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!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 3- Spoilers
Day 3!
Today’s flavor is Raspberry Almond Cookie Honeybush. Right away I notice the fragrant raspberry scent and see the vibrant color pop of dried raspberries in the dry leaf.
This is an herbal blend that reminds me a bit of those thumbprint jam cookies that pop up on cookie plates during this time of year. This blend is a bit more marzipan than butter cookie, but the almond nuttiness still pairs well with the natural caramelly, woodsy flavors of the honeybush.
I think this blend is best when brewed hot and strong for maximum flavor from the honeybush. Play up the dessert name by serving it as a foamy latte. Perfect for a before bed brew while putting out the cookie plate for Santa.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
When it comes to my tea flavors, there is usually some sort of inspiration behind it. Quite often, it was a flavor conceived during an afternoon of browsing through Pinterest. (I do like Pinterest!) I don’t really recall where I got the idea for a Raspberry Almond Cookie tea – but if I were to place a bet, my bet would be that I found it during a Pinterest browse.
I’ve never had a raspberry almond cookie. But when I think of “Raspberry Almond Cookie” – my mind evokes a thought of one of those little thumbprint type of cookies, you know, the cookies with a little indentation in the center where you could put a dollop of jam or marmalade? So, imagine that – if you would. A delicate almond shortbread that engulfs a little mound of raspberry jam.
And that’s exactly what this tastes like. I taste a good amount of raspberry and almond flavor and even a hint of buttery cookie. This is a naturally caffeine free treat – so it would make for a perfect dessert-y drink that you can enjoy before bedtime without worry that it’ll keep you up past your bedtime!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lemon Biscottea from BlendBee. . . .
I made this tea the other day and then I got distracted and never got around to drinking it. Thankfully my Sororitea Sisters were generous with their sample and I am getting to enjoy it now…and enjoy it I am!
Comprised of South African Honeybush Red Tea, Lemon Peel, Lemon Balm, Lemongrass, Jasmine Flower, Agrimony Herb, Marshmallow Root, and Lemon, Vanilla & Custard natural flavor extracts, this Lemon Biscottea tea claims such benefits of reducing inflammation, aiding digestion, helping depression, controlling blood sugar, and much more. However, I personally never cared for any of the health benefits claims. For me only one thing is important and that is taste…and this delivers on taste.
This is creamy and lemony. It reminds me of Fauchon’s L’Hiver or Butiki’s Lemon French Macaron for those that have tried those teas. The flavor is soft and fluffy, probably in large part due to the marshmallow root. Lemon is clearly the star of the show but it is a gentle and sweet lemon that compliments the vanilla and custard pastry notes perfectly, as opposed to a bright citrus or a harsh sour. As it cools, there is a more herbal quality at the end of the sip which I’d attribute to the lemongrass. As a whole, it certainly captures a treat but to me I would say it is more akin to a pastry than a biscotti.
Regardless of how you’d describe this, this is definitely a dessert tea. A little more herbal than I like but only when it cools so best to drink this one hot.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: BlendBee
Description
Tea party anyone? This beautiful blend will whisk you away to a lovely tea party set with delightful treats, close friends, fresh spring flowers and lemon trees. This naturally caffeine free blend is absolutely divine hot as well as cold brewed on a warm day.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
My Peeps from The NecessiTeas. . . . . .
What do you do when you have a box of forty teas to taste and review? You hope and pray that there are some caffeine free blends so you can do some of your tasting at night! And if you don’t like rooibos, you pray that there will be some HONEYBUSH BABY!
And hallelujah, my prayers were answered! I don’t think I have had a honeybush tea I didn’t like and this one looks absolutely adorable! Tiny freeze dried marshmallows, pink sugar crystals dotted here and there like sparkling gems, plus brown sugar sweeten this blend, but the main flavor shining through for me is the honeybush base.
Adorable doesn’t cut it by itself. The tea has to taste good, too, and this one tastes like a holiday with a touch of vanilla. We don’t usually add sugar to tea in this house so there was a moment of hesitation as we tried it. But even with three sources of sugar in the blend, the tea is not too sweet. There really isn’t enough of it to turn me off. We made a whole pot, we are drinking a whole pot, and I don’t have to worry about lying awake all night.
Three cheers for My Peeps! Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Honeybush Pumpkin Chai from Adagio Teas. . . .
Back when I was a coffee drinker, I was definitely a pumpkin spice latte kind of girl. I always looked forward to pumpkin season. Since switching from coffee to tea, I still look forward to pumpkin season because I have run into a lot of awesome pumpkin teas. But something even cooler than that, I feel that tea opens the door to so many more fall-flavor options than coffee does. I have loved trying all the fall flavored teas, Honeybush Pumpkin Chai by Adagio being one of them!
This tea was very similar to Adagio’s other chai’s aside from the obvious honeybush in place of black tea and the added aspect of pumpkin. I have always been a fan of honeybush I think it lends a sweetness and nutty flavor that is hard to achieve with its cousin, rooibos. I also really like non-caffeinated chai’s because sometimes I am craving the traditional chai spices after dinner and want to enjoy them without the added caffeine.
So, this blend really is cool. I thought that the chai component was very spot on for Adagio- it was their usual blend, with a twist of pumpkin. I really like the mix of honeybush and pumpkin, I think that they compliment each other well. That, blended with traditional chai spices- ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, etc. really do scream “fall”. Unfortunately it is springtime right now, but I can pretend it’s fall while drinking this- that’s easy to do!
I’m definitely liking this one.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
Masala chai spices in a South African honeybush herb base, with a hint of pumpkin. This blend of honeybush, cinnamon bark, cardamom, ginger root, cocoa nibs & safflower is sure to delight. Beautiful clear and bright cup, with a crisp and tangy-sweet flavor. The heat of the spices is balanced beautifully with the natural smooth, mellow quality of the honeybush. Naturally caffeine free for an anytime treat. We suggest two heaping teaspoons per 6 oz cup. Sugar, cream or soy if desired.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
