The thing I was originally going to write about this was “this tastes like the Hogwarts library.” I was going to talk about the vegetal green taste with the rich old spices, like herbology books being read by Neville Longbottom after a long day of academia. I had a variety of very interesting, seemingly novel ideas.
(NOVEL IDEAS? GET IT?)
Then I went to 52Teas’ own description which — I do not jest — literally says: “I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and have been for a lot of years so this year as my Halloween offering, I decided I wanted to celebrate my favorite books with a tribute to one of the wizarding world’s favorite juices: Pumpkin Juice!”
I don’t remember the words “pumpkin juice” being used in the Potterverse, but apparently the association was subliminal, because there I was, browsing the Hogwarts library’s forbidden section and trying not to get bitten by books with the best of them.
The tea itself tastes like pumpkin, pineapple, and spices. It’s a cool mix!
I’ve tried a bunch of Pumpkin Spice beverages this autumn, and this one stands out as the most original. It’s the only one that features green tea (!) and pineapples (!).
I suppose if you are a pumpkin spice classicist, you can drink your black pumpkin tea in your mundane Muggle life.
I, on the other hand, will be sharing this cup with Hagrid and Fang
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Flavored Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and have been for a lot of years so this year as my Halloween offering, I decided I wanted to celebrate my favorite books with a tribute to one of the wizarding world’s favorite juices: Pumpkin Juice!
Having never actually tasted pumpkin juice, I googled “pumpkin juice” for some ideas on recipes for it. There are a few different recipes online for pumpkin juice and each of them were a little different. Some were a combination of orange juice and pumpkin juice – which sounded interesting! Another included dried apricots instead of the orange juice – also interesting! Others were made with peach or pear juice. But the recipe that appealed to me most was one that combined pumpkin, apple juice, pineapple juice and spices. I thought that the apple would add some pleasant sweetness to the savory quality of the pumpkin and the pineapple juice would add some brightness to the overall flavor.
I started with a base of fair-trade, rainforest alliance certified Satemwa estate green teas (OP1 & Zomba Steamed) and added chunks of dried pumpkin, freeze-dried apples and pineapple, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and touch of freshly shaved nutmeg. The fruits do soften the flavor of the pumpkin somewhat however, the overall flavor is quite autumn-y and delicious.
