Georgian Tea 1847

I obtained this as part of a group order a few years ago and have finally gotten into it! Seeking another uncaffeinated beverage for evening sipping, it seemed a good time. I have been hesitant up to now because this is made of the young leaves of wild quince trees, and I worried about potential side effects, such as oxalate presence, as I do not wish to experience more kidney stones! I also spent a year drinking coffee.

I steeped 1g of the bunny-fluff (about 2 tsp) in 8 oz boiling spring water, western style using a stainless steel infusion strainer, for about 6 minutes to obtain a golden and aromatic liquor.

As others have noted, it smelled close to toasted walnuts. And tasted like a combination of walnuts, boiled edamame, and maybe summer squash. Sounds weird, but entirely pleasant! There was a bit of sweet velvety sensation on the tongue, and a flash of minerality followed by a fleeting aftertaste that left the mouth feeling fresh. No astringency, no bitterness, no sourness, smokiness, or compost notes.

I enjoyed the tisane quite a bit and will continue to do so, sharing it with friends, possibly increasing the amount of dry material. And now that autumn is here, it’s time to get my hands on some quince fruit and cook up a batch of jam for spreading on crostini with sliced fruit and varied cheeses! Thanks to Martin Bednář for organizing the group order from (the seemingly defunct) Georgian Tea 1847!

At the suggestion of Steepster user Derk, I’ve brewed this Georgia 1847 Classic Black tea with a spiking of Spanish saffron threads from a reputable supplier. Derk reported that she used “a few” saffron threads. Indeed, the resulting infusion was sweeter and more rounded in flavor, with a surprise! .

I carefully weighed 1.0 g of loose leaf tea and used a pinch of saffron threads (I count 16 threads) and infused three successive 100 ml cups of alpine spring water at the boiling point. 1st infusion 60 sec. 2nd infusion 90 sec. 3rd infusion 3 min. Each brew that resulted was a deep yellow-brown liquid, and the aroma was just of tea. The flavor was fuller, rounded and quite nice! As the first infusion cooled, I discovered a buttery aftertaste on the back roof of my mouth with each sip that was terrific! No more does the tea seem like toasted-grass water, but now a more complex, aromatic beverage, worthy of a separate review so it can be rated higher. The second infusion was the same shade, but softer in flavor, and without the buttery surprise. The third infusion was a deeper yellow shade, but no stronger in flavor.

Overall, the tea is nicely changed, but at the price of using up saffron. What I would really like to try is spiking with pandan leaves (Pandanus amaryllifolius) which is said to contain the same substance that gives basmati rice its characteristic aroma. I have not yet obtained pandan leaves but will now seek them out. Thanks Derk for the saffron suggestion!

So, I received this tea as part of a group order organized by Martin Bednar about a year and a half ago, in late pandemic times. I did end up with COVID-19 three times (so far) and for a long while was not trusting my senses of taste and smell. Hence lack of review until now!

I was excited to support the resurgence of tea cultivation in Eastern Europe, and am pleased to see that at least some tea gardens are doing well (see https://www.fao.org/support-to-investment/news/detail/en/c/1682769/ ). I’m not sure whether the 1847 group is still active or not, as their facebook page seems quiescent. I appreciated the few photographs they sent along with the tea, and do feel a connection.

Today I have continued brewing leaves from my jar of Georgian Tea 1847 Classic Black. 2 tsp per pint (16 oz) boiling alpine spring water, Western style. I do not detect any notes of the assamica varietal in taste or aroma, so I’m assuming this is straight C. sinensis var. sinensis. The tea is strong black tea, but not at all astringent. The brewed aroma was pleasant, if unremarkable. The flavor profile is good, and grabs one from the first sip, without any sweetness or noticeable defects. The long-lasting finish is enjoyable and left a nice lingering flavor on my tongue, motivating me to brew another pot of it! Because of the neutrality of the taste, this type might be suited for blending with floral or berry. Citrus might overpower it, unless used very judiciously. Still, this is a good quality tea, having a unique story, and I would recommend it if it can be found.

As an aside, I loved the photos of their tea shop and museum that have been posted to Google Maps and, if the shop survives, I’d love to visit it some day!

Sipdown!

An easy tea to drink – and a forgiving one. This one doesn’t bite if you accidentally steep it for +10 minutes (whoops). It makes me want chocolate.

Second steep has a prevalent woody/eucalyptus component today. It’s a refreshing note to end on.

A sipdown! (M: 5 Y: 37), prompt: Your current favorite daily drinker

Eeek, I never wrote a tasting note for this one while I had a lots of it? And now it is a sipdown. I would change in the prompt a single word. Current → all time.

Anyway lots was said about this tea by others and I have to agree with them all. And I am so sadI am not able to contact the Georgian owners of this shop; they are not responding for my Whatsapp messages (okay, I tried it just twice maybe?) and their website isn’t working. Since then I found other source for Georgian teas and also with very tasty teas, moreover based in the EU, so getting those teas is definitely easier.

Anyway, this bready and potato-y (sweet one) tea is just perfect to drink. I tried it weak-handed, but also heavy-handed, but never turned out bitter, astringent or unpleasable. Thick and yet so mouthcoating.

Long mouthfeel with boom of flavours, though it is almost 2 years since harvested. Those two steeps were also a bit more earthy, but I assume because much more broken leaf.

Lovely, so lovely and I assume even a bit better than Guria Likhauri. But that’s because I have such a soft spot for Georgian teas. That one is also Georgian, but this is just a tiny bit better. Maybe it’s the visual with golden buds.

2024 sipdown no. 31

This one is a nice cup to drink without really thinking about it, which I essentially what I’ve done to my entire package. These is a definite hay flavour here, reminiscent of many white teas, but with the most subtle savoury aspect to it. A lovely warm cup to enjoy.

Coldbrewed this and it was quite tasty! Really mild and refreshing.

I’m not sure what I was expecting with this one (hasn’t read prior reviews), but it seemed stuck halfway between Keemun and English Breakfast without quite accomplishing either; neither fish nor fowl, but not unpleasant, either.

Stunning herbal tea. gmathis’s bunny fluff is apt. In hand it smells like hay, walnuts and milk chocolate. A dry, fluffy scent.

Absolutely unfiltered first impression: dimethyltryptamine, Payless Shoe Source, mothball, dung. I’m finding it so difficult to shake the associations that I struggle to come up with other words.

Sweet-dry hay and earthy walnuts? Something vegetal? White grape-ish? Old flowers? Mineral. Cooling – I didn’t expect that looking at the dry bunny fluff.

I would love to run this herbal tea through GC-MS.

Ok, this is CrowKettle! I’m having insane difficulties trying to access my old account (or customize this new one) – so here I am for the for seeable future (hurrah…).

Black teas often remind me of either beer-malt or muscatel wine. Some, like this tea, are strikingly a bit of both – exuding the fermented sugars of starchy grains and the dripping with rich purple hues of stonefruits and grapes. There are also smooth, earthy notes of cocoa/dark chocolate, dusky rose, and a touch of pepper & spice to finish – all which give the tea an extra dimension of mild bitterness.

It’s a lovely profile that I’m grateful I had the chance to try- Thanks, again Martin Bednář, for organizing this group order!

Steep Count: 2

Picked this up in Courtney’s stash sale. I’ve been wanting to try Georgian teas for a while now, but for various reasons kept missing my chances, so I’m really glad this one worked out. Thankfully, I did not get the wet dog scent that others did. To the extent that I’m getting anything scent-wise, it’s more like a mild Chinese black tea. Flavor-wise, I primarily taste sweet citrus with an extra bit of tartness at the end of the sip. I agree with derk that the mouthfeel is really pleasantly pectic. If you handed me a tisane named “lemon hibiscus jam” and it tasted like this, I’d be like “yup, yup, I can see it.”

A sipdown! (M: 15, Y: 15)

And this is again a very sad sipdown. This tea is lovely, very forgiving steeping paramters and yet so wonderful. I had roughly 6 grams left, so decided to use all the leaf for my western steeping.

I got so wonderful cup of tea, full of caramelised sugars from the leaves, hints of roasted and chocolate notes, some smooth and toasted notes; even 5 minutes steep did not brought any harsh and rough notes.

If anything… I will miss that forgiving steeping parameters. You can use any water temperature, I did 90°C — 3 minutes and 95°C — more than 5, but less than 10 minutes and both steeps were equally good. Also, it is low in caffeine, so definitely good for evening drinking too.

No, I am not crying. My eyes are just sweating.

At last, I tried this tea as well. No idea what to expect, but reading those happy notes makes me happy and I have been expecting a lovely tea.
I tried it using western steeping method, using 3 grams of the leves.

They are smelling amazing by themselves, smelling, as mentioned, like a chocolately black tea. But also roasty, as houjichas are. Gently though.

Flavour is amazing, very comforting and smooth, with only little hints of char, which could be avoided by shorter steeping time or rinsing it during gong fu. It’s very toasty, but s well there are sweet caramel notes, certainly I get the roasted barley tea notes, but still I notice the green tea which is made it from. I don’t understnad the last note at all, as I never experienced that before in houjichas I had (okay, two aren’t a perfect example), but still.

I will be very sad once I finish this down. I think I fell in love with Georgian teas afterall. Maybe next year there will be time to visit Georgia itself?

This little beauty carried the lightest whisper of umami on the nose… fresh cucumber and steamed zucchini. The first few infusions were fresh-cut grassy, with the mild bitterness of cucumber skin. Looking for floral or fruit in these inital steeps turned up nothing, but the plucky vegetal notes are light and refreshing.

And then whoa, suddenly a drop of floral. Something white… what is that?

Then a dandelion kind of flavor, the greens and yellow petals together. I think this was the 6th or 7th steep… totally unexpected that it began spreading out like this. I expected it to gas out much earlier. There was even later a taste like raw wheat kernels, or uncooked steel-cut oats.

Lasted forever, I didn’t count steeps. Blissful little session to lose one’s self in. Thank you, derk.

We had one of those spring days that was warm and chilly all at once…perfect for yard work, especially when the riding mower is in the hospital on life support waiting for a new carburetor and you’ve got to use your own horsepower. Husband trimmed around our 100-plus-year-old maple; that’s a half mile in itself; it’s an Ent just waiting to break loose and trudge down the block.

I tackled the tilty, tippy, ditchy part of the yard with the push mower, and was walking about as slow as an aforementioned Ent by the time I finished. This light little cuppa, courtesy of derk, was perfect for putting up the aching feet and surveying the acreage.

While steeping, it looked a little like cooked spinach and mulch from the push mower, but the coloring and flavor palate was much lighter. Definitely some sweet hay in there. Ashmanra mentioned a little mineral in there—I got that, too.

Not one to wake up with; not one to wind down with; just one to savor when you have a few delicious minutes to put your brain on autopilot.

Backlog.

Looks and smells like a typical English breakfast tea. Malty with a pine/eucalyptus aroma. Steeped a scant 1g grandpa style in a 215ml glass.

My initial impression wasn’t so great. Tasted marginally better than a bag of Lipton. Brisk and malty with a dark mahogany color. I think this type of tea is meant to be had with milk so I may have brewed it wrong to begin with. Since I can’t stomach black tea with milk, I decided to follow derk’s suggestion and added a few strands of Spanish saffron.

This turned out to be a brilliant idea as the tea immediately softened. I couldn’t taste the saffron but it added a bit a sweetness and a warm floral layer.

Yay, it finally feels like spring!

Brewed in a glass gaiwan with lid off and modest with the leaf. Light and clean, silky brisk-sweet. Transparent blue-green taste like buffalo grass in spring water, hint of earth. Gently sweet finish with vibrant mineral-salty lingering tingle like the Wild White Tea.

Brewed western in a mason jar with longer infusion, the green sweetness of buffalo grass become more concentrated. Does it remind me of tarragon? I think I also get a short ripe apricot aftertaste. Can get bitter in a grassy way.

Ambient brewed with 7g in 32oz gives a cloudy spring green liquor that’s pretty different in taste compared to a hot steep. Mild green taste and refreshing sweetness with hints of light vanilla; no brisk, earthy tannins or mineral saltiness to be found, nor any apricot.

Pleasure in simplicity.

A sipdown! (M: 1, Y: 1)
Sipdown prompt January 1 – Happy New Year – Drink a tea you’d love to have all year! Happy New Year!

Oh dear. I finished this lovely, yet simple tea? I am sad, you know? First of all, I am not able to contact (they don’t read my WhatsApp messages) nor check company website. Secondly, it is lovely tea and it was great in price/quality ratio. I paid 5 GEL = 1.86 USD for 25 grams of this tea. Cheap! Thirdly, I just hope they are doing well and if once I get to Georgia, I want to visit their teahouse, which seems it is still working.

Anyway, to the tea. Well, it is a bit past its prime, but truth to be said; my storage wasn’t so good. I have opened the plastic bag it was in, thinking I will finish it quickly, but I let all the air and humidity affect the tea for long time. I wanted to move it into some airtight container, but never did (sad face).

But notes of sweet malts and sweet potatoes are still present; just with shorter mouthfeel.

So, finally I found out the small bag of this and decided to try it; found out how it is; write a note; forget about this tea; find it again, give it a try again; and so on.

Anyway,I have prepared it as in description. 5 grams, 5 minutes steep, just boiled water, just my vessel is 300 ml instead of 250 ml as suggested.

I do very rarely such long steeps. But well, this is Georgian tea that never turned out bitter and very tannic to me, no matter if it is this brand, or Guria Likhauri. The latter I tried several times even grandpa.

Yes, it works. 5 steeps are still pleasant, and I have to agree with all notes written about this tea already.
Honey, spices, cocoa , sweet malt, sweet potatoes, little caramel. Such an easy drinking tea. A little toasty and I can imagine a buttered toast as a great food pairing. Maybe with some aged cheese.

Well, well, once I finish this one, it will be missed. For sure!

This tea was a gift from derk, who sent me lots of goodies to try!

This is so light, and reminds me of the envelope of milkweed fluff that I just gifted to my son! Light and soft and oh so airy. I know it said you can mix it with black tea if you wish, but I really wanted a caffeine free pot to share with Ashman so we had it plain.

I thought it was good, really better than I expected after seeing the recommendation to mix it with black tea. I thought they were suggesting that due to a lack of flavor or to cover an unpleasant one, but I found it sweet and an amiable cup or three before bed. It did remind me of chamomile, warm hay, and soft herbs.

Thank you, derk! :)

Oh, gmathis, your “bunny fluff and garden seeds” description of the dry tea is perfect. I just kind of want to snuggle it.

Walnut skins, green melon rind, wheat germ… there is a toastiness that makes me want to sit down to breakfast, but maybe that’s just because “quince” has always meant jam to me. Squash and green beans coming off the wet leaves.

For the second infusion, I added some of my precious: pure bud golden snails from What-Cha, as Georgian Tea recommends mixing this with black tea. Experiment’s on… I should have divided this sample into two, because my pot is now running out of room.

Mm, that’s lovely — the cocoa base of the snail, and that green-wheaty high note from the quince. If I needed my blood pressure lowered, I’d be happy to hear this was the answer.

Thank you, dear derk.

Derk kindly shared a little packet of this very Easter-appropriate tea: dry, it looks like bunny fluff and garden seeds. After a five-minute steep, it had a lovely wheat-chocolate scent and burnished gold color. The flavor, however, reminded me of a good Darjeeling or apple peels. A couple of you mentioned chamomile as a descriptor; I can see that, too.

Best of all, I was able to enjoy it outdoors: first day it was warm enough to sit out and feel sun on my bare toes watching a couple little woodpeckers dining on our maple tree.

Finishing off as a light-handed brew with longer steeps in a glass gaiwan, lid off.

Very clean and light, almost sparkling. Soft and oily spring water body with pungent herbaceous and spicy meadow/hot hay notes, acorn. Nutty finish like flax seed with pine nuts and ginkgo nuts, subtle meadow honey that quickly transitions to cleansing mineral sweetness with lingering salty tingle feel.

This white tea works very well with my constitution. Fairly neutral and light, subtle. Great texture transition that quickly quenches thirst. I would definitely repurchase.