Nina's Paris

This tea is delightful, as always. I sent a few parcels across the pond, so I’m spreading the Japon love. This tea is really making it’s way around! I’m just sipping away at a resteep right now, where I mixed 1/2 tsp. of Cacao in to “revive” it a bit. It smells nothing short of amazing. Yep, the roasty toasty goodness of Japon with a hint of chocolate from the cacao.

In other news, I just did 40 minutes of yoga and completed my second day of a self-induced squat challenge. I have been feeling so crappy lately, just in general. I’m also constantly exhausted. I’m up early every day and I overloaded my courses this term, but I can’t stay awake later than 9/10pm. No matter what I do. That just doesn’t say “healthy” to me in my mid-twenties. To that end, I’ve told myself I’ll get up 45 minutes earlier each day and do a yoga session when it’s still dark and quiet in the house.

I’m on my second steep of this and it’s just as delicious as the first time. Yes, that was two days ago. VariaTEA sent this sample my way and we were just chatting about how I definitely have the control to wait until February to place a Nina’s order. I mean, it’s only a week away.

I was taking a break from studying/assignments this afternoon and where do I find myself but on Amazon. Sigh. I’m sure you know the rest of the story.

Yay for new teas!

Also, I’m trying out a new recipe now for moist coconut loaf while I sip away of this treat.

Update: You guys, the coconut loaf is amazing!

Yet another update: I got an email regarding my order this morning!

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Oh my word this smells delectable.

I enjoy genmaicha so much, but it often gets forgotten in my cupboard for more ‘glamorous’ teas. Tonight, genmaicha from Nina’s is glamorous.

Mmm. Oh yes. Creamy vanilla, caramel genmaicha. The black tea adds an additional magical element to the tea.

Thanks you VariaTEA for sharing! Though I fear you have created a monster. I must have more of this.

I found it on the American Amazon site! Is this the best place to buy it? Does Nina’s have a website where you can purchase online?

Sipdown! This is a mixed feelings sipdown. I like this tea, but I got a less than usually delicious cup out of it. I’m going to guess it’s a user error and hope that the rest of my day isn’t plagued by other user errors, but it might just be one of those days.
I’ll miss this tea and it’s caramel rice flavors and I might order more someday, but I’m glad to have the tiny bit of space in my cupboard too.

After having this tea in my cupboard for a while, the smell still doesn’t fail to impress me! I open the bag and can smell rich caramel and chocolate that tempts me to brew a cup. I’m trying this cup unsweetened. Usually I add a bit of sugar which makes the flavors quite rich and delicious. Without sugar I don’t get much flavor on the sip, but the aftertaste is a delicious mixture that reminds me of tiramisu. I’m getting this chocolatey roasted coffee taste that is quite enjoyable without the lingering bitterness that comes with coffee. For those who love dessert teas, this is a very delightful and decadent choice!

This tea smells delicious! Toasted rice and caramel! It tastes really good too! I’m getting toasted rice with the deeper black base and caramel flavors. I think I can pick out the chocolate, but it blends with the caramel so nicely they almost become a part of each other. It is a really smooth enjoyable cup. Next time I’m going to try it with less sweetener and see how I like it. I can imagine it being really good cold brewed as well!

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So I brewed this at the same time I brewed Sugar Plum Spice and the resteep of Marie-Antoinette. Then I got distracted by packing up teas for a swap so it cooled a bit. Now I am trying it as I eat my pizza (Jenny Craig, the one diet you can eat pizza and a cupcake every night and still lose 65 pounds!).

As an accompaniment to my dinner it is weird. On its own, this tea is tasty. The rooibos is more muted in this blend than in other Nina’s rooibos blends I have had and that is a good thing (not that their rooibos is bad – I am just not a huge fan of heavily rooibos tasting teas in general). That may be due to it being cooled though. Anyways, I mostly taste the vanilla but I can detect a hint of strawberry. I don’t notice the grapefruit other than the fact that this is a really well balanced cup and I think that might be due to the citrus of the grapefruit toning down the other flavors. All in all, pretty tasty.

Thank you Sophie and Laurent at Nina’s Paris for this sample! I appreciate your generosity and am really glad to have met such wonderful people :)

Interestingly, steeping this at a higher temperature (200F) made the base come out smoky, and it’s sashaying with the fruit flavors for first taste. I liked it much more when it was all fruit, little smoke, and the rich base. I’ll make a note to steep this at a lower temperature next time, see if I still feel it worthy of the high rating.

Thanks again JustJames for sharing a huge bag of this with me!

I’m enjoying this a bit less than last time, however unsure as to why. Perhaps I need a shorter steeping time? It’s still delicious, just less juicy than the last time hot… more so cold. Still, it’s a lovely tea, and I’m so glad that JustJames sent some to me.

Holy crapballs, this is amazing! Huge thanks to JustJames for sharing a bag of this with me.

Steeped at a lower temperature only because I forgot to change the kettle again. Creamy, full bodied, melon and sweet fruit yumminess. This is absolutely divine. I wish I could have more caffeine today to try more of this!

A lovely little sample from wheezybee.

Your samples are all in the front, so I’m getting to them first in my sample sipdown month…

This was really nice! I added creamer, and was working while I drank it, so I didn’t pay much attention… but it was good! I mean, it disappeared so fast. :) Definitely something to try when I finally do a Nina’s Paris order.

Tried this one a few times today. To me, it tastes better with a bit of brown rock sugar added. It just enhances the fruit flavours in the tea. I definitely can tell the base is a keemun. It is sweet, and smooth, just the tiniest hint of smoke. I do get a taste of papaya and some melon flavour. I am not really getting any peach flavour in the tea, but there is a bit of peach in the aftertaste. The liquor is thick, reminiscent of a juicy slice of papaya.

I do like this tea, however, I think it would be a bit better with a different or lighter base. I think the keemun just overpowers the papaya and melon a bit.

how has my review of this awesome blend vanished? ack!

i truly believe that nina loves red. red satin, red feathers, red fruit…. the very best nina blends inspire red thoughts in me: geogia o’keefe’s canna http://www.saleoilpaintings.com/paintings-image/georgia-o-keeffe/georgia-o-keeffe-red-canna.jpg ,mohawks (especially mine), chocolate covered strawberries (partially red). the best things in life are red nina’s creations!

life is good, red is beautiful…. back to class tomorrow =0)

very smooth, lovely and round, red inspired/ing….. and if you overleaf and add cream it mimics a red fruit shake.

The coconut is strong in the cold brew and it is nice but I am also getting grass which is less nice. Oh well, I will just stick to having this hot.

I went in search of this for Roswell Strange only to realize I never actually tried this properly myself. I had it once before but I was sick which meant I really couldn’t taste much. So, I brewed myself up a cup of this hot (175F for 1.5 minutes) and the result was quite nice. The coconut was incredibly buttery but every now and then a pineapple tang popped up which brought the whole tea closer to a piña colada type drink as opposed to taking on a lotiony vibe. Very nice. Next up, I will follow my tea twin and cold brew this.

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I am made I wasted this sample because even with my lack of taste, I swear I am picking up the coconut. Not to mention that when I smelled this in the office, it smelled absolutely amazing! Okay, there is definitely pineapple in there too. I just really wish I could taste this properly because I have a feeling that it is really good.

Thank you Sophie and Laurent for this sample!

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Last night I realized there were a couple teas in my cupboard that should not have been there so I am no longer in the 200s (although that might change when I get home depending on whether my Della Terra order arrived).

Also, I maybe should not have made a cup of a new tea given I woke up with a cold and I am not entirely sure if my tasting is off or not. I know I cannot smell at all so hopefully that doesn’t throw off the taste. I find it funny that I wake up with a cold the day before I return to Montreal and the freezing cold but oh well.

Okay so I can’t taste anything :( I think I am picking up lemon but I really don’t know. I guess I wasted the sample of this tea. Damn.

I found a different brand of eggnog hiding in my fridge but when I brewed this up, I quickly realized all eggnogs are not created equal because the combination of cloyingly sweet cream and weird egg flavor completely ruined the cup. Not even a tasty tea could salvage it. Needless to say, this latte and the rest of the eggnog quickly went down the drain.

After the success I had with Pisces, I decided to try an eggnog latte with Scorpio. Once again, Nina’s rooibos blends proved to be a great base for such a preparation. The apricot flavor really shined and, of course, the cream was amped up quite a bit given the eggnog/milk mixture. With that said, I think the flavors of Pisces is a little better suited for a latte but this was not a bad alternative at all.

No medicine flavor or woodsiness, just creamy rooibos with a touch of peach sweetness.

I made this last night but fell asleep before getting to drink it so now I am sipping the cooled cup. It is creamy and sweet though the subtle flavor notes are harder to detect at this temperature. It is very pleasant but I personally prefer it hot.

I made a whole Mason Jar of this tea and though it is still good, the subtleties of the flavor is a bit drowned out by the sheer surplus of tea. This certainly lends itself better to a much smaller cup size.

I really didn’t like Nina’s rooibos at first as it was very pungent and thus distracted me from other flavors but now it has grown on me and I find myself craving it again and again. This is a tasty mix of peach and apricot with an amazing hint of cream. Delicious.

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Okay so I have come to the realization that Nina’s Paris definitely knows what they are doing when it comes to peach and apricot flavors. When I took a sip, I expected the same rooibos flavor I have gotten with many of their other samples but all I got was a mouthful of apricot. As I continue to sip, I notice the rooibos is there but more than anything it is the fruit I taste with a creamy smoothness. I think this is my favorite of all their rooibos blends as the flavors are just so incredibly spot on. I am impressed with this one for sure.

Thank you Sophie and Laurent for the opportunity to give this a try. I might even order more of this in the future.