Grand Amour

Thanks to Nina’s Tea for a sample of this tea!

Brewed up, this smells insanely fruity. It’s like…. sour wildberry gummy candies? Like, the little 5 cent berries you can buy at convenience stores. The flavour is equally fruity; the predominant flavour I’m tasting is probably raspberry. There is supposed to be cream in here; I suppose it’s contributing to the smoothness of the tea, but it’s not really obvious otherwise.

For some strange reason, I’m typically not fond of wildberry-flavoured things (I’m really not sure why), so this tea isn’t my favourite, but for anyone looking for a very, VERY fruity, tasty flavoured black, I’d definitely point you towards this one! Keeping my prejudice out of the way, it’s a really fantastic tea!

Sipdown!! (210)

The only other currant tea I have had was DAVIDs Currant Affair and that did not go well for me. I found it overly medicinal and so I sent it away. However, this one smelled amazing so I could not pass up a sample.

Tastewise, I am picking up some of the medicinal flavor of the red currant. It is nowhere near as unpleasant as Currant Affair though. That is probably due to the other flavors which are hiding within the cup. Caramel can be found among the mix as well as raspberry but at the end of the day the dominant flavor is the currant and that is just not for me. With that said, I do recommend this for anyone who likes currant as the flavor is spot on and complimented nicely by the other ingredients in the cup.

Also, I have found that I prefer these teas brewed slightly below boiling for two minutes. I was recommended to brew them for three but after two the teas have been flavorful and free of any bitterness and astringency.

Thank you Sophie and Laurent at Nina’s Paris for this sample. I am glad I got to give it a try.

My Nina’s order arrived today!

This tea is really well done. In teas with vanilla and other flavours, I feel the vanilla mostly comes through in the softening of the other flavours. This tea is no exception. The raspberry and red currant work well with the base tea, but there’s no mistaking them. I’m not so sure I’m getting caramel, but there is a sweetness in the sip that could be it.

Thank you to Nina’s Paris USA via Kittenna for this free sample.

When I was growing up, we had red currants growing in our yard. My dad used to make wine from them. I can remember going out and picking the currants off of the bush when they were ripe.

The dry and brewed tea smell like red currant. There is also a hint of raspberry. The brewed tea has a smell of strong caramel.

The tea tastes like red currants and caramel. It is not sweet but also not bitter or tart. I like it this way.

J’adore Grand Amour!

Thank you Lala for this sample in our swap!
I thoroughly enjoyed this tea! I didn’t get any caramel, but I got a hint of vanilla and raspberry. What really stole the show though was the red currant, it really shines when cold.
I prefer this cold I think.

Thank you to Nina’s Tea for the sample of this!

I had tried it once before but wanted to give it another go. The description is certainly enticing. Vanilla, caramel and berries. Sounds like other teas I love, for example Harney and Sons Paris, except that one has the bergamot in it.

I’ve reached the conclusion that perhaps red berry black teas are not really for me. I can tell that this is a well done tea. It’s very smooth and the flavours mingle well together. The vanilla and caramel tone down the red berry taste, but there still is a bitterness for me, which I imagine must be the fruit.

Ultimately it is a soft and enjoyable tea, if red berry black teas are your sort of thing.

It is safe to say at this juncture that they’re not my thing, though I’m very glad I got to try this!

My previous rating was 69 but I removed that because I can tell this is a nice tea, just not one for me.

Tea smelled good dry and made. The tea was quite bitter though. And it was only brewed 3 minutes. Not a fan of my first Nina’s and was glad it came as a sample.

This is the perfect balance of flavor. I can taste it all! Sometimes with a flavored tea there’s so much going on that one flavor over shadows the other, not with this tea! I used just a little sugar and this taste like raspberry pie ala-mode from the amish country. They put a layer of caramel on the bottom of the crust then the berry filling and whipped cream on top. Yes! Raspberry pie with a cup of black tea is exactly how this taste. Yummy!!

Fruity, incredibly fruity. Maybe too fruity if that is possible. Since I opened the sample all I can smell or taste is raspberry and red currant. I am starting to panic for fear I will never taste anything else ever again.

I let the tea cool to room temperature while I ran some errands. The fruityness is not so overwhelming now. I think this might make a good iced tea. I do not taste any caramel or vanilla though.

1.25 tbsp for 375 ml

Black tea base is smooth with a delightful straw-like note. Fruity notes are more present in the aroma than the flavour. There is a bit of a sweetness.

Thanks to Nina’s Paris for the sample!