Nina's Paris

This was my first experience with a Gen Mai Cha type tea. I had been thinking about trying it for a while. This tea is blended really well. It reminded me a lot of the Soba Cha Deep Roast from Steepster but not as strong. The tea all blends well together and provides a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Thank you, Laurent and Sophie, for a sample!

A nice apricot and apple aroma, very pleasant to smell. The liquor is full-bodied, brisk, and malty. The base tea takes over and, unfortunately, the fruitiness isn’t so strong.

I brewed a hot cup of this last night, it was good. Not one of my favorites but still solid. I think I enjoy dessert black teas rather than fruity ones. When it comes to fruit I prefer it to be mixed with greens or whites. Anyway.

The loose leaf is dark, rolled and aromatic. A sweet, balanced blend of both fruity and black tea flavors. The blue corn flowers provide a pop of color that adds a certain beauty. I’m a sucker for corn flowers though.

The taste itself is nice. This is a great choice if you really like fruity black teas this would be a good choice. It features strong passion fruit flavors that equate with the bitterness of the black tea base.

This tea was absolutely delicious. By far one of my favorite black teas. The vanilla flavor was well balanced with the black tea and the caramel undertones accompanied both beautifully. It’s a great dessert tea as well as a great relaxation tea.

Mmmm thank you tons, Laurent from Nina’s for sending me a sample of this tea!
It’s not as green as the photo suggests, but it does give off a nice and pleasant peach aroma. Reminds me a bit of the peach rings that I used to love so much :)

Ooh. I think my water was a smidge too hot and it’s right on the edge of being bitter, but it’s really nice! I makes a nice, straight cup :) The peach is definitely there, and it’s not as sugary as the peach rings, but still has the nice bright summer fruit flavour :)
I really like this tea! Definitely a nice oolong with a nice fruity flavour. Peach is definitely present, and I’m also getting bits of apricot which is nice

((this is also a sipdown so hooray for drinking all the tea!!))

You know what? I don’t eat enough apples. I’m too lazy to eat them, bite into them and munch them. I usually just settle for an easy banana (LOL) or grapes – they are so much more convenient. It’s kinda scary to admit that I have been usually passing up on apples because I feel there’s too much jaw work involved eating them.

All these fascinating reflections were initiated by the first sips of this tea. It’s an apple tea alright. It’s pretty good at being what it is, too. I like the ceylon base here, it is not shy, it is not weak, it is not hiding. It works perfectly with apple flavoring, which is just exquisite in its lack of artificial nastiness. All the apple notes I had in teas before were either practically non-existent or super fakey-fake. This one almost tastes like there’s a splash of cider in there. And it smells heavenly. I also detect some flower notes, from the rose petals I’m sure, although they are fainter.

Whenever I consider ordering from Nina’s Paris again, I will definitely re-order this one :) Thank you Laurent from Nina’s Paris for letting me try a sample of this tea :)

So my boyfriend broke my french press I had been using to steep my tea, which means I had to get creative with some coffee filters and twist ties to make this. I don’t know if I underleafed, or understeeped, or if the filter affected it, but it seemed weaker than the last time I made this. Was still yummy, but less flowery than I remember.

Like Hepburn, I’m preferring this tea a few weeks after it has arrived. I’ll have to remember in the future when ordering Nina’s to allow them to sit a while before diving in.

The strawberry is much more true to taste today, and not fake tasting, like the first time I tried this (the day it arrived in the mail). The base is nice too, typical of Nina’s black teas. I’m pretty picky about strawberry teas, but this seems to be working out well.

One thing I have noticed about Nina’s teas is they are very perfumey and have a ton of flavor. Which makes sense when you factor in the roots of the company. So far I haven’t been a fan of the strong flavors in the two teas I have tried.

This one is quite floral and smells like a nice bubble bath. Which is interesting when drinking. Not my favorite tea, but I liked it a lot more than Nina’s Japon.

Thanks to Nina’s for the sample! This has a lovely peach aroma. The peach flavor is present, but not overwhelming. The tea has a light sweetness, but with a slightly bitter finish. I think this would make an excellent iced tea.

Thank you Laurent from Nina’s for this free sample. It is so kind when a tea company sends out samples to try. Nice variety! This is nice medium body black with some lovely fruity flavors. Feels fresh and, hum… good. The fruit is not overwhelming like some flavored teas. I was worried that there might be hibiscus in there (red teas often try to hide hibiscus) but no worries. Not overly sweet like a dessert tea but it would probably go well with a fruity dessert. I think it might be good cold brewed.

Thank you Laurent for this sample! This unfortunately isn’t the Earl Grey for me. I love a lot of bergamot and I found this tea was black tea with hint of bergamot.. Out of curiosity I tasted it hot and then let it cool down and tried it iced. Not bad either way but not a full blown Earl Grey.

Why are the only people who’ve had this tea ones who don’t like rooibos?

I picked this for one of my samples because I like orange flavour in teas, especially in the red bush blends. It has prominent citrus scent (which is really pretty nice). The flavour is a nice blend of orange and vanilla, but more on the orange side. Having this with some orange cranberry bread was really good.

Since it’s nearly summer, I will have to try a cup iced.

I went ahead and ordered a little tin of this tea because I realized how much I love having a creamy strawberry rooibos on hand. This blend in particular has a strong rooibos note, but what I love is the bright strawberry that comes out every once and a while. There could be more cream flavor, but I’m enjoying the strawberry and rooibos pairing. I have to stress, once again, that those who aren’t fond of rooibos stay away from this one.

This tea sounded like a great choice from Nina’s Paris. It has rooibos, strawberries and cream & is a part of their fun star sign collection. Even though I’m a Sagittarius, I felt like I would enjoy this blend much more than that one.. so Taurus, don’t let me down!
The scent of this tea reminded me of a dollhouse… and before you think I’m crazy, understand that I mean that it smells like craft wood and strawberry scented dolls. (Well, no.. that doesn’t make me sound any less crazy now that I think about it)

Sipping… I taste a rather even balance between the rooibos and the strawberry. The strawberry is interesting because it’s not artificial strawberry, but it’s also not an obvious natural strawberry. It’s a bit of a generalized sweetness.. more like a candy? Maybe it’s like a very faint strawberry bubble gum? I rather like this blend and appreciate it more as it cools because it becomes more creamy. I think that I would also order this tea in the future as it’s very unique and celebrates the rooibos flavor with soft strawberries. Thank you so much, Laurent for sharing this sample with me!

Thank you so much Laurent and Sophie for so graciously sending me samples from Nina’s Paris.

I’ve read such glowing reviews, so I was really excited to get into these!

This cup has definite grapefruit and orange rind components, though neither veers into bitterness or is too bold. There’s almost a spicy peppery element to the cup that I really enjoyed as well. Despite being bright flavors, the overall vibe I get from this is far more mellow, and more for a quiet summer’s night or something — it’s a nice change from a lot of citrus teas out there.

Overall, I’m really thrilled with my first Nina’s sample and really look forward to the other two!

It’s humid and warm, and I’m not quite ready for that (actually, I’m never ready for that, but…..). This weather has pushed me towards flavoured oolongs the past few days, though, and that’s made my tea cup quite happy.
This morning, I decided to try the Tigre Blanc from Nina’s Paris that Laurent so kindly sent. THANK YOU, Laurent!
My daughter Lily enjoys reading manga out loud to me, so while she was reading Yotsuba (I love Yotsuba….), I sipped this lovely tea…. The flavour reminds me of peach hard candy, like the Jolly Rancher’s I’d pick out of the multiflavour packs as a kid, often not leaving any for the next person. The brightness of the tangerine note is really nice, with no bitterness or strange flavours.
I really liked this oolong, with its forward peach notes.

Pu Erh? really? I would have not associated it as such. My previous experiences with puerh had most been kinda fishy- so that’s still what I associate puerh teas with.

This was nice, and not too deep. It was fruity and sweet, but not overbearing. I feel quite horrid at describing things at the moment. But mostly it was good. I like it.

I’m always worried about teas when they have mixed bases. I worry that I’ll end up ruining the cup somehow. It’s not so much the tea itself, but more of the potential mistakes that I could make. Luckily, I didn’t ruin this cup! It’s very sweet, with soft notes of toasted rice. It reminds me a little bit of the marshmallow treat genmaicha blend, only this one is much smoother, but lacks that nice creamy note. I pick up more on the green tea than the black, but I feel like the black comes in to add a little bit of astringency. Oh no…. where’s the tea? I seem to have finished this cup a little too quickly. I hate when that happens.. You’re enjoying a tea and then poof! You’ve hit the bottom of the mug. Well, I suppose that means that it’s a tasty tea! I would buy this in the future. Big thank you to Laurent for a sample of this tea!

Finished of the rest of this sample yesterday, iced and resteeped once, with a cup of cloud mist green tea as well, just to stretch the cup. I’m definitely sad to see this one go. I’m going on a cruise next week with my family, and we ship off from Miami, so I’m going to see if I can convince my dad to drive across the city to go to a tea shop either before leaving or after getting back. Here’s hoping!

Oh wow, this is good. Opening up the sample bag, the first thing I noticed was the sweet berry smell. I just wanted to smell it forever, it’s so intoxicating. Even after steeping, the smell is still so strong and delectable. I nearly burnt my tongue on the first sip because I was to excited to blow on it or let it cool a little. So yum, I literally had to force myself to savor it instead of downing it instantly. I must try this iced, I’m not a “sweet iced tea”(like the kind at restaurants or McD’s) type of girl, but I LOVE fruity iced tea, and I have high hopes for this one!

Thanks to VariaTEA for sending me a sample of this in a swap :)

I am generally unimpressed with rooibos blends, although once in a while I find something really good. I really wanted to try this one because… my husband is pisces. ;) This one turned out to belong to the delicious rooibos blends group!

It is very caramely and the rooibos base seems to be just perfect. There’s no pencil shavings, no moldy wood, no other odd flavors. Just fresh, slightly sweet, unobtrusive rooibos expertly flavored with caramel bits. I enjoyed this one very much!

Completed my isometrics this morning with Tony Horton’s P90X3. I chose this tea to go along with my exercise routine even though it’s been a few hours in between. Got that idea from you Christina with your books and tea. Thanks for this lovely sample. Isometrics is about strength and balance. Balance certainly fits with this tea. I brewed for 3 min at 185. The strawberry/raspberry flavouring reminds me of jello but doesn’t come across as artificial. It’s balanced well with the green tea. The green tea itself is vegetal with a little bite at the end (which I like). It went down pretty fast!