A new tea sampler from Latvia

I think I need to get a world map so that I can start putting push pins in all the places around the world that have produced tea I've tried. If I had such a map, this week I could add a pin for Latvia! (Click here if your world geography is as rusty as mine and you want to see where Latvia is.)
At Christmas, my friend Nancy surprised me with this wonderful sampler from Lauku Tea. Nancy is a local gift shop owner, and my theory is that this is why she has access to so many neat items, like tea gift sets, that I've never even heard of before! A visit to their website instantly had me enthralled with Lauku Tea and their Ozolini Farm, where "every petal, leaf, berry, and herb is planted, harvested, and packaged by hand." (And it's beautiful too. Get a glimpse here!) The "Latvian Sun" sampler I received contained Brigita's Organic Daylight Blend, Anna's Organic Afternoon Blend, and Evita's Organic Twilight Blend.
Nancy also gave me a ladybug tea towel from Lauku Tea, and since ladybugs are said to bring good luck, I was especially happy to have it!
The sampler itself included an applewood teaspoon carved from the wood of the apples trees that provide leaves and fruit for Lauku's tea blends. How neat is that?
The dried leaves are huge and fresh smelling, and the first tea I tried was Brigita's Organic Daylight Blend, which contains fermented organic apple leaves, organic black currant leaves, dried organic apples, organic meadow clover flowers, organic lemon balm, and organic mountain ash berries.
I steeped the tea for about four minutes, and I was so intrigued by the invigorating, complex flavors of this herbal tea. It had a light natural sweetness, but not like a dessert tea, and I detected a bit of a smoky note, but it was quite a pleasant one. I thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to Lauku Tea and look forward to trying the other blends. And I was also delighted to learn that even though the company is in Latvia, shipping to the US for any order is free! Click here to learn more.