Russian Caravan for the greater expense and difficulty of its carriage by this route. Anecdotal evidence had it that during the camel caravan journeys, the teas took on the smoky taste of the campfires. Only the lapsang souchong (if present) in the blend, however, is actually smoke-dried. Some blends use yunnan black tea, together with keemun and lapsang souchong to achieve full bodied, strong copper colored, smokey, and heavy flavored tea with a smooth and mellow aftertaste. Russian Caravan Russian Caravan is a blend of oolong, keemun, and lapsang souchong teas, all produced from "Camellia sinensis" the Chinese tea plant. It is
Tea many genetic similarities with Indian Assam type tea (also "C. sinensis" var. "assamica"). Thus, Western Yunnan Assam tea and Indian Assam tea both may have originated from the same parent plant in the area where southwestern China, Indo-Burma, and Tibet meet. However, as the Indian Assam tea shares no haplotypes with Western Yunnan Assam tea, Indian Assam tea is likely to have originated from an independent domestication. Some Indian Assam tea appears to have hybridized with the species "Camellia pubicosta." Assuming a generation of 12 years, Chinese small leaf tea is estimated to have diverged from Assam tea around 22,000