Demain

See that “Add to Cupboard” I clicked there? That’s because this isn’t a sample! No sir, this is part of my birthday gift from my eldest daughter! She emailed Laurent and they went back and forth putting together a gift box of four small tins and one large for me, and Laurent helped her choose my teas. The tins look beautiful together, and red is my accent color in my kitchen and there are little pops of it in my Williamsburg blue living room, so these are a nice decorative element as well. Here is a photo I took yesterday of the small tins. I hadn’t opened the large one as yet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24998856@N06/8561345077/

I decided to drink this because…well, I got it yesterday, and Demain means “tomorrow” so I thought I would drink it…tomorrow which is today! Got that?

I was having a quiet morning as everyone slept in after a late night watching movies and playing games. I got out my lovely Lady Carlyle cup and made a whole pot of this. The liquor is so lovely in the cup. It is a bright, clear, medium yellow color, really I would call it golden without a hint of orange. So pretty! I drank the whole pot before doing yoga with my son.

This is a bright and refreshing green tea flavor, yet not astringent or puckery. It is a good one for waking up!

Thank you, Superanna and Laurent!

this tea is grand, i mean truly exceptional.

dry it reminds me of ripe strawberries and raspberry jello, but once the water goes in there is a premeditated tartness from the green base that negates any thoughts of jello whatsoever.

my unsolicited advice (as someone who thoroughly messed up their first attempt), believe the 3 minute recommendation on the bag. nina’s has been doing this long enough that they don’t recommend halfheartedly.

the green they have chosen is very smart indeed…. it has a sharp tang that is absolutely timed to the minute. the berries are balanced against a three minute time…. like a smartypants i figured more was better and went for 4 the first time and got no berries whatsoever. when correctly timed you get a perfect equation with perfectly (not over) ripe berries with a medium strength green tea. this is a flavoured green, there is never any doubt that it is a tea. with some flavoured blends the tea essence is lost, but not here.

very nice. little doubt i will buy again!

Dry, this smells wonderful! Juicy raspberries and strawberries abound.

Steeped, it tastes like mellow green tea and a titch of raspberries. The berries come through more in scent than taste, which is still lovely.

My evening cup. I used a 6oz Corelle cup and a Finum basket. That seems to work best with their sample sizes. This smells awesome. The strawberry is the strongest scent. The raspberry aroma is easily separated but not as intense. The brew looks like honey. The flavor of the sip is as fruity and natural as the scent but not over the top. You can taste the green tea base – yeah! The base is vegetal with a nice bite at the end. You could probably eliminate the bite with a shorter steep – but why? I used a tiny bit of sweetener to really make the fruit pop. A very nice cup.

This one was sent my way from Lala. This is also a backlog from last night.

I have to say that even though this was nice, I much prefer Love Life from H&S. It’s not completely the same tea but it’s much more subtle. The flavouring here was just a touch too strong for the green base. I’m happy to have been able to try it out though. Thanks Lala!

I think I figured this one out. Finally, when there is just one serving left. Ha ha, that is how it always works out.

1.5 tsp for a 8 oz mug, 3-4 pieces of brown rock sugar, 190F (definitely hotter than what would be recommended for a green), 1-1.5 minutes.

That is all.

Sipdown #44, which I drank earlier today. This is another tea from Lala, thank you!
Although I tend to prefer my green teas straight, this was tastefully done & the strawberry flavor especially was nice. I haven’t had the best of luck with Nina’s teas, but I wanted to try them, so I’m happy to report that this one had no ill effects on me!

People: don’t give up on this till you try it iced.

It was just nice as a hot cup, with the berry flavor predominant and tasting natural, but it seemed a little flat overall.

For the 2nd steep I inadvertently let it cool and by that time it was in the 80’s outside so I decided to pop in some cubes and it was delicious. The flavors seemed to blend much better – though maybe this was due to its being a 2nd infusion – and it was smooooth and refreshing, tasted like happiness feels, if that makes sense. Kaylee caught the same wave on this one. Thanks for the sample, Christine!

Completed my isometrics this morning with Tony Horton’s P90X3. I chose this tea to go along with my exercise routine even though it’s been a few hours in between. Got that idea from you Christina with your books and tea. Thanks for this lovely sample. Isometrics is about strength and balance. Balance certainly fits with this tea. I brewed for 3 min at 185. The strawberry/raspberry flavouring reminds me of jello but doesn’t come across as artificial. It’s balanced well with the green tea. The green tea itself is vegetal with a little bite at the end (which I like). It went down pretty fast!

I tried this tea without looking at the description or reviews. I enjoy doing that from time to time, to see what flavors I can make out for myself.

This brews up a lovely pale gold. The taste is fruity… berries? peach? apricot? Yup, definitely apricot. Dry mouthfeel. Not bad hot, but so much better iced. The apricot stays natural tasting, with a hint of astringency that evokes the apricot pit. There’s a lingering dryness, but it’s pleasant.

Apparently this is supposed to be a berry tea. Looking at the other tasting notes, seems like I should try again at a strict 3 min steep to see if I can get the berry flavor. Or the parameters Lala suggested: “1.5 tsp for a 8 oz mug, 3-4 pieces of brown rock sugar, 190F (definitely hotter than what would be recommended for a green), 1-1.5 minutes.” (Hope you don’t mind my quoting your tasting note, Lala!).

Thanks for sending me some of this, Christina! I did enjoy this tea, even if I got the “wrong” flavor out of it. Thankfully, I’ve got enough left to play around with.

P.S. I used 2.5 tsps, but the tasting note thingy won’t accept decimal points.