Sweet Autumn

Sipdown! So I grabbed this tea thinking it was a flavoured black…. clearly not. Brewed it up anyways though… I’ve had four other caffeinated teas, so my headache should go away soon – one rooibos won’t hurt! Anyways, this tea was from… uh…. it’s not listed on my spreadsheet?! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Well, I think it was from CHAroma, but I am very sad, because that means that this sip down doesn’t knock down my tea count. Boo :( I guess I sit steadily at 814 (which is actually more like 820, since I haven’t added my new teas yet. Argh.)

Anyways. I can definitely taste the chestnut in this tea – similar flavour to Lupicia’s Chaud les Marrons, which is unsurprising. There’s also a sweetness that I would attribute to the sweet potato/pumpkin, and the characteristic flavour of rooibos, which works fairly well here. I think I’d prefer to have CM, but this is better than I would have expected! Thanks CHAroma!

YUM! I wasn’t really excited to try this sample from Lupicia because it’s a rooibos blend and rooibos isn’t my favorite. But, here, the rooibos actually works perfectly. The nutty flavor of the rooibos accents the flavor of chestnut very well, and also brings out the sweetness of the pumpkin and sweet potato very well.

I also like that this tisane didn’t turn to an abundance of spices to create their autumn flavors. While I LOVE spices, it is nice to find a tisane that is so well flavored (and it tastes very authentic too) that it doesn’t require spices to make it taste like fall.

Warm and inviting and cozy. I am loving this.

I have decided to attempt to wade through the superslow loading that is Steepster. Why? Well, I miss having a tea-centric spot with friendly tea-folk. (And it’s really nice to check out what I rated a tea on Steepster from my phone when I’m at the grocery store.)

This one is one of the lovely freebie Lupicia teabags that they send out with their newsletters. The smell is amazing and pretty different. The newsletter description says chestnut, pumpkin and sweet potato. I think the smell is mostly pumpkin/potato with a slight sweetness under chestnut. After a few sniffs I can pick up the underlying rooibos scent. It’s kind of whacky smelling but I am intrigued.

The liquor smells more of chestnuts – warm, roasty, nutty, comforting. There is a small note of gourd-y sweetness that I think I’m picking up, too, particularly in the back end. The rooibos scent is there but it pairs nicely with the chestnut so I’m not icked out by it.

The taste is nicely mild. As with the smell, the rooibos pairs nicely with the chestnut. There is a little dryness to the end that, for some reason, I attribute to the rooibos but works with the chestnut. But it’s all quite pleasant. Slurping brings out the sweet potato/pumpkin notes (which to me have always seemed virtually the same) and it blends seamlessly into the chestnut.

All in all, I actually like this. Very fitting for the season and delicately done, I think. I could more see getting this for my fall-loving SIL thank I could for getting it for myself, though, simply because I’m more of a summer girl.

(Second steep: the dryness at the end of the sip is gone, the flavor is a bit milder and the texture is smoother. The chestnut doesn’t seem quite as distinctive, or perhaps the sweet potato/pumpkin is just a little more obvious as the flavor seems sweeter. Honestly, if I wanted a good fall cup? This would be it.)

I was meeting a friend of mine at the Loving Hut today for lunch… I had too much time to kill and unfortunately went into the teashops including Lupicia. I think my challenge for October is to go on a tea buying moratorium, I haven’t been doing too well with that lately. Even though buying has decreased a lot over these past few months, it all adds up and I need to start making money soon.

Anyway here is a tea that I first tried a few years ago. It only comes out in October for one month so if you want it, better act soon. It is sweet and has a nice sweet potato flavor that I enjoy. I remember it was good when I had it before, so I’m glad to see it back. I added sugar this time and that makes it too sweet, I think I’ll go for unsweetened the next time I have it.

The past few days, I have been embracing autumn’s slow approach. Even though the weather is still a bit warm, I am thinking of the changing seasons more than ever. My lovely mother even brought home a pumpkin loaf from the store and exclaimed, “the first of the season!” She knows how much I adore pumpkin.. so I’m looking forward to having a slice tomorrow morning.

This blend sounded like the perfect thing to have tonight. The hot cup smells strongly of squash, vegetables and rooibos. I can’t smell any sweetness so it almost makes me think of a savory soup. I’m a little nervous to see what this will taste like now.

Sipping… Hmmm.. this rooibos is a bit darker than others I’ve tried. It’s not light and sweet, but is dark and almost tastes burnt. I’m getting a little bit of a starchy flavor in the background and I believe that to be the sweet potato and chestnut. There is a little bit of squash mixed in the aftertaste. This blend tastes like burnt mixed vegetables. I think the combination of rooibos with sweet potato has so much potential, but it’s all lost here. I’m happy to have had a cup and it does bring to mind roasted squash and bonfires, but it’s really too strange for me to finish.

It’s an amazing tea that can overcome my strong dislike of red rooibos. I’m impressed with this.

It’s super sweet even sans additions, and I usually like overly sweet concoctions. The flavor is strongly chestnut and sweet potato. I’m not getting much in the way of pumpkin, or at least not the way I’m used to tasting pumpkin in drinks.

In something like a Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte, it’s a lot of spice and milk and espresso. There’s very little actual pumpkin flavor, or maybe I should say authentic pumpkin flavor. The pumpkin that’s in this tea is more like slicing open a baked pumpkin and digging in. More natural and less processed.

The taste lingers long into the aftertaste too. This is a really nicely balanced cup of tea. The flavors mesh well together.

Yum! I’m liking this tea! It does still have a little bit of that red rooibos quality I don’t like. So, I won’t be placing an order. But I am enjoying my cup, and that’s saying a lot right there.

Drinking this sample tonight and the moment I opened the bag the delicious smell was the first thing I noticed. It is a full flavored cuppa that I truly enjoyed. The sweet potato is the strongest in flavor but is perfectly proportioned. A delicious well balanced cup reminiscent of all feelings and flavor of autumn.

I just returned from a three week long trip to Japan. One of my destinations was the town of Obuse in Nagano Prefecture. Obuse is known for its chestnuts, and there are many delightful confections and concoctions with the delicious “kuri”. So, receiving a sample of Sweet Autumn Tea, flavored with chestnut, I was excited to try it as soon as possible!
The scent of the tea bag is fantastic, chestnuts and sweet potato. I didn’t pick up on the pumpkin, but either way it’s still fantastic. When brewed in the cup, it smells of chestnut and roasted pumpkin, and the flavor is delightfully chestnutty. I can practically feel the texture of the chestnut as the tea dances across my tongue. This will be fantastic on a cold autumn day, overcast and the fallen leaves blowing across the landscape in a chill breeze. I’m ordering a package from Lupicia right now!

Oh, and if you happen to find yourself in Obuse, try the chestnut ice cream!

Edited to add second steep note:
Same parameters, yields a much more pronounced chestnut fragrance and flavor. Don’t discard the tea after the first steep, you’ll be missing out!

I received this as one of those free monthly samples in the mail. I forgot that the yellow wrapping meant rooibos. Nevertheless, I opened it and realized it was rooibos! It smelled sweet when it was dry. After steeping it, it smelled strange to me. I guess its the sweet potato, pumpkin, rooibos combination that threw me off. I don’t want to type this out… but it smells a little like vomitus… I was hesitant to taste it, but I love trying new things so I put it to my lips. The taste is nice, mild, and sweet! It was flavorful and delicious after I got over the initial scent. It is very very scarcely starchy with a chestnut type of flavor in the background. Delicious.

I don’t usually enjoy rooibos but this is yummy. It’s perfect for autumn of course. It’s great to have in the evening as it gets colder – especially as it’s naturally caffeine free. I was longing for roasted Japanese sweet potatoes, hearing the call of the street vendors’ “yaki-imo” in my mind, and this tea is a perfect nostalgic treat for those who have enjoyed an autumn in Japan. The pumpkin and chestnut and sweet potato flavours combine well with the rooibos but I can’t say any of them stand out. It’s more of a warm harvest taste, a taste that evokes autumn but not one flavour in particular. It’s a nice contrast and compliment to all the pumpkin spice things one finds in abundance this time of year (which I thoroughly enjoy as well).