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.)
