Nina's Paris

Backlog from yesterday:

Brewed this up and as it was brewing, I smelled that lovely smell of red fruit: cherries, raspberries, currants. However, my first sip was so scalding hot that I burned my tongue. After I let it sit for several minutes to cool down, I tried it again and couldn’t taste any red fruit at all – not even the lingering cherry aftertaste from last time. That made me very sad.

I really think I’m going to have to leave it at a 2 minute steep – I just can’t predict how to steep these well. The spent teabag smelled lovely of red fruits, though – perhaps the key is to cool it down? I don’t know.

Thank you very much to Laurent for the generous pile of Nina’s samples! The empty envelope that the samples came in is still positively fragrant with the smell of fruit tea. Quatre Fruits Rouges was the tea that smelled most like the remaining smell in the envelope – sweet, fruity, somewhat powdery – so into a teacup it went.

The leaf, both wet and dry, smelled wonderfully of fruits mingled together. I let this tea cool a lot before I started drinking it, though, so that sweet smell doesn’t translate as strongly into the taste. It’s well-balanced; I could taste the fruits, but they didn’t overpower the black base. The base itself has an aroma of chocolate/vanilla. I’m not sure which fruit gives off the strongest taste – perhaps the red currant or the cherry.

I still have half of the sample left, so I’m holding off on a rating for now. But yes, consider this a very red, fruity, almost candy-scented cup!

Edit: I’m definitely getting a cherry flavour in the aftertaste. It’s not artificial like candy or cough-drops, though – it’s more rounded, like real cherries or cherry juice.

Sad to say, but this one is not a favourite. I was concerned about the rose petals in the blend, though thankfully they were not too strong….though they did border on making this blend too floral for me, as I have very little tolerance for floral teas, especially rose. Because of this, I was not able to pick up on the other flavours much…I’m just so super sensitive to florals. I was hoping this one was mild enough, and while mild, not mild enough for me.

It is a highly lovely tea to look at though, and I’m grateful for the chance to try it, so thanks VariaTEA for sending it. I’m not sure if I will make the last serving or set it aside for a swap.

thanks VariaTEA for sharing this one with me. Turns out, i prefer christmas teas from MF. There’s something about the spices in this one that has me wanting other christmas teas instead. Maybe it’s the way the vanilla is blending with them, or the sprinkles… lol that being said, I will be picking up more of this next winter to try and see if it’s just due to the fact that we’re coming out of the cold weather and my taste buds are looking for more spring/summer like teas. I have the same issue with chais as well heh they’re my fall/winter beverage!

Had a cup of this today to say farewell! I’m sending this one off as part of the travelling teabox as someone after me has asked to try it and i’m happy enough to let someone exlse explore this one. A really nice cup of tea, but i don’t need it in my cupboard all the time!

tea from this evening and not much to say about it that hasn’t been said better by lots of other people. this likely won’t be a restock for me but i AM enjoying it as a gradually sip it down when the mood strikes!

haha i’m backlogging from yesterday while listening to a serial podcast/miley cyrus mashup. oh the things the internet does… too funny. still enjoying this one, though likely not a reorder as it’s knock your socks out of t he water sort of tea. I would for sure pck this one up from time to time just to revisit though.

I figured that i should get around to trying this one since i randomly added it to my purchase a while back based largely on some of the glowing reviews here on steepster. I have to say, that while this will never be more amazing than nina’s japon for me, this IS quite lovely. I am digging the base and the fruity taste. Of course, this also makes me want to try this cold brewed because it seems like this would be really tasty cold, with a little sweetner :)

I’ve come to the conclusion that i’ve pretty sure i don’t much like “red fruits” Give me a specific strawberry or raspberry and i’m ok. But the “red fruit” that many of the french companies create, just isn’t for me. There’s something about that flavour that reminds me of something trying to be everything and successfully being nothing. That being said, if you like that sort of thing, this would be a great cup of tea. Thanks for sharing this one with me VariaTEA! I’m glad i had the chance to try it first.

Thank you Laurent and Sophie at Nina’s Paris for a generous sample of this tea.

I was conflicted over this one because I don’t usually like oolongs but this smelled absolutely amazing – like fuzzy peaches. Plus, I really like the way Nina’s does peach so I decided to give it a try. However, sipping on it now, the peach is lovely but mellow which is causing the oolong to be a little more prominent than I would like. It is not bad but it is not for me. However, I am sure there is someone out there who will enjoy this so feel free to let me know if you are interested and I will pass it along :).

Nina’s Paris really works some magic on this blend. it wasn’t a sample i requested, but i’m so glad they threw it in! in dry form, it smelled apple-y n creamy, kind of sweet…and since Nina’s Japon as well as Demain really deliver as steeped teas exactly what their aromas suggest, i had full confidence when deciding to give this one a try.

Taureau has a sweet creamy marshmallow kind of quality in addition to the fresh, dried apples in the blend. great for a rooibos tisane & one i’d recommend even to those who don’t like rooibos as a rule. there’s a slight nuttiness at the end of the sip, redolent of pecan or almond (slightly more pecan). maybe that quality comes from the inherent woodiness of the rooibos, but i really find it so subdued here. to my surprise, the flavors aren’t overwhelming yet they are substantial. i get a wonderful amalgam of sweetness & cream on a base that is decidedly more wheatish than woodsy, as might normally be expected from a rooibos. fear not! this is a good one.

overall, makes me think of apple, cream, nuts & honey. i added a tsp or 2 of brown sugar to this which really makes it delicious. a dessert tea for sure, or a great accompaniment to an afternoon snack. you can even drink this one before bed! it’s delicate yet still decadent, and caffeine-free.

as always, thank you Laurent for this free sample. i’d never have known about your wonderful teas were it not for your generosity!

today i’m really getting a buttery feel from this tea, but i’m not sure if it’s coming from the flavor or the mouthfeel. make no mistake, it’s nothing overly buttery so as to be rich or gourmand, but i feel it makes a presence worth mentioning. following that is the entrance of a very natural-tasting strawberry. not at all synthetic. it may seem slightly candied (slightly) because of the suggestion of strawberries ‘n cream, but it really is more on the natural end of things given my experience with strawberry flavoring. it really strikes the perfect balance with the green tea base, though admittedly i can’t make out a specific flavor profile for this particular one.

you can sense the green tea, though not so much taste it; then again, perhaps a very delicate base was used so as to mingle well with the fruit flavoring. personally, i think the end result is brilliant. if French teas are supposed to be delicate, this tea is positively French :)

a perfect palate cleanser, aperitif, digestif, or in-between-teas tea. it’s quite versatile in my opinion because of its lightness, yet it is something for which one can have enthusiastic cravings and drink many times throughout the day (as i do). maybe it’s just me!

N.b.- happily i’ve noticed, this resteeps well….i get 2 good cups out of 1 heaping tsp of leaf for sure.

just got my order of (2) 1.6 oz bags of Demain today! (the opportunity for stupid puns never ceases to present itself..)
what a treat to smell this beautiful green tea blend…

it is as i remember it from the samples, somewhat reminiscent of Strawberries n’ Cream oatmeal (by Quaker, i think?)
that oatmeal is my absolute favorite, and although it may be an ‘unnaturally occurring’ flavor in nature, it is by far one of the best. (IMO).
Nina’s Paris fruit & cream flavoring along with the fruit pieces impart a truly scrumptious flavor onto their tea. even the creaminess is conveyed in the aroma, which is impressive to me.

Now to steep this jewel, which i most heartily look forward to doing, after this morning’s cup of rather jolting (yet satisfactory) u・Matcha Natural by Republic of tea. umami all around in that one, if by umami you mean ‘spinach’.

this smells fantastic!!!! like a beautiful strawberry jam with a wonderful fragrance. the aroma of the dry leaf is succulent, as is the aroma of the tea liquor! i don’t know what to really say for this, except that if you had a very light green tea (in the sense of it being as delicate as some oolongs) and decided to add a tsp of strawberry jam for flavoring, you would have this!

the flavor…..magnifique!

it is so true to the aroma which is a wonderful surprise. the tea & the flavoring are exceptionally fresh, with the leaves expanding to a nice plump size. even after 4 minutes steeping there is no trace of bitterness. this is perfect. does not even need sugar or honey in order to enjoy a truly sweet experience. in fact, i would recommend this as a dessert tea even if you’re hoping for something light because the strawberry has a creaminess to it, and the tea has a slightly buttery mouthfeel, unless i’m imagining things..

if you thought Tazo’s Decaf Lotus Blossom is impressive for a flavored green, try this…you won’t be disappointed! also, if you love strawberries, rest assured that you will find them in this tea! it fully delivers from the aroma of the dry leaf right down to the last sip. i am truly impressed. will definitely place an order for Demain, aujourd’hui!

thank you so much, Laurent for your generous sample of this! i’ll surely be purchasing some, merci :)

Thanks to VariaTEA for sending some of this my way! It most definitely smells like a vanilla caramel. As a matter of fact, it smells kind of similar to the other vanilla teas I have hanging around at the moment.

Going right into the flavour, the base is quite smooth, as are the flavourings in here. It’s gentle and sweet, like someone plopped a piece of vanilla caramel into a cup of smooth black tea and let it melt. But granted, the Bayswater Vanilla Cream tea is similar, at least based on memory.

This calls for an experiment. Since I have one cup left, I’m going to brew up Tea Desire’s Velvety Vanilla alongside the above two and see how they all compare. I can’t help but think that if one were to engage in a blind tasting test, they would receive similar scores, at least the former two. I’m always interested in how brand labelling influences one’s perception of a product.

Thank you Variatea for the sample that led to my first Nina’s purchase. I still have not tried the others yet. I’ve been too busy drinking this the last few days in-between my normal Earl Grey’s. I need to slow done before I grow tired of it.

This yummy tea is sweet caramel and vanilla not astringent at all very smooth. It even tastes great as it cools. So of course I tried it iced and still a nice sweet caramel vanilla tea.

thank you VariaTEA (and Nina’s Paris) for letting me try this one. Sadly, this one falls a little short of expectations because i largely get a sense of creamy rooibos from this one. If i squint and think really hard, i can taste the mint ish…so maybe this one just needs to steep a lot more. or be overleafed :) Either way it’s not a bad tea because i like the roibos that Nina’s uses, so i’m ok with it but i prefer others that they have more.

So this one? THIS one is delicious… i find this caramel cream preferable to the version of caramel rooibos from Damman Freres. VariaTEA was awesome and sent this one my way.

Fun facts? This puts me at 1650 different teas tried since i joined steepster. It also brings my final count today to 204 teas after being pushed to 215 today after starting at 193. this also marks my 3807 tasting note….in uh 1 year, 8 months and uh 10 days. true story yo.

mmmm this one was sent my way by variaTEA and i am a fan! black mango…heeeyyoooo! what’s up. shakin’ that… yeah ok…clearly, i’m a little off the rails tonight. but this tea? it’s a really smooth, deliciously mango yummy smelling party in my mouth sort of tea right now. soooo YAY!

Sipdown!

I think the berries and fruits in this tea pop a bit more when the tea is cooled, though I can’t really make out individual notes, as they all seem to meld together for me. I think I like this better cooled than hot…but it is good either way.

Thanks for letting me try this one VariaTEA as I think I like this one the best of the Nina’s except for Japon. Which is pretty much perfection.

Had some of this this morning before heading out. Oddly, I got a strawberry feel. Maybe it was my headache and my senses were off?

I di find the base to be nice and dense, but not overly strong. That said, I did opt to add milk to it. I might not next time, though I think I may cold steep the rest. I’m not sure.

Maybe a future serving I’ll have a better taste of it. I did like it, even though I thought it was strawberry. Ha!

Thanks to VariaTEA for letting me try this one. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the rest of my sample.

This was another sample from Sil.
I don’t have much to say about it. It’s a nice EG, without too much “blergamot” and I liked it.

Thanks to the wonderful VariaTEA for sending me a sample of Ma Passion! I’m a sucker for passionfruit. If they weren’t so expensive, I’d eat one every single day.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t believe that this is a ceylon! My first sip was, “Huh? Smokiness? But, but…” This just has to be a keemun or something.

There’s a gentle fruitiness in the background, but I can’t help but be distracted by the slightly smoky base. But that said, I’m so glad I had a chance to try this because had I ordered before trying it, I would have automatically picked up a pouch of this, being a lover of passionfruit and all. And then I would have gotten the pouch and been all confused about life.

Sipdown! This was brewed up before it made it into my cupboard though, so count…

Thanks VariaTEA for the sample! I have a major Passion Fruit weakness, so I was really excited by the oppertunity to try this one. And, turns out, I was right to be!

I didn’t smell the dry leaf – I was too excited and skipped that step and went straight to brewing it up. Brewed up, it smells lovely; like a distinct but light Passion Fruit. As far as the taste goes, it’s totally Passion Fruit! Seriously, this blend captures the unique flavour of a passion fruit very well and if I was trying this blindly I have no doubt that I’d be able to identify what it is.

The black base is also really great; I want to say it’s just a touch malty which is providing this really interesting and unusual contrast to the sweet fruit. It works though; and the Passion Fruit really pops because of it, which still feeling light and fresh. Every sip of this was fantastic.

This is something that I would not hesitate to purchase (if I had the money to spend), and that I definitely hope will make a return to my cupboard. Back onto the shopping/wishlist!

EDIT: So, apparently this has a Ceylon base. That surprises me; I haven’t done too well with Ceylon teas in the past.