Pumpkin Chai

Drinking Pumpkin Chai this morning, you know, to make room for fresh pumpkin chai when the Fall Collection is released.

Its my mothers birthday today, and in celebration, I am drinking all the pumpkin teas I own, as pumpkin is her favorite flavor. So much so that we always have pumpkin pie for the celebrations, instead of birthday cake!
The reviews of this were facinating, and all over the board. I could expect anything from an overhyped weak tea, to a tea that was the greatest phenomenon ever and might very well do my dishes for me.
What I’ve experienced is somewhere bewteen these extremes. I like it! I find it just a touch more chai-y than pumpkin-y, but its a tea that warms and reminds me very much of autumn. This isnt an active adoration tea, where every sip is a swoon. This is a passive enjoyment tea, where I dont have to pay too much attention to it, but I enjoy it all.
Yay pumpkin!

Well folks, after half a year of living together it finally happened; Tre saw me naked.

I just got home from work, and thought he was sleeping so I decided to strip down in the laundry room and change into some fresh clothing from the dryer. This is something I never do, so it’s one of those “The one time I was naked and not in my room…” type scenarios – my work clothing was just so uncomfortable and sweaty from doing stock all day! Our laundry room is right between the living room/his room and the washroom, and it has no door – so he got up to pee and well, the rest is the rest.

It’s awkward and I felt my Steepster family should share in the awkwardness. It was bound to happen eventually though, I guess…

Anyway, this tea! I made it in a timolino with lots of milk, and then drank it on break. Man was it good! The pumpkin was extra creamy and thick (probably because of the milk) and the sometimes hidden caramel notes were really present too (definitely because of the milk). Mmm!

You should all be jelly.

Finished off the last of this one yesterday. Pretty good, although I found myself longing a bit for the pumpkin-pie-ness of Della Terra’s Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie. Sigh. I had meant to pick some of this chai up the other day, but it slipped my mind. If it’s still there next time I’m at the store, I think I’ll get 25g as it is rather tasty, but it’s no huge loss if I don’t!

Another tea from the David’s Tea fall collection…

I was looking forward to trying this one and this morning we are fogged in again in S.F., so this seemed like a sweet and cosy thing to try this morning.

This was steeped for 5 minutes and got some soymilk thrown in. It’s a bit sweeter than I thought it would be, but I like it pretty well. It has a nice pumpkin flavor and the cardamom is definitely shining through, which I love. There is a slight touch of clove but nothing too overwhelming. Pretty good but I admit I am partial to the Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie by Della Terra. :)

Drinking this is like coming home.. It’s making me feel all sappy and nostalgic. I guess it has been too long. It manages to sucks you in right with the aroma; even apathetic Red Rose Father commented on how “very pleasant” this tea made the room smell. Pumpkin Chai scores yet another point with the crowd!

Steeped in frothy steamed milk, with a bit of cinnamon powder added on top.

Hmmmm. Yes, it is a chai kind of day. So I am onto another pot of this. I guess in comparison to regular chai, it seems kind of bland. However, it is creamy and pumkiny and very good. It is more of a spiced pumpkin tea than a chai in my book, but if the chai spices were much stronger they would overpower the pumpkin flavor. This time I added a smaller amount of half & half and it works so much better.

<I have decided I don’t need more of this one.>

OK, this tea has definitely found a home with me. This is one I could marathon like comfort tea – in fact in the second cup I added brown sugar and milk as recommended and YUMMM. But even without, this is like a beautiful tea version of pumpkin pie. I like it both ways, but it’s really decadent with things added. OM NOM NOM NOM.

It really does taste like pumpkin. You can really smell the squash!

We’re going to a Halloween party tonight so this seemed like an appropriate choice of tea to finish off today. I still haven’t decided what costume I’m going to wear. I started assembling a few ideas in my head, maybe a raven, or a skeleton, or a dark forest…or…I dunno? I’m usually quite an organized person, with only random spurts of disorganization. There’s apparently something about Halloween that turns me into a last minute person on an annual basis. Every year I say “next year I’ll be more organized” But what do ya know, the party is tonight and all I have are a few abstract costume ideas. Last year I collected a few ideas and assembled some images on my computer. But when I started looking through my box of Halloween makeup and digging through potential costume ideas, the power went out. My battery was dead so I couldn’t access my inspiration photos without electricity, and there was very little daylight to see anything. Thankfully, Halloween is a day that I can get away with dressing and doing my makeup in the dark lol!

Is it just me, or does tea seem to taste better when you know you’re finishing off the last bit of it? What the heck, right? I mean, I liked this tea before, but today it tastes so much better. Like “BUY MORE NOW” better. It’s a nice blend of cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. None of which I particularly love, but it somehow works in this tea. I knew I enjoyed it, but I figured this would be one that I might suspend repurchasing in the hope that it will be either kept around or brought back next fall. Now I feel like it’s one that I will want to keep a little sample size of in my collection. What’s that about? Hopefully they will have those little sample packs that you can get a deal on by the cash register with this one. That way I can justify a repurchase. Those little pumpkin candies alone almost make buying it again worthwhile. So adorable –they just make me smile.

I better get going; I still have to make an appy to take to the party and then it’s time for the annual Halloween costume box dig :D

I steeped this up as a latte, because pumpkin anything is supposed to be creamy. It’s like, pumpkin law. So I added 2 oz of frothed milk and a tsp of brown sugar to my 8 oz cup of this, and I can see why everyone likes this tea so much. It’s creamy, and rich, with real pumpkin flavor and just the right spices. Also, the brown sugar adds a kind of caramelly layer of flavor, which is awesome. I sometimes like adding maple syrup to my pumpkin pie, and I bet that would be awesome here too.

DT is so hit and miss, but this is definitely a hit. Right out of the ballpark. It’s not really chai-like in the spicing, but more like pumpkin pie — subtle and not in your face. Like chai, though, it needs the milk and sugar to make the best cup.

Thank you very much jeweledthumb!