Nabo

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 24: Citron och Vanilj

I steeped this for 3 minutes and there’s more astringency than I’d like, but it’s giving vibes of DF’s Noël à Venise, which I do really enjoy. The lemon and vanilla come together in a creamy, dessert-like way. It’s a shame about the astringency, but not a bad cup. Perhaps I could smooth it out more if I had extra to experiment with. Lex loved this one!

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 23: Granatäpple

This is a really lovely tea — very juicy, flavourful, and fruity. Buuuut, I wouldn’t say that pomegranate is specifically the flavour profile. I’m happy that at least it’s tasty after what this calendar has been overall though.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 22: Earl Tranbär

I ordered an extra 50g of this one and have almost sipped it down completely. While it is a fine tea, and an easy ‘when I’m not fully paying attention, but want a hot drink in hand’ cup, it’s not really special. The cranberry doesn’t come through as much as I’d like and I almost forget this is an EG! There is bergamot, but it’s just not as forthcoming as some other EG teas. The base is quite nice and smooth. It’s a nice tea, but I expected a touch more here.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 21: Vinteräpple

This one smells very apple and cinnamon. I oversteeped this to 5 minutes, but thankfully the tea itself didn’t seem ruined. The flavouring is, of course, mostly cinnamon. There also seems to be a cinnamon oil here — there is a cinnamon intensity, paired with that cinnamon-heart sweetness.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 20: Julapelsin

The cinnamon and clove are the forefront here and the orange is lacking. I was hoping for orange and the ‘Christmas spices’ more in the background. No currant to be found. Subtle bitterness sneaks out as the tea cools. Another unbalanced tea from the advent, sadly.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 19: Goa Gubbar

Ooh this one is quite lovely. The strawberry is really lovely! And the hibiscus adds just a hint of tartness that could be an ever so slightly unripe strawberry. Really lovely!

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 18: Blåbär

I steeped this at 3 minutes (recommended 3-4) and there was quite a bit of astringency. Luckily, I ordered an extra 50g of this, so there’s more to experiment with.

I tried again at 2.5 minutes and it’s much smoother with no astringency. The blueberry flavour smells really great when the tea is dry, but it’s not as robust in the steeped flavour. I’m going to do another trial at a different temperature to see if I can make the blueberry flavour pop more.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 17: Söt Persika

I generally enjoy a green rooibos blend and this one is quite nice. The flavours are balanced and come off really nicely. The peach leans “fuzzy peach”, but it’s not cloying at all. I’m assuming the vanilla adds a bit of a mellowing effect as well.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 16: Vintrig Mandarin

The cinnamon is here, but thankfully it’s a tad more muted and comes off as a cinnamon baked good. The mandarin is here as well, but isn’t consistent in each sip for me. The green base worked well here.

Happy New Year, Steepster!

I’ve finished off the last of my two favorite Nabo teas from Courtney and am so bummed to find that they are no longer available on the website. Here’s hoping they are seasonal and I can get them later in the year. This one and Som en Dröm have the same ingredients so far as I can tell, so I thought they might taste too similar. In reality, while both are berry-flavored, they are quite different. Som en Dröm is light in color and tastes like blueberries to me, though I don’t think there are actually blueberries in the mix. Skogsförjd is deeper and the base comes through much more here. The raspberry flavor shines. I’ll miss these two – I’ve been drinking nothing else for the past week or so. I’m hoping Nabo has something similar that I’ll enjoy just as much.

Edit: Using this for my January Sipdown Challenge – a tea I’d love to have all year!

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 15: Rosenknopp

Well, finally a tea without liquorice root or cinnamon. But…rose. One can only laugh at this point. I only steeped this at 3 minutes (3-4 recommended), but the case is coming off as astringent and I’m finding it difficult to find the litchi or strawberry.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 14: Mint och Lakrits

Dear god. My mouth reacted to this as though I’d perhaps been poisoned?

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 13: Lusse Lelle

So this one is definitely cardamom and saffron. Points there! However, I steeped 3.5 minutes (recommended 3-4 minutes) and the base was too astringent to really be enjoyable. Bit of a shame, but at least there was no cinnamon or liquorice root!

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 12: Peachy Ginger

So, there’s definitely ginger here. Yay! I don’t like ginger in tea as a general rule, but it was meant to be ginger, so that’s a plus. Sadly the liquorice root then kicked in and the tea was almost immediately cloying. We have dumped so many of these teas, I am a bit disheartened. Nabo was so delightful last year, but something has gone awry this year.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 11: Oh, My Darling Clementine

Sigh. Liquorice root as the second ingredient was concerning, and rightly so. This tea sadly comes off as cloying and syrup-y. The clementine does come through, but it’s hard to focus on it beyond the liquorice root.

Advent Calendar from Nabo: Day 24

And last one! How so?

Okay, this as got indeed strong lemon aroma when I have opened the bag. But also creamy note, yes, that’s the vanilla there.

Steeped for four minutes and well, it actually deliverrs a very nice cuppa. Refreshing, lemony and creamy. I would not say it is exactly vanilla, but definitely it is creamy.
Mouthcoating; and with long mouthfeel. I actually think this is Nabo’s finest blend this year! Luckily, no cinnamon here.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 10: Gräddkola

I was so excited when this tea finally didn’t have cinnamon. It was similar to Cavalla with the cacao shells and the coconut added some creaminess, but I didn’t find it to be overly special.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 9: Plommon och Kanel

Ahhh the cinnamon. Is there was a theme to this calendar (thus far) it’s just too much cinnamon.

This tea has some almost tart plum in the background, but the cinnamon. The cinnamon is a lot.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 8: Julens Kryddor

This is fine, for a Christmas spice tea. There’s nothing wrong with it, but also nothing really right with it?

Advent Calendar from Nabo: Day 23

Pretty much nice fruit tea, but pomegranate? Maybe in color; otherwise I noticed just some fruity notes.
Fine, but nothing I need to re-try and justify the order from this Swedish company.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 7: Sagosoppa

Hmm this one has a berry flavour, but it’s leaning a bit syrup-y.

Nabo 2023 Advent Day 6: Aprikos

This one smells really lovely! The scent is apple cider vibes, which I love — this also happened with a tea from Martin last week, hmm! Sadly the cinnamon overpowered the apricot here. There was still some juicy apricot in the background, but definitely to heavy-handed with the cinnamon.

Advent Calendar from Nabo: Day 22

A nice EG tea with hints of tartness of cranberries. They are not much distinctive in flavour or aroma; but base tea was robust and great for this intended flavour profile.