Pumpkin Chai

This one is smooth yet spicy and actually has some pumpkin flavor instead of just pumpkin spice. I am getting a lot of cinnamon and nutmeg. I think this could make a latte but plain it’s a little unbalanced spice-wise for my tastes.

Sipdown (636)!

Another VariaTEA share – I’ve never had the OG Frank era version of this to compare with Anne’s take on it, but if I’m being honest I find almost all Pumpkin Chai teas kind of all taste the same. It’s sweet spices, pretty much. Sometimes you taste pumpkin, sometimes you don’t. They’re fine – but a little overhyped in my opinion.

This one is also… fine.

It’s smooth and warming, and I think I can taste a touch of pumpkin but mostly it’s the same spices I normally get from a Pumpkin Chai tea, but maybe with a little more thought into the ratio so that they read as a little more balanced and harmonious. Nice and thick, full bodied flavours. I’d probably be a little more into it if I was actually drinking it around Autumn. It’s just fine though.

(To be fair, I’m not really the ‘intended audience’ for a blend like this, though)

Chai to Stay Dry! To go with the old “April Showers” motif this month I’m going to try to sample some of my chais and sipdown some of the chai tea samplers I have stashed away. (Though admittedly, Aprils in my area tend to be more windy than wet… ah well!)

Last October for my (now discontinued) tea blog I dedicated the whole month to trying different pumpkin teas, as I have a huge thing for pumpkin flavors/foods. Of all the teas I tried during that month, this one reminds me of the Pumpkin Chai Latte blend by Spice and Tea Exchange, which I found to have a more savory flavor rather than a sweeter, more dessert-like flavor profile like most pumpkin teas.

I have Anne’s reblend of this tea from last October. The leaf has a very spicy scent, particularly of clove and cardamom. The tea has a subtle savory pumpkin note, but the dominant flavor is a heavy spice note of cardamom and clove, with some light cinnamon and nutmeg flavors in the finish. The tea is not too spicy; there is a nice warmth to the tea, but it doesn’t create too much of a heated sensation in the mouth and is easy enough to drink straight, but has enough spicy depth it could work as a latte. I do however find that with such strong cardamom/clove notes, the tea takes on a much nicer, rounder flavor note with some added sugar. The black tea base is very smooth, and has a slight hint of smokiness. I don’t really get any vanilla flavor from the vanilla bean in the blend, or even any creaminess like vanilla tends to add, so drinking the tea latte-style with some warm vanilla almond milk may be the way to go if this is what you are after.

Not particularly pumpkiny or creamy, but a very savory chai that is a nice choice if you like cardamom and clove. It’s not my favorite pumpkin chai I’ve tried, but it’s a nice warm cuppa on a cold blustery spring morning.

I totally forgot I had this tea before, and wound up with a sampler in the last mystery bag purchase. I agree with my last review that this tastes like a weaker version of Amoda’s Happy Pumpkin. I feel bad writing this, but it tastes like a lot of other chai blends I have tasted in the past. Mostly cinnamon and ginger.

I meant to make this one as a latte since it’s my favourite that way, but i forgot. Still a tasty pumpkin chai tea -and actually tastes pumpkin-y without it being that weirdo “pumpkin spice” flavour.

This is this week’s Tea of the Week as well as the Featured Reblend/Retro Monday blend for October. I argued with myself on whether or not I should start a new entry for this since it is technically a new Pumpkin Chai – as I didn’t follow Frank’s recipe for this one. But I figured that we do have a lot of entries as it is and we actually DO have 2 Pumpkin Chai entries (this one and the Sri Lankan Pumpkin Chai) – the thought crossed my mind that having another Pumpkin Chai entry may just confuzzle everyone so I decided to just use this one.

As I said, my new Pumpkin Chai is different from the original blend. I didn’t actually have Frank’s recipe for this blend – earlier this year my old computer (that I had for about 8 years) died. Fortunately, I did sense that it’s time was approaching and I started saving my recipes to google docs and I didn’t lose too many recipes. I lost a lot of other things that I wasn’t able to retrieve but for the most part, we got through it with as little loss as possible.

Anyway – I wasn’t able to save all of Frank’s recipes and quite a few of his older ones were also lost in his own computer’s death so to be honest, I don’t recall if this particular recipe was in the set of recipes that I did have. But that’s OK. That chai was alright, but I enjoy making chai blends so I wasn’t too set on needing to recreate his.

I wanted to focus on as much pumpkin flavor as possible – which is difficult for a few reasons: a) the pumpkin bits that are added to the blend do not add a strong flavor – they’re mostly about visual appeal; b) I’ve found that it’s a bit difficult to get the pumpkin essence to express itself fully with a strong black tea base and I’m of the belief that chai blends with a black tea base should have a strong, vigorous black tea as it’s base to support those spices; and c) the strong spices tend to mask some of the pumpkin notes.

Nevertheless, I do think I managed to get some of that pumpkin to shine through.

When it comes to a chai though, the most important thing (at least for me) is the spice. I like a warm and cozy chai – and I even appreciate a really robust, spicy chai. Usually when I get a chai with spices on the subtle side, I find myself somewhat disappointed. It’s something that happens often when it comes to coffee shop chai blends – because most of them use one particular brand of chai concentrate (and I’m not going to name names) and it isn’t a very strong chai – it tastes mostly like milk and sugar to me – with some notes of cinnamon and ginger. I usually get no real discernible tea flavor from those blends and very little in the way of spice. There are only a few coffee shops out there where I’ll get a chai latte these days and those are ones that I KNOW do not serve that particular brand of chai concentrate.

Anyway, I digress.

I wanted this chai to be something that kept the spice profile strong even if I added some milk for a latte (because pumpkin chai blends should be made into a latte, amirite?) and I think I managed to accomplish this. I do recommend that if you decide to go latte with this, that you brew it strong so that the milk doesn’t dilute the tea because this was made to be served as a straight up tea.

And it is good as both a straight up tea and as a latte. As a latte, it’s smooth and creamy, with a really nice peppery bite to it. When it’s a latte, the pumpkin becomes very silky tasting, reminding me almost of a pumpkin yogurt but without that tang of the yogurt, which makes me wonder how some plain kefir might fair in this? Would the kefir curdle with the heat of the tea? It’s not something I’ve ever tried – so I don’t know. If any of you have tried such a thing – please let me know how it turned out!

Anyway, I’m quite happy with this blend – happy that I’m able to enjoy some chai as the weather is definitely CHAI weather to me and also because it’s yummy!

Uh oh, another pumpkin tea! It’s autumn! I had Frank’s version of this, which I guess didn’t impress me. Maybe I tried it when it was older. But this is Anne’s version. But also a year old at least. I didn’t write a note for it yet though! I do appreciate the ACTUAL pumpkin pieces here! And I CAN TASTE PUMPKIN IN THE TEA! Awesome. Awesome. More pumpkin flavor than actual spice flavor. And it really needs more spices to be called a chai in my opinion. But I’d rather have pumpkin flavor if it’s a pumpkin chai than no pumpkin AND no spice. Next time this is a sipdown. Frank’s blend got a 63 rating from me, but obviously this gets a higher rating for actual pumpkin!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 5 minute steep

The problem I’ve had with some of Frank’s previous pumpkin teas is that they’re short on actual pumpkin flavour and overdose on cinnamon to compensate. This blend neatly avoids that pitfall and I can clearly taste the smooth, slightly sweet and nutty flavour of the pumpkin. Other people have complained about too much cardamom and cloves in this blend but I personally prefer more cardamom in my chais and I think cloves and pumpkin are a fantastic combination. I’m just drinking it plain right now but I could see this being a great latte as well. Much love.

Anytime it wants to warm up and spring wants to start springing would be great.

I’m running out of pumpkin teas, and will be really sad if I have to pull through the cold weather without them by my side.

Dry, this smells like a spicy chai with dominant notes on the cardamom, cinnamon, and clove. I don’t really pick up much pumpkin.

Once steeped, it feels a bit heavy handed on the clove, so it’s easy to lose the other flavors. There’s definitely a pumpkin-y sweetness present, it’s just easy to lose admidst the spices.

I don’t dislike it, but it’s definitely more chai spice than pumpkin. Of course it makes a satisfying chai latte. I just prefer other pumpkin teas to this one in the end.

Add ins today:

1/2 tsp Pumpkin Spice Torani
2 tbsp Silk light soy milk

Day 9 from the 12 Teas of Christmas 2014.

This is heavy on the clove and cardamom. A little too heavy for my liking. The pumpkin flavour is very natural, but it has a taste I would identify as ‘raw’, if that makes any sense. I prefer a sweeter, more ‘cooked’ pumpkin flavour, but that’s just personal. I bought this in my last 52teas order before I opened the sample from the box, so it will be interesting to see how the reblend compares to the original. I will write up a more detailed note next time I drink this, but I can’t really remember much more about it for now. I enjoyed it, but I prefer the pumpkin chai from DAVIDs.