Taurus

MMMMmmmmm! You know what this reminds me of? Strawberry licorice ropes! SPECIFICALLY the good ones that taste like fresh, real strawberries and sugar, NOT waxy ropes or twizzlers or red vines.

On second thought it also reminds me of strawberry shortcake with tons and tons of sugar on the strawberries and pound cake as the cake- like my Dad makes it. There are lots of pleasant associations with this tea flavor.

The red rooibos in this is quite nice- not overpoweringly earthy and just enough menthol taste to add to the candy sensation without making it seem too artificial.

Oh and thanks, SOPHIE AND LAURENT for this sample! :-)

(240 ‘cause apparently i did toss this one in my cupboard) Another sample from Laurent and one of the ones i’ve been most looking forward too. I love me a good strawberry cream tea (thank you nicole for the additional walter bishop you sent!!!!!!!!!!)

this tea smells divine! holy strawberries batman!this…this is reaaaaallly good. It’s not at all like walter bishop or the other strawberry rooibos blends i’ve had. it’s different. and equally delicious. it’s like a juicy strawberry burst open in my mouth. slightly artificial but not in the strawberry starburst kind of way…just a more like strawberry flavour than fresh strawberries picked from the garden.

this one is really good….i can see this being tasty cold brewed AND with sweetner/milk in it. really nice!

The discription does not lie. Strawberries and cream! This is scrumptious. The strawberry flavor is perfect, just like the real thing, fresh from the farmers markets.
Even if Roobious isnt usually your thing, give this a try. Its wonderful.

You just can’t mess up a tea that has strawberry in it. This little sample from the nice folks at Nina’s has a bushel of farm-fresh strawberry flavor and is thicker and more velvety on the tongue than other rooibos blends.

…oh my…and with a little sweetener as k s recommended, it turns into shortcake!

I steeped this for a long while without watching the clock… maybe a bit over 10 minutes? Anyway it came out wonderfully juicy with a dead-on natural strawberry flavor. Many thanks to Laurent and Sophie at Nina’s Paris for the sample, and I get to call this a sipdown!

This is a sample sent by Laurent and Sophie at Nina’s. Thank you! I tried to review this early this morning but Steepster was acting up again and it wouldn’t let me.

I used my whole sample to make a small pot of hot tea. My friend and I drank one 5 ounce cup each with no sweetener. The rooibos base comes through very clearly but the strawberry is nice and fruity. I saved the remaining eight ounces and let it cool. I added simple syrup and ice, and I think this is the way I enjoyed it most. It is nice and light, clear and fruity.

Thank you again, Nina’s!

This was the last of my loose-leaf samples that I had to log. And just as I was brewing this cup, the mail arrived with new samples, ha! I don’t think I will ever be caught up. But I look forward to trying the new samples when I get home from the beach on Friday.

I saved this sample for last because I was pretty excited about it. I don’t love rooibos, but all of the other teas that I’ve tried from Nina’s have been so well balanced that I figured this one would be worth a try. The dry leaves smell of fresh strawberries with a hint of rooibos. The tea in my cup has a rooibos and jammy strawberry aroma. The flavor is bursting with fresh strawberries and cream. There is really only a little rooibos noticeable in the aftertaste. This is really a great tea and I am loving this fresh strawberry flavor. Perfect for summer, and I bet it would be wonderful iced! Thank you, Sophie and Laurent from Nina’s Paris for this sample!

-Dry blend has red rooibos with pieces of dried strawberries.
-Dry leaves smell like fresh strawberries with a hint of rooibos. Tea liquor aroma is of rooibos and jammy strawberry.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium reddish orange color.
-Fresh strawberry flavor and finish. Light berry and cream aftertaste with a hint of rooibos.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Fresh and juicy strawberry flavor with a heavy cream note. Only a small rooibos flavor noticeable in the aftertaste.

Sipdown!! (178)

I found a lot of the Nina’s Paris’ blends smelled strongly of rooibos which made me nervous but trying the different teas and tasting how delicious they were, I thought I should give the rooibos a try.

Tastewise, this is definitely creamy and there is a nice strawberry tang to it. What I am not loving is the rooibos I am picking up in the smell. I find that detracts from the tea. However, if I ignore the rooibos smell, it is just a nice cup of strawberry and cream. I am not sure if I will order this (because of my own issues with rooibos and not because of the flavors of the tea) but I am definitely enjoying this cup.

Once again, thank you Sophie and Laurent for allowing me to come to your office and try your teas. It was truly an amazing experience!!

ETA: The strawberry flavor comes out more and more as it cools!

I would like to thank Laurent and Sophie from Nina’s Paris for providing me with this sample. My full review can be found on my blog:

http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2013/9/10/tuesday-tea-taurus-ninas-paris.html

This tea is very smoothly flavored with just a hint of cream. The rooibos comes through strongly and it isn’t until the tea starts to cool that I can taste the strawberry. Even then, the strawberry remains more of a background note and I wish it were the star. I loved the sweet, yet tart flavor it gave the blend. Strawberry is a really hard flavor to nail, it always winds up tasting artificial to me, and I’m happy to say that this is a great example of a strawberry and cream tea.

I wish I had a larger sample to try, I can see this making an excellent iced tea when sweetened with a little simple syrup to bring out the strawberry flavor a little more.

Thank you for the free sample!

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard they were giving away free rooibos samples, but this is amazing. It’s so fruity and creamy – I could tell immediately what flavour it was without reading the description.

I only used half of the sample to make this cup – I’ll have to ice the other half as I suspect it would be even better chilled!

Would I stock this? Yes