Nina's Paris

YUM!

Today was tea party day. My first student of the day stays for an hour and a half after her lesson to have a tea party with us before my late afternoon students come. As we were finishing her lesson and were about to go to the table I smelled a wonderful scent, like on Bugs Bunny when some enticing aroma wafts to him and turns into fingers to draw him near. What is that? Ah, it must be the coconut!

Indeed it was, and this turned out to be the favorite tea of the day. (We always have three and rank them.) Don’t be misled by the description. I think it says with a hint of tartness or something like that, but don’t mistake that for sour or astringent in the base. To me, the pineapple is very light and overall this is a smooth and creamy cup of tea. Granted, I had made homemade ice cream flavored with vanilla, almond extract, and chocolate chips as well as a chocolate cake with the boiled frosting that hardens, so perhaps if it were not paired with food the pineapple is stronger, but we loved it just the way it was!

Ah ha! I did slightly overleaf my last steep with my last bit of sample. At two and a half minutes for the second steep, this is a lovely rose tea with just a hint of green apple. This is what I’ve been looking for in this tea and this is what will make me go out and get a tin of this once I have enough money!

Mmmm, juicy green apples with rose. The apple leaves a bit of a tart taste in my mouth, but I am hesitant to add sugar to it. It is the last of my sample, but it isn’t perfect just yet….

…I went and added two teaspoons of sugar. I don’t know what it is with me adding things to tea recently. But now it is like an apple and rose tart. And now it is morphing into a rose and apple cider. It tastes really, really good.

I love the tea just by itself, but I must not be getting the leaf amount and water temperature right. I still have the leaves in my press, so I might try a second steep tomorrow before giving up on my little sample.

I couldn’t stay away from this one and I had to give it a third steep of about seven to eight long minutes. It is very light in flavor with rose at the beginning and apple in the middle. I like it better if I think of an apple tea with rose instead of a rose tea with apple.

I think I am worrying mom with tea samples though. These samples just came in small packages in an envelope. Mom said that the envelope was almost opened (even though it didn’t look like it had been opened or searched) and she almost didn’t give them to me. For her sake, have other people’s samples came like this too? Or was there more packaging involved? I mean, the tea looks like tea and the individual packages are whole, but she is worrying a bit and her worrying is worrying dad. I don’t really want to worry Mom either. (and yes, I’m overage and a legal adult. My family is just really tight knit and they tend to worry about me some)

I got a sample of this and three other teas from Nina’s Paris. It arrived yesterday and my finace and I shared a cup of this earlier this morning.

Dry, it smells exactly like a sour green apple. It smells so sweet that it almost smells like the sour green apple candy lollipops that I used to love as a kid. It smells delicious.

The first steep separated out into two colors of tea at first because I poured it from my french press into teacups instead of my little teapot to use as a fair cup. So my cup was extremely dark and tasted like slightly sour fermented apples while my fiance’s cup was light and tasted like silk roses. After it was combined, they both tasted like smooth and slightly sour apples. Almost a wine taste but kinda not. The base tea was so mellow that I didn’t really taste it but it made the tea nice and smooth.

I did try a second steep and that tasted mostly of apples. More toned down but still smooth with no roses. I added just a touch of sugar and that made the rose pop a little bit more. But this is really mostly apple.

I’m not sure if I like it or not. I really, really want to like it but I can’t really taste the rose. I have enough to try it one more time so I’m going to do that before making up my mind about this tea.

Tea party day! We had pound cake made from freshly ground soft white wheat and eggs from my hens. I made strawberry yogurt, homemade, to go with it, and I must say many thanks to Ysaurella for telling me about Bon Maman preserves. I just stir in a bit of the preserves with my homemade Greek yogurt and VOILA! Delicious, fruity yogurt!

Every week my middle daughter shows us her most recent sketches and occasionally my youngest entertains us by playing the piano. Today, I joined in and sang “Cara Mia, Addio” from (of all things!) the Portal 2 video game, while youngest accompanied! LOL!

Because our food was so sweet I served this tea after we finished eating so the flavors would not compete. This is a nice, smooth green base and the fruit flavors are fresh and so enjoyable. I really need to try this iced as well! This is one of my favorite teas from Nina’s.

See that “Add to Cupboard” I clicked there? That’s because this isn’t a sample! No sir, this is part of my birthday gift from my eldest daughter! She emailed Laurent and they went back and forth putting together a gift box of four small tins and one large for me, and Laurent helped her choose my teas. The tins look beautiful together, and red is my accent color in my kitchen and there are little pops of it in my Williamsburg blue living room, so these are a nice decorative element as well. Here is a photo I took yesterday of the small tins. I hadn’t opened the large one as yet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24998856@N06/8561345077/

I decided to drink this because…well, I got it yesterday, and Demain means “tomorrow” so I thought I would drink it…tomorrow which is today! Got that?

I was having a quiet morning as everyone slept in after a late night watching movies and playing games. I got out my lovely Lady Carlyle cup and made a whole pot of this. The liquor is so lovely in the cup. It is a bright, clear, medium yellow color, really I would call it golden without a hint of orange. So pretty! I drank the whole pot before doing yoga with my son.

This is a bright and refreshing green tea flavor, yet not astringent or puckery. It is a good one for waking up!

Thank you, Superanna and Laurent!

I had high hopes for this one – papaya, melon, peach and cream flavors?

However, I didn’t pick up those flavors, maybe a teeny bit – but the black tea base was overpoweringly strong. The black tea was going astringent for me as well.

I’m not sure if this one just lost it’s flavor, or it’s more for a black tea drinker who wants a strong black tea with secret fruit in it! Alas, this one wasn’t for me – I want melon flavor!

Full Review on my blog, the oolong owl. I did a review of the 3 samples I received! http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/ninas-paris-sample-tea-review/

I so wanted to like this tea. I loved Grand Amour, and this one has such a cute name! Unfortunately, it wasn’t the tea for me. Once steeped, it tasted like an apple jolly rancher and very astringent black tea. I was surprised by the astringency because Grand Amour was so silky smooth. Not sure why this one was different. Oh well. I appreciated the sample, Laurent!

It was a little bit of an unusual morning today. Got up and got dressed for the office. Then I turned on the news while having some toast, as I usually do, and my main mode of transportation was severely delayed. Hmmm. So, fortunately, my boss is flexible, so I decided I would work from home for the morning and maybe go in later. That being the case, I went back to bed for an hour. ;) so tired! Unfortunately, my work laptop was at the office, but I figured I could still log onto my email via the web version on my home laptop, BUT they had stupidly decided to do an update to that last night, and it wasn’t working this morning! Double whammy! I was still able to do work since I had access to some stuff I needed to review, and I was able to phone into a meeting, so it worked out okay. What a morning, though!

Because of all that, I didn’t have my first cup of tea until 8:30am!! Usually I’m on my second cup by then. I decided that I should treat myself with some of this tea, and as usual, it was delicious! Take that, wacko day!!

Guess what I’m drinking this morning?! Surprise, surprise!! Although I think at 5 minutes, it’s getting astringent. Will try 4 1/2 minutes next time. :D Gonna bring some of this for my mom and sister later when I go visit, so they can taste the awesomeness!!

SO FREAKING GOOD!! Okay guys, now that it’s here, after 2 days of me worrying that it was lost, I am in heaven! I did a little happy dance when I finally got it! The tin is really elegant. I just wish I could read the French that is written on it (although that makes it even more special)! I couldn’t for the life of me remember how long I steeped this tea when I tried the little one cup sample, so I went with 4 minutes.

OMG, totally met my expectations, and every bit as good as the sample!! The most noteable aspect of this tea is how silky smooth it is! I actually think I will steep this next time for 5 minutes, because I don’t think I really need to worry about astringency here. The raspberry and red current are complimented by the caramel and vanilla. Perfect balance of flavors! I am SO happy I bought 100g of this! Now, I think I need a scone! Haha!!

First let me say that the little sample of this that I got awhile back was amazing, which lead me to today, where I was supposed to receive my “giant” order (100g tin) of it, but I am tea-less! :(

So, instead of me writing a great note about how happy I am to finally get this tea, I am super bummed out. The postal service “missent” my tea, so who knows when I’ll get it. It was supposed to be here today, but it didn’t come with the regular mail, and then I finally saw the update that it was “missent.” I really hope that it was just placed on the wrong mail truck, that it is still in my city, and that it will show up tomorrow.

This was a major disappointment to me, because I’ve been wanting this tea for months now and finally ordered it. AND, I had a difficult meeting to lead today at work, and I told myself that once I got through it I would have this tea to look forward to!! Super bummer!!

I really hope it comes tomorrow. New tea is supposed to decrease stress, not increase it! Stupid postal service!

UPDATE: Still no tea :( I hope it’s not lost!

UPDATE 2: It’s here! It’s here! Finally! I snooped through the blinds to see if the postman was putting a box in my mailbox, and he did! My husband was nice enough to go out and get it because I’m still in PJ’s, cuz I’m off work today. ;) It smells delicious! Gonna have some now! YIPPEE!!

This is absolutely delightful! Thank you, Laurent, for this sample! Like ashmanra said, the black tea base is silky smooth. The raspberry, red current, caramel, and vanilla meld together to make a delicious fruity and creamy dessert tea. I think it would be amazing as an afternoon tea with a scone. Nothing gets better than that! :)

Edit: steeped it twice and it was just as good the second time!

Wow I didn’t taste caramel at all in here, just vanilla. Weird. To me it was very much like genmaicha ice cream in tea form! Actually I know this company here has made genmaicha ice cream in the past…must inquire when they will do so again.

So I’m not sure what purpose the black tea in here serves, I decided to steep it like a green and sencha was definitely the predominant flavor despite how the dry leaf looked. This tea was both sweet and savory at the same time, but it’s not quite my favorite combination for that. I feel like I missed out on something by not tasting any caramel at all.

I agree – this one had to have lost a lot of flavor somehow. I read Kittenna’s review so I didn’t steep as long as I normally would but when I didn’t get flavor I went ahead and put the basket back in.
I never got the astringency or plastic taste that Kittenna got which is good but I still never got flavor.
Not rating as I fear something is wrong with this tea and would be happy to give it another chance.

I finally had a morning at home to enjoy this sample. Thank you, Laurent! I didn’t want to steep it at work, since I’d have to use the microwave instead of my nice kettle and steeper. Got to use the right equipment! So, I liked it! I have never tried a flavored genmaicha before, but it’s nice. I was surprised that it had black tea in it. I agree with Kittena that it may not be necessary. I got good toasty caramel notes, and I actually added a little milk and honey, which brought out the sweetness. I got two decent steeps out of it. I can’t wait to try the other samples from Nina’s!

So this is my first non-work related post and review. Thank you Laurent for the wonderful samples. My first was Nina’s Japon. The aroma during steeping was of a toasted caramel corn. 2min 30min later the first sip was a delicious mixed leaf caramel corny treat. I found the vanilla to come out more at the end for me. This actually reminds me of Frangelico liqueur in flavor, aroma and color. Very tasty and a wonderful introduction to Nina’s Teas.

This is certainly a cherry smelling brew. Smells strongly of a cherry tree to me. I like it!

Hmmm….Was sure I was dead on for steep time, but wow the green tea base is bitter! It’s knocking all the other flavors out. I don’t even feel like rating this as it’s just too bitter to judge. If I had a bit more I’d try again and only let it steep 1 minute. I usually let it go two minutes for blends but it’s obviously too long for this tea.

The scent of the dry leaf is powerful. I do not mean overwhelming. It is powerful in the sense I really like it. It’s orange followed by cinnamon. Once steeped the wet leaf also presents its black tea aroma.

Cinnamon can easily overwhelm and orange can taste like candy. Neither is the case here. This is well balanced light cup.

Given the description of stimulate and invigorate I was expecting a big bold cup. I find it to be more of a relaxed cup. I would sip this on a lazy afternoon – like today. I find it a nice introspective cup rather than invigorating. That is not a bad thing. Sometimes I just want a peaceful cup.

Thank you Nina’s Tea for the sample.

So I am finally drinking the last sample from Nina’s, the one that I opened and Samwise started dancing around me looking for the caramel cake. And I am caught off guard at first by the aroma. This isn’t the Vanilla Comoro-esque tea that I thought it would be. The smell of the base scares me at first. This is going to be too strong for me! And this is with a scant four minute steep at just under the boil.

But the sip is different, it isn’t as candy sweet as the smell made me think it would be. Instead, I find it to be a great first cup of the morning that is strong enough you know are having tea, but has a nice caress from the vanilla. This is a grown up vanilla tea, for people in power suits or ladies who lunch.

I made two steeps since the others have done well, and I drank a bit of steep one plain, then added steep two to what remained in the pot. I asked hubby to join me for tea since he likes vanilla. He always adds milk and sugar to his black tea and this was no exception. Since he said he liked it, I take it that it handles additions well.

I have a fussy tummy that doesn’t take to certain black teas well, especially since I drink almost everything with no additions. This one is not bothering me at all.

This is the serious, tall, dark and handsome guy, not the playful guy I thought it was going to be.
Sometimes that is the guy you want! I really like this, and would compare it more to Vanille des Iles than the Harney vanilla selections. This is going on my gift list for a friend who loves this kind of tea.

Thank you again, Nina’s, for the samples. They were all excellent and tasty teas!

This has a wonderful strawberry aroma! I found this to be a more bracing tea than Grand Amour, perhaps making it a better choice for breakfast for those who use tea as their wake up. (I don’t, tea is my after breakfast treat!) The base is a bit stronger on this one, more in sensation than taste, but the strawberry shines right on through!

I love that these are great resteepers! I am on the second steep now and I must confess I like it even better than the first. The tea is mellowed now, the strawberry softer. If you love Marco Polo, you really should try this.

As I sit here, I can not help but to exhale slowly through my nose while holding my jaw loosely so that warm strawberry taste gently fills my head, even after the sip. I think if I had a lot of this, I would make half as much tea as I really wanted, resteep immediately, and pour the first and second steeps together. That also cuts the price of your tea in half, and would put this at the perfect strength for me.

Thank you, Nina’s Tea, for these samples! They are amazing and I am so impressed with the quality of your flavored tea. The packaging is so beautiful…whenever I want an elegant gift for someone, I know where to shop!

I THINK this is my favorite tea from Nina’s, but there are several that are so good I find it hard to choose. This one stands out because it is one of the first teas I tried from them.

We had tea party early this week again because one daughter is now working and the other is about to start her senior year of high school, so we are fitting it in at the best time for all of us to make it.

The dessert today was Snickerdoodle Bread and this was the second tea served. It is smooth and fruity and just makes me feel good when I drink it. I love the tea and I love the name, so I gave a tin of it to my son-in-law as a wedding gift. He likes the Lady Grey type of profile and this is like a more refined, more elegant Lady Grey type with fresh fruity flavors, not just citrus, and it is much smoother going down. There is no tendency to the puckery aftertaste. I hate to compare it to Lady Grey, which is a decent tea but it is a five and this is a ten and a half. No contest. It just gives me that feeling of elegance and luxury of bygone English tea times in country mansions.

For those who read my note last night, I will update on my nephew. He is still on a respirator but is now initiating breath 100% of the time. He can not speak because of the tube but was able to write on a clipboard to communicate, so that was a relief as far as concerns about how extensive any brain injury might be.

There were several wrecks that night near the big city and it has been so hard to get accurate information. I am so thankful things were not worse!

I have such “Grand Amour” for Grand Amour! Oh la la this is good tea! This was one of the first samples I tried from Nina’s a few months ago when they invited us to choose two or three teas to sample. I was really hooked on this one but waited to order because I have an embarrassingly large amount of tea. But at last, my very own tin is here! And the shipping was crazy fast. Laurent sent this Monday and the mailman put it on my porch at noon today.

We talk, HARD, at tea time on Wednesdays. It takes a special tea to make the words hit the brakes. Today we chattered through the cake and remarked on the black tea we drank first, then had this second. In the middle of the chatter, my guest took a sip, stopped everything, and said, “What is THAT?” I told her it was Grand Amour and she said, “It’s delicious!” And it is! Oh mercy me, it is.

This is so fruity, with no perfume-y fake taste. No additions necessary!