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The combination of pumpkin spice and chocolate is interesting. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. Something in this blend reads like oatmeal on my palate. Alas, this is another hyped up tea that’s mostly pumpkin spice with no discernible pumpkin flavor. I probably wouldn’t mind it so much had the pumpkin spice been tempered by just white chocolate and more vanilla, but the chocolate/carob throws off my taste buds. It’s not terrible but it’s not something I’ll be repurchasing when I’m done with my 2 ounces.

The smell of the dry leaf reminded me of one of my favorites from last year’s 52Teas advent calendar – Hot Spiced Buttered Rum. It, too, is a green tea with warming spices. I adore that tea, especially when he weather is cool and crisp. Sadly, this particular tea is not for me. The green tea base is nice enough, but the flavor of the pumpkin is completely overwhelmed by the cloves. I don’t even taste the other spices in the blend. Another 50g bag I won’t be finishing.

Finding good pumpkin blends is apparently as difficult as finding good apricot or vanilla blends. The search continues…

I guess this sort of tastes like a graham cracker. Maybe? Possibly a cinnamon graham cracker? It definitely doesn’t read s’mores to my palate. It’s a bit like a snickerdoodle…but the sugar in the cinnamon sugar coating has been replaced with maple sugar. I don’t get any chocolate flavor. The white chocolate adds body and sweetness, but I don’t taste the carob at all. I finished my cup but I won’t be finishing my 50g bag.

I’d tried DT’s version and thought it tasted more like a fruit cake than a coffee cake. This blend sounded more promising, but I’ll admit I was really underwhelmed. Apart from a very distinct bakery note, the tea just tasted like very weak apple cider to me. I couldn’t make it through the cup. I’m tempted to try it again because there were so many rave reviews, but I think I’ll just sell/swap the rest of my 50g bag. Bummer.

This is another stand-out tea for me this year. I sampled it as it was on its way out, and I was able to find someone who wanted to get rid of her stash. Apart from the apples, this is one of the best apricot teas I’ve had in quite some time.

Speaking of apples, I’m so tired of seeing them listed as one of the main ingredients of a tea when they’re not contributing anything…apart from apple flavor that usually detracts from the blend instead of enhancing it. I’m looking at you Pistachio Ice Cream, Just Peachy, etc.

I digress. I love stone fruits in tea, and it’s so difficult to get right or maybe I’m just picky. It’s probably the latter. There’s just enough spice to give it a bit of depth. I actually quite like the hint of ginger in the blend. It’s much more interesting than just tired ol’ cinnamon. I’m glad they put this in a black tea base, but it’s not as robust as I’d like. I’d attribute that to the fact that they chose to source a blend with fewer tea leaves and more apples. Nonetheless, it’s one of the few flavored, fruity black tea blends from DT that I enjoy both hot and iced.

If anyone has recommendations for a good apricot blend, especially one with a black tea base, please share.

I had a hot cuppa this morning, and, while I didn’t completely love it, I couldn’t stop drinking it either. It was just so…intriguing. I don’t think I’ve ever had a tea with a Golden Yunnan base, so I didn’t really have a point of reference.

The dry leaf smells incredible. The citrus really hits you in the face. I managed to get a cherry in my teaspoon, but the flavor didn’t quite translate to my cup the way I’d hoped it would. The tea itself was very malty but smooth, and the lemon really added a lovely sour kick. The cherry was more of a vague fruity note after the sourness subsided.

I’m going to reserve judgment on this blend until I try it iced or cold, as I would an actual whiskey sour.

I really enjoyed this blend over ice this summer. It’s definitely floral, which I’m attributing to the lychee and the white hibiscus. Floral isn’t normally thing, but, since the peach is the dominant flavor on my palate, I don’t mind. It’s certainly one of the stand-out blends from DT this year for me.

Rooibos and I do not get along. That said, I do enjoy DT’s Birthday Cake every now and again, so I thought I’d give this a try since it’s supposedly quite similar. I believe this version has toffee added to it. I steeped some this morning and made an iced latte, and it was really tasty. The toffee flavor really stands out, even with the addition of dairy. The flavor of the rooibos doesn’t bother me too much, but, again, I attribute that to the dairy. It’s Birthday Cake but better, IMHO. The toffee adds a really lovely rich flavor, and the tea, as a result, tastes very decadent. I’m glad I finally got my hands on some of this, and I’ll be sporadically enjoying every cuppa.

I didn’t hate the previous version of Sangria, but I didn’t love it enough to add it to my collection. I don’t love this tea either. It’s a nice tropical fruit blend. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of hibiscus in the blend which is nice for those who don’t care for it.

I’ve never had sangria because wine isn’t my thing, but I’m familiar enough with the recipe. This tea doesn’t strike me as sangria or even sangria-inspired. Perhaps, it’d be a version of sangria if you lived in Hawaii and the fruits you had easiest access to were mangoes, papayas, pineapples, and passion fruits instead of oranges and apples.

It’s just a run-of-the-mill tea that’s tropical, fruity, and refreshing over ice. Thankfully, I’ve only opened one bag, so I’ll probably mix it with Queen of Tarts until I’ve finished it off.