Grandma's Pumpkin Pie

Backlog. I took this to work today in my timolino, and although I still adore the taste profile of this tea, I find that pretty much all the tea I own eventually tastes flatter. I chock it up both to the passing of time as well as the desensitization that is just inevitable when your first experience with a given tea is so life changing. No kiss is like the first kiss and all that sort of thing.

But still a wonderful cup, if a bit bitter for some inexplicable reason. I’ve only had two takes on pumpkin: this and David’s tea. I find that this tea has more going on, and is ultimately creamier. I may wait until next fall to replenish my supply of this once it runs out, and that’ll probably also keep me loving it longer :).

I think I’m finally getting tired of this blend, it appears 2oz is a bit much for me to drink my way through before I am done with drinking a blend from della terra. However, this is a nice blend and is one of my happy teas from della terra, given that I don’t love a lot of them. They’re decent average teas though, with this one being one of my higher rated teas :)

Yum… I am drinking this with the cookie that Hesper June sent me, perfect for dunking! This is one of the best pumpkin teas I have tried so far, it’s yummy! And laundry is getting done… hurrah

Nom nom nom. Tasty. This is really well balanced. I think theres lemon or orange peel in this, wich is genius! What a good idea! I’ve found that in a lot of savory things, be it tea or actual food, the addition of a little citrus just makes it. It adds a “bright” note into it, which creates a whole new dimention of yum.
The actual pumpkin note is secondary to the pie spice taste, but overall I’m a fan.
Pro tip. BBQ turkey jerky does not pair well with pumpkin tea. Just FYI.

My head hurts so much I should just go to bed, but it’s been a long day and I want to relax with this cup and start knitting this snake scarf I’ve been eying for my daughter. If it looks like I have it figured out, I want to make one for my nephew for christmas too. Hers will be green with orange and brown stripes, while his will be orange with brown and green. And they’ll have little tongues sticking out and button eyes. Totally adorable.

I can’t seem to get ahead on my things to do list, but I feel I need to take a quick break for Steepster, as I’m trying this tea for the first time today.

I got this as part of my Fall try me kit. The smell and taste of this tea is a lovely pumpkin spice experience. It emanates coziness that I associate with Fall baking, and the taste is accurate to my expectations of a tea named “Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie”. I got 2 solid steeps out of the tea, the first one having a nice balance between the black tea and the spices. The second steep having less intense flavors, but it’s still an enjoyable cup.

Sadly, I have to minimize the number of black teas I buy (as I am extremely caffeine sensitive), so this will be an occasional buy rather than a cupboard staple for me. I’m glad companies like Della Terra offer these sample size options, so I still have a chance to occasionally try teas that are unsuitable for me in larger quantities.

Happy thanksgiving to my American friends! Though it is a mere Thursday in Canada, I thought in honor of your festive day, I would indulge in some Pumpkin Pie – Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie that is. This came to me courtesy of Dexter3657 and I thought what better way to keep warm and celebrate than with a cup of this tea.

The spices in this cup always make me think of being cozy and relaxed as the snow falls outside. It is such a nice treat to have on days when my apartment is so cold I think my fingers might just fall off! Thank you Dexter for sharing with me!!

Read my full review here: http://droppingthelbswithtea.wordpress.com/2013/11/28/tea-for-the-holidays/

Also, Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends!! I would have reviewed a Hanukkah tea if I had one but alas I do not (although I am hoping to change that at midnight when I place an order with Della Terra!)

This reminds me a lot of Pumpkin Chai, except that I can taste pumpkin without sweetening the tea.

It doesn’t completely remind me of pumpkin pie, but that’s okay. I’m not a fan of pumpkin pie. Give me pumpkin cheesecake!

Pumpkin it indeed is though, and the pumpkin sprinkles are an adorable touch. If you’ve had DavidTeas’s Pumpkin Chai, this is verrrry much like it but so much better. I’m not even worried about getting some of it now because this is far more enjoyable to me. I only really like that tea with milk and brown sugar. This one doesn’t even need anything, and it tastes just like the flavor I get with those additions in Pumpkin Chai.

Though I imagine maybe some milk brings out more of a creamy flavor that’d be like pumpkin pie? But it does seem to be lacking any kind of pie crust type flavor. Like I said, fine by me. I’m just here for the pumpkin.

I really haven’t been drinking a lot of flavored teas lately, besides flavored matcha. Weird. Well I finally went to the post office during their opening hours this morning so that I could get the packages that were too big to fit in my (actually very large) PO box (although seriously, there is no reason that two ounces of tea, or a small tin of matcha, need huge cardboard boxes to ship in), and so I finally got to pick up my order from Della Terra. I’ve been curious about Della Terra teas since everyone has been talking about them on here, but never that driven to order from them. But then they had a 50% off halloween teas and I ordered two off that list since the price was right.

I have not spent a lot of time looking for a perfect pumpkin tea, but am pretty certain that it is a flavor I will be fairly picky about because I love pumpkin everything. I go pumpkin crazy this time of year. The dry leaf on this one is powerfully pumpkin pie. Spiced, but not spicy in a chai way, and definitely pumpkiny. Steeped, I smell more fall-themed spices, particularly some woody cinnamon, a bit of pie crust, and what may be some pumpkin hanging out in the background.

The flavor is pretty nice, with some good levels of spices and a decent creamy pumpkin-ness. It’s just, the black tea is so weak. It’s like it has hardly any flavor at all. At one point this would never have bothered me, but now it does. I can just imagine how much more delicious this would be with a lovely, rich, black base underneath. I could try to steep it for longer, but I fear that would just bring out undesirable black tea qualities. I may actually try to add some richer black tea to this the next time I have it and see what the result is. Even so this is pretty tasty with nicely balanced pumpkin flavoring.

I am KILLING it with the sipdowns lately! Down to… 71? At least for the next two days, until I get my new 52Teas order in, haha. Also, apparently my tastebuds are going to ignore the season and pretend that pumpkin is acceptable to drink year round. Which it is, I guess… but it’s 70 degrees outside. And I’m drinking this hot. For someone who primarly lives on iced tea come hot weather, I’m not sure I know who I am anymore.

I reread my old tasting note about this one before making it and it’s a good thing I did. My instinct was to drink it plain but apparently that did not go to plan before. So, I trusted myself and added milk and sugar.

Do you know, the pumpkin really came out this way? Last time was mostly spice, this time seems more like pumpkin filling. I get this idea of a cinnamon pastry crust but mostly in the aftertaste – it is pumpkin pie filling, front and center.

I liked this better with additives, but it still wouldn’t be my go to pumpkin tea. Glad I got to try it though!