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!
Hood River Rooibos from Beach House Teas. . . . .
Hood River Rooibos from Beach House Teas is a delicious decaf herbal blend with rooibos, ginger, and honeycrisp apples. I love the fall, and sometimes I love extra honey sweet apple teas with lots of cinnamon and flavoring, but Hood River Rooibos has me re-thinking what I want in my herbal apple teas this season.
This tea is simple and delightful. The woodsy rooibos is flavorful without caffeine or bitterness. A touch of ginger root adds just enough sweet spice to make you think you’re drinking something special and seasonal.
The honeycrisp apples are really the ingredient that shines. The naturally sweet fruit flavor of the apples doesn’t need any sugar or honey to taste indulgent and refreshing. Because there aren’t any powerful spices like cinnamon or cloves, you get to taste all the apples for themselves. Even a chai-lover like me doesn’t miss the cinnamon in this blend.
This tea makes me nostalgic for the fresh fall apples in the orchard of my hometown. This is the perfect blend to warm you up when your picking apples off the tree, or when you’re just daydreaming about fall and all its wonderful flavors.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Beach House Teas
Description:
Hood River Rooibos is 100% organic rooibos tea blended with ginger root and Pacific Northwest Honeycrisp Apples. This combination of sweet apple mixed with the heat of ginger and the earthy flavor of rooibos is perfect for the winter season.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lemon Raspberry Rooibos from Simpson and Vail. . .
Interesting tidbits about this tea blend before I get to my review part…one being that Simpson & Vail has the name Lemon Raspberry Rooibos trademarked and the other being that this is a black tea and rooibos based blend.
Ingredients include Black teas, Rooibos, organic lemon peel, organic raspberry leaves and natural flavors.
The lemon is truly lovely here and more prominent than the other flavors which I love about the offering. The rooibos contributes to the sweet in the sip but it doesn’t speak too loudly. The ratio is ‘just enough’. The black tea in this loose leaf is of medium strength and paired with the rooibos gives it the beautiful color in the cup once infused. The raspberry leaves give it that hint of herb that seems to bring it all together.
I was reading where someone suggested to add a bit of this to vodka to make a sweet and fruity cocktail. I just might have to try that. Until then – I will enjoy this both hot and cold! You really can’t go wrong with Lemon Raspberry Rooibos from Simpson & Vail…and remember…it’s trademarked…so it MUST be good, right!? RIGHT!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
We have blended this “miracle tea” with black teas and herbs to create a wonderfully refreshing beverage. Enjoy hot or cold.
Ingredients: Black teas, Rooibos, organic lemon peel, organic raspberry leaves and natural flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Thoughts on Masculin / Lupicia. . .
If tea were a man this would be him.
Mix him with Lapsang Souchong and you’d get a real outdoors gentleman.
For once the rooibos isn’t the star of the show. Generally, rooibos takes over whatever is put in the tea bag with it. Even the ginseng is somewhat undertoned by this woody flavor.
I’m assuming it must be the maca.
With a name like MASCULIN I’m sure no one knew quite what to expect with this one. To be honest I really thought it was going to be a Lapsang Souchong.
Either way I don’t think this one is my cup of tea nor is the later mentioned tea. But I’m going to drink it all because we could all use a bit more vitality in our lives.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Description:
Four vital herbs (Maca, ginseng root, cinnamon, and ginger) blended with rooibos. Great for boosting your energy.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Roasted Almond Chai from Fava Tea Company. . . . . . . .
I was lucky to discover Roasted Almond Chai from Fava Tea Company thanks to a tea trade with fellow Sororitea Sisters, and now this is one if my favorite chai teas.
This is a decaf blend, so I find it most satisfying as a sweet treat to ease me through a rough afternoon or evening. This tea is perfectly both sweet and spicy. The dry leaf in the bag smells exceptionally creamy and a touch fruity, like marzipan candies. In the loose leaf, there are cloves, cinnamon, and huge cardamom pods, promising more spice in the brew.
Brewed, this blend is surprisingly pink, and I had a moment of worry: pink?! Is there hibiscus in here? I read the label again and saw beetroot as an ingredient but no hibiscus. Taking a sip, I was relieved. The pink color was clearly from the beetroot which added a wonderful natural sweetness that did not get in the way of the other flavors.
The one change I would make is to rename this blend Marzipan Chai, instead of Roasted Almond Chai. There is not much in the way of tasted flavors or pure nut-like flavors. The beetroot and almond make for a blend that is sweet like a cake with creamy frosting. This tea is driven by its candied almond taste, coupled with the warming spices of cinnamon and cardamom. Even without milk, this tea is so smooth and creamy, a perfect dessert. I will be stocking up on this chai the next chance I get!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Fava Tea
Description:
This is the sweet taste of almond magically blended with rooibos and chai spices. Smooth, delightful and a perfect compliment with dessert. Or in place of dessert! Either way, enjoy!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!