White teas have not always been my favorite kind of tea, but they have grown on me with every new flavor I try. Since I already like chai teas, I was predisposed to enjoy White Cap Chai from Beach House teas.
This is a wonderful take on the lighter side of chai. The white tea is earthy and smooth, and gently floral. It makes for a vegetal chai without being grassy like green tea. I was thrilled to find a new low caffeine option for chai that isn’t based in rooibos teas.
I adore the mix of spices in this tea, especially the addition of fennel. Fennel occupies that space between sweet spice and savory herb, and brings a new layer to the expected spices like cinnamon or ginger. Added peppercorns also play into the more savory earthiness of the flavors.
Despite some big chai spice players like cloves, anise, and cardamom, the spices themselves are gentle enough to still allow you to taste the white tea and more understated peony flavors. This kind of balance with a spicy tea really shows that the blenders at Beach House Teas know their stuff.
I will have to stock up on White Cap Chai to help balance out all the other black tea or rooibos chais I’ve got in my cupboard. White Cap Chai is versatile and unexpected, perfect for the changing of seasons or for my ever-changing palette for tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Beach House Tea Co.
Description:
White Cap Chai is a lighter version of the traditional chai making it delicate and unique. This beautiful chai is made with 100% organic white peony tea leaves and organic spices. It’s a modern twist on a sweet and spicy classic. The chai gives you a smooth, mellow taste with subtle layers of flavor.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sweet Tea O’Mine from the Goat Tea . . . .
It is always a thrill to find a new favorite fall tea. With so many sweet caramel pumpkin teas or apple-pie-spiced blends, Sweet Tea O’Mine from The Goat Tea was a wonderful new take on the pumpkin spice tea.
This is a honeybush and rooibos based tea, which makes it naturally caffeine free and perfect for late night brewing. Along with the herbal leaves, there is puffed rice like a traditionally green genmaicha tea. I have a soft spot for the starchy, almost savory genmaicha teas with puffed rice, so I was thrilled to find a new tea with this ingredient. The honeybush and puffed rice compliment each other’s nuttiness, making for a rich and warming flavor combination.
Meanwhile the familiar autumn spices are still there, nutmeg and mace to name the key players. This makes the tea have plenty of that pumpkin spice taste, but with a pleasant woodsy undertone from the herbal leaves. I also appreciate that the blend isn’t too sweet or artificial. There is a medium sweetness with lingering flavors like brown sugar or molasses.
With its roasted wheat and toasted rice flavors this tea captures all the best parts of corn mazes and hay bales and gets me suitable excited for the upcoming 2019 fall season.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: herbal
Where to Buy: The Goat Tea
Description:
Who says Pumpkin can only be for one season? Enjoy a cup of this sweet tea, swirling with the taste of pumpkin, caramel, and cinnamon. It is like fall in your mouth.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pumpkin Chai Latte from the Spice and Tea Exchange
I love all the pumpkin spiced things that come with it. When I saw the first few samples of Pumpkin Chai Latte hit the shelves at the Spice and Tea Exchange, I had to give it a try.
This is a great pumpkin tea to keep in your fall roundup. Where most pumpkin spice teas have lots of caramel, this tea features cacao shells and maple crystals. Pumpkin Chai Latte is still plenty sweet and perfectly spiced with warm cinnamon, but the more robust and earthy flavors of raw chocolate and molasses give richness and body to the brew.
There is also a surprising amount of a bright produce-like flavor, which I can only assume comes from the many chunks of dried pumpkin in the dry leaf. I almost thought there was something like orange peel in the blend, the tart pop of freshness was so noticeable, but there are no orange peels listed in the blend. Perhaps an ingredient like the dandelion root is adding a nice vegetal tartness against the sweet flavors.
In case all of these tasty autumn flavors weren’t enough, there is added whipped cream flavoring included as well to add to the decadent dessert feeling one wants with a good pumpkin spice tea.
If you love pumpkin spice and feel like you’ve tried everything, don’t miss the chance to try a creamy and chocolatey take on the classic fall tradition. From one pumpkin-spice-head to another, I know you’ll love Pumpkin Chai Latte from the Spice and Tea Exchange in your mug.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Chai
Where to Buy: Spice and Tea Exchange
Description:
Whispers of spice merge with the flavors of a mid-autumn harvest. A steaming glass of this chai tea is the perfect companion for crisp mornings and cool nights.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bonfire Toffee from Bird and Blend Tea Co.
Bonfire Toffee tea from Bird and Blend should be part of everyone’s fall and winter brewing. A full bodied black tea is sweetened with the brown sugar and butter notes of caramel and toffee. The blend stops from being too sweet by the addition of crisp apple and smoky lapsang souchong.
If you aren’t into smoky teas, give this one a try. The smoke is mostly in the scent of the brew, and gets lost beneath black tea and toffee tones in the taste.
This tea feels like taking a walk in the fall. The robust black tea is wrapped around you like a wool scarf, and you can smell the pleasant char of your neighbor’s wood stove on the air. Take a bite out of a fresh apple and follow it up with something sweet, like holiday caramel candy.
I had been curious about trying Bonfire Toffee for its blend of sweet and savory, and the tea does not disappoint. Brew up a cup for your next leaf-peeper trip, or your next winter bonfire.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Bird and Blend
Description:
Traveling tea merchants used to carry tea from east to west,all the way across Russia… well, their horses did anyway! It’s said the campfire smoke would infuse into the loose tea leaves at night creating smoked teas. Add some caramel, apple and toasted cinnamon and you get a spectacular Bonfire Night treat!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pumpkin Spice Latte Genmaicha from 52Teas
Genmaicha was a type of tea that I came to later in my tea-drinking life. I didn’t yet understand the toasty magic of having puffed rice brewed alongside a nutty green tea. Since then I’ve been on the genmaicha train and I don’t plan to leave. 52Teas has a great variety of genmaicha teas, like banana marshmallow or rice pudding. This time I’m trying Pumpkin Spice Latte Genmaicha from 52Teas.
In addition to the expected green tea and puffed rice, this blend contains pumpkin pieces, allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The peppery allspice and herbal nutmeg make this tea smell specifically like autumn and not just your everyday chai spices.
Brewed, this blend is exceptionally well-balanced. There are the sweet flavors of a pumpkin spice latte, and a little warmth and depth from the spices, but they don’t drown out the toasty comfort of the original genmaicha.
As much as I love pumpkin spice everything, this might be one of my favorite takes on the flavor. The brew is creamy without being cloying, spicy without feeling generic, and the genmaicha base makes me feel so cozy and easygoing.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still be ordering those PSL coffee lattes when they come back on the menu, but I’ll also be rooting for 52Teas to reblend this genmaicha beauty just in time for pumpkin season.
Where to Buy: