Ysaurella Send Message

What a lovely tea ! I am a sucker for apple teas and for peach, apricot and vanilla teas so…i picked this one

I especially adore apricots but actually I refuse to buy any…I am living in Paris it just means we don’t have apricots around and I cannot buy directly to the producer…We are producing a lot of Apricot in the south of France but if I want to buy 1 kg (2.2 pounds) I have to pay 7 € ! 3 years ago during the season apricots were around 3 € which was correct. And I won’t speak about cherries (9 € a kg !) I hope in your respective countries you can buy seasonal fruits without contracting a credit :) !

The tea…of course I love this one.
I brewed it at 100°c and left it for 6 minutes.
Again same tea base as with the other Nina’s Paris flavoured blacks I tried until now.
The aromas are incredible and I got first peach and vanilla then apricot, apple is really behind.
This is my favourite of the Nina’s samples I tried until now.So delicate, so smooth and YUMMY.
Thank you Laurent and Mélanie from Nina’s Paris for the sample.

I am sipping it right now and it is so good…It comes from a sample I had with my Theodor order.
I wouldn’t have ordered it by myself because it contains mango but I can reconsider because the main notes are much rose and lemon to me and the mango comes delicately.
I am very surprised how these 3 flavours work lovely together. The green tea base is smooth and with absolutely none astringency except a small pleasant note on the aftertaste which adds somme seriousness to the blend, I am very impressed by Theodor’s greens until now.

To me Theodor is really a very very very high tea merchant and creator, I think I’m going to consider buying their straight teas to develop my palate because if they are picking the right straight teas as they blend their flavoured teas I can find easily the way to drink more staights.

It is my second sample kindly sent by Laurent and Mélanie from Nina’s.

I am an Earl Grey lover, I have at least 8 Earl Grey or Earl Grey variations teas in my cupboard. So I was really happy to have another one to discover.

I didn’t respect the brewing advices of Nina’s because for the first sample I found the tea base light for my palate so I decided to steep 5 minutes.
And I think I have been right.

The bergamot is subtle and delicate and it was really light on the dry leaf scent.It smelled subtle but delicious.

The liquor is beautiful, an amber coulour, translucent, very lovely but I was a little worried because generally when I can see clearly the bottom of my mug it often means the tea base is light and often too light.

This Earl Grey has a very nicely balanced citrusy bergamot, this is really well done.Flavour is really a perfection :natural, not over- perfumy,it’s just as if a very fresh bergamot had been squeezed and added to the tea.

I suspect the keemun used as base is the same as the one used in Thé de Vendôme. I can taste it better here vs the previous sample but it is still a little too light for my taste. I would have prefered a medium-bodied tea but this is really a question with my own tastes.

This Earl Grey is really refreshing and perfectly blended. I would consider it as a Summer Earl Grey.
I imagine it can make a very nice iced-tea as well.

Second steep, longer, 4 minutes, less water, 95°c and not boiling and the base comes better out.
It’s still light for my personal taste but it may be the purpose of this tea to be especially light (light on tannins too)and refreshing.
I need to continue exploring my samples of Nina’s tea to have a better panorama on their creations.

Anyway : smooth and mellow tea (awww Keemuns I love you), light bodied with wonderfuls natural aromas of orange and grapefruit (most on the grapefruit side to my opinion) : definitively a pleasant tea for an evening in summer.

Thank you so much Laurent and Mélanie for having sent me some samples from Nina’s Paris.

Thé de Vendôme is my first sample : I have chosen it randomly among the other samples…;) … Do you know how I choice randomly ? I pick one randomly and randomly say…oh no, not this one tonight…and then another always randomly…until I randomly choice this one. This is my typical touch for hazard …
So I went for this one because it has grapefruit in the ingredient list and it is mentioned to be a keemun and I love keemuns.
Grapefruit seems to be a difficult fruit to respect in a tea.I had very few and was curious.

The sample is a delicate and beautiful tea bag made of a luxious muslin.
I like to sniff the dry leaf so you should imagine me sniffing the leaf through the muslin…definitively the less sexiest ceremony for a tea BUT that’s the way I am.
The dry leaf so was absolutely divine, for sure it is orange and grapefruit and a natural scent.

I strictly respected the timing advices of Nina’s : 2 minutes (even if I found it really short) and used boiling water as no temperature recommendation is provided.

I retain my note at the moment because even if I can say the aromas are just fantastic and incredibly refined, sophisticated and so natural, the tea base is really weak, present but weak.

I will retry soon with a longer steep (4 minutes at least) to see if the base is coming out better for my taste.

You know I am not an expert in drinking straight teas but I think I’m good enough to recognize a great tea and this one is a wonderful tea.

I should thank and even warmly thank TheTeaFairy for sharing this tea with me.

I don’t find it so strong neither so malty as described in a lot of reviews and I don’t even find it so chocolaty – What I get much with my poor tastebuds is the a warm bread taste and an honey hint.
It’s so smooth and mellow it’s just incredible.

I really enjoy it and it surely goes in the shopping list.
I think Sil had sent me a sample as well of this one…I’m looking forward to have it for a second cup this week.

It seems I am the very first to review this tea.
It comes from a sample I had with my Theodor order in may. Never have taken the time to taste it until now.

I am on holidays since this morning and this is just so pleasant to take the time to have breakfast or brunch properly without hurrying and worrying about trains, buses and timings.

The brewing instructions of Theodor are always surprinsing but I have the habit to strictly respect what they request and it is always for the best.

This Earl grey supérieur (pointes blanches) has been brewed at 85°c (185°F) only and it is perfect.
The bergamot is subtile here and isn’t overpowering at all. The tea base is very delicate without any acridness. It’s a medium bodied tea.
It’s not a sweet tea neither,it’s not so smooth nor mellow.
It’s abslotutely a very present tea with a specific personnality.

I’am happy to have found another Earl Grey so different and I love.
It’s a pity the sample was only for one mug.

Quick note to say this tea is really nice iced as I was suspecting.
The lotus flowers and jasmine are the main tastes here and offer a very floral and refreshing iced tea.

I need to thanks warmly TheTeaFairy here for providing me some of this tea during our last swap.
I turned around for a long time before tasting it for 2 reasons :

1/ I’m afraid not loving it because I am often disapointed by myself when I drink a straight tea, not able to appreciate most of them.
2/ this is an assam…and assams are capricious teas, so strong robust and…often bitter to me !

But several Butiki straight teas were a success for me so I dared…and it’s a chance I did !
This assam is just fantastic : no bitterness at all nor astringency even if I respected the brewing times given by TheTeaFairy : 3 minutes.
It’s a so smooth and mellow tea, that’s just incredible regarding all the other assams I had in the past.

The notes are delicate and I can pick some spices somehow, pershaps cinnamon, not sure of my taste here and raisins. There is a soft malty chocolate note as well but no too strong for the best.

I really like it but I have one regret : I don’t get any aftertaste with this tea. After drinking its taste just disappears…like a wizzard…no more trace…I miss it…It’s a shocking way to disappear like that…

So ,need to have another cup…
Is the upgrade version lingers after drinking ?

I’m now sipping this tea iced since 3 days…like a mono-maniac person…
We have 32°c here and even had 38°c on Monday. I am unable to drink hot tea(or whatever else hot !)with these kind of temperature.

I prepared 5 liters (yes 5 liters, just for me, no one else as my daughter is with her grand parents during holidays) and I normally drink 1 liter in 2 hours. My stomach just looks like an enormous balloon but I still have the impression to be alive…yes you have guessed I hate when the weather is too hot.
Weather in Scandinavia is just the perfection for me.

So believe me and trust me : I tasted this tea iced in so enoooooormooooooous volumes that I can say : YEAH it’s nice and even more than nice.
This meh tea as hot beverage turned paradisiacal when iced.

The Betjeman & Barton ’s rapsberry gives the very best of its aroma iced.