Nina's Paris

Bought it because it smelled so bright and grapefruit in the shop. I love grapefruit! Don’t get any rose flavor. Kinda reminds me of a brisk tea with a weird citrus twist. Not bad. Probably souldnt repurchase. Will likely keep the tin forever!

Got this free when I bought a tea and had tea at Nina’s in Paris. We did a day trip, one day to to roam the city and another for Disneyland Paris. It was a great experience and I would recommend it. We got to try the cake Marie Antoinette ate and they had some replicas of her shoes and nice portraits. Overall its a decent Earl Grey. I enjoyed it. Not my fave but top three.

Yay for more tea from Dustin!

Dustin sent so many teas from my wishlist for me to try, including this one. It’s so unashamedly floral – I love it! Still have lots of this one left so will write a proper review at some point later on. I drank it so quickly that all I remember is its strong floral aroma which reminds me of my favorite floral tea (Valley of the Heart’s Delight by Satori).

Pulled from TTB 2022, shared by Dustin.

This one might be my favorite from the box so far. It’s like a very refined version of some caramel black teas I’ve tried in the past. I’m not sure what makes it feel so fancy, but I like it. Definitely keeping what’s left of this one.

Gifted

The aroma from the dry leaf is sweet rose petals and a slight tinge of cinnamon. I think about the champagne gummy bears that my wife and I get from our local Marshall’s when we’re feeling bourgeois.

The wet leaf has more of the black tea base jump out, less rose than the dry leaf, and a little more cinnamon. They should make this into a perfume.

On the flavor, I tasted heavy black tea base (smooth & mildly malt), definitely the rose, and an ever slight hint of marshmallow (the marshmallow when cream is added). I definitely find this tea to inspire a bit of poetry or perhaps a moment to write a postcard to a friend (yes, I write/collect postcards)! Quite a lovely session. :)

I was absolutely fascinated that this tea brand has been around since the 1600s. I watched a youtube vid of someone explaining why this tea would not have been the exact one that Marie would have drank but its fun nonetheless. Sounds super fancy with apples and roses growing from Versailles. Anyway, when I first got it the floral apple scent was quite overwhelming and I didn’t like it at first. Until I began adding milk and sugar. Then I loved it. I’m a fan. Kinda pricy…. But maybe worth an occasional treat

French Friday! Pulled this sampler from Dustin for today, thank you Dustin! (Also taking this as my Ode to Tea N entry!)

Dry leaf has a strong coconut cream aroma. Steeped about 2.6g per 350ml in 175F water for 3 minutes. The brewed tea still has that coconut cream aroma, but I’m getting a light caramel note as well. I can taste the genmaicha in the base, there is a sort of dry hay/vegetal quality beneath the flavoring, but the genmai flavor is quite light here, just a hint of some toastiness. The coconut/caramel cream flavor fills out quickly, it’s prominent but not overpowering. Though I know it isn’t in the blend, something about the mix of flavors here is tricking my tongue into tasting a hint of sarsaparilla, which I have no complaints about! The tea is very silky smooth.

Perhaps not as bold as I’m used to for a “first thing in the morning tea” but still a lovely cuppa.

Happy National Random Acts of Kindness Day! Today for the sipdown thread the prompt is “drink a tea that was kindly gifted to you!” Dustin kindly gave me several extra French tea samples above and beyond the THEODOR ones I purchased, including this one! Brewed as my morning cuppa.

Made my first cup with my typical black tea parameters: 2.5g to 350ml 205F water, steeped for three minutes. The packet says to use shorter steeps, but since in general I trend to using a lot less leaf than most folks, I decided to start with my standard, then adjust for the second cup if needed. I find it interesting that the company page says the flavoring is rose and apple, because the aroma I got sniffing the dry leaf was a mix of pear, black currant, and purple grape candy!

The aroma from my cooling cup mostly just smells like pear to me, but knowing that it is supposed to be apple, I can certainly get green apple. I’m definitely smelling rose now; a gentle, sweet floral, finely mixed with the fruity aroma and not overpowering. I’m not getting a strong astringent bite from the tea liquor on the sip, so I think it steeped just fine; the base is a touch malty and a touch smoky, neither characteristics I’d peg for a Ceylon, but that’s what I taste. The fruitiness on the sip still presents as pear to me, with soft rosy undertones. I like the flavor pairing. It’s only long after the sip, once the tea has settled on my tongue, that a mellow sweet red apple flavor emerges.

This is nice! I’m really digging the rose paired with a sweet fruitiness. Thanks for the chance to try it, Dustin!

I found a little ziploc of this tisane when I was organizing my stash today. I know it has to be old and I can’t remember where it came from, but since Cameron B last edited the info, I am guessing it was from a swap we did about…three years ago?

Looking at it, I thought it was plain chamomile. The aroma had a little something extra but I wasn’t sure what. Steeped, it is mostly chamomile. The description says it has orange flavor which sounds absolutely delightful, but if it was here it faded, and the tea can’t be blamed. It is entirely my fault for having too much tea and not getting around to drinking things in their prime.

I am a bit of a night owl but I am super relaxed and sleepy now, so maybe the chamomile is working its magic in spite of the age. It was good, and I can tell there is something added but would not have been able to peg it as orange.

Thank you, Cameron B, if this was from you!

Advent from Dustin Day 20
Very thankful for all of the difficult to obtain blends Dustin included in my advent. I’ve been having so much fun trying so many new-to-me teas.
Really enjoying this! Like a toasted coconut and caramel pastry.

Advent from Dustin Day 8
(backlog)
Another absolutely delicious tea from Dustin! This smells divine- like honeyed rose petals and sticky sweet apples. Tastes pretty much exactly as it smells. The rose and apple work so well together. There’s actually a tearoom near me that’s doing afternoon tea to go and they offer this as a selection, so I may have to treat myself!

The chocolate orange in this is subtle, but natural. The orange note is fresh and more noticeable than the chocolate, which comes across as dark and rich. It’s one of the better chocolate orange teas I’ve tried, though not my favourite – that title belongs to Butiki’s Three Friends. I wish I could have written a more detailed note on this, but my mind is elsewhere today. Thank you for sending me this sample, Marzipan.

Sipdown 208/399

This smells like a lot of fruit flavored blends. I expected it to taste like it too, but it has something extra. It almost has a floral rose like flavor underneath that works really well. I don’t think I’d put it on my shopping list, but I’d definitely drink it again.

Sipdown!

Got this who knows how long from VariaTEA!

I this tea won my random sipdown grab bag. I didn’t smell it before brewing it so once I got a whiff of the mint I was surprised. Had I known there was spearmint in here I would have done a different tea… idk I only drink mint when I’m sick and I prefer peppermint! Spearmint just tastes like toothpaste to me.

Peppermint and spearmint aside, it’s an okay tea, but not my fave.

I’ve been shuffling my teas around, so neglected things have come to the surface.

Home with the flu or a nasty cold today and I wanted something, something, something—-not quite sure, but the exact right something. And I wasn’t open to my flu teas which tend to be lemongrass and ginger medicinal types.

This long neglected sample from VariaTEA is exactly the right something for this moment. Apple softened with vanilla with a healthy dash of cinnamon. Despite my nasal congestion and sore throat and diminished tastebuds, I still get that this is a Christmas tea—it’s got that Christmas tea je ne sais quoi pas.

Thank you for the share, VariaTEA. This is exactly what the moment requires.

I’ve been shuffling my teas around, so neglected things have come to the surface. Home with the flu or a nasty cold today and I wanted something, something, something—-not quite sure, but the exact right something. And I wasn’t open to my flu teas which tend to be lemongrass and ginger medicinal types.

This long neglected sample from VariaTEA is exactly the right something for this moment. Apple softened with vanilla with a healthy dash of cinnamon. Despite my nasal congestion, I still get that this is a Christmas tea—it’s got that Christmas tea je ne sais quoi pas.

Thank you for the share, VariaTEA. This is exactly what the moment requires.

I have to assume that the adorable little red tin of Nina’s tea I have is this tea… I don’t recall who gave it to me, but it looks like black tea + rose petals, and it tastes like a mouthful of roses. Anyways – I previously posted about a tea labelled floral death, but that label should really be on this tea. It’s literally like rose perfume. In my mouth. I am not a fan, it’s just far too strong. Thanks for the sample, though, whoever this is from!

Sipdown 158/397

Yum! Even old this tea has a strong scent and flavour. I found the base tea quite astringent, though, so added milk and sugar. Waaaay too much sugar, but it’s still tasty. This is a perfect dessert tea, something to have when you’re craving that buttery caramel sweetness but don’t want or can’t have an actual dessert for one reason or another. The vanilla is actually more strongly present than I expected; I thought it would be overwhelmed by the caramel, but it’s not. Not as good as Butiki’s Caramel Vanilla Assam, but almost. Definitely something which could replace it, when I eventually run out of the last 2oz I’ve been hoarding. If I ever find out how to order from Nina’s (I might just end up going to Paris) this will probably be a part of my order.

Thank you so much VariaTEA for sharing!

This is easily my favourite genmaicha I’ve ever tried. I’m not a huge fan of green vegetal teas or more savoury teas in general, vastly preferring black when given the choice, so I’m sure the addition of black tea to this mix has a lot to do with it. The caramel and vanilla flavours meld together really nicely, and create a sweeter genmaicha than any other I’ve found, whilst keeping the flavour more on the natural-tasting side. It’s definitely not an overpowering sweetness. Reminds me of Butiki’s Caramel Vanilla Assam, but with a lighter body and a roasty twist. Yummy! If I ever find a way of ordering from Nina’s – I had a look at their website and they don’t seem to have an online store – this would quite possibly go on the list. It is definitely the only genmaicha I would consider purchasing.

Thanks for sharing, VariaTEA! Sipdown 153/397.

This is such a delicate tea! I don’t mean that it’s weak, or that the flavours are hard to find, but it’s just delicate, you know? It feels pretty. The apple and rose flavours go very well together, and I am a fan of rose tea so it’s no surprise that I like this one. The apple isn’t as strong, but it’s definitely there. As others have mentioned it’s not a sweet red apple flavour, but a more fresh, crisp green apple note. I added a little bit of sugar and the fruitiness popped a little more. My only qualm with this tea is that the base is a little bit strong for the flavour pairing. It’s malty, bold and astringent (only a little bit), and it makes me want to add milk though I didn’t because I don’t think it would go with the rose and apple flavours. I can’t help wishing that a more delicate black tea base had been utilised for this blend; something a little bit floral or honey-like, perhaps. This Ceylon has just a little bit too much punch. I haven’t drank this since I was first sent the sample, and at that time I drank most of my black teas, flavoured or not, with a splash of milk. I remember enjoying it this way, but can’t say if the flavours still came through or not. This could quite possibly make its way into a future order, providing it still exists.

Thank you VariaTEA for sending me this! Sipdown 140/395.