Russian Caravan vs Lapsang Souchong
One is a smoked tea and the other is a blend containing a smoked tea, and the difference matters because the second has no recipe at all.
tea
What is being compared
Why these get confused
The camel-route story implies the smoke is incidental and historic. In a modern blend it is deliberate and comes from adding a smoked tea, which means the blender chooses how much and there is no convention governing the choice.
Point by point
| Aspect | Russian Caravan | Lapsang Souchong |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A blend, conventionally Chinese black tea with a smoky component. | A single Wuyi black tea finished over smouldering pine. |
| Where the smoke comes from | From deliberately including a smoked tea in the blend. | From the pine loft the leaf was dried in. |
| How much smoke | Light, and it varies completely between packers. | Assertive, and the most polarising flavour in tea. |
| What else is in the cup | Cocoa and dried fruit under the smoke. | Tar and dried longan; resinous sweetness under the campfire. |
| The story attached | Named after the overland camel route by which tea reached Russia. The tale that campfires along the route smoked the tea is charming and not well evidenced. | Generally accepted as the oldest black tea, made in Fujian before the category existed elsewhere. |
| How predictable it is | Not very. Two Russian Caravans can differ enormously in how much smoke is in them. | Predictable within a producer, and highly variable between cheap and good examples. |
The short answer
Russian Caravan is the safer purchase for anyone who wants a hint of smoke rather than a bonfire, and the less predictable one for anyone who wants the same cup twice. If a particular Russian Caravan works for you, note the packer — the name will not reproduce it.
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