That Russian thing to make tea

[tommy]

what's that big thing called? i'm told it sounds like "semivar", but this isn't the correct spelling.

thanks.

[gingerly]

samovar

and you might find one at an iranian grocery near you.

[cdh]

Well... samovars don't make tea as such... they keep water hot. Generally a little pot of very concentrated tea sits on top of the samovar and you splash a little of it into your cup and top up with the hot water from the spiggot on the samovar.

A bit of etymological trivia: samovar comes from the russian words for self (sam) and boil (varit')...

Edited June 14, 2004 by cdh (log)

[tommy]

excellent. thanks folks.

i don't care much about them but a friend of mine is selling hers and wants to know what the going rate might be, so spelling it was the first step.

or maybe i should buy it if it's cool? hmmm.

[Carolyn Tillie]

excellent. thanks folks.

i don't care much about them but a friend of mine is selling hers and wants to know what the going rate might be, so spelling it was the first step.

or maybe i should buy it if it's cool? hmmm.

Gads, I've been coveting them on eBay for years, but keep seeing too many variations in them; need the coals/don't need the coals, with trays/without trays, with teapots/without teapots....

But I still want one, just 'cuz they are so darned pretty!

[tommy]

Gads, I've been coveting them on eBay for years, but keep seeing too many variations in them; need the coals/don't need the coals, with trays/without trays, with teapots/without teapots....

indeed. the prices range from 1 dollar to thousands. perhaps i need some more specifics on this particular samovar.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Gads, I've been coveting them on eBay for years, but keep seeing too many variations in them; need the coals/don't need the coals, with trays/without trays, with teapots/without teapots....

indeed. the prices range from 1 dollar to thousands. perhaps i need some more specifics on this particular samovar.

I know -- a quick search right now shows some as cheap as $1.00 (but you pay a lot of shipping charges from the Middle East) to a cool, antique one that has 23 bids and is already over $1,500.

There are the ones with the plugs.... (ugh!)

[KatieLoeb]

I just recently purchased this lovely seriograph for an empty stairwell in my house:

I still have to have it framed, but I just loved it the moment I saw it.

Samovars are VERY cool. Someday I hope to have a nice silver one for parties.

[naguere]

A samovar might be an interesting contraption, but as we all know, to make good tea you need a warmed teapot and freshly boiled water. (and some tea)

[jpr54_]

there are several places on-line to purchase samovars-

www.specialteas.com

www.rus-sell.com

www.catteacorner.com

joanne

[Stone]

My parents have a large samovar that my grandfather brought over from Russia. They turned it into a lamp, but supposedly it can easily be returned into a working samovar. For some reason, it's on the list of things I get when they kick. With my luck, they'll probably dawdle on for years and no one will be drinking tea when I finally get it.

[cakes]

What jerks. Why don't they just die so you can have your samovar. Talk about inconsiderate, self-centered people. You deserved better parents.