FinlandOverview
Nordqvist, a Finnish family business founded in Helsinki in 1979, calls this the Winter Tea Collection, and the hexagonal lid reads Arctic Flavors. The six flavours are Traditional Christmas tea and Plum & Cinnamon on black tea, Green Christmas tea, Gingerbread Rooibos, Glögi, and Cranberry-Salted Caramel, four bags of each.
Glögi is hibiscus with cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, rosemary, orange peel and rose petals, echoing Finland's hot spiced winter drink, and Cranberry-Salted Caramel blends hibiscus and rooibos. Nordqvist lists the black tea, green tea, rooibos and hibiscus as coming from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
The bags weigh 1.75g except the Green Christmas tea at 1.5g, which makes 41g for the box. The firm runs its own factory in Nurmijärvi and lists more than 200 products. Priced at €13.20, it is a small gift for a colleague or a host.
Taste & variety
Six winter flavours, four bags each. Traditional Christmas tea is black tea with cinnamon, cardamom and ginger, and Plum & Cinnamon is a flavoured black tea. Green Christmas tea brings the festive flavouring to a green base.
The other three drop caffeine altogether: Gingerbread Rooibos shares the Christmas black tea's spice list, Cranberry-Salted Caramel mixes hibiscus and rooibos, and Glögi is hibiscus with cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, rosemary, orange peel and rose petals, named after the Nordic mulled wine and built to be the evening cup.
Three caffeinated and three not: the box has the sense to split the day in half.
Packaging & gift appeal
The box is hexagonal, patterned with snowflakes and lettered Arctic Flavors and weighs 41 grams in all. The teas come in two-bag packets, so there is an easy gesture available: take one packet out and hand a pair of cups to someone else.
The family firm runs its own factory in Nurmijärvi, and the black tea, green tea, rooibos and hibiscus here all come from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
What is in the box
24 tea bags in two-bag packets, four of each flavour: Traditional Christmas tea, Green Christmas tea, Gingerbread Rooibos, Glögi, Plum & Cinnamon and Cranberry-Salted Caramel. Net weight 41g.
Key features
- 24 tea bags in six winter flavours, four of each
- Packed in two-bag packets inside a snowflake-patterned box
- Three caffeine-free blends: Gingerbread Rooibos, Glögi and Cranberry-Salted Caramel
- Hexagonal 'Arctic Flavors' box, 41g in all
Our verdict
Six winter flavours from a Helsinki family house, with Glögi doing the best impression of a Nordic evening. It is a modest present for a colleague or a host, and it gets the caffeine split right.
If you want drama, buy their calendar; if you want something to hand over, this is it.
What we like
- Six distinct winter flavours in one small box
- A balanced mix: three caffeinated blends, three caffeine-free
- Black, green, rooibos and hibiscus from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms
A few things to know
- Only four bags of each flavour
- Flavoured blends throughout, no plain tea
- Priced in euros, so the final cost depends on your card and the delivery charge
