Georgian Black

Tea: Georgian Old Gentleman
Vendor: Nothing But Tea
Price : £4.65 / 100g
Source: Georgia (Not the State)
Vendor Description: Our Old Gentleman tea is made by Iuri in the tiny village Nasakirali. His tea has all the freshness of a springtime meadow. Old Gentleman tea is very well twisted and even; it is blacker than our Old Lady tea made by Natela, though her's shows more golden tip. In the cup Iuri's Old Gentleman tea is slightly more robust and complex and is a darker brew, while Natela's is lighter and sweeter, as befits a lady.Note for animal lovers - Iuri has an unusual black and white dog with one brown eye and one blue eye! His tea is just as unusual!

About this tea: This tea is a rather rare sight. It's a tea from Georgia (not the US state) which is interesting to see a tea branded from a country that is not in the top 5 tea producing countries. Thanks to Mary R. at Teachat for providing the sample.

Leaf: The leaf consists of very large and loose leaves. They have a very classic black color and are very twisted and fluffy. Because of the large leaf size and very open nature of the leaf this is a very low density leaf. It has a very deep and heavy aroma to it. I noticed what looked like the small hairs similar to a silver needle on the leaf as well.

1st Infusion: The tea has a very light and sweet aroma and a rich brown color. It reminds me a bit of coffee in color. The flavor is very rich and full bodied with a very traditional black tea flavor to it. There is a light sense of astringency and no bitterness. Even to the end there was a sweet aroma to it.

2nd Infusion: This infusion was very similar to the first infusion, which was surprising given a lot of black teas seem to putter out a bit after the first infusion. There was a medium sense of astringency to it and no bitterness. The flavor was very smooth and enjoyable.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This tea was very interesting in terms of the leaf and the shape, but the flavor was somewhat mundane. It reminded me a lot of the Pride of the Port tea by Peet's. I was glad to see that the tea did hold up to multiple infusions. If this tea were more readily available I would probably pick it up as a standard black tea.