Nina's Paris

I’m holding off on a rating right now until I try changing some of the steep parameters around, but I will say this: it smells amazing.

AAAAMAAAAAZZZZIIIING.

I could just inhale the scent of the dry leaf all day, with that delicate balance of rose and apple.

That said, I think I may have oversteeped this slightly. The tea smells and tastes very heavily of rose, when I really want to taste more of the apple. I didn’t add any sweetener either. In any event, I’m feeling strongly positive about this tea, but I’m going to wait until I steep it again with some sugar or honey to see how that works.

EDIT: Looking over Ashmanra’s notes about this tea, it appears that the apple flavour will come out more at a 4-minute steep, so it looks like I under steeped it. Will definitely remember that.

I don’t even want to drink this tea – I just want to smell it. It smells so deliciously fruity… OMG.

Ok, thankfully it tastes as good as it smells. Ripe strawberries, mashed raspberries, some other fruits… It’s sweet and delicious. I’m really happy Nina’s Paris threw this samples in with our last order, and that *Sil *let me have this one. DELICIOUS!

And.. that’s 199!

And.. that’s 199!ETA Many thanks to VariaTEA for pointing out that I’d posted this under the wrong note. Guys, it’s Monday. These things are forgiven. Much like the cleaning alcohol I spilled all over my hoody, and my accidentally breaking the voicemail service for our phones at work. It’s all forgiven… :P (I fixed the voicemail thingy though)

Yum!
Piping hot, this is a stunning tea. I gotta say it again. YUM!
It reminds me of red berries. Plum and strawberry and I’m not sure what else. Rather mild, but in a pleasing way.
Then as it cools, I get more citrus and spice. Very well blended. I like that part as well, but not quite as much. If only I could convince my tea to stay warmer longer. Perhaps I’ll try it in a double walled my next time. If I remember.
Thank you for the sample Lala!

It only took me two years to order this after the wonderful VariaTEA sent me a sample. Seems like the Nina’s (or La Courtisane French Gourmet these days) consumption has really died down since then.

Either it’s a batch difference or the scent of the dry leaf simply smells different when you have a substantial amount rather than a sample, but this definitely smells different than before. Before it was more straight-up vanilla caramel whereas now, I’m detecting a pop of coconut with the mix. On top of that, the vanilla reminds me of a vanilla/buttercream scented candle. You know, a vanilla birthday cake-like artificial aroma.

When it comes to the flavour, it’s also heavier on the vanilla and lighter on the caramel than before, I swear. I really love the black tea mixed in with the green genmaicha. It adds more depth and amps up the roastiness of the toasted rice. Although the flavouring is nice and sweet, somehow, it’s just not what I remembered this to be.

So glad that I finally have this, and some others, in my (well, technically my mom’s) cupboard. She has been eyeing that pink Marie Antoinette tin for ages so I thought it would be a nice Mother’s Day surprise, and she absolutely loves it. We’re planning on having a little tea party at home tomorrow with these.

Many heartfelt thanks to VariaTEA for giving me the opportunity to try this. Genmaicha is my deserted island tea. Always has and always will be. So I’m fascinated by trying these flavoured genmaichas, which are very hard to come by.

And this is seriously marvelous enrapturement in a cup. The caramel is so smooth and adds an extra dimension of depth to the toastiness of the rice. Nina’s did a smashing job blending this one. Now there is absolutely no excuse to run over to Amazon and order this beauty.

And on that note, I shall go back to having zero life for a while. To go with such an exquisite tea, I shall leave thee with one of the most beautiful songs (longer than what the average human is used to, but complex and sheerly brilliant, with a spine-tingling build-up) on this planet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLS-EM3kCKo

This was a super teensy sample that wheezybee sent to me.

Sadly, it was a bust. I steeped it 4 minutes in 4 oz liquid, and the result was a sour watery mess.

:(

Possibly something to try in the future.

Sipdown (184/186)!

Well, kind of a sipdown. I’ll get to that.

Anyway, thanks to VariaTEA for this sample. I was pretty “meh” about it as a hot tea, mostly because the coconut was coming off as incredibly buttery in a really unwelcome way. I thought I’d try cold brewing it, because Coconut typically cold brews well. So this was cold brewed then brought to work.

I still found it to be really buttery – in fact maybe more so this way. I really didn’t enjoy it that much; buttered pineapple should not be a thing. Ick. This is definitely better hot, but still pretty mediocre overall.

The reason this is only “sort of” a sipdown because I left half a thermos of this at work, along with another Timolino. They’re in a safe place – but I had just finished arming the store/locking everything when I realized I’d left them behind. So, my tea gets to sit and hang out in store until I work again on Tuesday morning.

Welp.

Hmm…

I can sort of see what VariaTEA meant by finding Nina’s rooibos blends a little, uh how did she word it, distinct? The rooibos sticks out in a really noticeable way – although I don’t think it tastes bad, just present. Other than that I think this is pretty enjoyable; the pineapple is sweet and maybe a bit tangy. I love that I could see the large pineapple chunks in the dry leaf!

The coconut is really what I find most interesting about this one; it’s really buttery, especially in the aftertaste. Like, seriously buttery: the way my mouth feels about I’ve swallowed the tea is as if I’ve literally licked a block of butter. It’s maybe more distracting than the rooibos in the blend.

I think the pineapple would have to be a lot stronger to negate this buttery weirdness.

So overall, I think this is good and I feel like I’ll be able to drink the rest of the cup and my sample from VariaTEA without much problem – but assuming this buttery trait is a consistent one in all subsequent cups of this, then this is a blend I wouldn’t really seek out more of.

My youngest daughter has been spoiling me with breakfast in bed since my surgery. Almost every day I have chosen an omelette made with eggs from my French Black Copper Marans, French thyme, peas, and cheese, accompanied by a piece of whole wheat toast with Bon Maman cherry preserves, and tea. With all the French goodness on my tray, I thought I should add a French tea!

I really, really like this one. For starters, I love the Keemun base that Nina’s uses. I had my daughter steep it for three minutes in boiling water and we had just enough leaf left for two good sized cups of tea. Youngest tried it and said she really liked it. She has just started taking her teas without milk and sugar which has me excited, of course! Hoorah! Hooray!

Although drinking the tea with a hearty breakfast made me miss some of the nuances of the tea, I enjoyed it very much. It was strong enough for breakfast but the fruity flavors still came through.

Drinking this also makes me realize how much I miss Nina’s Earl Grey. I need to order some more soon! Youngest loves Earl Grey tea and Keemun so I will justify buying it by pretending it is for her and not for my stash.

Backlogging three of the free tea samples from Nina’s that were tasted Wednesday.

I know I said that every tea I tried I was sure would be my favorite of the batch, but I think I can pin it down. This is it. The third tea I tried was my favorite because I really love the Keemun base that Nina’s uses. I had it in their Earl Grey, and the friend I shared it with went wild for it and ordered a tin.

Here I find that same, more-unsweetened-cocoa than-smoke, Keemun that I loved in the Earl. And paired with these lovely, exotic fruit flavors? Yes, please!

My secret is out. This is my favorite from the newest tasting batch….so far. I am saving the jasmine to taste with a friend. I try to share my free samples with other people because I feel it helps give the generous companies who send it more exposure, it gives me the opportunity to see the honest reactions of other people, and it hopefully makes other people happy to get to try them! Besides, tea is a really great accessory in my friendship, as well as being a great companion in solitutde.

This is a free sample from “Nina’s”. Thank you!

When we had this one on Wednesday, my youngest came in apologetically and said she was distracted when she made the three teas and poured boiling water over these leaves. I told her to pull the leaves early, but she said it had been a minute or so already before she realized it. She pulled the leaves and when we served it, I poured only a little into our cups in case it had become bitter.

Wow! It was not only fine, it was delicious. The green tea base was buttery and mildly grassy, the citrus flavor was the top note for me, and there was a fruity undertone.

I tried this cold (unsweetened) after tea time and find it very refreshing. This will be a great summertime tea!

I forgot what was in this tea and when I poured it at tea party today I was afraid I had oversteeped. It was black, and I mean BLACK, in the teacup. It tasted so good, though, and my youngest daughter loved it. It definitely wasn’t oversteeped.

Now I notice in the description that it has puerh in it. Ah, thus the dark color! You don’t taste puerh though, just really nice base tea with nice natural-tasting flavoring. This was a sipdown of a large sample, but I think I may have to put this on a reorder!

Backlogging from Wednesday:

For tea time Wednesday, we had three of the new Nina’s samples served with goat cheese and Italian Herb Flatbread Crisps and grapes. We also had cookies for afters!

I did not look at any of the ingredients until after we tasted each tea. When I looked this one up, I apologized to my guest, who had already said she liked it. She hates puerh, and I had no idea there was puerh in this, even after I tasted it. It was just fruity, wonderful black tea (though I love puerh). I didn’t want her to think I was one of those people who try to sneak you things you don’t like to change their mind.

She said she didn’t mind, she really liked it. This is a delicious tea and perfect for afternoons. I had a little of it iced and that was great, too. Each tea I tasted, I thought, “This is going to be my favorite of the bunch.” Instead, they were all different and all grand, so it was really hard to choose which was my favorite!

Sipdown! I decided to have the rest of this one after chatting with Anna on Facebook earlier. Since I’m on the west coast of Canada and she is in Italy, it was bedtime for her. So I thought that Eve would be nice.

This is still a very pleasant tea, though the flavours are a little too mild for me. I can get a little of the juicy fruits and some sweetness. This is another one that I think I like better cooled rather than hot, but still good either way. I think I prefer Sur La Lune better, for the types of fruit notes.

Thanks for letting me try all these Nina’s teas, VariaTEA!

Thanks to VariaTEA for letting me try this. It’s pretty smooth and mild. The flavours are light and all sort of meld together, so I get a lightly sweet and juicy brew with this one. I think I may try it cold brewed next time.

Sip down. Thanks again, VariaTEA (and of course Nina’s Tea!). I wouldn’t hesitate to order this one if it had a different base. The fruit flavours are so well-balanced here. I have a perfume called Berry Moon which this tea reminds me of.

Thank you for the sample, VariaTEA! This blend automatically makes me think of the colour purple, and truly the moonlight. I’m expecting purple/blue fruits from the way it smells, and sure enough, the blueberry note is the strongest for me, followed by the strawberry. I do, however, get a slight smokiness in the background here too, definitely from the base. I’m not a fan of smokiness, even the slightest bit. I’m kind of whiney in that respect. But I’m really liking the fruits in here.

As this cools, I’m detecting a sparkly citrus note, but I only got that with the last two sips in the cup, and they disappeared as quickly as they showed up. No passionfruit, sadly, but you can’t win ‘em all! And frankly, it doesn’t really need it.

I’m grateful there’s no jasmine in here, because usually any sort of night-time allusion is met with night-blooming flowers, particularly jasmine, of which I am not a fan in tea.

Change the base and I’d rate this higher.

Sipdown (185/187)!

Somehow VariaTEA has managed to get her cupboard number lower than mine, again! I need to step up my sipdown game – which is sad because I thought I was doing so well!

Anyway, I cold brewed the last of this sample from Rosehips today for about seven hours – I hoped it would switch up the flavour notes a little bit. However, it’s not really doing that, which is pretty disappointing! Mostly I taste funky, weird floral black base and nothing else. I don’t even get weak orange notes!

I’d actually toss it; but the coldness of it is making me feel pretty good so I’m drinking the rest of it despite not liking the taste. I feel like I’m really burning up and am also really dehydrated; though I know the latter isn’t true – I’ve been drinking tea practically non-stop all day. Bleck.

I can’t remember who I got this sample from! Um, I think Rosehips!? If I’m wrong let me know; I’d like to give thanks where thanks is due!

That said, this really isn’t doing anything for me. The orange is present but it’s rather bland and unexciting; just mediocre. And, the black base is really putting me off – probably because it’s a Ceylon; I don’t usually do well with Ceylons. So overall I’m not really happy with this one; I’m just gonna call it a miss.

That said – it was cool to try it! As a tea which isn’t available to me I was very happy to receive the sample. I still have at least one more cup (probably more like two) left, so I think I’ll do some experimentation with that last little bit.

This was the final tea of tea party. It was really good and fruity, and I found the green base pleasant. Youngest liked it a lot and said it reminded her of cardamom.

This is a free sample sent for review by Nina’s.

First of all, I LOVE the smell! I didn’t look at the description before opening it because I wanted to see if I could guess the flavors. My first thought was CANDY! And then almost right away….CHERRY candy!

The dry leaf is so pretty with the pink rose petals!

I know Nina’s recommends only three minutes steeping for some of their black teas so I only went two minutes or a little more on this green. The result is a full bodied green tea with lots of flavor, and sweet cherry candy. I am pretty sure this is a Japanese green for the base? I didn’t have time to resteep, but I am betting this is one tea that will resteep well. Hopefully I will have more time to try it with resteeps this week.

Thank you, Nina’s!

Another sipdown.

Of all of the teas I’ve tried from Nina’s, both sample sized and 50g, I think this is my favourite. The black base is sweet and not too brisk, and the fruit flavour is gentle and sweet without being too tart or punchy or juicy. The aroma is divine, almost perfumelike.

Chances are that if I ever make another order from Nina’s, I will definitely get this in a 50g size so I can have it to sip and savour during the winter months. So glad that Laurent sent me samples of this.

Laurent gave me a lot of this to sample, and I think that of all of the Nina’s blends I’ve tried, this is my favourite because its flavour doesn’t change much from brew to brew, and is true to the tea’s name.

It took me a while to finish this since I was working on something (a HUGE backlog of articles to edit), but it was still good. I even had some fresh cherries to snack on while I was drinking this, but I don’t think that made the cherry flavour in the tea any stronger.

Happy Monday!

Ok, I think I’m zeroing in on good steep parameters for this black tea from Nina’s – and by extension, other black teas from Nina’s. Today, I used 2 tsp, 16 oz, 92C water and a 3 minute steep. I think I could have safely increased the steep to 3 mins and 30 seconds, but it was still good.

This time the tea was nice and smooth, while still being gentle enough for the fruit flavours to come forth. There’s a tiny bit of astringency at the back of the sip, but it’s minor. Now to see if this will work with my other Nina’s teas, like Je T’aime and Eve. Here’s hoping…