Nina's Paris

My initial impression of the tea was that it smelled very much like a Keemun, with only hints of fruit hiding in the background. The taste showed more fruit, but definitely in a secondary role to the tea. The flavor was full and rich with moderate amounts of tannin and acid, but no bitterness. The taste blended smoothly into a good finish.

When I tried adding a bit of Nutra-Sweet, the fruit moved from the background to the foreground, with raspberry and currant becoming more or less equal to the tea in the flavor balance. I’m not sure whether I liked the tea better with or without the sweetener, but it was significantly different. I couldn’t really detect the caramel flavor, and the vanilla was at most a hint in the background.

This tea would appeal to someone who likes a hint of flavor adding subtlety to their tea, not to someone looking for fruit flavor with a bit of caffeine.

My thanks to Laurent at Nina’s Paris for the sample

Added note: second steep almost as good as the first

Thanks so Sophie and Laurent for sending me this sample.

I have tried many a green tea but never a genmaicha. I’ve always wanted to try one but I have never gotten around to it. I did like this one. Very much.

This one took me a while to figure out. It’s just not something I’ve ever tried before. I loved the nutty, popcornish flavor that the rice gave. It was pleasant and not something I thought I’d appreciate but I really did. There was also a lovely pop of caramel and chocolate that gave this tea the feel of a really decadent treat. I do like that it’s a black/green tea mix. The black tea complemented the chocolate in the tea and gave it a bit more maltiness.

Genmaicha is definitely interesting. It’s one that I’ve always wanted to try but never have. And I did love it. I loved the addiction of caramel and chocolate in Nina’s Japon. Kind of reminiscent of caramel popcorn…I always add chocolate chips while the popcorn is still hot. This will definitely be among the teas I order from Nina’s Tea when I eventually make my first order.

I would love to try some straight green genmaicha. Any suggestions?

The 2nd steep has an apple flavour still nicely present with more rose and with the tea base shining through. The bitterness is still present but there is no added astrigency.

Caramel, oh yes there is caramel! and vanilla. Followed by rice.
Hot, I wasn’t really feeling it at all. The rice aspect was overpowering in an odd uncooked way. Now that it’s cooled a bit, the flavours mesh together much better. What I don’t like now though, is the astringency! Hmph. On the other hand, its very smooth, and creamy. Will see what infusion #2 brings.

Edit: 2nd steep reminds me of marshmallow genmaicha from 52teas. If this was the first steep, I’d have given it a much higher rating!! I don’t know if I’d want to buy some for myself… mostly because I’d prefer the Frank version any day :)

Thanks to Laurent and Sophie for this sample.

I’ve had a bad day. My team lost and I’m subsisting on two hours of sleep. The only saving grace to this day was the arrival of my Nina’s Tea samples. I’ve been waiting for them and they did not disappoint. 

This is one lovely tea. It’s very peachy. And not artificial peach but a very sweet yet tart juicy peach flavor. There is also a bit of apple but it’s not as up-front as the peach. There was also a nice vanilla finish.The black tea base was lovely with no astringency. It was very smooth and creamy. 

I did a second steep because I loved it so much. The peach became more of a background flavor. The apple and vanilla really stood out. I was also surprised to see the apricot come out so boldly. It almost reminded me of apricot jam. There was absolutely no fade. It only got better.
 
I love this tea. I want to buy a whole bunch of it. It is one of the best flavored black teas I have tried so far. I can’t wait to try Nina’s Japon tomorrow. 

No way!! my tea palate is not normally that attuned in black teas. But here, I could actually taste the fruitiness. Like… banana perhaps, or some sort of medley. What a trip. I’ve never had an Assam like this before.
Asides from that, it’s nice and strong with some awesome malty backing. It’s been awhile since I had an intensely malty tea, and this seriously hit the spot.
Really nice for a change, but not something I’d want permanently in my cupboard. Well maybe if it didn’t go stale!
Thank you Nina’s Paris Teas for this sample!

WHAT A TREAT!!!!
I got this sample from Laurent at Nina’s Paris and was I ever glad I chose this one. I love genmaicha and I am trying to enjoy black tea more. This tea does not really remind me much of genmaicha as it is more sweet and rich. Almost reminds me of coconut bread or something along those lines. The vanilla and caramel make the scent of this tea intoxicating. I think this would be great to sip after dinner with dessert…I chose to try it at work because I could not wait until I got home to try it ;) I wish it was a bigger sample pack so I could drink it all week.

Thanks to Laurent at Nina’s Paris for this sample!

Dry and brewed up, this tea smells deliciously fruity. No strong “astringent” aroma as I noted with Mon Secret, so I gave it a bit longer of an infusion, although I was still pretty cautious. Flavourwise it’s pretty fruity and full-bodied, with a lovely malty-tasting black base with is just the slightest bit astringent. I can’t specifically identify the fruits in here aside from peach (although it’s not overly peachy, I can just catch hints of it), but it’s tasty, and I’m pretty sure that the vanilla is contributing to the smooth flavour. Not bad! If you’re picking up samples from Nina’s, I’d definitely recommend this one for a fruity black.

This is my last sample from Nina’s to try, and based on the reviews I’ve seen so far I’m in for a treat. It’s also my first Genmaicha – woohoo! The smell of the dry leaves is wonderful – fresh green tea and sweet kettle corn. Wow, this is really good! There’s a fresh, toasty flavor and with a little sweetener the caramel and vanilla notes come out very nicely. I love the popcornish aftertaste too! Are all Genmaichas this delicious? I’ve not found a ’can’t live without you’ green tea yet, but this one may just be in the running! Thanks Nina’s Paris for the sample!

-Dry blend has green and black tea leaves with pieces of crispy rice.
-Dry leaves smell like green tea and kettle corn. Tea liquor aroma is of buttery popcorn.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark yellow color.
-Fresh toasty flavor with a vanilla caramel finish. Nice popcorn aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener.
-Very good tea. Wonderful light caramel popcorn flavor.

Thank you Nina’s Tea for this sample!! I’m quite enjoying this cup. The vanilla is very mild, and pairs excellently with the caramel. Light, like cloudbursts. The black base is nice as well, bringing everything together to make a very well rounded tea. No sugar or milk added.
Oh!! When piping hot, I swear there was something fruity in there!
I definitely wouldn’t mind having this in my cupboard.

Tasty and caramely and toasted-ricey. All together it tastes like caramel popcorn. All good good things. :) This is a very balanced tea with a slightly decadent and very comforting profile. I could certainly use more teas like this!

Thanks to Laurent at Nina’s Paris for this sample!

I didn’t see any recommended brewing parameters for this tea either, so went with my standard boiling/3 minute infusion… or at least, I planned to, until I sniffed the tea while it was a minute in, and I was already smelling… astringency. Yes, I realize that astringency is a sensation, but I imagine you guys can figure out what I mean… it’s kind of a sharp, pungent aroma that gets my tastebuds going like astringency does (not in a good way). So I took the infuser basket out at 2 minutes instead, because I only have one chance at this tea, and you can always put the basket back in, but you can’t reverse an oversteeped tea!

The aroma is quite nondescript, and smells like a plain black to me. Perhaps a plain flavoured black, as it’s that sort of base that I associate with… cheap flavoured blacks? :/ Although I see that it’s Keemun and not Ceylon, as I probably would have guessed (not that I really would know, though).

Flavourwise, unfortunately, this one isn’t doing it for me. I can tell that it’s a flavoured black (it has a vague plasticky flavour to it), and that’s about it. I’m not even sure that I would be able to say that it’s fruity… the flavouring is quite vague. Luckily there doesn’t actually seem to be quite the astringency that I was worried about (though there is some, and I am drinking this tea cool, which sometimes I find reduces the sensation of astringency).

I’m pretty picky about flavoured blacks, and this one unfortunately wouldn’t be a tea I’d drink again. Perhaps it has lost some flavour during transit or something (I don’t think that my short infusion affected the flavour; usually that only affects strength of flavour), but I can’t say I’m a big fan of this one.

Mmmm. The house was freezing this morning. It was actually in the 50s. Now that might not seem cold to those of you from chillier parts of the country but here in SoCal it’s mighty cold. So it was with much effort I dragged myself from bed and into the kitchen. The thought of new tea to try was a huge motivator.

I decided I wanted a black tea to start the morning and went with Nina’s because they had been so gracious to send me a sample. On first sniff it was all cream and raspberry to me. After it’s been brewed the current peaks out a bit more and balances the raspberry.

The one thing that strikes me about this tea is the level of creaminess and underlaying sweet tones. It would be easy for a tea like this to become bitter but it tastes like a dessert tea even without an additives. I do taste a faint note of caramel that could be increasing the sweetness and giving it depth but I’m really not sure if that’s exactly what it is.

Next time I don’t know if I’d have this as a breakfast tea. It seriously feels like I’m eating dessert first. I was looking into ordering more of this but while the price is pretty reasonable the shipping from amazon is pretty steep to get just 50 grams of this which is what I would want.

Overall a wonderful tea. Thank you Laurent!

Sipdown, 841.

Yum, this is about as tasty as I remember it. Caramelly and toasty. Can’t really taste either the black or green tea specifically.

Thanks to Laurent at Nina’s Paris for this sample!

Ever since tasting 52teas’ Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha (and Cherry Cheesecake Genmaicha), I have been seeking out flavoured genmaichas, so naturally, I wanted to try this one! It’s a bit of a twist, with black tea in the blend as well, but I was hoping that it wouldn’t really be a big contributor to the flavour.

Anyhow, I opted to brew this as a green (though I regret not lowering the temperature further due to some astringency even with my short 2 minute infusion), which was probably the way to go. The dry tea didn’t have a ton of flavour that I recall, but once the water hit the tea? Instant thoughts of Marshmallow Treat, though more of a caramelly version. Which is super exciting, since MT is not being reblended as I would like, but this should be much more readily available!

I let the tea cool a fair bit before drinking it (as I always do), and at first sip, I definitely have to say that I have a bit of a tea crush, haha. It’s not as good as MT, and definitely more caramelly than fluffy vanilla/marshmallow, and I’m getting some astringency (tough to know whether that’s because I used a temp 3 degrees C higher than I should have, or because of the black tea, and sadly I don’t have enough to try again). The astringency is really the most annoying thing for me, since it dampens my enjoyment of the otherwise quite delicious toasty genmaicha/caramel blend.

Overall, I think if I ever made a Nina’s order, this would be included, though I personally wish that there wasn’t any black tea in this blend, as I don’t think it’s adding anything positive.

Thanks again for the sample, Nina’s Paris!

ETA: This one re-steeped well! So I got a tasty second cup from it today :)

Well, this the third and last sample I requested from Nina’s Paris. I saved it for last because I liked the idea of an orange chocolate tea, which I’ve never drunk before. But because no set instructions were given (for any of their teas, for that matter), I think brewed this tea incorrectly, unfortunately.

Anyway, the dry leaves – which look pretty due to the presence of several pieces of orange rind – smelled of yummy orange cream. Wet, they smelled of the base tea, which is a strong black tea. I knew then the flavor would be strong as well. The aroma of the tea itself smelled like that of the orange chocolate in the shape of orange (the one that you bang on the table and the slices come apart – man, I miss those!).

The liquor is clear and reddish brown. As for the flavor, the base tea is very strong – too strong. It overpowers the orange and chocolate, which don’t appear until the aftertaste. And even then they are kind of weak. I guess this tea isn’t for me.

But much thanks to Nina’s Paris for their willing to send out samples!

My last sample from Nina’s :) It smells sweet and cinnamony. The apple flavor isn’t as strong as the Marie Antoinette tea – I like the addition of cinnamon but wish the apple was more prominent. It seems like a mellow tea, nice to sip while watching TV :D

First, if you have not steeped your Nina’s Teas yet – don’t use your American oversized mug. The samples seem much more suited to dainty 6oz cups than our usual 12-16oz beasties. I wish I had realized why these were coming out so light before hand. Live and learn.

This one is a lovely relaxing cup that is a mild twist on standard jasmine tea. The leaf is very finely cut and very dark for green tea. There is some flower petals in the mix. The jasmine is the good stuff. What I mean is it is not the gross bitter stuff passed off as jasmine in cheap or bagged teas. The lotus is a very light floral note in the late sip and reminded me of the flavor of Tazo Lotus. That happens to be one of the few I like by Tazo. The base is a bit harder to separate out. Definitely not grassy or bitter.

Thank you Nina’s Tea for the sample.

Sipdown, 241. Thanks to Nina’s Paris for this sample! Rose is of course one of my favorites, so Versailles Rose was an immediate selection. Plus grapefruit sounded like an interesting combo!

Well it seems like you can count Nina’s among the Parisian teas that I really enjoy. First off, delicious black base. Malty, nutty, with a hint of honey. Based on reading reviews of their other teas, it seems like this one has a much subtler flavoring. The grapefruit is light, just adding a slight citrusy note to the tea, and the rose is also very subtle, coming across as lightly herby-floral. I probably could have used more of those flavors here, but the base tea is quite delicious so it doesn’t matter as much to me. Looking forward to trying my other samples!

The description is spot on with this one – soft and fruity. The wet leaf looks more like green tea than a black. This has no bitterness or sharp bite. There is only a light drying compared to the bagged versions I’ve tried. The aftertaste is pleasant, cooling, and lasting. I don’t know enough about Darjeeling to comment a lot on the taste. I can say I enjoyed this quite a bit and it went great with sausage gravy.

Sinfully good! The smell when dry was tart so I was a little worried, but there was no reason to be the vanilla balanced it out well. Creamy, fruity, goodness! As it cooled it was like biting into a freshly pealed apple skin, makes me wonder how this would taste iced?

I expected to love this tea. It’s ok but not great. It lacks the orange flavor I expected. I could smell it when I opened the baggie so I thought the orange would be the prominent taste. Its just not there. Once steeped I couldn’t even smell orange just a spicy sweetness. Now as a spiced black it was good, had a nice flavor and I enjoyed it. But I rated it on being a orange tea and this just wasn’t orange.