Baby Spice

AJRimmer Advent Day 8

I didn’t realize this was supposed to be a pumpkin spice tea until getting on Steepster to review it and I honestly didn’t taste any pumpkin in my cup this morning. What I did get was a well-balanced blend of warming spices: clove and cinnamon for sure and I loved the hint of nutmeg, as that’s a personal favorite. There’s some creamy vanilla flavor going on in the background as well that’s quite pleasant. I think I would have personally enjoyed this even more on a black tea base, but it’s still quite delicious!

Sipdown! (31 | 128)

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge (August) – “A tea that reminds you of a family member”

I chose this tea because the cute pumpkin sprinkles remind me of my sister, who loves fall and especially Halloween, her favorite holiday. :)

This is quite a yummy pumpkin spice tisane. I admit, I’m not a pumpkin spice lover, I find they are generally just overhyped chai with little or no actual pumpkin flavor. But this one does actually taste somewhat like pumpkin pie, with a nice sweet creaminess to match. There’s a bit of a caramel note to it as well, so maybe pumpkin cheesecake with caramel drizzle. I made that once for Thanksgiving, with a gingersnap crust, and it was scrumptious. Now I’m hungry…

I will say after having a couple of cups that were a bit too heavy on the clove, and made my tongue numb, I started removing most of the cloves before steeping. And that did help make it taste more balanced, but still with a bit of clove in there. I’m not sure whether I’ll reorder this, because I felt like I only got half a dozen servings out the of the whole 50g bag. We’ll see how I feel about it if/when the opportunity to order from B&B arises…

PERFECTION in a cup. That is all.

I took out the cute little pumpkins in this mix because I can’t have potato starch. I’m not sure how much that has affected the taste, but here we go:

I really wish I was able to get the regular blend with the black tea base. Oftentimes I find that herbal blends just aren’t quite robust enough and I think that’s what I’m experiencing here. The tea is still tasty, with the lovely fall/winter spice and a creamy sweetness, almost like a buttercream icing (that isn’t too sugary).

A is loving this one, which is great, because I picked it up with her in mind!

The flavor here is different from other pumpkin teas in an interesting way. I like the direction they went. The spices are mild, but well balanced. I’ve sadly finished my entire 50g bag of this. Thanks to amandastory516 for sharing an excellent fall tea! I never used milk with it because it honestly didn’t need it.

I was asked by family member if I could brew some caffeine-free tea.

I took this one, as – apparently I haven’t got yet, and finish the pouch as well. There were 7 and half grams of the blend; which is, in my opinion good amount for 1 litre French press I was preparing in.

After few minutes of brewing, I decided to take a glass and sip. It brews light yellow, somehow spicy aroma. Maybe I detect the most bit of cloves and pumpkin. Which makes sense, as both those are there. Unfortunately, I do not notice cinnamon at all.

In taste – it is somehow spicy too, quite mouth-watrering tea it is. The pumpkin / vegetables are most present with warming spices. Ginger is there making it to “feel something” and in the end of sip, I notice quite strong sweetness.

Interesting tea, but, the pumpkin flavour is bit weird, I would maybe rather enjoy some other base. Maybe rooibos to keep it caffeine free? Maybe chicory root to make it bit bitter?

Another tea from today!

I don’t know why but the name of this tea really gets me – like, it’s cute and adorable as a stand alone name but also kind of witty/clever as a Spice Girl’s reference which feels extra clever since it came from a British tea company. Like, why does that hit me so much!? I had the bag of this tea at my desk today and every time someone came by while I was drinking the mug I would thrust the bag at them and excitedly squeal “look at this tea! The name is so cute!” It was like one of those out of body experiences where I was watching myself get excited about it and I just reacting with slight amusement and lots of confusion…

As for the taste!? Well, I actually enjoyed this A LOT more than I expected to. My initial fear was that it was basically just going to be a whole lot of spices and it would just taste like a generic pumpkin spice mix without either a unique element to the profile or any actual pumpkin. Well, colour me shocked because it was delicious. Definitely a spice blend to be sure – but the combination of clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, and just a little ginger are very well balanced. I particularly loved the amount of clove in the blend; it was distinct and so tasty. However, the best part was this thick and creamy vanilla note that I wasn’t prepared for, along with a hint of pumpkin – mind you, I imagine it was a pumpkin flavouring comboed with either just vanilla flavouring or either cream or vanilla cream flavouring but those notes were really smooth and strong. It actually tasted like having a slice of sweet pumpkin pie with cinnamon baked into the crust topped with a scoop of fresh vanilla ice cream and finely ground pumpkin spices. Really accurate and well done! Definitely more interesting than a straight up “pumpkin spice” blend, that’s for sure!

Only criticism is the sprinkles – cute as they are (and they are cute) I really just don’t think they’re necessary in the blend. I mean, I don’t love sprinkles in tea blends in the first place but in the case of this tea is just seems like something meant to elevate the visual, but I think the visual looks just fine – appropriate for the tea as it stands…

I drank through my small stash of this last year, so I was anxiously awaiting its return. It’s as good as I remember, and perhaps my favorite pumpkin tea. The sweet, caramelized vanilla note works so well with the realistic pumpkin, and blend of spices (hello nutmeg and clove). It’s one of the few pumpkin teas that actually tastes like pumpkin (and not generic spices or carrots).

I was looking for a caffeine free tea for tonight and this one fit the bill. It was the second of the three teas in my Bird & Blend subscription box. It brews up very pale. Either I didn’t add enough or that is just the way it brews. Since it is an herbal with no honeybush or rooibos I think it must just be that color.

When it was hot I didn’t really get much from it. AS it cooled it became sweeter, and almost creamy even without any cream. The spice appears to be fairly mild as I didn’t feel it. As it cooled further it became soapy. I’m not sure if that is just because of my non working nose. Sometimes I get phantom flavors. So to enjoy this one again I will need to wait for it to hit just the right temperature and then drink it quickly before it turns too cold.

I had a cup of this last night while standing around a burn barrel on Halloween under a blue moon with some friends talking about the old days at our camp at burningman. Mini Deathguild/Thunderdome Halloween reunion! This tea kept me warm and I’m having a resteep of it tonight. This cup is heavier on the cinnamon and clove, which is fine. It’s a really comforting evening cup and the spices make me feel cozy inside!