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A sipdown! (M: 6 Y: 22) — yet another puerh sipdown.

You know, I have lots of these last quantities left teas. So, I just picked any other randomly, and while I don’t think I need to slay any demons in me now ;knock knock on the wood, panic attacks are much less present.

I did super-fast rinse with toss, and let humudity absorb a bit into the leaf.

Steeps were various lenghts, starting with short ones and just did increments of 10-15 seconds each steep.

It is surprisingly very mild and sweet, while I have been expecting other side of the spectrum (bitter and astringent); hints of floral notes and hot hay,… argh! I burned my fingers!… later steeps have that vegetal/pepper qualites that were described when young. Aroma is mostly grassy, with hints of petrichor.

If anything, this tea, comparing my previous note (and notes of others), has mellowed by a lot! Liquor was in all steeps definitely very thick and somehow a bit oily and with long mouthfeels.

Based on today impressions I raise the rating from 78 to 85.

A sipdown! (M: 5 Y: 21)
As I am enjoying a work-free week; I decided to make a dent in my tea stash. Yesterday I have rechecked all the tea, reorganised my tea chests, and found out I have more puerh than I have thought and more herbals than I am able to finish in timely manner. So, that included also removing all the tea from Steepster cupboard and re-adding them afterwards.

So, that said; I have also time to sipdown some last servings (I have much more than I want to admit) and some gongfu steeps that I hardly find time for.

I brought last 4 grams from sample that derk sent me, who knows when, but thank you anyway. I did no rinse, not even preheated gaiwan.

1st steep — 15 seconds
Very interesting aroma of leaves as well as the liquor, like forest floor combined with licorice root; but on the other hand, more important for me, taste-wise it is just flat and not flavourful at all. There is some sweetness in the background; but almost unnoticeable.

2nd steep — 25 seconds
Now there are also some refreshing, like menthol, aroma in the nose. The sweetness is still prominent, but also bitterness creeps around the corner. Or maybe it is not a bitterness, but citrus rinds and alkali. Dry aftertaste, which is rather unpleasant.

3rd steep — 30 seconds
Oh dear. This is pure alkali combined with dirty and muddy forest floor.
Bad steep, bad steep!

4th steep — again 30 seconds
Bitter citrus rinds. Not a fan.

5th steep — 50 seconds
No notes made, probably similar to previous one, but not so strong.

6th steep — 60 seconds
Bitter something with thick mouthfeel, lasts long and this tea is finished for me by now.

A sipdown! (M: 4 Y: 20)

Seems I have neglected this tea and when I was asked to brew a tea in a pot, I took this one. And… I never wrote a note before. I know, I bought back then just a small package, 25 grams.

Anyway, steeped 7.5 grams for 3 minutes, 80 °C water, teapot.

Yes, definitely it is past its prime; but still so delicious as all the teas from group buy I made. And I just wonder… what has happened to them as their website is defunct and I haven’t found them elsewhere. If you find anything about Georgian Organic Producers tea association please let me know. I found Facebook page Georgian Organic which has same logo, but if it is them? Hard to say… but they are quite active there!

Ah sorry, I digressed from tea itself.
Honestly, it is stronger than I have been expecting. A little too drying, but liquor is viscous and it is hay-like; with stonefruits and vegetal aftertaste. In some sips there are grassy sweetness, but sadly it is a bit rare; but that’s no surprise considering it is 3 years since harvest.

Many gingerbread teas I have tried were far away from real thing; with a few rare exceptions and this is one of those.

Dark molasses, thick texture, and spices … with cinnamon and cardamom most forward. Smooth sweet notes of vanilla are here present as well; and this being a caffeine-free tea means it is child-friendly. Mostly I would drink this one in bigger quantites in the winter months, but nobody says you can’t drink it in the middle of the hot, humid, summer. Definitely the best Nordqvist tea from the bunch I have received this time. I can’t decide if I would buy loose leaf or tea bags, though.

Tasty tea indeed. But as others wrote, hard to describe. I get some strawberry, but rhubarb is hard to find in this cup.

Base tea complements well the flavours, but lacking any notes to describe as well. Probably the worst from the Moomin teas I had this time; but fine enough for daily drinking.

A sipdown! (M: 3 Y: 19)

This was my office tea and I have to say it was pretty decent, considering price / quality = wake me up effect ratio.

It’s quite common here to add a lemon juice to the cup of plain black tea; so this combines both and quite well. The result is not sour at all, the base tea is strong and very robust, and, if steeped properly, not bitter.

Of course, I did several 15+ minutes long steeps — and that I can’t recommend, but 3 minutes seems just fine. Sadly, they just say the tea is from various origins, but they don’t tell them. But in my opinion, it is not just a Ceylon tea.

I had same flavoured tea from Richard company and I have to say I like this one more.

Here are currants (black to be precise) definitely more distinctive, with their slightly tart flavour and mint is just a refreshing element. The base tea is fine enough, but not worth any further research.

Just finished another Moomin tea and there is already a note that I wrote before? Yep, I recall it a bit.

In my cup I got quite well the blueberry muffin notes, as promised. Pastry and blueberries. Or candy blueberry is maybe a better descriptor.

Either way, it’s enjoyable and brings back memories. Maybe the latter affects me a bit more than I want to admit.

A sipdown! (M: 2 Y: 18)

Finally I decided to gongfu rest of this tea. Which means it is a sipdown; and when it is a tea bought abroad, it is sometimes a little bit more sad. But I have saw this tea available from different vendors, including Czech one too. So, I may get some one day; but definitely I will wait for a new harvest at least.

So, this tea is kind of hard to describe… even after following sessions: 45 seconds, 3 times 15 seconds, 20 and 30 seconds. There was a quick, 5 seconds long rinse, that I drank but haven’t made any notes.

The first session is very strong, woody cup, with hints of rose and cinnamon; however the mouthfeel feels a bit flat and drying. The drying mouthfeel is quite long, but in the same time you just want to try another cup of this tea.

The short sessions were equal in terms of flavours and very similar to first one, with more spicy notes and cherry wood; however I didn’t noticed the fruity notes as some vendors described in their listings.

As I wrote last time, definitely a tea that gives me autumn-feel-vibes, and even though I drank it in February, it is full-flavored and potent. That’s roughly 10 months from harvest, again based on some vendors info. I don’t know when exactly my batch was harvested and processed, but I can imagine having more of this.

Glad to try another thyme black tea; but this one seems so far the least favorite. Of course, it’s not even close to Kokati by Teoria, but first of all, this one doesn’t contain Georgian tea; and secondly, it is a tea bag.

It’s not so distinctive and the base tea was on the other hand a bit too strong and harsh and with thyme that isn’t so fragrant as I would hope… it doesn’t go well together. It was quite mediocre to me. The thyme had some other notes than savoury, like it was mixed with some other herbals, but I am not able to point out what exactly.

So, keeping my thyme black tea source somewhere else.