Nina's Paris

Another one from madametj! This one sounds oddly close to Taurus, though I’m excited by the addition of grapefruit. I just think it’s weird that they’d make two that are so similar. Anyway! I can’t smell any grapefruit in the dry leaf, just strawberry.

The steeped tea has a really lovely strawberry scent, it reminds me of jam. And I think perhaps I can smell a touch of citrus as well. The taste is an interesting combination of strawberry candy or jam, cream, and a touch of citrus (not sure I would pick out grapefruit, possibly more like orange). I wish there was a bit more flavor, to be honest, as it’s pretty light. Still yummy though.

This one is from my swap with madametj. I was happy to see it since I’ve been curious about these zodiac teas for a while, and I’ve only tried one so far (Taurus). There are a few purple flowers mixed in with the red rooibos base. Dry scent is kind of sour, which is odd.

The steeped tea smells a bit like pickles for whatever reason… It kind of tastes like pickles, too? Not sure what’s going on there. If I really think about it, I can taste apricot and peach with cream, but my tongue really thinks it’s pickle tea. :P

While hot, the base had quite a burnt taste. Not burnt in a bad way, like burnt caramel but without the sweetness. I think it is from the black/green mix for the base. The tea becomes much more caramalized sugar type burnt as it cools. There are strong vanilla and mallow flavours. It makes the tea liquor feel quite thick. There is a generic red fruits flavour to the tea but I am not able to distinguish which red fruit. There is maybe a bit of red currant in there.

This tea is a bit too strong on the mallow flavour for me, but that could be how I brewed it. It is definitely a great tea, would make a great dessert tea.

Free sample from Nina’s Paris. Thanks so much Laurent!

This one came as a sachet.

This tea is quite reminding me of something and I had a hard time putting my finger on it until I looked at the ingredients. It has rhubarb. It is quite similar to Dammann’s Jardin Bleu that was yesterday’s advent tea. How funny it is that they taste similar and are also French teas.

The black base in this one is quite strong. There is a strong rhubarb flavour with floral scents. I don’t think I have much experience with violet, which is what is in this tea, so I am unsure what I should be tasting.

Overall this one is good. It is a bit bitter but that could be a brewing issue. I have another sachet to try.

This sample tea came from The Cookie Lady and I am enjoying it this afternoon.

To me the cup smells something like coconut and the flavor is mellow with notes of chocolate and caramel. My only gripe is I’m picking up some slight artificial aftertaste in this that I’m not totally enjoying. But there’s a slight fruitiness in it as well. I’m not looking for any more flavored teas in my cupboard, but if I was, this wouldn’t be a bad addition as a nice afternoon/dessert tea. Especially with sugar!

Once again another lovely sample from The Cookie Lady, making this my 5th cup of black tea today! I decided to try this tea without first looking up what others thought of it, and was able to really smell the sweetness of the tea but couldn’t quite place it. Now that I ‘peeked’ it clicked for me that it is caramel and I can’t believe I couldn’t figure it out on my own! The black tea base to this is very mellow and with absolutely no bitterness which I love. I think for my next cup I will sweeten it a bit to really bring out the caramel flavors in addition to the aroma.

This came to me from the very kind Blodeuyn. Thank you!

This is a fairly light and fruity black tea. There’s lots of citrus as well as tropical flavors. I definitely taste pineapple and mango. A floral note is also present though it is much lighter than the fruit. Overall a really nice blend.

Thank you tons to Laurant for sending me a sample of this months ago! Dude. I’ve been so busy, I haven’t had the time to sit and drink tea. But now that finals weeks is upon us, its time for tea!

This ones was just okay. A nice blend of flavours, but I’m not the biggest fan of sweet strawberry/cherry/raspberry flavours in a black/green blend. I tend to like those more as herbal flavours. Ahh well, it’s a lovely tea, just not for me!

This sample came from Sil. I’m not sure why tea companies insist on making black/green blends, as they make no sense to me and I can never taste the green tea anyway. It just makes it more of a pain than anything, having to lower the steep temperature because of the green tea. Bah! Anyway! This is a black/green mix with some flower petals in it. Dry scent reminds me of strawberry candy.

Mm, once steeped I can definitely smell the vanilla as well as the red fruits. The flavor is actually quite good (though all I can think about is that it would be better if it were an all-black base). The red fruits is mostly strawberry to me, with some raspberry as well, and it’s sort of candylike but in a good way that adds dimension. The vanilla is soft and smoothing. Overall, pretty good.

Sipdown (101)!

Totally a blueberry tea! Again, the very much dominant flavour in this is sweet blueberry candy, although I can in fact confirm that the orange flavour I was tasting in the last mug was not from the orange chocolate I was eating since I tasted it again in this cup.

So overall: very flavourful blueberry candy with sweet, juicy orange flavour and a smooth black base that hangs out nicely in the background. I think I also maybe tasted raspberry in this too but it was hard to discern amongst the blueberry. If I didn’t already stock another much more easily available blueberry I’d definitely be stocking this one – it was really good. Raising my rating.

Also; two side notes from work today. I have determined that one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do it explain to a very old, bitchy woman how a calendar works (like, seriously!?) and that it’s the best feeling when you’ve had someone come in every day for weeks asking for one specific thing and it finally comes in stock. They just light up when you present it to them.

My morning cup of tea!

I feel very accomplished because I did a lot of things this morning that I needed to do; I called my manager at Sobeys and fixed the schedule problem I had for tomorrow, I messaged Lee and let him down as easily as possible (while still being firm about my position) and that went more smoothly than I expected, and I called my Mom and got the shipping info I needed to finish my Dad’s Christmas present so now I’m all done Christmas shopping! Hooray!

In regard to the Lee thing, he basically got angry and acted like I had wasted his time despite us never actually even going on the date, and then told me to take his number out of my phone which may be a bit extreme but it’s less “Death Threat” or “Rape Dungeon” than I was expecting…

And, all of that while sipping on this tea! I couldn’t for the life of me remember what was in it though, but taste wise I was certain there had to be blueberries: this is so strong on the blueberry notes. It’s different than Blueberry Jam too; this is almost more candy sweet where as, while Blueberry Jam tastes syrupy it’s in a more natural/raw way? Does that make sense? I also thought I was tasting oranges in this but then I remember I had been eating Orange Cream chocolates on the walk home so I discounted that, but now looking this up there actually is orange flavour in it so now I’m not sure if I was actually tasting that or if it was from the orange in the chocolate. Didn’t really taste the raspberry or passiofruit but perhaps they were just a part what was, overall, making the blueberry taste more candy like?

Also, I was sure this is a black tea but Pu’Erh leaves are the listed ingredient. Really? This is so mild compared to pretty much any Pu’Erh I’ve ever had – and I didn’t really taste anything earthy either. It was so smooth. So not that I’m complaining because it was delicious, but I’m really shocked/surprised?

Anyway, thank you VariaTEA – I really look forward to my last cup. This is pretty close to being up there with Japon and Jamais Vu as favourite Nina’s Paris teas.

I am tasting this for the first time and have been waiting to try this one. I am a little disappointed as I find it doesn’t have a lot of flavour. The mug I am drinking from is a little larger (about 12 oz) so maybe I will try again in a smaller mug. I really don’t taste much of the vanilla or caramel. I will hold off on this one and rate it again.

Got this in a great swap with Christina some months back, and it’s different in a good way. The flavors pull together well, a buttery-textured toasted rice/hazlenut with a peek of vanilla/caramel. Reminiscent of Chicago Tea Garden’s Sticky Rice Puerh Tuocha with a whiff of vanilla/caramel added. Resteeps well.

This would be a perfect tea to share for an evening in front of the fireplace. Full, soft, comforting and yet a little complexity.

Thanks so much to The Cookie Lady for sending me a sample of this one! A 3-minute steep produced a rich reddish-brown brew with a strong sweet scent. It has a lovely rich vanilla flavor with just a touch of buttery caramel. The base is nice and smooth without a hint of bitterness. I am so excited to have found another caramel vanilla tea that I love ALMOST as much as Butiki’s Caramel Vanilla Assam (since I know I’m bound to run out of that one eventually…)

I like the refreshingness of this tea – the spearmint and lemon are a nice combo and it is cool to see a minty lemon tea that isn’t a herbal. Adam is great for a winter pick me up for afternoon tea. I’m not a fan of spearmint, but if I was, I’d be all over this tea.

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/ninas-paris-tea-review/

This one is the favorite of the 3 Nina’s Paris I tried for this batch of Oolong Owl tea reviews. The orange flavor is awesome – sweet and kind of like clementines. The earthy base compliments the berry flavors nicely. The finish is raspberry and blueberry, with a lingering raspberry taste. Another tea I wish I had more so I could try it iced.

I think I like Magicienne and Marie Antoinette a little more, but this one is pretty good right now as I’m hurting for those tasty summer berries!

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/ninas-paris-tea-review/

Yum, a grapefruit tea! I found this tea delicate in flavor but had plenty going on. Sips in strawberry (tops and all) with a hint of rose. The green tea base melds perfectly with the straberry flavor. The tea finishes with a tangy white grapefruit flavor. I wish I had more to try iced as I think it’ll be even better!

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/ninas-paris-tea-review/

Got a sample of this from Cameron B.! :D
Have been wanting to try this tea since it’s caramel and chocolate-which is always good in my book. xD
When I first smelled this tea, I thought that maybe the black tea base would overpower the caramel and chocolate flavors. But when I began to drink it, it surprised me! It wasn’t as strong as I hoped, but I could still taste the chocolate and caramel.
Mostly caramel is in the aftertaste.
So not as great as I’d hope, but not horrible. I’ve definitely had worse-haha!
Thanks for the sample though, Cameron B.!

I got this many moons ago when Laurant was handing out samples of his tea. I jumped on it because VariaTEA loved them so much. She sent me a whole lot of their zodiac blends, but this time with Laurant, I went with the greens and black teas!

This tea is so good oh my gosh. Lovely chocolate/caramel/vanilla scents when you open up the baggie, and it comes out more as it steeps. It did turn a bit bitter when I drank it straight, but I think this is a tea that needed the milk and sugar!! Ahh so so SO good. When I lessen my tea stash, I’ll definitely get my hands on some of this tea :)

Sipdown! 981. Apparently I had misplaced one of my Nina’s samples generously sent quite a while back by Laurent (very belated thanks!) and since it was both an easy sipdown AND in a baggie, it was an easy choice for tonight when I found it.

Upon opening the package, a delicious juicy aroma filled my nostrils… surprising, considering both age and packaging. By that aroma, if I’d had to guess, I would have assumed it was some version of a red fruits tea. Looks like I’d be incorrect though, and would have figured that out once I took a sip, since orange is definitely the most dominant flavour here, along with a bit of smokiness and additional fruitiness to round things out. Although a bit more muted, the orange reminds me of the orange flavour in Butiki’s Two Friends – and I really quite enjoy that flavouring. (I miss the chocolate though, haha.) Overall, it’s a pretty good blend – a fruity, possibly smoky (this could be contamination) tea, and I feel like it could be great iced, although I’ll probably never end up trying it that way.

Sipdown! (7 | 223)

This was fine, but definitely didn’t have a ton of flavor left. It smells nicely caramelly, but in the flavor I get mostly a bit of creamy vanilla and a slightly tannic Ceylon base. Something about it is tasting waxy as well, like a vanilla Chapstick.

Anyway, there was a point in time when Nina’s had all of their teas on Amazon in 50g increments, but now it’s just tins of a few teas. They have a “Shop” link on their website, but it just tells you to email them for inquiries. Hopefully someday they actually build out an online shop, as there are a lot of teas from them that I would still like to try…

365 Days of Tea Challenge – Day 18

This is the second of three teas from my Nina’s Paris order via Amazon! I chose this tea after seeing Nattie’s note, so thank you Nattie! I mean, who doesn’t love caramel and vanilla?

Wow, the aroma is all of my French dessert dreams come to life… It smells like a creamy vanilla custard smothered in buttery caramel sauce.

Nom, this is super delicious! It tastes very much like the smell, which is fantastic. There’s smooth, thick, and creamy vanilla custard here, and it’s definitely vanilla custard made with vanilla bean. It’s accompanied by a rich, buttery caramel sauce. In fact, there’s so much buttery goodness that it almost goes to a butterscotch place, which I love because I adore butterscotch.

To me, this tastes exactly like crème caramel, which is basically a set vanilla custard with a caramel sauce over the top. It’s actually baked in a ramekin with the caramel in the bottom (under the custard), and then when it’s turned out onto a plate the sauce runs down the sides.

Okay, now I’m officially hungry…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsyfEQiFxEw/

(P.S. – I just put up a discussion thread for a Nina’s Paris group order if anyone is interested! https://steepster.com/discuss/30194-ninas-paris-group-order)

This sample is from NayLynn. I’m pretty bad about neglecting my swap samples for a while, sorry! I’m surprised I haven’t tried this one sooner, considering it combines two of my favorite flavors – vanilla and caramel. It has the typical black tea base – small leaves that are a super dark reddish brown color that’s almost black. Dry scent is extremely creamy and buttery, in fact I couldn’t smell vanilla at all really.

Mm, the steeped tea smells like vanilla custard swirled with a rich, buttery caramel sauce. The taste doesn’t quite live up to the aroma, but it is quite good. The vanilla manifests more as a creaminess than actual vanilla for me. I can taste the caramel moreso, and it’s extremely buttery but not very sweet. My cup has just a touch of bitterness, but it’s probably because I overleafed it a tad. Overall, it’s good, but I was hoping for more.