Rouge

The scent of the dry leaf is powerful. I do not mean overwhelming. It is powerful in the sense I really like it. It’s orange followed by cinnamon. Once steeped the wet leaf also presents its black tea aroma.

Cinnamon can easily overwhelm and orange can taste like candy. Neither is the case here. This is well balanced light cup.

Given the description of stimulate and invigorate I was expecting a big bold cup. I find it to be more of a relaxed cup. I would sip this on a lazy afternoon – like today. I find it a nice introspective cup rather than invigorating. That is not a bad thing. Sometimes I just want a peaceful cup.

Thank you Nina’s Tea for the sample.

Dry, this one smells very delicious. Definitely a winter or autumn type tea. It has an orange and cinnamon smell. A bit spicey. Reminds me of Bigelow’s Constant Comment.

Brewed, this one tastes more strongly of cinnamon than it does of orange. There is definitely an orange flavour but it is very light. It is a much more sweet orange flavour vs a tart orange rind flavour. The cinnamon is spicey and sweet but it is not hot spicey. The cinnamon adds a natural sweetness to the tea. This one very much reminds me of sipping tea with an orange slice in it. As I have found with all of Nina’s Paris teas, the black base is smooth, moderately bold, there is no astringency. It blends very well with the ingredients in this tea. The safflower petals add a very slight cake-y or pastry taste to this one. It kind of reminds me of a cinnamon nut bread. I think I would have liked it to have a bit more orange taste, but overall it is delicious!

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.

This sample was generously provided by Marzipan! The black tea leaves are small and very dark, and there are slender feather-like red flower petals mixed in with them. I noticed that in the picture, there are orange peel pieces, but I didn’t really look hard enough at my sample to find those. Dry scent is a sweet combination of cinnamon and orange.

The steeped tea smells mostly of sweet cinnamon with just a touch of orange zest. The flavor of this one is super mild for me, I wonder if I overestimated my water. I’m not getting a lot of orange, which is odd since others seemed to. I do taste mild and sweet cinnamon, and it’s more similar to the spice than it is to candy, which is a nice change from a lot of other spiced teas. Hmm, I’m wondering if I waited too long to try this one, since it’s in a little ziploc baggy. :( Withholding rating.

Thanks for the sample Marzipan!!

Wow, this reminds me of that old Bigelow standard “Constant Comment” tea, but not all fakey and chemical tasting! Also not so in your face strong with the spices. Very balanced and pleasant. Good stuff!

I splurged and ordered five adorable red tins of Nina’s tea a couple of days ago. The shipment came today and after I arranged them where I can see them and they can make me happy on the tea shelf, I opened this tea.

It smells amazing: orange peel, spice, and tea. I steeped it at the suggested three minutes at 205 (the temp was not suggested so I was winging it). It is definitely a cinnamon tea but as it cooled the orange peeked out around the corner. It’s really nice. More delicate than other teas with this flavor profile that I have had, and I like that. It also re steeped well and the second cup is as strong as the first was.

Yum!
Piping hot, this is a stunning tea. I gotta say it again. YUM!
It reminds me of red berries. Plum and strawberry and I’m not sure what else. Rather mild, but in a pleasing way.
Then as it cools, I get more citrus and spice. Very well blended. I like that part as well, but not quite as much. If only I could convince my tea to stay warmer longer. Perhaps I’ll try it in a double walled my next time. If I remember.
Thank you for the sample Lala!

This smelled so amazing, as most orange teas do but like all other orange teas, I am not a fan. It is warm and cozy thanks to the cinnamon but I just don’t really like citrus teas. For those who do like orange teas, this is worth a try but it is not for me. Nonetheless, thank you Laurent and Sophie at Nina’s Paris for the chance to try this tea.