Origin: Ozurgeti, Georgia
Year: 2008
Vendor: Nothing But Tea (Product page)
Price: £4.65 (100g) / £0.75 (sample)
After trying and loving the Georgian Old Gentleman (also from this vendor) given to me by Mary, I ordered 100g of it and a sample of it's female counterpart, Georgian Old Lady. It is also a Georgian tea, obviously, though from a different village. This one is crafted by a woman named Natela, whose picture you can find on the product page (behind a link near the bottom).
As excited as I was about Georgian tea after my first encounter with it, I was a bit disappointed by this one. The dry leaf has a floral, woodsy aroma that is lighter than that of G.O.G. I brewed it pretty much the same way I brewed it's hubby: I filled the vessel with leaf, used boiling water, and 15s steeps to start.
This is very much like a bai hao / oriental beauty, more so than G.O.G. It is woodsy in a sort of sharp herbal way that I can't really think of the right words for; if you know your bai hao or Darjeeling, you probably know what I'm talking about. It lacks the body and deep flavors of Georgian Old Gentleman, which I thought were some of the best features of that tea.
As should be readily apparent, I do not think this is as good as the Georgian Old Gentleman. It isn't bad, but it isn't great, and it just doesn't suit my tastes. Still, it's worth trying a sample of it; Nothing But Tea gave me a generous sample considering the low cost.
On an unrelated note, I had a little fun with reflections during this session. I don't love the composition, but the effect was pretty cool.
I was introduced to the Georgia old lady and found her an enjoyable afternoon tea at a small shop in Denver Colorado. I will now have to find some of the Georgian old Gentleman.
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