Nina's Paris

Made this as an eggnog latte and though my first few sips were good, on the whole this is pretty thin.

I brewed this up as an eggnog latte (and the second type of eggnog has worked beautifully so YAY!) and it is delicious. A touch floral but the apple pairs beautifully with the eggnog creaminess. Think apple pie a la mode. Yum!

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When I was at Nina’s Paris, I was given teas to smell and asked what I thought they were before I was told the ingredients. By scent, this was instantly recognizable as a Christmas tea. However, unlike many other Christmas teas, this has apple as opposed to orange and flowers instead of spices.

Steeped, the smell is all cinnamon but tastewise the cinnamon mellows. There is a subtle apple cinnamon flavor. I am not picking up any florals but since I am not a huge floral fan, I am happy about that. This is not bad but I definitely prefer the other Nina’s Paris teas I have tried.

Thank you Sophie and Laurent at Nina’s Paris for the sample :)

Made another eggnog latte with this tea but I added in a touch of DAVIDs Swampwater just for something a little different. Well, despite there being almost double the amount of this tea in the mix, Swampwater took over. Sure the strawberry popped a bit more than usual but mostly it tasted just like a creamy, eggnoggy cup of DAVIDs Swampwater.

A couple days back I tried continuing the success I had with Nina’s rooibos blends in eggnog lattes so I brewed this up and tossed in the last of my Pisces tea in hopes of getting a caramel strawberry milkshake type drink. Well, I didn’t get much caramel (granted I think the ratio of leaf was like 5:1) but this certainly hit the strawberry milkshake nail on the head. It was great and it was gone in no time at all. Delicious!

Made this as an eggnog latte with a shot of Criollo’s Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt liqueur. Both additions are strong sweet flavors that easily overtake the subtle strawberry of this tea. Still, as the sip ends, a candy strawberry sweetness takes over leaving behind a tasty strawberry taste in your mouth.

I completely forgot if I made Taurus or Scorpio but as I sip, I am definitely picking up on strawberry so Taurus it is. Always a pleasant enough cup to sip on, though the flavor is more subtle than other teas I’ve had.

This is one of the Nina’s teas I tried last time I went to the offices and I ended up buying more when I visited this time. It has a pretty strong rooibos scent and that does slightly transfer over to taste but there is also a nice strawberry flavor to the cup. It is not the greatest rooibos tea I have had in my life, nor the best strawberry tea but I do enjoy it enough that I want to have it around for some caffeine-free variety.

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I found a lot of the Nina’s Paris’ blends smelled strongly of rooibos which made me nervous but trying the different teas and tasting how delicious they were, I thought I should give the rooibos a try.

Tastewise, this is definitely creamy and there is a nice strawberry tang to it. What I am not loving is the rooibos I am picking up in the smell. I find that detracts from the tea. However, if I ignore the rooibos smell, it is just a nice cup of strawberry and cream. I am not sure if I will order this (because of my own issues with rooibos and not because of the flavors of the tea) but I am definitely enjoying this cup.

Once again, thank you Sophie and Laurent for allowing me to come to your office and try your teas. It was truly an amazing experience!!

ETA: The strawberry flavor comes out more and more as it cools!

Being in Montreal, somethings tells me I might hear the phrase “Je t’aime” at least a couple of times today and I think that is quite adorable. So of course this tea fits in to my valentine’s day theme. It is smooth and has a delicious vanilla caramel flavor. Delicious!

This is a smooth caramel vanilla tea. Nothing fancy or over-the-top. Just delicious!

I was packaging this up for a swap and realized that there is a pretty fair amount of tea in the little tin they gave me at Nina’s. Anyways, once I had the tin open, I decided I should make myself a cup.

What I have learned is that Nina’s knows what they are doing when it comes to vanilla caramel flavoring. Though I prefer Nina’s Japon to this (and pretty much everything else it seems) I still love this tasty cup. The black base is present but smooth and really allows the flavor to take center stage. There is a nice creaminess to this tea as well and the vanilla caramel flavoring is perfect.

Je t’aime is certainly right because I love this tea. Other phrases that would work would have been “Je t’adore”, “Incroyable!”, “Magnifique!”, “Extraordinaire!”, “Formidable!”, and other things of that nature.

Thank you Sophie and Laurent for providing me with this delicious tea!

This tea is amazing!! “Je t’aime” is definitely right because I do really, REALLY like this tea.

The smell of delicious vanilla caramel fills my nose as I brewed the cup. Tastewise, the black tea actually enhances the caramel flavor making it extremely rich and decadent. Truly one of the better caramel teas I have had. This one is a hit!

Thank you Sophie and Laurent at Nina’s Paris for giving me the opportunity to try this tea. I will definitely be buying more of this in the near future.

ETA: This resteeps quite well so I am enjoying another cup :)

Why have I not cold brewed this sooner?!? It’s like drinking apple juice with a delicate rose addition. Not too sweet. Not too floral. And definitely perfect for summer. Also, it entertainingly looks like a beer, especially when put into a pint glass.

I have so much of this tea because tbh I forgot about it and now it has aged quite a bit. The result, though this cooled a fair amount before I started sipping, is a really perfumey rose tea. All apple has disappeared. Hopefully thats a result of the cooling and not flavor deterioration.

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This tea is a very nice cup. If I had to describe the taste in one word it would be “pretty” which sounds weird but it is fitting. The tea is delicate and smooth. It has just the right amount of sweetness from the apple but the flavor is enhanced by the rose petal. The flavors just marry so perfectly to make such a unique cup. This is what I imagine french teas to be – flavorful but in a subtle way. This will definitely be missed while its gone but I am sure I will be getting more of this in the not too distant future.

ETA: Resteeped, the flavors mellow. Not bad but since this is already a subtly flavored cup, I far preferred the first steep.

I was given both a loose leaf sample and a sachet of this so I decided to use the sachet and try out this tea.

Dry it smells exactly like a fresh, ripe apple. Brewed, the apple smell mellows but it is still very present in the taste. Each sip is a delicious combination of a sweet juicy apple and a beautiful hint of rose florals. The base also comes through but in this blend it ties the flavors together as opposed to drowning them out. A very good blend and I am definitely glad I have more of this to enjoy.

Thank you Sophie and Laurent for the samples of this great tea!

Typically I really don’t like orange and citrus teas. I will usually overlook them when browsing through a selection because the flavor is just not for me. However, Sophie at Nina’s Paris was kind enough to make me a cup of this when I visited there office and I actually really enjoyed it! So much so that I bought myself a small tin so I can have it again every now and then.

I like the subtlety of this cup. It is not as boldly flavored as most of the other citrus teas I have had. This is more gently flavored and strongly scented making for a pleasant cup. I may not want it everyday but this is definitely my go-to for those rare days when I want citrus tea.

This is the second cup that was made for me by the staff at Nina’s Paris. Usually I am wary of citrus teas but this smelled so amazing I could not pass up trying a cup. I ended up walking out with a tin.

This tea is grapefruit in a cup. The flavor is very present and distinct but not overwhelming or bitter like many citrus teas can tend to be. It tasted like the flesh of the fruit as opposed to the more bitter rind. Also, the taste was natural. A very good tea indeed.

Thank you Sophie and Laurent for your generosity!

This leaf is old and showing its age. It’s starts off as a nice caramel but then quickly deteriorates to a stale candy flavor. Blech!

Made this as a latte and though the caramel is strong, so is the sencha. Caramelly grass. Good but weird.

Japon, I missed you. Glad to be having another cup :)

So I was talking to my roommate about this tea a couple days ago and apparently I had never given it to her to try. WHAT?! How did I manage to share this with everyone EXCEPT the person I live with?? Obviously that had to be corrected and if it meant I also got to have some Japon, well than that was just a bonus :).