Nabo

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 17: Vintervila

This one is definitely clove-forward. There is a depth and complexity in the flavour as well. This one is different from most other “Christmas-blends” teas without the heavy-handed cinnamon and some orange, which I do appreciate (they all start tasting the same after a while). Although not my favourite from Nabo, I easily polished off this sample.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 5: Hallon och Rosemarin

The main flavour here is definitely rosemary with hints of orange, but I really like this one. The only issue is that the flavour could be a bit more, it’s almost “diluted”.

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 16: Hallon och Rosemarin

This smelled sweet with orange dry and with more rosemary once steeped. I really loved this one – I did make a teapot and used a bit too much water, diluting the flavour more than I had hoped to, but still really enjoyed it. The rosemary was the main flavour, but offset by hints of orange and sweet raspberry. I would order this one!

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 16

Ooh, another interesting one from Nabo today! They do seem to like their berry teas, don’t they…

I do like it, but I don’t love it. I think it’s because the raspberry is quite candylike to my tastebuds, which doesn’t go as well with the savory rosemary as a fresh, tart raspberry would. It also makes it taste just the teensiest bit medicinal to me, and it’s not decidedly raspberry. The ingredients do say berry flavor, so maybe it’s not quite as specific as the name implies.

A pleasant tea but not a favorite for me!

Advent Calendar from Nabo: Day 5

This tea needs way more raspberries! Like last year, interesting flavour in theory, but in fact, it’s rather green tea with rosemary (well present today!) and sadly, there is so little of juicy and fresh raspberries, so I would call it without berries. That’s sad!

Accidentaly used very cold water today, so I did longer steep instead.

Okay, this has got very same ingedients as Raspberry Summer Rosemary by TakeT. TakeT doesn’t claim it is their blend, so maybe Nabo gives them a source or vice versa. Who knows? But, Finnish company buying from Swedish? Doesn’t seems to be true (joke alert).

Anyway, this feels a bit fruitier than that one, more raspberry, but it is well hidden under the rosemary and thyme in my opinion. I am also not sure if I notice the base, but there some grassy, hay notes.

I want more raspberries. Right here, in the winter, I want to nib fresh raspberry.

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 15: Apelsin och Bergamott

The dry scent was just like Fruit Loops and it did subtley come over into the taste as well. The orange adds a unique element that makes this slightly more complex than regular EG. I also had the Fruit Loops effect happen with the regular EG from CS.

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 15

I quite like this one, no surprise there.

The orange is sweet and pairs well with the more aromatic bergamot and the lemony herbaceousness of the lemongrass. There is something a bit candylike, maybe it’s the lemon flavor? I like the addition of the ginger as well, it adds a nice earthiness and pairs well with all of the citrus notes. Not tasting much of the black tea, but there’s a lot of other flavors going on, so I guess that makes sense.

Overall, it’s a yummy citrusy tea with some nice extras added in for interest. :)

Two citrus flavours in one black tea base? Smells also very piney to me, but when brewed the scents changed rapidly.
In my opinion the bergamot dominates in this one, but orange is ading very nice sweetness of it. Black tea (with chicory root I suppose) is making quite strong and robust base for the fruits, lemongrass adding a little depth to the citrus notes.
Although it contains almond flavouring and rose (petals), I do not notice those at all.

It feels quite juicy as well, I assume because the real peels used. I would consider a purchase of this one one day.

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 14: Grönbos

My mom is doing this advent with us (from across the country) and she’s not big on tea but was really excited for this very unique mix of ingredients. I got a text halfway through the day with the confirmation that she did in fact enjoy it. I was also pleasantly surprised with this one. The green rooibos base lends itself nicely and I found cinnamon to be at the forefront, in a baked good way. The rosemary came through ever so slightly at the end of the sip, with an almost (without the cooling) eucalyptus sort of way. I really enjoyed this tea.

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 14

Hmmmmm… no.

The combination of berry and anise here is just the most medicinal-tasting thing ever and I can’t handle it. A shame because the inclusion of rosemary sounded interesting. Sadly this got dumped. :|

I have very, very limited experience with green rooibos, so I am not that sure about its flavor profile itself.

However this tea is enjoyable, smooth and there is no woody taste, which I assume is because not using red variety, then I have noticed sweet cinnamon taste alongside with somehow generic, but again enjoyable flavour of berries.

Nice and enjoyable as well.

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 12: Blårbärsskogen

I find the blueberry really comes out and the depth of the flavour makes me think of a forest. Nabo does their berry teas spectacularly in my opinion.

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 13

Not sure why this is called “Peach” when it has berry, coconut, and orange flavoring and only peach pieces? Strange.

This tastes a bit similar to their other berry teas, even though it’s not the same berry. It has a syrupy candy sort of vibe to it, like those berry-shaped hard candies with the liquid center that used to be in my grandmother’s crystal candy dish. I think they might’ve been raspberry-flavored? But it has a somewhat medicinal edge to it. It also came out very slightly bitter despite only steeping it for 3 minutes, and there’s a noticeable astringent feeling on my tongue. I wonder if both could be from the chokecherries? I’ve never tasted one so I have no idea what they’re like, but the astringency reminds me of grape skins.

Anyway, this was a slightly odd tea. Still pleasant, but odd.

Ah dang. It seems I oversteeped this one. It’s quite bitter and tart — from the aronia berries as Courtney notices in her tasting note. There is peach as well, a bit candy-like which I don’t mind, but I just wouldn’t call this tea Peach when there is another fruit which dominates.

And as I oversteeped it, it doesn’t turn better, rather worse.

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 12

This had promise, but it ended up tasting a bit generic to me.

I think it’s the hibiscus and apple that make it taste like every other berry fruit tisane. I don’t really get blueberry specifically, there is a dark syrupy berry note though. It reminds me of DT’s Just Beet It. But then there’s a slight mustiness from the nettle, and a bit of coating licorice root sweetness at the end of the sip.

Not a favorite for me, but a decent cuppa that I did finish. Also, the name made me laugh because it seems like a word I would make up if I was trying to sound Swedish… XD

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 11: Julrosor

Ehhh rose. However, the vanilla and hints of fruitiness really helped to mellow the rose and dare I say this cup was decently enjoyable.

An afternoon mug was much better in flavours. I already learned that Blåbär means blueberry and I was pretty excited to try this. And with honeybush instead of rooibos (okay, that one is there too) seems interesting.

Dry leaf certainly smells like a blueberries (I shall use bilberries word), and the base was nice as well. I think… I have noticed the honeybush with its honey aroma; and it was so fresh and not musty at all.

Brewed, and I let it steep for quite long; it is a little different story, but I as glad it was quite dark so I assume the blueberries (eh…) and aronia berries (already crushed) made it so dark. And after first sip I certainly noticed the berries altogether, while namesake ones were stronger. And it was so well complimented with honeybush, giving it a little stronger and more robust flavour than rooibos itself.

And the berries make me feel a bit nostalgic as I used to take a pictures of them very often when I was in Finland.

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 10: Bombär och Granater

We brewed this one in a teapot and it was so light I feared the flavour was completely diluted. The fruit notes in this tea really came forward and didn’t disappoint. I would say I got mostly apple, but very fresh, sweet apple. The hibiscus wasn’t really present, save for the pale pink colour of the tea. There’s perhaps a whisper of pomegranate flavour that I do wish was a bit more present, but perhaps chilled it would come out more. I could see this being very enjoyable cold! I would order this one for our cupboard.

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 11

It tastes like roses. Nope, nope, nope! XD

I do get lychee and a hint of vanilla cream as well, but still far too rosy for me!

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 9: Assam Chadwar

This was a smooth cup that wasn’t difficult to drink. It wasn’t necessarily special, but it wasn’t bad. I didn’t find any astringency or metallic flavours. Overall a lighter Assam with an aftertaste of caramel.

This one was very nice cup. Seeing lots of rose petals made me a bit afraid that there will be too much of rose; but somehow they managed very well the level of: black tea base, rose and fruits.

Instead of peppery rose I got sweet fruits, a little strawberries here, a little lychee there. A little vanilla cream notes. And very floral, naturally from rose. The base was a bit hidden beneath all those other flavours and aromas, however it was there giving much needed morning caffeine boost with a pleasant experience.

Not so long ago, I was craving a rose black tea to give it another chance.

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 10

So this is essentially a fruit tisane, despite having some green tea in it.

As fruit tisanes go, it’s pleasant though. Nice sweet-tart fruity flavor and not too much in the way of hibiscus. I do taste cranberry, pomegranate, and orange. The hibiscus does make it taste slightly generic, but overall it’s nice enough.

I had this tea with my lunch and honestly it is one of the biggest dismals from Nabo for me.

I read it is fruit/green tea blend so I naturally used not boiling water. But it seems it is making the trouble with the fruits. The fruit line was weak and instead I noticed more of rose petals. A even a little bitter. But, sadly, I haven’t noticed anything from green tea either. Overall it was very weak, slightly rose-y and fruity tea and that was it.

Certainly not a fruit bomb as in their description, and from the fruits, the pomergranate was strongest, but still sadly not much. Not all teas must be winners.