A samowar.

We are avid tea drinkers (and coffee drinkers, too!). But for many years, we have been buying our supply from the most expensive department store in town, Odel and the most widely distributed brand, Dilmah. Compared to other tea brands, this one doesn't come cheap so I still drink other black tea brands which are as good. Dilmah though offers a wide variety of tea concoctions, infusions, flavours and such, and the packaging is simply brilliant and hip (I will show you some photos when we open the boxes at home). We have tried the many flavoured ones and voted for vanilla, black currant, mint as few of our favorites. Vibrant Bea loves caramel tea. My preference is green tea and cinnamon yet I prefer a stronger cinnamon taste so I still add a small bark of cinnamon from the stick. I usually take 2-3 cups of this a day. I also love to steep Earl Grey loose leaf which I take with cream and stevia.

Today, after going around the city, we also decided to go directly to Dilmah in the hope of buying 1-2 boxes, we will be given a good price. So, for the first time in our stay here, we visited them. I brought the camera with me but ooops!... NO CAMS allowed so I just took my frustration and snap shots of this lovely samowar instead, which the manager says is fine. It is sitting in his office. He entertained us in a lovely showroom where we can find all variety  Dilmah can offer. The options are plenty and I hope I can buy one of each kind but there were just too many. They have black tea, flavoured tea, organics, green tea, rooibos, infusions, decaf, tea mainly for the Russian taste, tea from the higher lands and lower lands.

We learned that tea harvested from higher altitude is milder and has a lighter hue than tea harvested in the lowlands which are spicier and has a darker color. Hmm..  We also caught glimpse of some lab tests going on which I have no clue what was it about  - as there are secrets of the trade.  As for tea, I prefer both dark or mild depending on the occasion.

And there is also the most expensive tea which I hope to taste someday. It is called the silver tip or white tea which is harvested only before dawn breaks. These buds are the freshest and youngest of the tips. It has a silvery color. These are handled so carefully and brought to the plant right away after harvest.

In spite of the lack of photos, the quick tea tour turned out well after all. Especially when they let each of us a hot cupful of our choice. Aaah...calmness and warmth.

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The photo above is a samowar. A traditional tea-kettle or tea-maker of Russian-Turkish origin. Here is how it is used in preparing tea.Want to see more photos of different kinds of samowar? Click here.