Candied Yams from Bluebird Tea

There’s something supremely fun about unusual seasonal blends that only come out at the most festive times of year. When I heard about the blend, Candied Yams from Bluebird Tea, I had to get a taste.  

So, Candied Yams?  I’ve had my fair share of mashed sweet potatoes (yams) and squash with butter and brown sugar, and the sweet, earthy, orange mash is a delicious side to any holiday dinner.  (We’ve even forgotten to put the sweet potatoes out during dinner one year, and ate it with spice cookies during dessert, and they were still a winner).  No wonder I like the cinnamon and nutmeg alongside the yams in this tea blend.  

This tea blend is going for an even sweeter version of sweet potatoes; the kind that were baked in a casserole and topped with marshmallows.  Cooking with marshmallows seems like the most nostalgic, American ideal, like putting marshmallows in ambrosia salad.  All you need to know is that this tea also has mini marshmallows, and plenty of them to make the tea leaves look festive and the blend taste sugary-sweet.  

Beyond the carrot-like yam sweetness, this brew also has a fair bit of tartness, like red cranberry, which comes from the small dash of hibiscus in the blend.  This red-berry flavor adds a touch of mulled wine flavor alongside the sweet earthiness and light spice.  I figure that if my family can put orange flavored dried cranberries in their Thanksgiving stuffing then this flavor profile makes some sense in this tea.  

Don’t worry if you’re more excited about the yams than the cranberries, the yams are the driving force of this blend, most noticeable in the scent and aftertaste.  After each sip, I get the sweet and starchy potato flavors, reminding me a bit of carrot cake with walnuts.  As the initial sweetness fades on my tongue, the brew has a great, mellow, nutty, taste.  

If you’re a fan of weird holiday brews, I’d recommend you pick up a sample of Candied Yams before the sweet-potato-yam season passes.  And if you get super inspired, you can even bake a marshmallow-yam casserole to accompany your cup of tea.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Description:

Always looking forward to those sweet candied yams at Thanksgiving? Wish you had an excuse to enjoy ’em all year round? We hear you!  Now you can get into the festive spirit with this Limited Edition holiday tea – it’s Thanksgiving in a cup!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

A Unique Pumpkin Chai from Love Tea

As soon as the weather turns a little cooler, or when I just get tired of summer, I decide that it’s pumpkin season and start looking for all things pumpkin spice. I love the warming cinnamon and ginger, the herbal clove, cardamom, and allspice, and the general sweet juiciness of pumpkin puree.  Each pumpkin spice product has its own blend of sweet and spicy, which makes it all the more fun to try them all.  

This time, I tried Pumpkin Chai from Love Tea.  I got a chance to try this company’s more summery blends earlier in the year, and really enjoyed what they had to offer, so I thought I’d try their version of my favorite fall flavor.  This Pumpkin Chai really stands out from other teas and coffees with the same name.  Love Tea’s blend has lots of chai spice and pumpkin flavor, but it also has prominent citrus flavors.  

In addition to the crisp black tea base and warm spices, this blend has hibiscus, orange, rosehips, and lemongrass.  These ingredients set this apart from other pumpkin blends, and it offers a great change of pace to have the tart kiss of citrus alongside the usual herbs and spices.  The hibiscus bring enough tart red fruit flavor, that this almost feels more like a mulled wine-flavored tea.  The oranges and cloves together make for a delicious cold-weather flavor combination that often pops up in winter-themed candles and baked goods as the season goes on.  

If you think you have tried every pumpkin spice that the world has to offer, try Pumpkin Chai from Love Tea.  Even beyond the Halloween, the orange and spice flavors will warmly guide you into the winter season.  

 


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Love Tea
Description:

Our 2016 Brillliant Winter Blends started with this one.    Put your Pumpkin Chai Latte on notice!   This is all the flavor without the coffee.  A black tea blend with Izmir Chai Spice all rolled into the perfect winter warmer.   Serve this with a splash of milk (or flavored creamer) and a dash of sugar and your friends will never believe you are drinking tea.   Start your holiday shopping now and get in the spirit with us.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Happy Pumpkin Tea from October’s Amoda Tea Monthly Box

It’s that time of year again: pumpkin season! I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a sucker for all things pumpkin spice, so it’s no surprise that I’m drinking pumpkin tea. But with all the ridiculous pumpkinacolpyse products that come out this time of year, let’s see how Happy Pumpkin Tea from Amoda teas holds up.

For one, this tea has actual pumpkin as a main ingredient. You can actually see orange pumpkin pieces in the dry leaf, and the starchy, sweet potato flavor is forward in the hot brew.

monthlyboxIn addition to the usual spice suspects– cinnamon, ginger, and cloves– the blend also has allspice and cocoa nibs. The allspice builds on the traditional chai flavors, giving an unexpected peppery note, most prevalent in the fragrance. The cocoa nibs play well with the pumpkin, bringing out a brown sugar sweetness from both ingredients. Ceylon black tea gives this blend body and brews up surprisingly smooth.

Happy Pumpkin Tea is definitely worth a try for any pumpkin enthusiast.

We just wanted to take a moment and welcome MrsPremise to the SororiTea Sisters! We hope you enjoy her reviews as much as we do!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea

logoDescription

-This tea was part of the October’s monthly box.

For more information about Amoda’s monthly tea box, click here! 

#FanaticFriday: Pumpkin Spice Latte Genmaicha from 52Teas

I’m a huge fan of 52Teas. Always have been. So I thought I would take over SororiTea Sisters today and chat about a few new offerings from 52Teas!

The weather is turning colder and with that comes all things pumpkin. Yes, I am one of those pumpkin addicts that go crazy. Now I don’t go nuts and buy pumpkin flavored cookies and pumpkin flavored candy, but I do flip out over pumpkin coffee (when I drank coffee), pumpkin in different dishes, and pumpkin in tea. So when I opened up my first monthly subscription from 52Teas and saw this tea in the lot, I may have gotten a tad giddy.

Brewed up per the packages instructions, this tea had an amazingly rich cinnamon roasted note. I allowed the tea to cool for a moment and took a sip. I was instantly greeted with those same deeply rich cinnamon notes with a roasted overtone. You could tell this was a genmaicha blend but the cinnamon notes really took the tea to a different level. Delicious!

But this tea is Pumpkin Spice Latte Genmaicha and I have to say with the first infusion, I didn’t really pick up any pumpkin.  So I brewed up more water and brewed up a second infusion, hoping to pull out the pumpkin flavor.  This go around I allowed the tea to cool longer. Took another sip and this time the pumpkin flavor was a bit stronger but not a ton. Even with that said, this tea was delicious! The pumpkin added a sweet note with the same lush cinnamon roasted tone.

With a tea like this one, you would think the pumpkin flavor would smack you in the face, but this one doesn’t.  To me, this was a more gentle pumpkin flavored tea that still delivers that fall like experience with every sip. I am still crazy about this tea and can’t wait to try my remaining taster as a cold brew.

All I really have left to say about this tea is this is a tea that is perfect to welcome in the fall!  Can’t wait to see what teas are in my October box!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas

52teas3_1430856114__73092Description

This time of year, it seems impossible to avoid the Pumpkin Spice trappings – there are pumpkin spice goodies every where you turn! Well, rather than fight ’em, I decided to join ’em and create a Pumpkin Spice treat of my own! And why not? I love the flavor! The pumpkin is sweet yet savory and the spices add a lovely, deep warmth to the pumpkin notes.

I started with organic Matcha infused Genmaicha and added chunks of real, dehydrated pumpkin, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla bean and marshmallow root to create a tea that’ll make you happy this time of year has finally arrived! This tea is terrific served straight up, but a drizzle of honey in this is oh-so-nice!

Taster size is approximately 15g

ingredients: green teas*, popped brown rice*, dried pumpkin chunks, marshmallow root*, crushed and whole allspice*, cinnamon*, nutmeg*, vanilla bean* and natural flavors*

*denotes organic

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Angry Pumpkin Black Tea from Design a Tea

Angry PumpkinTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy: Design a Tea

Tea Description:

A nice hardy blend of pumpkin and nutmeg with a black tea base. Served hot, will fill the room with the aroma of a “beautiful pumpkin”. Those were his words- I know, lame! .

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I hate to admit it, but I have a double standard when it comes to tea names. I absolutely hate it when a company will skirt around what type of tea something is, “It’s a deeply shaded fukamushi sencha harvested in the summer, steamed to perfection.” I get it. Just say it’s a gyokuro already! But when it comes to blended and flavored teas, the more ridiculous the better.

That is why I had to try this tea from Design a tea. I have so many questions. Why is this pumpkin angry? What happened in this tea’s life to make it so furious? Will it make me angry when I drink it? There is only one way to find out.

I brewed up 5g in my 12oz teapot for around 4 minutes. The resulting brew was like an autumn hug. Usually pumpkin flavorings fall short for me, but in this tea, the pumpkin was at the forefront of the brew. Luckily, it wasn’t an aggressive pumpkin. It was sweet and complimented the spices and the black tea base.

I suppose you cannot have a pumpkin tea without putting in some pumpkin pie spices. This particular blend highlighted the use of nutmeg. It was a good idea in theory, but the blend also had cinnamon chips. Yes, it is listed as the last ingredient, but the cinnamon tried it’s hardest to overpower the nutmeg. Throughout all this fighting for attention, what I get is a sweet slice of pumpkin pie. For my first fall-themed tea of the year, it definitely gets me pumped up for more. Bring it on!

I still don’t know what makes this pumpkin so angry, and the other flavors are not that aggressive either. The black tea base is mellow, sweet, with notes of sweet potato. This is a tea with a soothing profile, but I think the name Mellow Pumpkin would not sell as well. Thankfully, it did not make me angry to drink it, and I happily gulped down my pot of Angry Pumpkin to celebrate the beginning of October!