Nina's Paris

I’ve heard so much about this tea that I really had high expectations. However, this brewed up really weak, and I’m not getting the interplay of caramel, rice, and vanilla that others are experiencing. Because it was a green/black blend, I lowered the steeping temperature to avoid the green becoming astringent. But even after 3 minutes of steeping, it wasn’t very strong.

I’m going to pack up half of what I have left remaining to give to Jude. I don’t know what it is, but I can never get Nina’s teas to turn out just right. Really frustrating! Reserving a rating for now.

Another sipdown!

I finished off the last of this sample from Laurent, and it smells so heavenly that I think I really need some vanilla/caramel/toffee black tea in my cupboard.

I didn’t have it with sweeetener, though. I’m sure it would have tasted better with it, as the vanilla and caramel really came in through the scent rather than the taste.

Backlog from this morning.

I don’t have a lot of caramel teas, but it is one flavour I’m considering expanding in my cupboard. However, I’m not sure if this is the right caramel tea for me. It smells divine when brewed, but the taste is not as strong as I expected it to be. Luckily, it wasn’t very astringent. I have maybe about 2 tsp of this left. Into the sipdown pile it goes.

After my pot of jasmine Bi Luo Chun this morning, I was all green-tea’d out. Which is a really unusual thing for me! Flavoured black tea to the rescue.

I love the smells and flavour combinations of Nina’s teas, but I’m having a really hard time finding the right steeping parameters. I think this one was pretty close, but I either underleafed it or understeeped it a bit, as it tastes a bit weak. I think I am getting closer, though, and this smells lovely – all that caramel.

I had three teas set out as sip down candidates today. I accomplished his one. It’s very nice, I enjoyed it a lot.

However, due to receiving five new teas today, my number is going up instead of down.

It’s a game isn’t it, collect ALL THE TEAS and then try to drink them all down.

I received this as a sample from Laurent at Nina’s. Thank you! From the smell of it, I thought that it was going to be like so many other vanilla/caramel black teas. But, it tastes distinctive. There is almost a burnt sugar flavor to it, like creme brûlée. I am enjoying it quite a lot. This is filling that spot in the day where I still want something strong, but flavored/dessert-y is ok as well.

400th tasting note and I drank this hours ago but I never wrote down how I felt about the tea because I was skyping with one of my friends ahhh!

But I saved #400 just for this, because VariaTEA loves this tea so much!
From what I remember, this was darn good tea :)
I could taste each of the teas separately, and each tea brought out each flavour. I read the ingredients and was quite surprised that this blend had several distinct flavours, but dang it was good :)

Hopefully next time I have this tea, I’ll actually jot down what I actually felt about this tea instead of leaving to write it nearly 4 hours later! But definitely a great tea for tasting note #400 :)

Easter Weekend Sipdown 6/8!

Many thanks to Laurent for including this as a sample with my Nina’s order. This came in a plastic sealed packet with a single teabag inside, which is just perfect for my sipdown purposes.

When I first opened the bag, the strongest smell was of the grapefruit – phew! A minute or so later, it softened so that I could smell the orange as well.

However, when brewed, the base seemed the strongest taste, with the citrus fruits becoming noticeable only at the end of the sip or in the aftertaste. I still haven’t quite figured out the magical steeping parameters for Nina’s Paris teas yet, but I hope I will soon.

I was wrong. I got in one more sip down today.

I received this sample today (thank you Laurent!) I had heard so much about it that obviously it was the first one I wanted to try.

It’s really quite a nice cup of tea. I am so accustomed to black teas that sometimes I have to remind myself to appreciate the more mild teas, like this blend. I am starting to really love genmaicha. It adds such an interesting level of flavor that is different than anything else. It’s hard for me to pick out individual flavors in this, probably because it is such a balanced blend. I get a bit of honey, some vanilla, some caramel notes.

I would love to know the caffeine content of it, I could see this being a new favorite late evening tea for me.

This was nice, got it in a swap. I had read the reviews so I knew to look for a fruit taste (and that I would probably not find one). Most of the cup was just a moderate black, not especially strong. At the very bottom I got a hint of fruit. I had added some rock sugar and it had dissolved and not been stirred in, so it was that last couple of “insta diabetes” drinks where I got it.

Not bad, not great.

Thanks for this sample VariaTEA!

The flavor in this tea is on the lighter side. I can taste cherries, but not an impressive amount. It is more of a dried cherry taste as apposed to fresh cherry. The base is nice enough, smooth and not overwhelming the flavor. It feels like it is lacking something to really pop. It’s good, but is getting an “eh”. I’m happy to have tried it though!

TTB&C #11

Yum yum yum yum! I didn’t have expectations for this one. It seems this one is hit or miss on Steepster. I get peachy and apple with the vanilla. The sip is rounded out with a bit of sweetness at the end. I do not get apricot, but it could just be because it has been too long since I have had one. I am a little leery of the black base in Nina’s Paris teas. It seems a bit “smokey” to me. I might have to try the Japon and Eve next to each other. For this it works, but I could see how it might get in the way of some blends. Thank you NayLynn for including this one.

Hey! I’m still here, reading your posts and lurking. I just haven’t posted much lately – been too busy at work, and outside of work, I’ve been busy playing on my 3ds, and then not getting enough sleep because of the toddler deciding bedtime is 3am. WHAT?

Anyway I feel like I’m all over the place. Tired. Zombied. And too tired to drink tea. Also it’s a billion degrees in the office so that doesn’t help! And all my samples are 2+ cups each so I am not getting sipdowns at all and that’s a little discouraging. This one puts me at 194 and that’s still too many.

But things are ok now. Great actually! I had an assam earlier that was bitter and awful so I dumped it and am now enjoying the last of this beautiful tea. It’s so good. Courtney – I can’t believe you didn’t like this, but your loss was my gain! :D

-now I’m gonna go post in the Pokemon thread on Steepster. :P http://steepster.com/discuss/6887-pokemon-and-tea
-anyone a Zelda fan that has a 3DS? What should I play after a Link Between Worlds?

This tea wins for best chocolate orange tea.
That is all.

Oh! It’s creamy orange? I immediately tasted creamy fruit but couldn’t narrow it down further. Now that I’ve cheated and read the description my taste buds are all, yes, yes I can taste orange. Suggestible traitors, aren’t they?

It really seems obviously orange now though. Mmmmm… It’s like drinking a liquid Campino! (those hard candies…. om nom nom). Yes, I’m totally digging this now. I wouldn’t crave it all the time, but it hits the spot for orange if you don’t want to be blasted with cinnamon-orange.

Thank you Sil for passing this sample on to me! (177)

I love this one. So incredibly lovely. And I’m having some cantaloupe at my desk, so I’m in heaven. (I made this recipe for cantaloupe salsa and it was delicious: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/07/cantaloupe-salsa/)

I didn’t read Dune last night (!!!) but instead watched the season premiere of TeWo… which managed to include a HUGE fanfic trope that I have never seen done in canon before. Bravo, you silly show.

Wow. This tea is amazing. I don’t really get the citrus as much as the strange spiciness – it reminds me of Catholic church, so like frankincense and myrrh or something. Maybe it’s the marigolds! Also, golden flowers, yes. It’s very TEA and strong, but soft and lovely. Thanks, Shmiracles, for letting me try some from your samples!

I think I had nightmares last night. Maybe I shouldn’t have watched shows with dismembered human totem poles in them before bed, maybe???? (Though, looked pretty amazing, I must say.) Why didn’t I dream about Hoechlin and baseball, or how Dylan O’Brien looks in all those Maze Runner pics? Oh, brain.

Thank you to VariaTEA for this sample! I had been wanting to try more of Nina’s astrological rooibos!
I think I brewed this a little too strong, but I don’t want to water down the rich caramel flavor! The flavor is more present on the aftertaste, but does start to show mid sip. At the beginning of each sip, there is this mild tartness that made me think this was a fruit flavor at first. My mouth is left a little dry, like most rooibos teas would. It was a very nice cup, but won’t make it to my “must stock” list although I do look forward to a cup or two more before the sample is gone.

Sipdown!

I finished off the last of this tea this morning. Slightly overleafed (to finish it off) and oversteeped (because I wasn’t watching the clock).

I may restock this once I deplete a few other items in my cupboard. The flavouring in this is very subtle, which I imagine I’ll appreciate much more in the spring/summer.

Tea from this morning. I’m not sure if it was because I steeped it in a disposeable bag from David’s Tea, but it tasted kind of flat this morning. I did it for 2 minutes in 85C water – I wish I could get this tea right…

Happy first day of school, everyone!

There’s something so hopeful about the beginning of September for me. So much possibility just hanging in the air… my husband works on-call with one of the local school boards, so it was an immense relief for him to get called into a classroom on the very first day, less than 15 minutes after the dispatch line opened for the day. Hooray to work starting up again for him!

It also means for me, as a freelancer, that the sleepy hiatus of summer, when most of my potential clients were probably away from their desks, is over. I really hope that as the month goes by, business picks up.

I decided to celebrate by drinking Demain, a tea that it took me a while to come to grips with, but which I now appreciate for its delicate flavour. Unfortunately, it’s still not foolproof, as I only steeped the leaf for 2 minutes rather than 3. The flavour was a bit washed-out this time.

Ah well. September! School! Renewal! Possibilities!

I think I’ve figured out steeping parameters for this tea that work for me: 1 tsp per 8 oz, 87C, for 3 minutes.

The result is still green and somewhat vegetal, but it smells heavenly and there is a definite, gentle fruit taste.

I sipped this this morning before I headed out the door for a small business networking event. Let’s just stay that I started the day on the right foot.