Pour Maman

Wow.

Thank you, JustJames. For introducing me to ninas paris, because they are about to acquire a new customer.

I was excited by the dry smell of this tea, but like I said about my review of the de lune, it was hard to tell specifically what smells belonged to this tea and what smells belonged to the overall package, which was beautifully fragrant. But I remember being very intrigued by the description of this tea, complete with vanilla, strawberry, and rose petals. How adorable!

I used a heaping tsp for 8 oz of water, added in a splash of cream to thicken things up a bit, and about a tsp and a half of rock sugar. Brewed for about four and a half minutes.

And it’s divine. I remember reading a tasting note that suggested that this tea would also be perfect for a new mom (I think it was written by ashmanra, but can’t be certain), because the scent is precious, and kind of reminds you of a new nursery, with the soft, delicate scent of clean, happy baby (we won’t get into how exhausted mom likely is, although this tea will surely help!). It definitely has a “baby soft” smell that wafts gently, that’s for sure.

And the taste. My good god, the taste. Thick vanilla, and genuine, fresh, juicy strawberry. The rose petals make a slight and soft appearance towards the end of the sip, giving it a bit of a clean, slightly soapy (but in the best way possible!) finish, and I think it perfects this tea like nothing else. as I sipped it, I imagined sitting in my kitchen on a warm summer’s day, the windows thrown open, and the summer-scented breeze blowing through. The sound of children playing and laughing, the smell of fresh-cut grass, and the low rumble of a lawn mower making itself known, probably being shoved around by a cheerfully whistling happy old man, delighted to spruce up the garden for spring. I will absolutely be placing an order for this tea, and am excited to have discovered a summer tea. Try it, guys! You’ll love it!

Thank you so very much from the bottom of my complicated heart, JustJames! This tea spoke to me and it made me smile. Made me think that I shouldn’t take life so seriously!

We are on vacation and my eldest daughter just joined us last night. She brought a Mother’s Day gift with her! How fitting is Pour Maman for Mother’s Day! After smelling it, though, I think it would also be perfect for a baby shower gift to a new mother, because the aroma is so sweet. The word “precious” comes to mind.

This is a blend of green and black tea, but I pampered it and treated it like a green all the way. What can I say? Oh la la! The aroma is like a warm blanket tucked around when you are chilly. The strawberry is the main fragrance, with vanilla and rose beneath. Absolutely wonderful.

I gave a sip or two to my daughter who does not care for black tea but likes some greens and she liked it very much. She also thought it would be great iced, so I may give that a try, but honestly, this is going in my stash of tea to drink when you want to wrap your hands around your cup and escape from the world. Magnifique!

And there goes another of the samples from JustJames! Now my cupboard is at 88, which is nearly half of what it was in the summer. That’s crazy!

I think this is another one I’ll have to stock up on, somehow, at some point. It’s creamy, with strawberry and smells delicious. I don’t even mind the rose petals – it just adds a touch to the fragrance without making it perfumy.

I wish I’d realized that this was a black/green blend as I steeped it at near boiling, but this isn’t bitter at all. It’s just fragrant, and fruity and perfect.

Thank you JustJames for sending me a sample of this wonderful tea. I probably wouldn’t have had a chance to try this otherwise.

When I looked at the leaves in my infuser I didn’t know what to expect. My first cup of this went pretty quick, so I decided to make a second cup of it and pay more attention to the flavours. This is a very soft and delicate tasting tea. Gentle and pleasing in both aroma and flavour. I don’t usually enjoy floral tea’s but here the rose is mild and mellow. Perfect for a quiet moment out of a hectic schedule.

Thanks Laurent for this sample!
Yummm this is delicious. I’m not usually a big black tea fan, but the combination of green really compliments this. I was scared it might become astringent, like some green/black blends that I have tried, but it isn’t at all and the strawberry and vanilla work perfectly together (especially when paired with the red velvet cheesecake cupcake I’m having right now…). I can’t wait to try the other samples.

How does one purchase Nina’s teas? I was window-shopping on their website as I drank this, and noticed that there doesn’t seem to be an option to buy online. Are they only available in the shop in Paris? This is good for my no-buy but bad for the part of me that wants to place an order. They have so many teas I’d like more of!

This was one I enjoyed, but probably not enough to order more of (if I figured out a way to place an order, that is). It’s an elegant, sort of delicate tea which seems to be the theme with Nina’s as a brand. The blended black and green tea base is really quite nice – it has the maltiness and body from the black, but it’s tempered with more fresh and delicate notes from the green. Though I’m not a big fan of greens in general, strawberry is one of the flavours which I prefer on a green base. I’m not sure why, it just seems to fit. The strawberry note is most noticeable in small little sips, and it’s a natural sort of strawberry flavour. If you take big gulps it tends to get lost in a general red fruits flavour with the base being more noticeable, particularly the malt. I wouldn’t say the cream was identifiable as an individual note, but the cup definitely has a creamy sort of vibe, and it softens and sweetens the strawberry note. The added flavours become less noticeable as the tea cools.

Thank you VariaTEA for the sample!

Sipdown 81/393.

My mom and I enjoyed a cup of Pour Maman earlier this lazy afternoon at the kitchen table. I’ve had it a couple times already but keep failing to log it. The first couple times were more favourable, if memory serves me correctly.

Despite being a blend of black and green tea, it’s easy to please in terms of steeping parameters. I’ve never had the green tea go grossly bitter. It’s light and sparingly like a green tea, but no vegetal, grassy, or floral notes. Meanwhile, the black tea doesn’t take the green tea hostage either. Overall, very light, which allows for the fruits and vanilla to come through.

The vanilla is smooth and not artificial at all. The red fruits are a melange of, well, red fruits, but not an obvious, specific berry. It’s rather vague, like some sweet mixed berry jams are. I’ve been eating a lot of berries as of late, too, seeing that it’s summer, and nothing in here stands out as strawberry, or raspberry, or whatever. I’ll pay extra attention next time, but FWIW, other red fruit French teas seem to go down that route, lending a pleasant, yet convoluted, berry flavour to the blend.

This is much more to my liking. It has a nice sweet, strawberry flavor. The vanilla in this one is much smoother and less bitter than what’s in Je t’Aime. It’s not my favorite blend but I’ve enjoyed this cup. I always love trying new teas! A belated thank you to JustJames for sending me a sample!

Thanks so much to Sil for including this one in the HGTTB for me!
I’m so excited to try this! I’ve almost brewed it a couple of times, but as it’s the first tea I’ll be having from Nina’s Paris, I wanted to wait until I’d have some undistracted time to try it. Dry, it smells mostly of sour fruit and roses, with a follow up of sweet vanilla. As the water hits the leaves though, I get mostly green, with a bit of floral, and I was worried for a minute that this might be all that I would get in the flavor. Luckily, my fears were unfounded!
The taste of this is so juicy, without being fake or to the level of watered down fruit juice. For me, the rose is in the fore-front, and followed by fruit. I can’t really pick one out specifically, but if I had to, I would say cherry, rather than strawberery, takes the spotlight. Just picked cherry flavor though, not maraschino from a jar. The black base is smooth, but doesn’t really make itself known compared to the green in this cup. This is fine with me, as
The smell gets better and better as it cools. The vanilla really comes out, and the scent reminds me a little of a campino candy, but with less sugar and more freshness. The crispness of the green seems to recede a little, allowing the other flavors some time to shine. I brewed this as a black, and it’s not bitter, with just a hint of astringency after the sip. I’m excited to try this brewed as a green next time, and thanks to Sil being very generous with the amount when I asked to sample this, I can!

Man, I can’t believe my winter break is almost over. At least it has been a nice one, just wish I was a bit more productive. At least my room is not a disaster anymore. Plus for Christmas my parents got me my first smart phone, NOW I AM PART OF THE FUTURE! I love it so much (its a LG G3)! It is like having a mini computer in my hand. You can edit the interface so much too!

Anyways after getting a few samples from Ninas tea I finally got a review up for it. This one was my favorite out of the three; though they all were really good.

I have tried black and green mix teas before and they were….. ok. It’s tough to mix different types of teas, especially ones with totally different types of brewing temp like green and black. But that is what intrigued me about the tea. I love weird and experimental stuff. Plus just look at it! It’s so pretty! Not to mention it has strawberry and vanilla flavors. Not sure what type of black tea is in it, but I am sure that the green tea in the mix is a Japanese one by the looks of it. I was pondering what temp to brew the tea at for best results and I decided on 190F; hot enough to bring out the black tea flavor, but not hot enough to totally bake the green tea.

Oh man was this tea good. The black tea flavor was not over powering, but had a ligh­t, malty flavor that complemented the tangy “green” flavor, with hints of floral bits from both; though that could be from the pretty flowers in the mix. The flavoring is perfect as well. Nice strong, sweet, fruit flavor with a supporting, not overpowering vanilla flavor. Once again the flavor added seems to last forever, even into the 3rd steep. I didn’t even bother really with adding sugar. It tasted so good without, like it had real fresh fruit in it, and didn’t taste bitter at all.

Overall: 5 out of 5

The full review with the other teas is here:
http://tunesntea.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/ninas-paris-tea-sample-review/