Product Information:
Based on the traditional Indian drink masala chai (mixed-spice tea), Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Chai starts with a chai tea blend that’s a combination of honey, vanilla, and black tea, heightened by a mélange of spices like cinnamon, anise, clove, cardamom, and ginger. In honor of Pumpkin Season, in addition to the traditional chai spices, Pumpkin Spice Chai is accentuated by pumpkin pie spices and real pumpkin. Like pumpkin pie, you can enjoy Pumpkin Spice Chai hot or cold. Unlike pumpkin pie, Pumpkin Spice Chai is drinkable, and ready in moments—you just add (hot) water and enjoy!
Where to Buy: your local Trader Joe’s
Taster’s Review:
You’ll be seeing a few different reviews for a few different pumpkin flavored chai blends on this blog over the next week or so … what can I say? It’s that time of year!
I just returned home from Trader Joe’s and I think that they had a pumpkin explosion in their kitchens (or wherever it is that they make all their food) because there is pumpkin EVERYTHING in the place. They had pumpkin waffles, pumpkin scones, pumpkin butter, pumpkin macarons, pumpkin bars and pumpkin soup just to name a few things. They even had pumpkin ravioli. Yep, I bought some of that too.
They also had a few pumpkin tea selections including a pumpkin rooibos blend and this product: Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Latte Mix. And it is mmmmm!
I don’t usually go all crazy for chai tea latte mixes like this because they tend to be more sugar than they are tea and I like to decide how much milk and sugar I’ll be putting in a tea (if I decide to put any in it at all). But, something about this tin of Pumpkin Spice Chai called to me and before I could say no and walk away, the tin was in my basket.
And I am really happy to say that while this is a sweet drink, the sweetness in this works. It doesn’t taste too sweet (then again, I do admittedly have a sweet tooth). This is on the sweeter side – I rarely sweeten my teas although I do usually sweeten my chai just a little bit because I think that a little bit of sweetener enhances the spices. But even though it is on the sweeter side, the spices offset some of the sweet notes and there is a nice balance between spices and sweet.
Best of all, though, is that I can taste PUMPKIN in this. It seems that all too often when I see a tea with the words “Pumpkin Spice” it turns out to be just the spices (as in pumpkin pie spice) and no pumpkin flavor. This has pumpkin!
Hooray for Trader Joe’s pumpkin harvest!
The spices are robust but not what I’d call “spicy.” It’s a well-rounded taste of warm spices. I can taste the ginger but not so much that it’s “biting” me. I can taste the cinnamon, clove and cardamom. They’re warm and comforting. I taste just a hint of licorice-y sweetness from the anise. If there is a scale on “spiciness” of a chai, this would rate maybe one measurement below medium. It’s spicier than “mild” but it’s not quite medium.
Kind of like a pumpkin pie.
The black tea is almost hidden here, though, and that’s my one big complaint about this. I think that the next time I make some of this, I might brew up some black tea (perhaps an Assam) and mix that with this so that it amplifies the black tea.
It’s tasty as it is, of course, but, I would like more tea flavor. Hey, I’m a tea freak, remember?
And one thing that really stands out to me with this product is that the “latte” part isn’t overwhelming the rest of the flavors. This doesn’t taste like too heavy a latte. I find that to be true with a lot of the chai concentrates that you can find on the grocery store shelves. Those tend to be all sugar and milk and very little actual chai. I appreciate that this has some flavor and the sweetener and milk are accentuating those flavors rather than hiding them.
Product Review: Tea Box Express Monthly Subscription!
Product Information:
Where to Subscribe: Tea Box Express
About Tea Box Express:
Tea Box Express is more than a box of tea. It’s an experience. Each month brings a new box brimming with surprises that always include quality brand-name tea and three or four fun tea-things. We are dedicated to bringing you the best teas and the niftiest tea goodies. Our mission is to bring a tea party to your door every month.
Save 20% off your first month’s subscription! Just use the code SORORITEA20 in the coupon field at check-out to save!
Review:
This is a review of Tea Box Express’s debut box – October 2014 – which hasn’t yet begun to ship. The box came to me early so that I could review it and share my thoughts with you so that you can get in on the goodies right from the very beginning!
This box is near PERFECT for people like me. As some of you may know, besides writing about teas, I’ve also written about other subscription boxes (specifically, foodie/yummy goody boxes) on my Hungry in Portland blog. I’ve pretty much discontinued those reviews mostly because I find that my time has become limited and tea is more important to me than the goodies, so, I devote my time here. But that doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped getting in on the goodies!
What’s so great about this box is that it combines the best of both worlds! It’s a tea of the month box and it’s a goody box, plus there are some really neat accessories to go along with it. For the October box, I received a tube of Teatulia Black Tea, a jar of “Tea Honey” from Savannah Bee Co., an adorable bee shaped, festively frosted sugar cookie from The Decorated Cookie Co., plus a bright yellow, ceramic teapot-shaped teabag caddy and a tea honey dipper/server which allows you to drizzle honey no-mess-style into your cup of tea. I’ll be reviewing the “tea party” including the tea later, but, for now I wanted to review the experience of receiving this box!
Let’s see what these items would have cost me if I bought them separately:
- Teatulia Black Tea: $8.99
- Tea Honey: $5.50 (although to get the 3 oz. jar, you need to buy 2 at $11.00)
- Bee Cookie: $5.62 (approximately)
- Teabag Caddy: $4.50
- Honey Dipper: $4.98
Total retail price would be approximately $29.59 if these items were purchased separately, although some of the items can’t really be purchased separately, and these prices do not include shipping charges. To subscribe to this box, you can pay month-to-month $25.50 plus $5.99 for shipping, or if you pay for 3 months, the monthly cost comes out to $24.67, or for a six month subscription, the cost works out to be $23.17 per month.
So there is a savings benefit to subscribing, but to me the real benefit is the joy of receiving the box. The fun part of these boxes is that they’re curated for you. This month’s theme (if it’s not obvious with the Bee and the honey), is “Bee Happy”! When you first open the box, the first thing I saw was this card (to the left) that says, “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” ~Abraham Lincoln.
Inside the lid of the box is a “theme card” that offers some suggestions on how to be happy. Nurturing our positive emotions like joy, gratitude and serenity can make us happier, and I love the suggestion on starting a happy list!
My happy list:
Tea.
Yeah, there are a few other things that I’d add to that list, but tea is right up there at the top of the list. Tea is joy. And this box is all about TEA. Receiving a box like this every month would be like getting joy in the mailbox!
Eastern Beauty Oolong Tea from Green Terrace Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Green Terrace Teas
Tea Description:
Eastern Beauty, also know as Oriental Beauty, Bai Hao Oolong, and Champagne Formosa, is one of the most famous and unique Asian teas. During the growing process, green cicadas or “leafhoppers” bite the leaves, stimulating a hormonal reaction in the tea tree that develops its natural honey flavor. This also means that the tea is organic, as no pesticides are used during production. Eastern Beauty is more oxidized than other oolongs and has a very distinctive taste. It is delightfully smooth and fruity, with naturally sweet honey and floral undertones. Thanks to its lack of astringency, this selection is also very forgiving to oversteeping and its savory flavor persists through many infusions.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m loving this Eastern Beauty Oolong from Green Terrace Teas. It represents the first of the teas that I’ve tried from this new-to-me company, and I’m very happy with what I’m tasting thus far!
I brewed this in my gaiwan using 180°F water, and after a 15 second “awakening” of the tea leaves, I steeped the first infusion for 1 minute and the second infusion at 1 minute 15 seconds. I combined the first two infusions in one cup. For each subsequent infusion, I would add 15 seconds to the infusion time, and I would combine two infusions in one cup. (The second cup = infusions 3 and 4 … and so on.)
The first cup was lighter in flavor and texture than the subsequent cups, but even though it was lighter in flavor – it was still very flavorful! There were sweet, peach-like notes with a sharp floral tone. Beautifully sweet! The mouthfeel was soft and pleasant. There were some earthy notes to the cup as well as hints of wood-like notes. I detected no bitterness or astringency to the cup unless I really focused on it, and then I picked up on a slight dry note toward the finish. It’s barely there!
And even though I mentioned the sharp floral note, this is not an overly floral tasting tea. There is just a bit of flower there that cuts through some of the fruity sweetness – it’s enough to offer contrast without becoming a flowery tea.
The second cup had a more developed set of flavors than the first. I could really taste the peach-y notes! The sharp floral tone that I picked up on in the first cup is somewhat subdued now. It is not so sharp, and instead, it is more like a whisper of flower in the distance. This cup was more about the peach, the notes of earth and wood, and a lovely, sweet nutty tone that began to reveal itself. I like the way the peach and the nutty flavors work together.
The third cup was the sweetest of the three! The peach notes are profound, and the woodsy/earthy notes are softened, making way for more sweetness that is reminiscent of honey. This is where the honey notes really come into focus, so it’s definitely worth the effort to keep on steepin’ when it comes to this tea. The honey notes are BEAUTIFUL!
A really enjoyable tea … if it’s any indication of what I have to look forward to from Green Terrace Teas, then I’m really happy to have found this company!
Honey Scented Black Tea from Oollo Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Oollo Tea
Tea Description:
This is a luxurious black tea! Dark leaves and an amazing honey aroma. The body of this tea is round and feels smooth on the tongue. It has a very pure flavour profile. Delicious honey and natural caramel notes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
This Honey Scented Black Tea from Oollo Tea is a very interesting tea. Here’s something that Amoda Tea has to say about it:
To keep with the oolong education. This is a curious black tea made from an oolong tea plant varietal that grows in Taiwan.
And when I opened the pouch and examined the leaves, I have to say that they have the big “bulky” look of a dark Oolong.
The flavor is much more like an Oolong tea than a black tea as well. This reminds me of a Honey Oriental Beauty type of Oolong. It doesn’t have that deep, “dark” flavor of a black tea, it has a the lighter, silkier flavor of an Oolong.
But that’s not a bad thing. I love Honey Oolongs, and this tea tastes mighty fine! It’s remarkably smooth with a light astringency. I’m loving the honey notes. The profile of this tea on Amoda’s website focuses on the “clean” and “pure” taste of this tea, and I find myself in agreement with the assessment. Even though it has a beautifully sweet flavor, it’s a very crisp and clean sweetness, and the finish is very lightly sweet.
And one of the best things about this tea is that because it’s so “Oolong-esque” … it’s good for several infusions. I highly recommend taking this tea through it’s paces – it’s definitely worth the effort. An excellent tea from Oollo tea – via Amoda Tea – I’m glad this one was part of the tea tasting box this month.
Green Tea Honey and Lemon from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Tea Description:
High quality delicate Green Tea seamlessly blended with Honey and Lemon flavor to offer an excitingly flavorful refreshing drink.
Taster’s Review:
Nice! I have really enjoyed the teas that I’ve been tasting from Tea of Life. Right now in my tea cup, I’ve got Green Tea that have been flavored with Honey and Lemon and it’s really tasty.
There is just the right balance of green tea, honey and lemon flavors. It’s sweet, slightly grassy, and bright with citrus flavor. It has a very fresh flavor from the vegetative/grassy notes, and there are buttery notes in the background which I attribute to the green tea. It’s a very smooth taste.
As I lift the cup to my face and inhale deeply, I experience the lemony fragrance. It’s a delicate scent – this doesn’t smell like Lemon Pledge or anything. It’s a soft lemon tone that lets your senses know what flavor you’re about to experience.
The honey flavor is not quite as sharp as the lemon flavor. Oh, sure, I taste honey, but mostly what I taste from the honey flavor is the sweetness of honey. It is sweet, but it isn’t a clear, defined note that says “honey.” Instead, it says “sweet.” It’s a nice complement to the tangy lemon notes though, and when I slurp the sip, the honey notes become more distinctive.
The green tea flavor here is delicate. I don’t want to say that the tea flavor is obscured by the flavors, because that’s not really what I’m experiencing. There is an equal distribution of tastes between green tea, lemon and honey-esque sweetness, which is to say that I taste equal amounts of the three components.
I enjoyed this tea, as did my younger daughter and her friend (I made them a cup at the same time). It would be a nice tea to have on hand when one is feeling under the weather because it has three flavors that always seem to perk me up when I’m feeling low: green tea, lemon, and honey! This tea also tastes excellent chilled.