It’s that time of year again: pumpkin season! I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a sucker for all things pumpkin spice, so it’s no surprise that I’m drinking pumpkin tea. But with all the ridiculous pumpkinacolpyse products that come out this time of year, let’s see how Happy Pumpkin Tea from Amoda teas holds up.
For one, this tea has actual pumpkin as a main ingredient. You can actually see orange pumpkin pieces in the dry leaf, and the starchy, sweet potato flavor is forward in the hot brew.
In addition to the usual spice suspects– cinnamon, ginger, and cloves– the blend also has allspice and cocoa nibs. The allspice builds on the traditional chai flavors, giving an unexpected peppery note, most prevalent in the fragrance. The cocoa nibs play well with the pumpkin, bringing out a brown sugar sweetness from both ingredients. Ceylon black tea gives this blend body and brews up surprisingly smooth.
Happy Pumpkin Tea is definitely worth a try for any pumpkin enthusiast.
We just wanted to take a moment and welcome MrsPremise to the SororiTea Sisters! We hope you enjoy her reviews as much as we do!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Description
-This tea was part of the October’s monthly box.
For more information about Amoda’s monthly tea box, click here!
Falling Leaves from Fava Tea Company
Today is finally the day! I have had so many new teas to try lately and because of a pesky cold I couldn’t taste any of them. However, the cold is finally (mostly gone) and I can taste tea once again!
Before I get to the taste of this particular tea, I want to talk about the adorable dry leaf. Falling Leaves is definitely accurate because the cute little leaf sprinkles among the rooibos leaves actually looks like an Autumn leaf pile. It is quite fun and makes me that much more excited to start sipping.
Speaking about exciting, the maple smell that fills the air as soon as the water hits those little leafy sprinkles is mouthwatering. Even the dry leaf has a great maple scent.
That maple does transfer to the taste of the tea as well, albeit not as strong as it is in scent. Unfortunately it gets slightly muddled among the sugar sweetness of the melted sprinkles. In addition, the rooibos base is adding a sort of honey-like flavor which is just adding yet another layer of sweet with a slight bit of wood lurking around the bottom of the sip. With that said, that woody component helps balance the other flavors and keep it from becoming cloying. It is smooth and dessert-like but I just find myself wanting a more concentrated maple flavor as opposed to the collection of sweets I am getting here. As a whole, it is coming off more generic than maple.
This is the same issue I had with the very similar blend, Oh Canada! by DAVIDsTEA. The two teas are very similar, though the DAVIDs tea had a stronger rooibos base from what I can recall. In light of this comparison, it would be interesting to see how this blend fares cold brewed which was my preferred method for prepping Oh Canada
All in all, this is by no means a bad blend just a little lackluster when compared to the decadent smell. However, if you are looking for a nice and gentle sweet tea, you will find it here.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal/Rooibos
Where to Buy: Fava Tea Company
Description
This an outstanding seasonal blend is a festive combination of rooibos tea and rich maple flavor! Colorful sprinkles add to the fun. Enjoy this on cool fall and winter evenings. It’ll warm you right up, and make you smile!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
#FanaticFriday: Roasted Pumpkin Carrot Cake Houjicha from A Quarter To Tea
We at SororiTea Sisters love all things fall! So today we are fanatic about fall!
Tis the season for all things pumpkin to start coming out. And I love it. I’ve always been a pumpkin fiend to the point where my mom would have to make me pumpkins pies for my birthday cakes back in the day. . .and my birthday is in March! So this tea was a no brainer for me to order.
If you haven’t checked out A Quarter To Tea yet and enjoy fun and unique flavored teas, I highly recommend you take a moment and see if anything trips your trigger. Their teas are unique and flavorful. And this tea is a perfect example of the teas they offer.
Roasted Pumpkin Carrot Cake Houjicha is as fall as you can get. The tea itself pops with dark browns and bleeps of orange and yellow. I wanted to try this tea as a hot brew and cold brew so I had myself a little experiment today.
But first, let’s chat about the smell of the dry leaf. This tea screams fall and is one of those teas I want to bottle up into a candle.
For the hot brew, I was really expecting myself to die over this tea and be completely in love and I have to say. I did! This tea tastes just like the title. You have your baked good flavor, the roasted pumpkin notes, and even the carrot cake familiarity. The spices were a bit stronger than I had hoped for and the more I drank the tea and it cooled, I feel like the tea would have benefited from a dab of honey because those spiced notes just kept growing. For me-I needed that added sweetness to calm the spices down, but regardless- this tea is still incredibly delicious.
For the cold brew, now I was expecting to really not enjoy this tea as a cold brew. With the flavors, I really thought this tea would be better hot. But that isn’t the case. I did really enjoy the tea prepped traditionally but where this tea becomes the “bee’s knees” is a sturdy cold brew. Before I left for work this morning I took my trusty tumbler and filled it with ice, water, and an infuser full of this tea. I allowed the tea to brew all day and just took my first sip. Here is where this tea shines.
As a cold brew, the pumpkin flavor is incredibly rich and present with the carrot cake baked good flavor right along side. here is also a sweetness that is starting to pop that is adding in that sweetness I was craving earlier. While the heavier spices are still there and noticeable, I’m not as bothered by them because of that rich pumpkin carrot cake baked goodness that is incredible.
With all of this being said, I do believe I forgot to mention. . .this tea has sprinkles in it! (though not an overwhelming amount)
One of the better pumpkin teas I’ve had in a long time. So glad I picked up a good amount of this tea because I’m going to be devouring it over the next few weeks.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Roasted Pumpkin Carrot Cake Houjicha
Limited Tea for September 2016
—
Roasted houjicha tea with autumn spices and the creaminess of pumpkin blended together with hints of vanilla cream, extra ginger and carrot for a pumpkin carrot cake experience sure to delight.
This tea is limited run once again, so once it is gone, it’s gone for the season. It is sold only in 0.5oz quantities.
All orders come in resealable packaging and include a reusable muslin cotton tea bag.
—
Ingredients:
roasted green tea, dried carrot, ceylon cinnamon, mini sprinkles, natural flavors
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
#FanaticFriday: Lapsang Chai from Bluebird Tea Co.
We at SororiTea Sisters love all things fall! So today we are fanatic about fall!!
I’m not sure why I jumped into a Chai phase abruptly – perhaps it’s because Fall is finally here – whatever the reasoning I recently busted open a bag of Lapsang Chai from Bluebird Tea Co.
I’m always interested in teas that have that ‘little extra something’ so when I saw that Lapsang Chai from Bluebird Tea Co contained India Assam Tea, Lapsang Souchong Black Tea, and Chai Spice I knew I had to try it! Indian Black Assam AND Lapsang Souchong? Yes, please!
Dry – I could smell the Lapsang right away and then the chai spices. Wet – I could smell less of both but they seemed more even and equal to each other after infusing. Lapsang Chai from Bluebird Tea Co brews to a dark brown – just as I assumed it would.
Lapsang Chai from Bluebird Tea Co is a really nice cuppa! It’s spicy but not overly-so. It oddly has a smoothness it to that I wasn’t expecting but found comforting along side the spices. Pine, smoke, ginger, and clove join hands with the blended black tea base. I really like Bluebird’s twist on this chai! VERY Well Done!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Description
We like to do things a bit differently at Bluebird. Our latest infusion is a thoughtful blend of Lapsang Souchong, malty Assam + aromatic masala chai spices. A BREWtiful blend of tea + culture alike!
Indian Assam tea, lapsang souchong black tea, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, red peppercorns.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
#FanaticFriday: Pumpkin Butter Cookie Tea from 52Teas
We at SororiTea Sisters love all things fall! So today we are fanatic about fall!!
I chose this week to begin a diet and give up soda/booze.
Tea is all I have left, guys.
After limping through a day of surprise projects, lunch-salads, and ZERO COOKIES, I needed a cup of tea to survive a play. (I love plays. I just wasn’t sure I could stay awake.)
While rooting through my un-tried samples, this one called to me.
“There’s a chill in the air,” it whispered. “Tomorrow is the autumn equinox. You want something caffeinated and pumpkin spiced, and you know it.”
The tea was right. The tea is always right.
This tea is about halfway between pumpkin pie and a frosted gingerbread cookie. It’s extremely rich, sugary, spicy, and pumpkin-a-riffic.
It’s homemade Halloween costumes, crunchy leaf piles, oversized cable-knit sweaters, and hay rides in every sip.
I feel bad telling you about it, actually, because it’s not currently available to buy.
Does it make you feel any better to know that I enjoyed the play?
