Samovar tea service

Samovar tea service refers to a ritual of Russian origin in which a heated metal urn keeps water simmering while a concentrated teapot, the zavarka, rests on top. The server dilutes each cup to the guest's taste, adjusting the strength of the brew on request. Brought into European salons during the nineteenth century, it survives in some grand hotels as a ceremony of prolonged conviviality, often accompanied by jams and pastries.