Nina's Paris

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Recent Tasting Notes

87
drank Hepburn by Nina's Paris
437 tasting notes

I tasted this tea with comparison to Della Terra’s Chocolate Orange Slice. In summary Hepburn had more of an orange flavour while Della Terra’s had a stronger chocolate flavour. Hepburn may be preferable to those who prefer milk chocolate while the Orange Slice tea references dark chocolate. The tea base flavour was more prominent in Hepburn, while the base was smoother but more bitter in Della Terra’s option, and did not have as much depth of flavour or a very strong presence. Both were pretty enjoyable teas, but I think I may prefer Nina’s I loved the rich dark chocolate flavour in Della Terra’s Tea, but Nina’s tea had more layers of flavour and left me with such a pleasant feeling afterwords, whereas Chocolate Orange Slice left me feeling a little heady.

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87
drank Hepburn by Nina's Paris
437 tasting notes

This was my third Sample from Nina’s. Thanks again!

The dry tea smells like Terry’s orange flavoured milk chocolate oranges it has tea with pieces of orange rind in it. The brewed tea smells of dry oranges with a hint of chocolate, combined with fall leaves. It also smells a little bit like a mid to dark roast orange oolong. It brews fairly light.

Taking a sip, the top notes are of a sweet orange
chocolate. The orange flavour is dominant followed by the taste of a
fairly sweet milk choolate.

The tea is a little astringent leaving a drying sensation on the tongue, be careful with brewing temperature and time.

The tea underneath is sweet, fruity, and has a hint of sweet potato. It also has a flavour that reminds me of fall with faint spice and bitterness combined.

The orange flavour is a combination of dried/stewed fruit flavour. The sweetness was dominant when first sipped but dissapates when drinking, the chocolate scent remains through out thecup, whereas the orange dissipates, ironically the oposite is true of the flavour. There is no oily film which you sometimes get with chocolate teas. The orange rind lends a little tang and bitterness to the tea. The orange is still dominant in the second steep and there is less chocolate and more cream.

After drinking the tea I am left with a sense of alert wellbeing.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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81
drank Thé des Anges by Nina's Paris
1629 tasting notes

Sweet fruits! This sample is delightful, and strawberry has been my theme this entire pregnancy! This is a nice dessert for breakfast type of tea. The base is stronger than the strawberry flavor, which is nice and different than the other strawberry teas I’ve had. This one is good. It is not astringent and the brew was a nice brown color. It smells like strawberries and the taste of it was light and mildly sweet. I love how it tastes like WILD strawberries and not artificial at all. I felt like I was picking them from the strawberry bush and eating it… though the flavor is more subtle than actually doing that! I wasn’t able to obtain any of the vanilla flavors, but it may have been there more as a creamy tone. Very subtle indeed, but very good tea! This tea is well blended!

Ysaurella

so strawberries & pregnancy is not a legend for you :)

teataku

Nor myself. Of course, I live in (one of) the land(s) of awesome strawberries, and they ARE in season, so I’d be eating them anyway. :3 Might have to try this tea, since it sounds like if you like strawberries, you’ll like this one!

ChariTea

I love strawberries :) You would like this tea. The strawberry isn’t artificial tasting and its subtle too!

Nina's Tea USA

we never add artificial flavors !!! NEVER!!!!

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89
drank Nina's Japon by Nina's Paris
1629 tasting notes

Delicious tea! The mix of black and mostly green leaves with the pieces of crispy rice is amazing! It smells sweet! The brew was a bright cheery yellow. I’ve never tried flavored genmaicha before!

The taste was amazingly airy and smooth. Delicious and sweet! I love the sweet caramel and vanilla flavors. It was almost like I was eating cotton candy. I love the hint of the nutty rice flavor in the background. I didn’t think it was too prominent. It was blended very well!

KeenTeaThyme

This sounds AMAZING! :)

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100

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61
drank Nina's Paris by Nina's Paris
772 tasting notes

I think this is the right tea. It says Nina’s on it (it’s a sample from a promotion they were doing) and I can only assume it’s Nina’s Paris. It looks prettty much the same so I’ll just go with it.

The steeped tea smells strongly of orange and not much else. While I wait for it to cool down enough to drink, it’s definitely all orange.

Wow, I really should not have eaten a Samoa before taking my first sip. Compared to that sweetness, this is really quite bitter. I think I should let that taste in my mouth die down a bit before I take any more drinks.

As I wait, and this cools down further, I can taste it again. I can taste the fruitiness of this tea and while it is…nice…it is really just okay. The fruit definitely overwhelms the base tea. I am just not liking this very much. I’ll try the rest of my Nina’s tea on Monday when I get back to work. Hopefully I will like them better.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 15 sec

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91
drank Marie-Antoinette by Nina's Paris
23 tasting notes

I don’t care much for black tea or black tea blends, but this is one of the rare few that blows me away.

The dry leaf smells like a Green Apple Jolly Rancher. I couldn’t detect a floral smell at all, even though rose petals are an ingredient.

After I brewed this tea the apple smell was less intense. This tea definitely tastes like an apple in the first steeping. Thankfully, not in a “Jolly Rancher way”, but a “natural apple way”. The black tea is mild and smooth in the background.

In the second steeping, the scent and taste of rose petals comes out. The apple flavor is more mild than before, but still present. I enjoyed the second steeping most since I LOVE rose. Apples, rose petals, and black tea make a winning combination. I’m so glad I tried this tea.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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78
drank Earl Grey by Nina's Paris
2201 tasting notes

Sipdown, 243. Thanks to Nina’s Paris for this sample to try!

I decided to request an Earl Grey as a sample to see how it compares to some of my other faves. I am no longer actively looking for the perfect Earl Grey, because I have found it (Lupicia), but I will always welcome new versions to try. I was unsure of how long to steep this one, because the Versailles Rose was good at 3 minutes but the Marie-Antoinette really needed only 2 minutes. I decided that possibly a tad weak was better than bitter, so I went with 2 this time.

This is a tasty Earl. Two minutes worked just fine. That nice, malty-smooth base that I found in the Versailles Rose makes an appearance again, paired with a nicely balanced citrusy bergamot. Not perfumy, nor bitter like citrus pith. I definitely enjoyed drinking my cup, but it didn’t quite stand out to me as particularly distinctive. Which is fine, because it’s still a very tasty tea and a good example of a well-done Earl.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
looseTman

Hi Dinosara, In your quest to find your favorite EG tea, what was the best organic EG you tasted & how did it compare to Lupicia. Thanks!

Dinosara

I haven’t had too many organic Earl Greys but of the ones I have had my favorite is probably two leaves and a bud… It’s nicely balanced, with a good amount of bergamot that is citrusy and pleasant, and a smooth black tea base. The biggest difference between that one and the Lupicia is the base; the Lupicia is a Keemun and the two leaves and a bud is a Ceylon. I tend to prefer Chinese blacks in general so I prefer the Lupicia but the two leaves and a bud is still a really great tea!

looseTman

I share your preference for Keemun vs. most Ceylon teas. Have you tried any of the following EG: American tea Room, Arbor Teas, DavidsTea, Nectar Fine Teas, Rishi, The Tao of Tea, Teas Etc., Zen Tea? Thanks

Dinosara

Of those I have only tried the cream version of DavidsTea’s and the Rishi… I found the DavidsTeas version to be kind of astringent and bitter with the bergamot, and I found the Rishi to be decent but it has a Yunnan base so it is a little different.

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71

After having cold 911 by Davids tea I am always worried that mint in tea is going to be super strong and overpower the actual tea. That was not the case with this tea at all. Although the mint was fairly strong it was not overpowering. I enjoyed this as a change of pace from straight green tea. Im on the fence if I would purchase this one as I like Nina’s other blends more. However if you like a little mint flavour this is worth a try. Nice to sip on this cold afternoon.

On a side note I think I used a bit too high of water temperature to steep the tea…..very slightly bitter because of this. Time to invest in a thermometer I guess. :)

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70
drank Marie-Antoinette by Nina's Paris
2201 tasting notes

Sipdown, 241 (yeah, I only ended up adding a few new teas so my count didn’t go to high!). Thanks to Nina’s Paris for the sample of this tea!

Rose and apple; I knew I had to request this one as one of my samples. The smell of the steeped tea is kind of odd, and I guess it’s just the rose and apple combining somewhat strangely. If I smell closely enough, I can pick out the two scents independantly, but it’s not easy.

Unfortunately, this one was not as successful to me as it was for other people. It comes across as bitter and perfumy to me. I am not sure what people are talking about when they say that the bitterness reminds me of biting into an apple and getting apple skin… apple skin isn’t especially tart or bitter to me, and I just ate an apple for lunch this afternoon. There is definitely a good amount of really appley flavor here (although it is perhaps more apple candy than fresh apple), and some herbaceous rose, so I think that perhaps if I steeped this one for a shorter time or at a lower temp, it would come out smoother and work better, but if the astringency is built in for some reason, I don’t know.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
Azzrian

I steeped mine for only about 2 minutes – maybe that would help to try it like that if you have any left.

Dinosara

Yeah unfortunately I just had enough for the one cup, but I would steep mine for 2 minutes next time for sure.

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89
drank Nina's Japon by Nina's Paris
437 tasting notes

I quite liked this tea. The dry tea greeted me with the smell of caramel, coconut and the tang of fruit. It appears when dry that there is more black than green leaves but once steeped the bancha leaves opened up quite a bit. I steeped it at the temperature at which I would steep bancha.

When steeped the first scent that hits my nostrils is that of the toasted rice followed by a sweet scent tempered by vanilla and the buttery scent of caramel. The sweet taste is pleasant when steeped about a minute. The first notes I taste are the bancha and black tea with the black tea producing a slightly citrousy note and tempering the sweetness of the bancha, followed by a sweet fruity note, and a sweet buttery and slightly salty and nutty note from the caramel and rice. The caramel and vanilla and salt remain on the tongue. The green tea leaves me with that clean pleasantly aware feeling I get when I drink it. For me the tea is sweet enough as it is . The empty tea cup smells of vanilla and caramel. I would not add sugar to it.

I probably wouldn’t drink this everyday as it is approaching too sweet for me but it is all over a nicely balanced tea which is fun to drink and I wouldn’t mind keeping a bit of it in my cupboard.

Thanks to Sophie and Laurent for the sample!

note: The 2nd steep was not as sweet, the vanilla and fruit were more present. It was not as buttery but the nutty flavour of rice was more present. It was slighty astringent and more flavour contributed by black tea.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 15 sec

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96
drank Marie-Antoinette by Nina's Paris
807 tasting notes

Full review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 2nd of March but here are the snippits:

Marie-Antoinette from Nina’s Paris has a wonderful aroma. I just love sitting here smelling it fill the air around me with the scents of roses and fresh apples. Its almost too good to drink! The apple aroma is that of mulled cider, or the smell that fills the air every year at the Apple Festivals that are commonly held in my area. It just makes me feel warm and sunny on this cold snowy winter’s day.

The more I sip it the more it grows on me. I think any person who loves apple flavor should try this tea. Its so subtle, does not try to flood your taste buds over with flavor but yet it is so true to what apple tastes like when you bite into one. I can even taste apple skin in this tea.

Tealizzy

That’s my last sample to try! Maybe tomorrow!

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85
drank Grand Amour by Nina's Paris
314 tasting notes

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

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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88
drank Nina's Japon by Nina's Paris
97 tasting notes

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?

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Alphakitty

Den’s has some fantastic genmaichas!

graceatblb

Thanks! I’ve not really tried many green teas yet but all of their teas look lovely.

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90
drank Marie-Antoinette by Nina's Paris
437 tasting notes

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90
drank Marie-Antoinette by Nina's Paris
437 tasting notes

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.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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90
drank Marie-Antoinette by Nina's Paris
437 tasting notes
This was a really nice mid afternoon tea. The dry tea smells like boxed apple juice or jolly ranchers apple candy and has dark broken leaves scattered with broken white rose petals. The tea brews to a translucent broth that reminded me of the colour of a liver chestnut horse. It smells of sweet potatoe, apple and a spicy smell I associate with lavender. It’s flavour profile has a top note of apple, followed with a cooling floral note with a touch of bitterness. This bitterness mimics the flavour of biting into apple skin a little. There is a slight astringency that comes off not as a tartness but a dryness in the mouth, maybe from the rose petals. The apple flavour is a cross between granny smith, gala and a juicy red delicious. This is a pleasant light tea to drink without additives. The base has a slightly sweet earthiness which doesn’t have a strong presence. Sugar would strengthen the fruity aspect of the tea but isn’t needed as the apple taste and flavour is very present. This tea would be great in summer as it seems to have a cooling effect on me. The flavours of apple, the tea base, and rose balance nicely. The apple flavour intensifies as the tea cools. This tea may be nice iced. Thanks to Laurent and Sophie for their kindness in providing me with the oportunity to try this tea!
Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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70
drank Nina's Japon by Nina's Paris
1759 tasting notes

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 :)

Preparation
2 min, 0 sec

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94
drank Eve by Nina's Paris
97 tasting notes

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. 

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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86
drank Assam by Nina's Paris
1759 tasting notes

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!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Fjellrev

The same thing usually happens to me with blacks too. Cool that you tasted all the fruitiness!

Indigobloom

It was pretty neat! A nice surprise because I tasted it before looking at the description. Thought I was imagining things

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93

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.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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70
drank Eve by Nina's Paris
6105 tasting notes

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.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec
tea-sipper

How did you get samples of Nina’s Paris teas? They sound so good!

Kittenna

Check the discussion boards :)

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90
drank Nina's Japon by Nina's Paris
358 tasting notes

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.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Kittenna

Mmmm, I’d suggest you try a straight genmaicha as well. They’re toasty and yummy – I love the addition of caramel/vanilla in the blends though, possibly better than the straight tea…

Josie Jade

I have a little sample from Davids of genmaicha, I’m excited to try it now!

Tealizzy

I had a little sample of genmaicha from David’s too. It was deliciously toasty!

Kittenna

:D Just make sure you use green tea parameters, and it should be delicious (but I see that you did for this sample, so you would have done so anyhow!) I also got a sample of DT genmaicha in my last online order, and need to give it a shot! I have about 3 other genmaichas from different companies that I’ve been drinking, though.

Josie Jade

Kittenna, which genmaicha is favorite?

Kittenna

Hmm. One of mine was some unidentified one from a market that my aunt picked up; it was good, but obviously low quality. I also have Verdant’s, which is a real treat but not particularly representative of real genmaicha, as the tea base is Laoshan Green. And I have Butiki’s, which is also good. My roommate has one from a local tea store that I wanted to check out as well, plus I have the sample of DT’s. Overall, the Verdant version was my favourite, followed by Butiki’s, but I definitely haven’t tried enough yet!

Josie Jade

Thanks! I’ll keep those in mind! :)

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82
drank Je t'Aime by Nina's Paris
1759 tasting notes

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.

Preparation
2 min, 30 sec

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