Welcome to South Ural!

Welcome to South Ural!

The Samovar

A samovar is a heated metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water in Russia. Since the heated water is typically used to make tea, many samovars have a ring-shaped attachment (Russian: konphorka) around the chimney to hold and heat a teapot filled with tea concentrate.

Though traditionally heated with coal or charcoal, many newer samovars use electricity to heat water in a manner similar to an electric water boiler. Antique samovars are often displayed for their beautiful workmanship.

A traditional samovar consists of a large metal container with a faucet near the bottom and a metal pipe running vertically through the middle. The pipe is filled with solid fuel which is ignited to heat the water in the surrounding container. A small (6 to 8 inches) smoke-stack is put on the top to ensure draft. After the water boils and the fire is extinguished, the smoke-stack can be removed and a teapot placed on top to be heated by the rising hot air. The teapot is used to brew a strong concentrate of tea known as 'zavarka'. The tea is served by diluting this concentrate with 'kipyatok' (boiled water) from the main container, usually at a water:tea ratio of 10:1, although tastes vary.


the postage stamps - USSR (Soviet Union)

The samovar was an important attribute of a Russian household and particularly well-suited to tea-drinking in a communal setting over a protracted time period. The Russian expression "to have a sit by the samovar" means to have a leisurely talk while drinking tea from a samovar.





In everyday use samovars were an economical permanent source of hot water in older times. Various slow-burning items could be used for fuel, such as charcoal or dry pinecones. When not in use, the fire in the samovar pipe faintly smouldered. As needed it could be quickly rekindled with the help of bellows. Although a Russian jackboot (russian: sapog) could be used for this purpose, bellows were manufactured specifically for use on samovars.


Baskirian honey the most brand from South Ural

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