Back during undergrad I loved to take the train down from the Northern suburbs of Chicago to the Davis Street stop in Evanston, Illinois. Just a few blocks from the Northwestern University campus. There was this little tea shop about a block west of the station - it was run by this FOB Chinese couple. Late twenties, had a cute and well behaved toddler that would draw at the back table of the store and wave at customers. Anyway -- the place served (no kidding) a hundred different varieties of tea, and an assortment of Chinese pastries. I loved getting their Russian Caravan with a red bean cake (Chinese pastry - tastes like a more mild poppyseed cake if you have had one). Russian Caravan, for all you manly tea-drinkers, is the tea-man's rebuke to jeering coffee tough-guys. It's a mix of a couple Chinese teas -- definitely has Lapsong Suchong (sp?) in it. Let it steep for long enough and I'm sure it would bring out the bands in a polished piece of Damascus. Great stuff. Gives you a wonderful buzz. Tastes a little like smoked salmon. Definitely the tea of cigar smokers. I liked mine with milk and simple syrup.
