Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Product Description:
So, what goes into a tea named after the terrifying tale of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman? Pumpkin, of course. (The story goes that the horseman had the head of a pumpkin.) Add to this a select blend of herbs and spices, chai mix, cinnamon and ginger pieces. The taste of Sleepy Hollow Pumpkin Chai, it goes without saying, is to die for!
Taster’s Review:
What better tea to drink on Halloween than a tea called Sleepy Hollow Pumpkin Chai? If this doesn’t get the taste buds excited for tonight, nothing will!
The dry leaf is visually appealing, with not only lots of large pieces of spices tossed amongst the black tea leaves, but also orange, purple and green candy sprinkles for a touch of whimsy. There aren’t a lot of sprinkles (the photo above shows more sprinkles than I could see in my package), so they don’t add a whole lot of sweetening to the chai, and as always, I do recommend sweetening the chai as it enhances the spices. (I used turbinado sugar for my cup)
I tried this two ways: first, I tried it with just the sugar added to get a taste for the blend before I lattefy (Yes, it’s a word, I just made it up, ok?) with some steamed milk. The pumpkin flavor is well-defined. Very often with pumpkin flavored teas, the pumpkin can often be somewhat obscured by the spices, and since this IS a chai, I expected that to be the case with this blend. But it is certainly NOT the case!
Yes, the chai spices are strong, but the pumpkin is equally as strong and shines through the warm, peppery flavor of the masala spice. The peppery flavor of ginger and black pepper comes through strongest, but, I can also taste the cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom … as well as the flavor of the black tea.
One look at the ingredient list and you’d think that this chai has a lot going on, but, all the ingredients work together quite well. To be honest, when I saw that hibiscus and rooibos were both in this blend, I had to go and check my package, because I really don’t taste them, and I can’t really see any evidence of their presence in the dry leaf.
After finishing one cup with just the sugar to enhance the spices, I then moved on to what I’ve been looking forward to since receiving this tea – a Sleepy Hollow Pumpkin Chai Latte! I mean, this time of year, every time I walk past a coffee shop I see signs announcing their fall flavors and it makes me WANT to try them; but, since coffee leaves me with some ill after effects, I must avoid these alluring advertisements. I love that Culinary Teas makes it possible for my own version of a fall flavored coffee-house special without the coffee.
And … YUM! All the flavors I mentioned before remain intact with the addition of the steamed milk, but instead of a “spiced pumpkin” sort of flavor, this is a bit like pumpkin pie filling topped with whipped cream that’s been added to my chai. This is absolutely delicious!
No tricks, this tea is definitely a TREAT!
