Well, this blend has me curious because I can see pieces of oats! I mean, come on, we all know the best part about apple crisp is the cinnamon, sugar, and oat topping. I really love fall and I really love fall desserts. I mean don’t get me wrong, spring is great, but right now I am wishing for fall. Especially after drinking this blend. With every sip I am dying to go apple picking and then come home and make a freshly baked apple crisp!
I am dead serious when I say that steeped, this blend smells just like apple crisp. Cinnamon, oats, apples, brown sugar….its got everything! I steeped this for 4 minutes and I used just a small dash of agave to sweeten it up and bring out the flavors. I think that this is definitely fall comfort in a cup. I wish so bad that I was sitting on a front porch looking out at the pretty orange, red, and yellow leaves while drinking this! Okay fall is definitely my favorite season and it cant come back fast enough!
On taste, the Yunnan is very smooth and the apples & cloves are present. It slightly resembles apple cider. I don’t know if the oats completely translated over like I had hoped, but you can taste them if you’re looking for them at the end of the sip. Im not sure that I would say that this tastes just like apple crisp, like it smells. I think that if I didn’t know what this tea was called I would call it maybe apple cider. Either way, its very yummy and definitely screams fall and comfort!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Sweet apples with warming hints of cinnamon and clove paired with touches of caramel cream, brown sugar, and toasted oat.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pumpkin Pie Tea from Tupelo Honey Teas. . . .
Disclaimer: I did not add pumpkin puree to my tea. While I found the thought of doing so very intriguing, I simply did not have the time to run out and get some. However, I did add pumpkin flavored agave. So I am crossing my fingers and crossing my toes that I enjoy this blend without the recommended-by-the-company pumpkin puree! I will say that I was a little annoyed with the fact that there was no pumpkin flavor in this tea, but that you had to add pumpkin puree. I do find it creative, but not everyone has a chance to run out and get that and I wish that there had been some pumpkin flavoring in there or pumpkin pieces or something else other than relying on the customer to go out and get pumpkin puree.
That said, the smell of this tea was pumpkin pie spice. I could totally pick out that there were all those spices in there. I have made pumpkin pie a lot in my life (pumpkin is one of my favorites) and I can pick out the spice blend from a mile away. The steeped liquid- as soon as I smelled it its almost like I was transported back to my childhood on Thanksgiving morning. My mom baking pumpkin pie and apple pie, my childish excitement over the day ahead. Just yum!
So, I steeped this for about 4 minutes and added pumpkin flavored agave and a splash of milk. This tea really was a nice treat! It had quite an interesting flavor to it. Im now curious to use pumpkin puree. I did, however, enjoy the pumpkin agave although I may have added a little too much because it was slightly over-sweet, but that made it all the more like a dessert. The pumpkin pie spices were really delicious and the black tea was smooth and creamy. I think I was close to drinking pumpkin pie in a glass and if I had listened to the company’s recommendation of pumpkin puree and whipped cream it honestly would have been pie in a glass! This would be a wonderful fall treat. Definitely recommend!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tupelo Honey Teas
Description
This tea doesn’t appear to be current available but click below for blends that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Hot Mama from Tea & Tins. . . .
Drinking this Hot Mama tea feels like dancing to a Beyoncé song while Ryan Gosling winks a “Hey Girl” at you. If I had to start every day the same way, it would be with this kind of delicious affirmation.
I was interested at first sight of the heart decorations and brewed this up hot and also cold because I wasn’t sure if the candy hearts would melt or not and it turned out well both ways. (They didn’t melt, surprisingly!) I generally add a good amount of honey to my tea but this was the first time EVER I didn’t add any sweetener to a tea and LOVED it. While both styles were delicious, I preferred the overnight cold brew because the warm cinnamon taste was instantly cooled by the chilled water.
I’m on their website to ordering more right now! It looks like they offer plenty of eye-catching teas to start your day lightheartedly. Mornings are hard enough to get through with a boring drink.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Tea & Tins
Description
Loose leaf black tea, super hot and spicy! For cinnamon lovers!
Ingredients: black tea, cinnamon, spices, peppercorns and cinnamon hearts
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Kalo Chia Black Tea from Nepali Tea Traders. . . . . .
Kalo Chia Black Tea from Nepali Tea Traders is no longer available for purchase on their site but I thought it was still worth a mention as it was pretty fantastic while it lasted.
It’s rich, sweet, and woodsy. But it’s more than that. It had a unique flavor of its own and really drew me in and made me crave more. It’s bold and strong but had smoothness to it, too! It wasn’t astringent or bitter at all.
There were sweet yet dry plum notes and almost caramel or date like flavor pairings throughout the sip, too!
There were intriguing layers of flavor that kept me guessing but were not completely foreign either.
This was a really great black tea that I wish I had more of in my stash! Completely YUM!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Nepali Tea Traders
Description
Click below for the black tea blends that are in stock.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Velvety Vanilla Chai from Twinings. . . . . . .
A dear friend who lives in England sent me some teas in the mail, and they’re all teas I’ve never had. The first tea I decided to try is of course Chai. I can never resist a good Chai. With a name like velvety vanilla, how could I not try it? It is a Chai made with black tea, but I threw my caffeine caution to the wind and brewed a cup. This morning was grey and cool so I needed the extra lift anyway.
Awhile back I tried a vanilla Chai and the vanilla flavor tasted very chemical-y. It tasted like the imitation vanilla flavoring with alcohol in it. That is not the case with this vanilla chai. The vanilla flavor is natural tasting and perfectly balanced with the other chai spices. And the vanilla doesn’t overpower the other spices, and vice versa. This was absolutely delicious, I have no complaints at all. It was as close to a perfect cup of tea as you can get.
This flavor is a limited edition flavor, and I really wish it were widely available year round. It is really a special and delicious tea, and it was worth every drop of caffeine! There are a few online shops selling this delicious flavor, and I can’t recommend it enough! It’s definitely my new favorite chai. Because of the vanilla, I only added a splash of coconut milk and no sweetener and it was still perfectly sweet and delicious. It’s also mildly spiced, so for anyone sensitive to spice this would be perfect!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Twinnings
Description
A limited edition indulgent Chai Latte blending fragrant Indian spices with velvety vanilla from the new Loose Leaf Pyramid range. The resealable bag contains 12 loose leaf pyramid tea bags.
Ingredients: Black tea, vanilla, spice and syrup flavourings (26%).
