Georgia was once one of the world's major tea producers, supplying vast quantities to the USSR, but quantity came at the expense of quality and when the Soviet Union collapsed, so did the Georgian tea industry. Yet Georgia's subtropical climate, with its cold winters, remains ideal for growing high-quality tea. Today, in the village of Nagomari, situated in the Guria region near the Black Sea, Mr Guguli makes black tea by hand in tiny batches, a tradition revived after decades of Soviet decline. The result is astonishingly fresh and simple. Notes of malt, dried plum and meadow flowers mingle in a naturally sweet cup with a soft finish. There is a rustic elegance here that recalls how tea was, long before the factories and Russian blends.

Allow 2.5-3g of loose-leaf tea per

cup: steep at 90C for three minutes.

Drink plain to enjoy its character.

What-Cha Tea sells 50g for £10