A Short History of the Russian Samovar

Today I thought I would discuss one of the oldest and most famous forms of preparing tea in the world. This method is commonly known as the Russian samovar.

According to Wikipedia, samovars come in different body shapes, including the urn or crater-shaped vessel, the barrel samovar, or those that are cylindrical or spherical. A typical samovar consists of a body, base and chimney, cover and steam vent, faucet and key, crown and ring, chimney extension and cap, drip bowl and teapot. A samovar is used traditionally to heat and boil water, and is employed primarily in Russia, as well as in other Central, South-Eastern and Eastern European countries and the Middle East, including Iran. Though traditionally heated with coal or charcoal, newer samovars use electricity and heat water in a manner similar to the electric kettle. Samovars normally have a small six to eight inch smoke stack to allow the steam to run off. After the fire is off a teapot can be placed on top to be kept heated with the hot air escaping from the top. The teapot is used to brew zavarka, the Russian word for the strong concentrate of tea made there, which is then diluted by the kipyatok (boiled water) drawn from the main container below. The ratio of boiled water to tea concentrate is usually around ten to one.

Samovars are especially well-suited to tea-drinking in a communal setting over a protracted period. The Russian expression "to have a sit by samovar" means having a leisurely talk while drinking tea from a samovar. The phrase is similar in meaning to the German Kaffeeklatsch, the Turkish Nargile Culture or (to a superficial extent) the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Samovars at one time were an economical source of hot water. Various slow-burning items could be used for fuel, including charcoal or dry pine-cones. These were placed in a pipe inside the samovar and burned.

Samovars were at one time an important attribute of a Russian household. Sizes and designs varied, from those that held 400 litres of water to those holding a mere one litre. Samovars were often constructed out of plain iron, brass, copper, tin, nickel or even gold.

In modern times, the samovar is mostly associated with Russian exotica and nostalgia, though they are also quite popular with Iranian immigrants and their descendants. Nowadays electric samovars are available. Samovars may also be purchased in Europe. In the United States and Canada they can be found in neighborhoods with heavily Slavic populations, including Winnipeg in the Canadian province of Manitoba, New York's East Village, Coney Island in Brooklyn, and in areas with large Iranian populations such as Los Angeles, California.