Pumpkin Spice

Dear Pumpkin Spice,

I wanted to like you. Really, I truly did. I know that you might not want to hear that right now, but please hear me out.

When I was mildly disappointed with the first cup, I did not shun you. I tried you again the next day. When that cup, too, left me crestfallen, I was not deterred.

I know what you’re thinking, but don’t you DARE pretend that I didn’t put effort into trying to fix this. I experimented. I changed your steep time. I changed your water temperature. I changed the amount of you that I put in…you. I sat by your bed and read you Harry Potter, and I even held your hair back on that one night we decided to take shots every time those girls on The Hills did something that made us want to lose our faith in humanity. And still, after everything that we’ve been through, things just never felt right.

You were just so bitter. I could never understand it. You looked so good on paper, and I’d be lying if I said your scent wasn’t slightly intoxicating, but being in your company simply wasn’t enjoyable.

I think that the night I knew it was over was when I broke down and tried you with cream and sugar, and I got no pumpkin flavor and could only taste the sugar. With all due respect to your parents, why would they name you Pumpkin when there is no pumpkin to be had? Are you related to the Scented-Bitter-Waters who live up north?

And now, we must part ways. I’m sorry, Spice. Please believe me when I say that I wanted this to work.

Sincerely,
Heather

P.S. You wouldn’t happen to have any friends who taste a lot better than you do, would you?

The artisan who makes my soap sent me a sachet of this tea along with my last order of soap. She used to be one of my very best tea customers when I sold tea. :) It is nice that she thought of me and included some tea with my order!

I don’t hate this as much as it would appear most of Steepster does. Then again, after having gone round and round with the black tea base of Adagio, I have learned a thing or two when it comes to steeping their flavored black teas. A slightly lower temperature (just below boiling) and steeping for 3 minutes (or even just 2 1/2 minutes) produces a pleasant cup. Oh… and let it cool a few minutes before taking that first sip. About three or four minutes will do it. It tames the astringency significantly. It still is certainly not the best cup of tea I’ve ever had, but I’m not hating it either. It’s agreeable.

The pumpkin flavor here IS odd, though. It tastes artificial. The spices are nice, but, the pumpkin just tastes off.

Overall, it’s alright. Not something I’d buy, but, more than that, I’m very happy with the thoughtfulness of my dear friend, the soap artisan, and I truly appreciate her thoughtfulness.

I purchased this sample a while ago, back when I was in love with Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte. I thought somehow they’d be similar. At first sniff of the leaves, I am not sure they’re even from the same planet. It smells strange and sweet… and not really like pumpkin or spices. Honestly, the aroma reminds me of cheap bubblegum, like the kind that comes in fat, pink cylinders.

I made it hot, because iced seemed even worse, and gave it some time to cool. The flavor isn’t terrible… it’s just not what I was hoping for. I guess it does taste a little pumpkiny, but it feels so fake. Maybe this could benefit from a splash of milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I’ll give it another try, but later, when I’m less turned off.

Sigh.

Why does my pumpkin taste vaguely like banana?

When you smell the dry tea leaves, the spiciness of this tea doesn’t really make you think of pumpkin pie. It’s very ginger-y and clove-y, not so pumpkin-y. But that’s just the leaves. Surely the tea will taste different?

Eh. Meh. The cinnamon’s stronger in the tea, but it’s still a very spicy tea and not at all pumpkin-like. Oh, wait – I can sorta taste the pumpkin at the very end, almost in the aftertaste, but I’m not sure if it’s actually there or if it’s a phantom created in my mind. Hmmm.

It is a nice spiced tea. It’s warming and pleasant. But as a pumpkin-themed tea, it just isn’t working for me.

I’m finishing off a sample of this that Adagio sent from one of my earlier orders. I have brewed it up before, and remember not being very impressed.

I added milk and sugar, thinking that might help. No. Dang, this stuff is nasty.

Though I contemplated reading my Computer Organization literature, I decided to take a break to try one of Adagio’s fine seasonal products. Though I have had seasonal teas in the past, none quite compare to this Black Tea, that which is full of flavor.

I’ll admit, I’m not really a big fan of Black Teas (though ironically it is the type of tea I started on), but I am always willing to try Adagio’s flavored stuff, as it is usually pretty decent. There was that one occasion where I bought their Pineapple Black Tea, which I am still afraid to touch, let alone DRINK! Anyway, I digress.

Right now my window is open a crack (Allegheny likes to CRANK the heat, which is bad when my door is closed), and I can smell the faint sense of Autumn. Leaves are falling and that chilly air is just creeping in, though not as bad as winter, that’s for sure. So, the mood is set for some Fall-esque tea, am I right people?

Steep Method: IngenuiTEA
Normally, when making some tea from Adagio, I use their/my trusty IngenuiTEA steeping mechanism. I figure since they sell it, they’d want you to experience their teas in it. Also, I feel that I get a better, more thorough taste, than with my Zarafina, or some other auto-teamaker.

Steep Time: 3 Minutes, 30 Seconds

I heat the water first and when it’s boiling (about 200° F) I pour it into my steeper, the Pumpkin Spice already in there. Decided to have some fun and use Steep.it for their recommended amount of time for teas. A good thought, but I should have set my own time (3:30 was too short for this black tea).

Sip, sip, sip! Opinion and Reaction

This tea is surprisingly light for it’s type (black) and certainly has that “Fall” attitude to it. The taste is definitely there, a plethora of Vanilla and Oriental Spice-ish taste, as well as some Pumpkin flavoring to it. I’m actually surprised that there wasn’t MORE pumpkin flavor. I swear I need to steep it longer. I’ll try that on the next steep, but man it definitely needs MORE punch! So, Adagio, if you are listening, I am giving you the Thumbs Up on Steepster.com, but for next year (or even your next batch) please please add more Pumpkin flavor! Maybe there is a lot in it, but the Black Tea tastes overwhelms it? If so, use White Tea or even Oolong (my favorite!). It does go well with my mood at the moment, but there’s simply not enough Pumpkin flavor, I expected Pumpkin Pie! It’s more like Oriental Spice with a twist of Vanilla and a little hint of Pumpkins. Just sayin’.

I like it, but I don’t LOVE it.

TeaCast scale: 81/100.

I have to say I don’t really like this on its own. So I tried mixing it with pecan black tea and it was wonderful! It really brings out the flavors and tastes like pumpkin pie :) goodbye to that weird bitter taste it had before!

Backlog—
I definitely don’t taste, or smell, pumpkin in this. Which makes sense because the ingredients only specify “natural pumpkin spice flavor.” There’s really no hint of spice either, just a bland black tea with some kind of odd flavoring. Bleh.

I only have this tea because Adagio said you’d get 4 oz with an order. I made an order, and was surprised by the fun holiday-themed tin in came in. If only I liked the tea as much!

I’ve tried it straight, with sweetener, and with sugar and soymilk. I like it more the less stuff I add to it. It’s not very pumpkiny and it’s not very pumpkin pie spicy. It reminds me of vegan alternatives to regular foods. If you go in thinking it should taste like the original, you’ll be disappointed. If you go in thinking it’s something new, you might find something in it you like. When I drink this not expecting pumpkin spice, it’s okay. And that will get me through the tin.

I wasn’t sure quite what to expect from this tea. I have limited experience with pumpkin generally, and I’ve never before tried pumpkin tea. Still, with it having just been Halloween, I thought I’d give it a topical whirl.

The smell of the dry leaves is a little strange. It’s quite spicy — cinnamon, cloves, ginger — and it has a slight undertone that’s making me think of an old-fashioned apothecary. It’s such a deep, dark, almost musty smell — I’ve really nothing to compare it to.

Having established this, it was probably silly to judge by the pumpkin soup I had for lunch the other day, but that’s my only recent frame of reference. Based on this, I was expecting something sweeter. Slightly savoury, perhaps, but sweet nonetheless. I don’t know quite what it is about this, but it has a relatively bitter aftertaste. Maybe there are too many spices, or perhaps it’s the sunflower petals. Possibly it’s just the base tea. I’m not sure. All I know is that I can’t taste pumpkin in quite the way I was expecting.

That said, on first sip this tea does have a sweetness to it that I rather like. It’s a shame the aftertaste takes over and spoils it a little, but it’s a pleasing tea otherwise. If the sweetness had been more pronounced, and the aftertaste less bitter, I would have absolutely adored this tea. As it stands, I find it pleasant up to a point, but it’s never going to be my favourite. Not bad for a first acquaintance, but I can see I’m going to have to look elsewhere if I want to find a truly appealing pumpkin tea.

I dunno, maybe my palate isn’t sophisticated enough. Maybe it’s that I boil the water and pour it over the bag and drink the tea, not knowing the first thing (or caring, all that much) about water temperature and steep time. Reading most of the reviews here, I’m beginning to think that ignorance is bliss.

Yes, it needs more pumpkin. Yes, it could probably use some more spice, too. Yes, it’s way heavy on the cloves, especially if you don’t much care for cloves. It does smell nice, though, and it tastes pretty good. What drops this tea in my esteem is its name. Were I to rip off the label and not know what I’m drinking, the tea’d be fine; it’s just that it’s got that Pumpkin Spice name and, well, that’s not really what you get.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 2 zarafina cups filtered water
Tool: Zarafina Black-Loose-Medium (I should have done light)
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet generic spice
Steeped Tea Smell: cinnamon, pumpkin (MilitiaJim could smell it, I got a weird sweet smell)
Flavor: bitter black tea
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: more bitter
Liquor: translucent orange-red-brown

Steepster Traveling Teabox Tea

Where is my pumpkin? Where is the spice?

Post-Steep Additives: 1 tsp German rock sugar, hides the bitter, but your getting very sweet black tea, no spice, no pumpkin

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/adagio-teas-loose-leaf-black-tea.html

Not strong on the pumpkin or spice. It was a decent black tea, but needs something more. I’ll try it with milk next time.

Tastes more flowers and spices than actually like pumpkin. A little disappointing. But not too bad a tea by itself.

I thought I could improve it by using brown sugar instead of white… but it still does not taste much like pumpkin, just pumpkin pie spice. Very inferior to David’s Tea Pumpkin chai.

For a long time I just couldn’t get past the smell of this tea. It smells sickeningly sweet, in a syrupy kind of way that just makes me gag. That was disappointing, because I absolutely love pumpkin and expected this to be my favorite out of the holiday sampler. Today I decided to be a big girl and give it a try.

It brews a beautiful orangey color, and the horrible syrupy smell is drastically toned down once the brew has cooled a bit. But its still there and I can’t help but wrinkle my nose.

It tastes bitter, but its nothing a bit of sugar can’t fix. Thankfully it doesn’t really taste like it smells. I get a faint aftertaste of pumpkin, but it mostly tastes of cloves and cinnamon. Overall I don’t really see this as something I’ll drink all the time, or even pay money for, but I’ll finish the little tin. Maybe. More often than not I’ll open it and be so put off by that awful smell I end up making something else. There has to be a better pumpkin tea out there.

Felt like I should bust out with the pumpkin spice today. Steeped for 4 minutes. I definitely taste the spice, which went well with some milk and sugar. Not much pumpkin, but this tea was still delightful to drink this morning.

Good, but not great. Wanted something special out of the Pumpkin Spice tea, but the pumpkin smell is much stronger than the taste, and it ends up being a pretty normal cup of black tea with a slight hint of pumpkin and spice. Maybe bump up the steep time and add milk? As suggested though, this was not a winner.

This smelled stronger than it tasted. While we liked it, we wanted more pumpkin flavor…

I was sad about this cup of tea I love pumpkin spice but this left a bitter after taste I thought maybe I steeped it to long but clearly this is not the case. This saddens me greatly :(