Laponic December 25th, Black

Mastress Alita’s Monthly Sipdown Challenge: a French tea
Sipdown 9/34

This was a share from Dustin in a previous advent swap. I’ve been holding onto the last of it, but I figure it’s time to enjoy it before it loses its flavor.

The rosemary and cranberry is such an interesting combination.

Thank you Dustin for sending this across the bay! This might be my favorite of the three Laponic teas I’ve tried.

Cooked cranberry aroma that’s mellow and deep with a tangy high tone, a bit of rosemary. The tea is full-bodied, brothy and lightly brisk. The heft of the flavor is from the black teas, contributing oak wood and a touch of earth. Equal measures cranberry and rosemary are layered seamlessly throughout. Using cranberry flavor I can understand but also rosemary flavor instead of the leaf? Maybe the leaf is naturally too overpowering to create the desired effect. There is also another layer to the tea that takes me a moment to notice, an airy quality maybe contributed by the oak moss flavoring, maybe also by the elderflowers and dried poppy petals. The airiness carries through into the aftertaste with subtle minerals and a bit of cool rosemary, leaving a gentle feeling of being refreshed.

I’ve really enjoyed sampling the Laponic white, green and black teas. They’re very focused on the essence of northern environments — very natural woodsy aromas and tastes.

This tea has been hiding in the back of my cupboard for about a year now. So strange and savory! I sometimes get the craving for the Laponic December green, which is more juniper based, but I feel like I get some of that in here too, but it’s not listed in the ingredients. Maybe it’s the cranberry rosemary combo. Either way, delightfully strange. Makes me wish I had grabbed a bag of their white laponic to try.

I have not been buying much new tea, and sticking to finishing a lot of my stash. But Thé o Dor is a favorite brand I can´t order easily (they sell online but the shipping prices are very of-fputting!) but found a store which had some tins and could not resist indulging in this Christmas tea.

It´s a very unusual christmas tea, rosemary, oak moss and cranberry on a very nice chinese black tea base. It´s wonderfully refreshing, fresh, clear, pure compared to how sweet and spicy most christmas teas are. Luckily , I love it and will enjoy it the rest of the year as well!