Nabo

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 9

This is extremely nondescript. I don’t think I would even know it’s an Assam, versus a Sri Lankan or Kenyan tea. It has that Lipton-esque sort of “tea-ish” metallic flavor, and not much else.

No malt, no raisin, nothing. Womp womp wommmmmmp…

It’s was 5th December when I just wrote about plain Assam tea, especially bagged. Okay, this is a little exception as… it is loose leaf; but interesting that it was chosen to Advent Calendar, especially when so many teas were festive and/or at least blended.

So, seeing again a plain tea, made me somehow sad — not giving holidays mood, but on the other hand, plain tea can be delightful as well.

And this one is! Very strong and robust, not so much malt, a little earthy, a little woody and tannic and great wake-me-up cup (even in the afternoon). Surprisingly I don’t notice the dates like a few days ago from bagged Assam from Sonnentor.

But both were flavourful and it seems it is this year harvest, because it wasn’’t flat at all. Good experience from both companies!

PS: I haven’t wrote in yesterday notes (because I was tired and I forgot), that I have passed that DGSA exam I was writing about many times. So, now I am Mr. Hazmat how mrmopar (I think so) called me one day!

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 8: Adventsmys

Whoa star anise! The dry scent is very star anise. The star anise was present but not overpowering in the steeped tea. It got better and better as it cooled, with star anise and cinnamon at the forefront.

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 8

The smell of this was soooo strong when I opened the packet lol, and it smelled like black jellybeans with a bit of cinnamon.

It tastes like a licorice jellybean and a Red Hot had a baby ha ha. Very candylike and strong on both the licorice and the cinnamon. I’m not surprised, given it has fennel, star anise, and licorice root, AND it has star anise flavoring. Plus obviously, it also has cinnamon and cinnamon flavor. Happily, the licorice root sweetness doesn’t come through too strongly, it does have some sweetness to it, but it’s more of a candy sweetness and not the mouth-coating licorice root kind.

I definitely don’t taste green tea in this. It’s more like an herbal chai that’s very strong on the anise flavors ha ha. I’m enjoying the cup, as I like black licorice, but it’s not something I would drink regularly.

It seems both my Advent teas are gingerbread related. At least this one based on the aroma took my into my childhood when we were making gingerbread for holidays. It wasn’t even in my family, but yes the aromas are so nostalgic .

In my opinion it is really strong in fennel and star anise in aroma, but in taste it feels a bit flat — though tasty for me. However the cinnamon and cloves in doesn’t suit it well and reminds me Harney&Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice tea which I used to like. I haven’t got it in ages, so I am not really sure if I would like it anymore.

Actually a tea I prefer for its aroma than texture and flavour. Also, green tea base? I think black one would suit better.

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 7

This has the most unappealing name to me, ha ha… It makes me think of rancid coconut. XD

Honestly, I’m not getting much coconut at all. It mostly tastes like tart apple and lemon. In fact, I’m not sure I would know there was coconut at all if it wasn’t in the name. It’s quite tart, not sure how white hibiscus tastes compared to red, or if it’s contributing much sourness here.

It’s fine but not something I would buy, not being a big fan of tart fruit tisanes.

I was curious about this tea right after reading note from Courtney two months ago. But I hesitated to making an order of tea and decided for Advent Calendar only.

And today it is in the Advent so I can try it before ordering. Now I feel I need a pouch/box/tin/whatever of it. It is so smooth, lovely, and fruit. Don’t be scared of the aroma. That is way stronger than flavour. Flavour is weaker, but still pretty strong with nice coconut note.

Definitelly recommend!

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 6

This one actually reminds me of another berry tea I had a few days ago, from Provence d’Antan I think? It has the same jammy blackberry flavor to it that reminds me of blackcurrant.

Otherwise, this is a nice berry tea! It is a bit candylike to me, I think it’s the strawberry that’s coming off that way. The raspberry tastes more authentic, but it’s not quite as strong as the other two flavors to my palate. The blackberry reminds me of blackcurrant jam or candies, with a sweet and rich jammy berry note to it.

Overall it actually tastes a bit woodsy, which I like. Not sure if that’s the herbaceous strawberry leaves combining with a woody black tea or what, but it’s the perfect thing to take this tea from summer to winter! :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl2GbD8OaPK/

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 6: Bäriga Björn

I’m quite sure this is the same as Som en Dröm (the only tea from Nabo that I could find that seems to have a duplicate). I ordered every berry tea Nabo has a while back and skipped this one due to the ingredient list being the same as Som en Dröm. The berry flavour is so delightful, and I’ve already committed to having Som en Dröm in my cupboard, so this was a lovely treat today.

It seems I have oversteeped this one. The base tea was very robust and flavourful, but the promised fruit notes were weak and strawberry was only one prominent to me. Which is shame, as I noticed lovely blackberry scent from dry leaf.

Afterall, it is a bit interesting choice for Advent calendar tea, as it is rather summer blend, but I understand that not all teas must be festive.

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 5: Frostblomma

This one has not been my favourite so far. Contrary to Cameron I made a teapot of this and used ~600 mL. Reading her note, I can say I’m quite happy with that choice. The mint was still the main flavour with some sort of fruity hint as well. There was an almost menthol-like experience with the mint here where it really filled the mouth.

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 5

Not much tea in the sample today! Very fluffy leaves and not too many of them, so I made an 8-ounce cup.

I think this is supposed to be a sort of winterberry flavor profile, but the mint flavor is very strong, and it overpowers everything else. It sits somewhere between candy cane sort of peppermint and Vicks Vaporub. I do get a little bit of fruitiness in the background, strawberry maybe? Not sure about the tonka bean, that’s supposed to be similar to vanilla, right? There is a tiny bit of creaminess maybe. And I think I’m getting some mineral marine notes from the green tea as well.

It’s fine, but could’ve been so much better if it were more balanced.

Somehow I don’t know how to rate this one. I enjoyed it, however something is lacking here for me.

The base is nice. Even they used such small tea wrappers (regular size, but with loose leaf), they managed to bring a few big pieces. Flavour-wise it is round, nothing distinctive from it. But then the expected flavour — well it contains peppermint aroma; I wonder why not peppermint itself, but it gives interesting and good refreshing feel, like the exhausted air after chewing gum or mouthwash, with slight, but sadly not noticeable fruit line. I was trying to found out what is it, but I wasn’t able to. Maybe the other two will be more sucessful?
The fruit flavour is nice, but as I wrote, I haven’t found what is it. And the tea altogether brings me to think about wintergreen — but not sure if I even had it before in my cup, or it is just a relation in my brain between name and “some” English word.

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 4

This seems like an interesting one, not only is it the unusual (to me) combination of ginger and coconut, but the black tea looks to be a CTC variety.

Unfortunately, I’m getting a lot of licorice root from this one. It coats my mouth with that cloying licorice sweetness and makes it difficult to taste the other flavors. I definitely get the ginger, it’s spicy without being overbearing and has a nice earthy flavor that doesn’t burn my throat. As for the coconut, I think it’s melding into the licorice root a bit because I don’t really taste it. Not getting a lot of black tea either, mostly just licorice and ginger.

Not sure if I’m unlucky or if I should stop using the whole packet for a 16-ounce cup… My experience seems different from the others doing this advent ha ha. :P

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 4: Ingefära och kokos

Another winner from Nabo. The ginger is mellowed out by the coconut, and it creates a complex and lovely cup. This is similar to how they use coconut in their Sour Coconut tea. I would happily order this one for my own cupboard.

P.S. Added bonus as I was up sick through the night and the ginger is helping to calm my stomach this morning. Meant to be!

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 3: Rommaren

This really does taste like rum and caramel! I am not a fan of rum, but this tea really nailed the flavours.

I had this one in the afternoon and just added it (and somehow the picture is very same as Italian Sponge Cake (an error from Nabo maybe?)

Anyway, the tea. Well, I was expecting more spicy ginger and less coconut. Overall quite sweet and again somehow pastry with warming ginger but certainly not overpowered with the flavours. Somhow it was not very memorable for me; though it wwas somehow nicely flavoured of coconut, but if you tell me it is black tea with coconut only — I would believe you. The ingredients list is quite extensive, but I don’t think I have noticed it, for example the vanilla flavour. Maybe it is that pastry note I mentioned above?

Anyway, it is nice tea, but for me somehow not memorable.

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 3

The dry scent of this was… extreme. Super rummy, and very alcoholic.

Happily, the steeped tea doesn’t taste that way. It does have a taste of rum, but not necessarily the alcohol part. Mostly it’s smooth, woody, with a bit of caramel and a bit of rum. There’s a touch of milk chocolate as well, and a hint of something that reminds me of dill? I see cumin (?!) in the ingredients so perhaps it’s that… Or maybe the nettle.

Anyway, it’s pleasant but not something I would buy. Mostly it tastes rooibosy with hints of other flavors.

This again was more festive tea and it was delicious. At least in my opinion, but my mother smelled it and hated it because boozy aroma.

For me it was a very nice cup of tea with indeed boozy, rum-like aroma and flavour; but without alcohol heat in the throat, also I have noticed some coconut and certainly cocoa, though the last was in very mild level. Somehow, it reminded me some Christmas cookies, but I can’t recall which ones. It was pastry-like as well.

The rooibos base was very nice and slightly woody, but complements the flavour very well (but I can imagine it with black base too); and it was great tea to drink while eating birthday cake (we are celebrating my brother’s birthday (36)).

As I am writing this note, I have slight headache and not sure if because the event (my 3 years old niece is running around); or too much rosé wine, or all together as I am under pressure everywhere (work and at home as well) — and I just need a long rest (and preparing for finals).

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 2: Grynet

Another winner from Nabo! A described it as “phenomenal”. I found the cardamom was more prevalent in scent as opposed to taste. Delightful!

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 2

So I was trying to determine what the name of this tea is. Google claims “grynet” means “the grit” (LOL) but somehow I doubt that’s it. The best I can guess is “gryn” appears to mean “grain”, which makes sense given this is a genmaicha. So something about grains. (shrugs) Anyone know a Swede? XD

Okay, so the dry tea straight up smelled like nail polish remover to me. I’ve heard people say that about teas with apple in them before, but I’ve never experienced it. So that was weird.

Steeped up, it’s mostly cardamom to me. It punches me in the face at the beginning of the sip, and then once it subsides a bit I can start to taste the other flavors. There’s a fruity tartness from the apple, and a touch of genmai toastiness. And then at the end, I get a bit of that nail polish remover again. Not sure if it’s just the cardamom interacting with something else or what. I actually don’t taste the green tea at all, but it does give body.

This one is quite imbalanced IMO, too much cardamom and then there’s that odd chemical nail polish note. I like the idea of a genmaicha with apple and cardamom, but the taste of this doesn’t really fit that description.

I have absolutely no idea what this should be like. The ingredients sounded like a weird mix.
And somehow… it is weird even when sipping. A little sweet tea, strong genmaicha, base somehow mineral and seaweed for me.
Cardamom was strong as well, adding another strange element to this tea.

I will keep this one without rating. Because it’s somehow too strange to me.

Nabo 2022 Advent Day 1: Pepparkakshus

The smell of this both dry and steeped is amazing. The spices here are lovely and almost sneak up on you – more at the end of the sip. The base is lovely and complementary. I enjoy that the spices aren’t too overwhelming/overtaking the base completely. A great cup!

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 1

Very festive choice from Nabo for the first day! I expect this will be but the first in a long line of similarly spiced black teas to come from my plethora of advent calendars. I have to say, I quite like how this Nabo advent is entirely in Swedish, it makes it a bit more interesting to figure out what the tea is. Plus Swedish seems fun to say, kardemumma ha ha…

I mostly get the earthy ginger root in the aroma, but luckily the taste has a bit more depth to it. I think this tea strikes a nice balance between the earthy and authentic spice flavors, and the more desserty cookie element. Cinnamon and clove are both strong, as well as the ginger obviously. There’s a tiny hint of black pepper in the finish. I don’t really get cardamom, and the orange peel seems mostly hidden under the cinnamon to me. There is a deep and rich brown sugar sweetness that definitely sells the gingerbread angle, but it’s not as prominent as, say, Harney’s Gingerbread Festival. Overall I wouldn’t call it a “sweet” tea.

Quite a nice one! I’m not sure if I would make an order for it, but I would probably add some to my cart if I was already ordering. :)