flipSamovar Tea with Red Currant Jam (Varenie)
Samovar Tea with Red Currant Jam (Varenie)
Why this dish? Abundant tea is attested in Kollontai's diet. Around the samovar, she received comrades and ideas; boiling tea, sweetened with a spoonful of jam rather than sugar, was the social and intellectual ritual of her entire activist life.
A strong tea drawn from the teapot (zavarka), then diluted with boiling water from the samovar, sweetened not with dissolved sugar but with a spoonful of sweet-sour jam taken separately. The drink that never stops on the Russian table.
The samovar is the true beating heart of the Russian home — it boils, it sings, and around it ideas heat up better than by the fireside. I did not sweeten my tea in the lazy fashion: a spoonful of currant varenie on the tongue, and you drink the tea over it, Russian style, vprikusku. How many debates, how many nights of conspiracy did I lead with a burning glass in hand! Drink, comrade, and let us talk — revolution is also made around a cup.
- •Black leaf tea — enough for a strong zavarka (infused base)
- •Samovar water — as needed, boiling (dilution)
- •Red currant or blackcurrant jam (varenie) — one spoonful per glass (tangy sweetness)
- •Lemon slice — one (optional) (freshness)
Samovar Tea with Red Currant Jam (Varenie)
A strong tea drawn from the teapot (zavarka), then diluted with boiling water from the samovar, sweetened not with dissolved sugar but with a spoonful of sweet-sour jam taken separately. The drink that never stops on the Russian table.
Why this dish? Abundant tea is attested in Kollontai's diet. Around the samovar, she received comrades and ideas; boiling tea, sweetened with a spoonful of jam rather than sugar, was the social and intellectual ritual of her entire activist life.
The samovar is the true beating heart of the Russian home — it boils, it sings, and around it ideas heat up better than by the fireside. I did not sweeten my tea in the lazy fashion: a spoonful of currant varenie on the tongue, and you drink the tea over it, Russian style, vprikusku. How many debates, how many nights of conspiracy did I lead with a burning glass in hand! Drink, comrade, and let us talk — revolution is also made around a cup.
Ingredients (period version)
- Black leaf tea — enough for a strong zavarka (infused base)
- Samovar water — as needed, boiling (dilution)
- Red currant or blackcurrant jam (varenie) — one spoonful per glass (tangy sweetness)
- Lemon slice — one (optional) (freshness)
Ingredients
- Black leaf tea (Russian or Ceylon style) — 2 tsp (strong infusion)
- Boiling water — 1 L (base)
- Low-sugar red currant jam — 1 tsp per cup (tangy sweetness)
- Lemon — 1 slice per cup (optional) (freshness)
Method
- Prepare a very concentrated infusion (zavarka) in a small teapot with little boiling water.
- Let steep for 5 minutes, then pour a small amount of this zavarka into each glass.
- Top up with boiling water to the desired strength, each person adjusting their glass.
- Place a spoonful of jam next to or at the bottom of the glass.
- Drink the tea while taking small bites of jam (Russian style, vprikusku), or stir it in.
- Keep the tea warm and refill throughout the conversation.
How it was made : The samovar, a charcoal-heated boiler topped with the teapot, kept the water simmering for hours: not a single cup was served, but a continuous flow was maintained. Drinking tea « vprikusku » — with jam or sugar held separately, melting on the tongue — was the popular, frugal and convivial custom.
The contemporary twist : Serve in glasses held by a podstakannik (ornamental metal glass-holder), with a small ramekin of varenie to share — a « revolutionary tea salon » at home.
Sources : William Pokhlebkin, Tea: Its Types, Properties, and Use (Чай), 1968 · Alexandra Kollontai, Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Woman
Alexandra Kollontai · Charactorium
