Kittenna

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Kittenna drank Nina's Japon by Nina's Paris

Thanks to Laurent at Nina’s Paris for this sample!

Ever since tasting 52teas’ Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha (and Cherry Cheesecake Genmaicha), I have been seeking out flavoured genmaichas, so naturally, I wanted to try this one! It’s a bit of a twist, with black tea in the blend as well, but I was hoping that it wouldn’t really be a big contributor to the flavour.

Anyhow, I opted to brew this as a green (though I regret not lowering the temperature further due to some astringency even with my short 2 minute infusion), which was probably the way to go. The dry tea didn’t have a ton of flavour that I recall, but once the water hit the tea? Instant thoughts of Marshmallow Treat, though more of a caramelly version. Which is super exciting, since MT is not being reblended as I would like, but this should be much more readily available!

I let the tea cool a fair bit before drinking it (as I always do), and at first sip, I definitely have to say that I have a bit of a tea crush, haha. It’s not as good as MT, and definitely more caramelly than fluffy vanilla/marshmallow, and I’m getting some astringency (tough to know whether that’s because I used a temp 3 degrees C higher than I should have, or because of the black tea, and sadly I don’t have enough to try again). The astringency is really the most annoying thing for me, since it dampens my enjoyment of the otherwise quite delicious toasty genmaicha/caramel blend.

Overall, I think if I ever made a Nina’s order, this would be included, though I personally wish that there wasn’t any black tea in this blend, as I don’t think it’s adding anything positive.

Thanks again for the sample, Nina’s Paris!

ETA: This one re-steeped well! So I got a tasty second cup from it today :)

2013-02-20 10:53:01 -0500

185 °F / 85 °C

2 min 0 sec

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Josie Jade 2013-02-20 11:10:53 -0500

I still have this one to try too, I’m excited after reading other’s comments.

Kittenna 2013-02-20 11:17:04 -0500

It’s tasty! I hate that my rating makes it look like I didn’t like it or something, but I’ve tried to go back to my “ratings scale”, as I was falling into the trap of rating pretty much everything (except teas I hated) within the top 20 points of the scale.

Kittenna 2013-02-20 11:17:28 -0500

(Just bumped my rating two points so it’s bright green, haha)

Tealizzy 2013-02-20 20:27:51 -0500

Ooooh, I’m so excited to try this one now! I’ve been waiting for a morning at home to enjoy it. Maybe tomorrow!

Sil 2013-02-20 21:10:56 -0500

we’ll have to place a joint order with nina after we get through the samples :)

Kittenna 2013-02-21 11:57:47 -0500

Tealizzy – I hope you like it!

Tealizzy 2013-02-21 14:27:02 -0500

I tried it this morning and I did like it! Really interesting to add other flavors to genmaicha! I’ll have to tea log it.

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.