Eve

Thanks to Laurent and Sophie for this sample.

I’ve had a bad day. My team lost and I’m subsisting on two hours of sleep. The only saving grace to this day was the arrival of my Nina’s Tea samples. I’ve been waiting for them and they did not disappoint. 

This is one lovely tea. It’s very peachy. And not artificial peach but a very sweet yet tart juicy peach flavor. There is also a bit of apple but it’s not as up-front as the peach. There was also a nice vanilla finish.The black tea base was lovely with no astringency. It was very smooth and creamy. 

I did a second steep because I loved it so much. The peach became more of a background flavor. The apple and vanilla really stood out. I was also surprised to see the apricot come out so boldly. It almost reminded me of apricot jam. There was absolutely no fade. It only got better.
 
I love this tea. I want to buy a whole bunch of it. It is one of the best flavored black teas I have tried so far. I can’t wait to try Nina’s Japon tomorrow. 

I’d been wanting to try this for ages, so I was pleased as punch when Ost sent me this sample. It sounded like exactly the sort of flavors that I would like.
And I was right! This is really nice. The black base is not overwhelming, and there is a lovely creaminess to the tea, on top of which float the crisp fruit notes.
Its a very classy tea, and I’m really glad to have tried it.
And it counts as a sipdown! Woo!

Thanks to the generous Lala for passing down a cup of this! I’m not sure how old this tea is, but I’m only picking up vanilla with a touch of fruit in the background, but it’s not distinctively peach or apricot. It almost tastes more like apple than the former two. Nice and smooth, no bitterness or astringency. I could see myself picking up some of this when I make an order (ugh, whenever that’ll be…).

Okay so I’m definitely going to need to order from Nina’s Paris one day. This is the second tea I’ve tried from them, courtesy of Ost who sent me sample, and it is delicious! I mostly taste peach, but something about this seemed more special than your run-of-the-mill peach black tea. Perhaps it was just the quality that made it better? It smelled fantastic, too! I got two good steeps before it started to weaken (just like the first tea I had from this company). Anyone have any other suggestions for teas I should try from Nina’s Paris??

Christiana sent me a really generous sample of this tea in our swap a couple weeks ago! Wasn’t sure I’d like it much, but I was pleasantly surprised!
It tastes similar to H&S’s White Peach. It’s like biting into a fresh, juicy peach. It’s pretty good! Even mixed with the Apricot flavor it’s still good.
Think that’s what makes it not taste like Adagio’s Peach Tea, which just tastes like burnt peaches to me. xD
Glad I got to try this one. Thank you so much, Christina! :D

Backlog from last night.

Got this as a free sample awhile back when Laurent was offering 3 samples to try. I got this one, Je T’aime & Mon Secret. Backlogged review for Je T’aime coming next.
There was two tsp in the package, so I dumped the whole sample in.
Off the bat it was deliciously fruity smelling. Reminded me of the peach oolong I have from Adagio. I didn’t really get much vanilla in the smell, just the peach/apricot/fruityness.
Taste wise it doesn’t quite live up to the anticipation of the smell. It’s fruity, but the taste kinda falls flat for me. So does whatever the base tea is, which is just kinda there, but could be stronger. Adding some Truvia helped boost the fruityness, but overall I don’t think it really improved it. And after awhile it got kinda bitter.
So, good to try, nothing I’d likely order myself.

So far all the Nina’s teas I’ve tried do better at a slightly lower temperature than I’d usually use. This time I brewed this just below boiling, and it worked much better. There’s a lot more peach to it and it mixes well with the apple. I’m upping the rating since this is so juicy; I would definitely consider getting this if there was room in my cabinet.

Thanks to Laurent and Dorian @ Nina’s Paris USA for this sample! I have to admit that I didn’t pay much attention to the dry leaves because I was in morning autopilot other than to notice that there were fruity chunks included. However, when I poured the water on, I turned away to continue slicing a banana, the aroma caught up to me, and I then literally whipped my head back around to take a huge whiff. That is how heavenly this tea smells! Oh, and the taste does not disappoint either! I think I may be apple insensitive because I often don’t taste the apple flavor in tea and this is no exception. I really don’t care at all though, because this is lovely peachy-apricoty goodness with the vanilla to soften and enhance the fruit flavors. As with the other teas I’ve tried from this company, you still get a nice dose of the base tea so you know you are drinking tea and not fruit juice. The flavors are beautifully and subtly present. This is another win for Nina’s Paris! So good!!

Nina’s does fruit flavors well and properly! This one is so finely tuned it is difficult to tell where the apple stops and the apricot starts—-it’s just a soft, sweet compendium of flavors, with soft vanilla that makes its presence known, but doesn’t interfere. Just pretty close to perfect.

Thank you, Laurent and Sophie, for a sample!

A nice apricot and apple aroma, very pleasant to smell. The liquor is full-bodied, brisk, and malty. The base tea takes over and, unfortunately, the fruitiness isn’t so strong.