Turkish coffee pots on a gas stove. These are my recollections. I believe I first experienced coffee from a quality machine around age 18. I distinctly remember my amazement at the process.
I've taken to adding lemon and ginger to green tea. After trying green tea for the first time, I abandoned black tea entirely — it was a game-changer. And I adore Earl Grey, but only the green tea version. At one point, I even tried to develop a bergamot obsession. Feeling the tea lacked sufficient aroma and flavor, I attempted to enhance the tea leaves myself — experimenting with bergamot essential oils. Alas, I only managed to ruin the tea!
I couldn't locate your sugar photo. It's intriguing, though, how diverse sugar varieties have become nowadays.
Coffee first came to Australia with, in particular, Italian migrants, from after WW2 onwards, and especially in the 60's and 70's. The Italians opened what they called Espresso Bars. Quite often they also served absinthe in demitasse cups, very slyly because it was illegal.
I know those dreadful 3-in-1 mixes. They are quite common in different parts of Asia. Thanks for the chat - brought back so many memories for me. 😊
PS: I forgot to say, I often put slices of fresh ginger in my black tea, and in coffee also. That's a habit I picked up while living 18 months in Indonesia, 23 years ago. It's delicious. Oh, and English breakfast tea for me; I dislike earl grey.
My grandfather spent seven years in a gulag for the crime converting several people to Christianity in the Soviet Union. Tea was and still is one of the few luxuries afforded to prisoners. He drank tea religiously for the rest of his life after that, being very specific about how he makes his tea and exclusively for himself. I later found out his method of preparation was to make a specific sort of prison tea called ‘chifir’. The tea preparation draws out lots of b vitamins from the leaves as well as making it so potent that it has mild psychoactive effects and helps to suppress hunger.
This was an interesting read for me! I especially enjoyed reading about the different ways of drinking the tea. I can't imagine the amount of research it would've taken you to do this piece. Love love it!
Thank you for your kind words! 💕 I'm delighted the article resonated with you so deeply. While the research process wasn't swift, it was time well spent—accompanied by many delicious cups of tea.
During the pandemic, I developed my own ritual with my grandmother's beautiful tea cup. First thing, I would put on a very nice dress. Then when the coffee was ready, I would sit looking out the window, slowly pouring the hot brew and warmed half and half into the elegant porcelain. Starting the day this way set the tone for the rest of the hours. There are not many nice memories of the pandemic, but this teacup ritual is one for me.
This is a magnificent ritual. LOVE it! And very autumnal, perfectly fitting the mood of early autumn. Soon the hellish heat will subside, and I'll be drinking hot tea or coffee in the mornings. I'm actually one of those for whom it begins today, although in many European countries it's customary on the day of the autumnal equinox — September 21.
Culturally in the US, Labor Day (first Monday of September) marks the end of summer but technically we also recognize the equinox. I think that had its roots in the times when schools began the day after Labor Day. Now schools begin early in August.
Oh! What a fantastic article! Thank you for putting so much time into your research. I want to go back in time and get some tea from a Russian tea house!
I begin every workday (I work from home) by brewing a pot of tea with my late grandmother’s service. That first sip is like nothing else! My favorite morning brew is English Breakfast, but I love Japanese Sencha as well.
My favorite alone-time activity is to go to our local coffee shop with my book and journal and sit down with a pot of tea. I often have to walk the new young employees through where the teapots are and what to do with them. 🥰
When my daughter has friends over, I often make tea with biscuits for them. They love to go into my china cabinet to pick out a favorite cup. Tea service is not something many children experience here in the States, and I love that when her friends walk through the door they now ask if we’re going to have tea.
What are favorite modern Russian Teas, Dana? I’m going to have to find some to purchase online to try!
It's nice to know that the article was so well-received. But it seems you're a true tea enthusiast; you'd fit right into a 19th-century tea house in St. Petersburg. As for tea in modern history, it's pretty much the same as in Europe. The same packs of well-known brands like Lipton, Twinings are sold in stores, basically the same as in European stores. Everyone chooses a flavor to their liking. There are many stores with loose leaf tea from China and India.
The only unusual thing I can recall is the preparation method—they make a very, very strong brew called chifir. But that's rare too, as teenagers mess around with it, thinking chifir can give some sort of narcotic effect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chifir
They also sell collections of flowers and plants for brewing. For example, rose hips are popular, and it's similar to a type of hibiscus tea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus_tea
There's also Ivan tea. It is made from this plant, and it mostly grows near St. Petersburg. You can still buy collections or pick it yourself in the field.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaenerion
Ah!!! I’m so excited! I just found Siberian Ivan tea for purchase online. I can’t wait to try it!
This is a wonderful article!
I make a pot of tea every morning. I drink about 3 cups. I enjoy English breakfast, Pu’erh, Earl Grey, Barry’s Tea Gold Blend, Vahdam Indian tea, Assam, Chai, Darjeeling, and Golden Monkey. I use bags or loose leaf tea.
Love this article ❤️
You are a true tea enthusiast, Annette. At some point, I switched to coffee in the morning because it's easier to brew. But tea is still a drink for enjoyment for me. I don't know the taste of all the types of tea you listed. I'm hearing about Barry's Tea Gold Blend for the first time - I'll have to buy it and try it!
My favorite types of tea are green or oolong. I love brewing them in a teapot.
Fascinating. Thank you. If drinking tea, Earl Grey is my choice.
Ooh, my favorite is also Earl Grey, but the green version. I adore anything with bergamot.
I love this. I miss Russian tea.
I'm a coffee drinker but this article makes me want tea.
You should allow yourself to drink it too! Tea is wonderful, just like coffee. I have coffee in the mornings and tea in the evenings
What an excellent article, really enjoyed reading this! I’m still kicking myself for not purchasing those metal/glass cups when I did my trans-Siberian train journey when we had lovely strong and sweet tea from ‘provodnitsya’ in those glasses! I only drink sweet black tea when I travel for some reason, whereas home it’s a proper builder’s cuppa with milk and no sugar:) And I love herbal teas as well. Matcha is also special. Basically anything hot from tea leaves, of good quality, is my jam 🫖
What a brilliant read! I love tea and found it so interesting to read about significance of tea in Dostoevsky's life as well as Russia in general. Thank you for doing all this research and sharing it with your readers.
Thank you very much for your kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the article.
Dana, I am catching up on the chats. I loved your tea “article” & photos. I learned so much; esp about how the samovar is used. I have always loved tea. My grandmothers from Cornish & Scottish heritage had rituals & i have lived in several countries where tea drinking was highly developed/enjoyed. Wonderful memories all.
Thank you so much, Karen! I'm delighted that you found it informative, particularly the details about the samovar. Your experiences living in countries with rich tea traditions must be fascinating. Tea has a remarkable way of creating lasting memories and uniting people across cultures.
As a lover of tea, this was an amazing and informative read. I never tried a samovar and now I'm aching to. Will the taste be different than with my boring electric pot? It's fascinating how tea became a staple in so few centuries. And those bloodied blocks of sugar will give me nightmares! Thankfully I take my tea black 🥲
It's hard for me to say how much the taste of the same tea would differ when prepared with a samovar versus an electric kettle. It's more about the atmosphere. When I drank tea from a samovar, it was in the countryside, surrounded by nature. We heated the samovar with firewood and pine cones, so there was the scent of a coniferous forest. I haven't tried drinking from a samovar in an apartment, and in fact, the last time I did was almost 10 years ago. It's a rare event in modern times; few people in cities have samovars. And a new one is more of a souvenir and not cheap.
It sounds so dreamy!!!
What an amazing article, so much work for you, and so fascinating. A bit sad that such a ritual is now reduced,mostly, to the use of a tea bag.
When I was a child I do remember my mother sometimes having more formal afternoon teas at which the 'good' tea cups, fancy table cloth, small cakes, etc were used, and friends or neighbours were invited.
Other times, someone would "pop in" as we termed it and there would be tea at the kitchen table, but, back then, always with tea brewed in a pot, and hot water to keep topping it up. Long before the days of tea bags. Some people took milk and sugar, others not. I always drink unsweetened, black tea.
I also remember my grandfather tipping his tea from cup to saucer and drinking it that way. Back then, people often quickly dipped hard biscuits into their tea to soften them, but it's years since I've seen that.
Back then, late 1940's and 1950's, coffee was very rarely drunk in Australian homes, only tea. Coffee was a drink for the rare occasion of going to a restaurant, a rather fancy one at that. Now coffee is probably drunk as much as tea.
About sugar: On my recent holiday in Vietnam, I took a photo in a Saigon market of about ten different types of sugar on sale there. I tried to post it on this thread, but failed; it went to 'Notes' on my page. I was fascinated that the Vietnamese have different uses for all these sugars.
Wow, thank you for sharing these stories. It's fascinating to see personal history through the lens of tea traditions. You've painted such a vivid picture that I can easily imagine your rituals!
I still occasionally dip cookies into hot drinks (not just tea, but coffee too) — though I rarely see others doing this. Usually, I indulge in this habit alone at home. Perhaps we're all secretly savoring this pleasure away from prying eyes.
The coffee situation in Russia was similar. It remained rare and unfashionable until the 21st century, only becoming widespread when Western coffee shops started appearing. Before that, we had instant coffee packets (Nescafe) and dreadful 3-in-1 mixes. Good coffee was a challenge to make — it was typically prepared in Turkish coffee pots on a gas stove. These are my recollections. I believe I first experienced coffee from a quality machine around age 18. I distinctly remember my amazement at the process.
I've taken to adding lemon and ginger to green tea. After trying green tea for the first time, I abandoned black tea entirely — it was a game-changer. And I adore Earl Grey, but only the green tea version. At one point, I even tried to develop a bergamot obsession. Feeling the tea lacked sufficient aroma and flavor, I attempted to enhance the tea leaves myself — experimenting with bergamot essential oils. Alas, I only managed to ruin the tea!
I couldn't locate your sugar photo. It's intriguing, though, how diverse sugar varieties have become nowadays.
Coffee first came to Australia with, in particular, Italian migrants, from after WW2 onwards, and especially in the 60's and 70's. The Italians opened what they called Espresso Bars. Quite often they also served absinthe in demitasse cups, very slyly because it was illegal.
I know those dreadful 3-in-1 mixes. They are quite common in different parts of Asia. Thanks for the chat - brought back so many memories for me. 😊
PS: I forgot to say, I often put slices of fresh ginger in my black tea, and in coffee also. That's a habit I picked up while living 18 months in Indonesia, 23 years ago. It's delicious. Oh, and English breakfast tea for me; I dislike earl grey.
Nice.
I was inspired to write a poem that features a Samovar in my book of the same title "To Hours in the Service of Allah"
I hope I did her justice.
Who among you will get the irony?
Love all types of tea. Drink it all day and night. Such an interesting piece
My grandfather spent seven years in a gulag for the crime converting several people to Christianity in the Soviet Union. Tea was and still is one of the few luxuries afforded to prisoners. He drank tea religiously for the rest of his life after that, being very specific about how he makes his tea and exclusively for himself. I later found out his method of preparation was to make a specific sort of prison tea called ‘chifir’. The tea preparation draws out lots of b vitamins from the leaves as well as making it so potent that it has mild psychoactive effects and helps to suppress hunger.