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All the previous Nina’s Paris teas I’ve tried I have really liked because the flavors were subtle, but still definitely present. In my opinion, this tea has gone over too far into subtle territory. It just seems vaguely fruity, in tropical kind of way. The keemun base really takes over. I’m not saying this tea is bad- it’s not at all. It’s just not what I expected given the description and doesn’t live up to the other Nina’s teas that I’ve tried.

How have I not had this tea before? This makes me think I need to explore more decaf black teas for evenings. I drink herbals because I want to sleep, but I’m not in love with most of them. The ceylon base is light and a little malty. The vanilla is soft and gentle. Yum! And I get to have black tea at night, which let’s be honest, is superior to the majority of tisanes.

I haven’t been drinking much Butiki lately, which is a shame because Stacy knows her way around some tea! Actually, the only guayusas I’ve had have been Butiki and I’ve liked all of them. Thanks Cheri for the opportunity to try another! I tried it first without sweetener and the taste was mostly the guayusa base, which I really like, with some subtle spices in the background. I wasn’t really getting any apple though. So, I added a tiny amount of sweetener and that really woke up the flavors in this one! The base is still the main flavor but there is an apple turnover-esque quality shyly lurking in the background. Very tasty!

So tired this morning and really needing a kick in the pants or the face…possibly both. It’s my own fault I was up late. I probably shouldn’t have taken a long nap yesterday and then spent two hours drinking oolong when I woke up, but it was fun :-). I thought a good spicy chai might do the trick. I did not know that this was a spicy, smoky chai until I opened the pouch but I decided to go with it anyway. Sigh….smoky teas are just not for me. I pretty much only taste the smoke and this is anathema to my tea drinking enjoyment. This is not the fault of this tea. I’m sure it’s lovely if you like smoke in your tea, but I don’t. I pretty much only like smoke flavor in my gouda and my sausage. Thanks for this sample though, Miss B!

I’m going out for Pride with my friends tonight, so I thought I’d have a drink and try this out before I left. Dear god, this is disgusting. First of all, it’s cloudy and that completely skeeves me out. It seriously looks like a bacterial culture, a little darker than a beaker of LB (luria broth) with an overnight culture of E.coli growing in it. I followed the directions: 2 parts tea-stuff to 1 part alcohol; I went with vodka. Holy crap, will that get you drunk in a hurry! It tastes so thick too (again, reminds me of a liquid rife with bacteria, although I have obviously never tasted that) and is cloyingly sweet. There’s so much going on in this and the taste is so strong, my tongue is crying in a corner of my mouth. JUST. NO. Do yourself a favor and never, ever try this. It’s a shame too because I got this as a gift and now I feel bad for hating it.

Another tea from Miss B! After the butterbeer disappointment I decided to try this one because in the words of Dumbledore, “I think I could be safe with a nice toffee” (I’m still watching Harry Potter). I tried this plain first and I could strongly taste the tea base along with a subtle buttery, slightly nutty taste. While I wouldn’t exactly say toffee, I did find it pleasant. I decided to resteep and try with sweetener to see if it brought the toffee taste out a little more. Unfortunately, all that accomplished was to hide the base tea. So, I added some milk and it became nicely and predictably creamier. I prefer this plain though. It was a good tea, but nothing that leaves a lasting impression.

Well this tea is a big old NOPE for me. It’s probably not this tea’s fault… I hate root beer. It’s a shame because all of a sudden, I was like “I’m going to watch Harry Potter and drink this tea.” Also, I’ve had “real” butterbeer at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and it was sooooo delicious. It was cream soda based; no root beer. That’s more of what I was expecting. I won’t rate it because of my aversion to root beer. Anyway, I love all things Potter and was very happy to be able to try this courtesy of Miss B. Thanks!

Next up in the Whispering Pines sample pack! Yes, I did choose all the expensive ones….what can I say :-)

I opened the cute little pouch and I was shocked! It smelled like super rich fudge. I knew there was vanilla added to this blend…but there must be chocolate too? Nope! HOW? I managed to wait long enough to not burn myself to take the first sip and it did not disappoint! It also tastes like rich, creamy fudge, but not overpoweringly so you get tea + fudge. Tea fudge! Is that a thing? If not, it should be! I make a lot of fudge since it is my boyfriend’s favorite and this is giving me ideas :-). This tea is surprising and wonderful and just so well executed. Love it!

I got my Whispering Pines samples early! I checked the tracking this morning when I got up and was so excited that I rushed to the mailbox in my more-than-slightly sheer tank and some shorts that I slept in….oops. I seriously did not even think about it until I was almost there but luckily, I don’t think I was spotted. I love the packaging and the handwritten note, btw. That totally made me smile :-).

Anyway. THIS TEA. Let me tell you about how great it is. At first sip, a really nice salty caramel note hits that morphs quickly into chocolate all over a very malty, bready background that reminds me of a croissant. The sip ends with a burst of sweet fruitiness. Sorry I can’t be more specific about the fruit, but I don’t have magical Tea Fairy taste buds that can detect that level of nuance. The flavor then fades away to a really clean mouthfeel that I’ve mentioned in a couple of my tasting notes. I also feel like that’s not a helpful descriptor but I’ve thought about it a lot and that’s all I can come up with. I am a HUGE fan of that in a tea though.