Autumn Harvest! This is a sampler I had from a holiday sampler pack from Art of Tea. The leaf has a very strong rooibos scent, with a slightly sweet aroma that reminds me a bit of vanilla or cream, with just a hint of spice.
Steeped up, the tea has a very rusty red color, with the same sweet, inviting aroma of the leaf. The taste was a bit underwhelming, though. For a tea that is called Pumpkin Pie, it just didn’t taste as much like pumpkin pie as I was expecting. The rooibos/honeybush base was a bit dominating, and I didn’t feel like I was tasting much of a pumpkiny flavor coming through in it. There certainly was a hint of creaminess to the tea, like a small hint of pumpkin pie with a dallop of whipped cream right at the back of the tongue as you swallow, which I found quite pleasant. I just wish that note was a little stronger. It feels to me like the honeyed/woody rooibos and honeybush takes center stage first, and the pumpkin tones are only able to squeeze in afterwards.
At least the spices in this blend aren’t too dominating or overwhelming, as they often tend to be in pumpkin spice blends. They have a nice sweet spice flavor toward the end of the sip and blend in nicely overall, and really the only thing that would’ve made them work better is having a proper pumpkiny flavor component to the tea.
Overall pretty meh. It just didn’t quite get there for me, as far as pumpkin teas go.
Flavors: Cream, Honey, Rooibos, Spices, Sweet, Wood
