Pumpkin Maté

For some reason I think it tastes like cigarette butts. Is WAY too earthy-tasting for me.

I don’t know if I hate it on the same lines as Choconut Oolong, but it’s pretty close.

I got around 50 grams of it, but I don’t want to throw it out, maybe I’ll just suck it up and finish it.

Sorry DAVIDsTEA, but I was really disappointed by this one.

The dry leaf for this tea smells amazing, very strong allspice and nutmeg, honestly reminds me of the type of spices you would put in eggnog. There’s even a nice whiff of vanilla creaminess in there. Brewed, the dry hay flavors of the mate are much, much stronger (maybe I oversteeped?); the earthiness is a bit overwhelming. There is a definite barnyard fragrance, which does admittedly smell a bit like fall (like a corn bale maze). Pumpkin is not the main flavor in any way, nor is coconut (which is listed as an ingredient). The prominent tones are allspice and cloves coupled with dry grass and earth. Not unpleasant, but not a runaway favorite. Definitely the boldest of the pumpkin flavors this season, and worth a try if you’re not too sold on the candy-sweet blends.

This one went south quite fast. When I first picked it up, I thought, “Splendid, a maté that I may enjoy.” But I was wrong. So, so wrong.

First cup, I was in the zone where this tasted decent. Spicy and very little base, plus a sweet background brought to you by the added sweetener. I can dig it?

But evidently, I can’t. The final two cups of this horror house were fish. Salmon to be precise. Mega fishy salmon that needs to be taken back to the supermarket.

Sure I may only be running on three hours of sleep but I know what I’m talking about!

I don’t have time for a detailed review on this one, but the first few cups I’ve had of it are pretty good! Nicely spiced, with a strong mate presence, pumpkin notes nicely present as well, and a nice sweet aftertaste. Hoping for a mild boost from this on this dreary morning. Oh, and I’m pleased that butternut squash made it’s way into a tea :P happy I picked up a bit of this!

Of the three teas in this year’s “pumpkin collection” at DT, this mate blend is my favorite. I don’t mind the roasted, earthy flavor of the mate. I think it compliments the pumpkin/squash flavors really well. There is noticeable spice but, thankfully, it does not overwhelm the blend. I love the idea of a pumpkin tea, but I’ve yet to find one that ticks all the boxes for me. I have such a difficult time explaining the fact that pumpkin spice is not the same as pumpkin. This is a pleasant tea, but I find I enjoy it more hot than iced. If I want hot tea in the morning I’m more likely to grab a black tea than a mate. I have about 50 grams left, and I think that’s sufficient. I wouldn’t be opposed to swapping it away for something I’d enjoy more, but it’s not something that I’m in a hurry to get rid of.

My favorite time of year is approaching, and along with it the arrival (or return) of pumpkin everything. I finally paid a visit to David’s two days ago to snap up their pumpkin teas gift set, which includes the pumpkin maté, the pumpkin chai, and the spiced pumpkin. One of the employees did warn me that many people are surprised by how savory this tea is….there is a hint of pumpkin flavor, but it’s well-blended with earthy maté flavor and spices. I’m glad I knew that before trying my first cup of this. It was warm, toasty, and delightful!

If you’re looking for a pumpkin tea that’s on the sweeter, more dessert-y side, this isn’t it – but this one is still worth trying.

I don’t mind the flavour of this one overly, but it smelled a bit fishy while I was brewing and drinking it (ew), and the mate is just too… earthy for me. Minus the fishiness, it smells pretty decent, and the flavour isn’t bad, but I much, much prefer Spiced Pumpkin. The spices here are a lot less apparent (to the point where I can’t even really pick out what I’m tasting). Won’t be picking up any more of this tea.

I’ll be honest – I wasn’t expecting too much from this tea. I’m not a mate person in general, but as it turns out it works very well as a base for this blend. It has a distinct earthy flavour, a bit like a pu’erh but less sweet and more…green, I suppose you’d say. It goes well with the spices from which I’m getting mostly cinnamon and cloves. You can actually taste the pumpkin which is always appreciated in a tea touted as ‘pumpkin-flavoured’ and the butternut squash is a nice addition too. I don’t see this being a tea for everyone but for some reason it really worked for me. I’ll have to try it as a latte as I bet a little milk and sweetener would really hit the spot.

Three new pumpkin teas.

This was the only one I picked up to try though; I’ve had RLT’s Pumpkin Pie matcha (which I’m sure it probably MUCH better) and the Spiced Pumpkin doesn’t appeal to me because of the spice aspect. I wonder how many Pumpkin Teas DT has made. These are the ones I can name by memory alone:

- Pumpkin Chai
- Pumpkin Patch
- Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Mate
- Spiced Pumpkin
- Pumpkin Pie Matcha

There are probably others…

When I bought this one Zoey, the Tea Associate, warned me it was really earthy; and she certainly didn’t lie. In fact, the strong earthy and roasted flavour of the yerba mate was easily the most dominate part of the tea but that’s more than alright with me! I can totally get on board with those rich, roasted coffee-like notes and the wet soil/petrichor notes. As we all know, petrichor is one flavour that makes me go a little weak in the knees.

The base doesn’t completely dominate though; both the pumpkin and the butternut squash also stand out a lot as ingredients. And I have to say, I’m really digging the inclusion of butternut squash – while it kind of merges with the pumpkin a lot it really intensifies that aspect of the tea. Much more so than stand alone pumpkin could have done. Also, butternut squash is usually at its best when roasted – so the yerba mate pairing makes a lot of sense here.

One complaint, of sorts (and surprisingly NOT that it’s presweetened; I actually didn’t mind that) is that the spices in the blend aren’t explicitly stated. Personally, I tasted allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon – mostly nutmeg though. I think the ‘dose’ of those spices was reasonable but if you were going purely on the ingredients list you really wouldn’t even know there was spice in the blend!

Here are the ingredients listed on their website:

Roasted yerba maté, butternut squash, pumpkin seeds, coconut palm sugar, natural and artificial pumpkin flavouring.

So, that could be fixed, but otherwise I did really enjoy this tea and perhaps I would buy more of it! I know it’s not ‘technically’ a fall tea, but it is my favourite they’ve released this fall out of the teas I’ve tried at this point.

Dry Leaf Nose: Spices & pumpkin and a sweet roasted profile.

Liqueur: Bright orange with good clarity. Smells spicy, earthy and pumpkin/sweet potato.

Flavour: Rich, roasted/baked pumpkin and sweet potato flavors.