Sweet Harvest Pumpkin

Well, this is quite potent in the spice department. Additionally, when they say sweet, they really mean sweet. It’s not just a cute name.

There is stevia in this blend. After a couple sips I thought, is there stevia in here? It was funny because I just was looking in the thread about stevia leaf, and I am in the minority of not minding it in a blend. It just smells like bad alcohol decisions in DavidsTea blends. I never realized I could actually tell what stevia tasted like on its own just based on that smell.

This one, it doesn’t smell like it until you are drinking it, and it just has that clearly stevia aftertaste. I think maybe the pumpkin pie spices help hide the scent, but it just tastes like there is actually too much stevia used, and it’s a bummer. I was hoping this would taste like pumpkin pie, but it’s too sweet! I don’t know how that is possible.

Other than the stevia, it’s a nice mix of spices, a little different from your usual pumpkin blend. There’s ginger and chicory in addition to the usual cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. The pumpkin flavor is nice, but it’s just too sweet. I’d rather have to smell the stevia first and have it blend better into the tea than not be able to smell it, and have it as a prominent flavor.

It is much easier to drink this with very small sips at a time. Otherwise the lingering sweetness is hard to take, especially so early in the morning.

My first ever Celestial Seasonings courtesy of gmathis. Thanks. I had no idea what was in this when I brewed it this morning. It smells like pumpkin spice cake. It is very sweet. Now that I know there is Stevia in it, the sweetness makes sense. I can’t decide about the taste. It is something like pumpkin spice cake dipped in milk. It reminds me of a rooibos blend. It doesn’t taste like black tea to me. The spices are a different and interesting take on a classic.

Am I allowed to write about Matcha Pocky on here? Cause I found some in China Town yesterday and I’m eating some now and they are delicious. Even the biscuit part has matcha in it! Anything made with matcha is just so pretty. That green. :)

Anyways, I’m having this Sweet Harvest Pumpkin thanks to Josie Jade. I’m just tearing through that box of samples from her today. :) Plus I really have a craving for buttermilk pumpkin soup, but I don’t have any pumpkin. :( I do have buttermilk though. I think I’ll make a pudding with it later today.

I saw a lot of negative reviews about this due to the stevia. I actually don’t much mind stevia. It’s not as tasty as sugar or honey, but it’s better than Equal or Splenda. So I added a splash or almond milk to this since spiced teas really do taste better milked up. This particular tea tastes like the inside of a pumpkin pie. A bit of that delicious orange squash flavor. Lightly spiced with cinnamon and ginger. brown sugar? Not too bad. It’s a bit thin though. Next time, I might have to use two bags per cup.

EDIT: Husband just came by and made off with my cup of this. haha I think I’ll leave the rest of these tea bags to him. :)

After enjoying the other Celestial Seasoning’s holiday blends that I tried, I decided to pick up a box of this as well. I enjoy the flavor of pumpkin, and really love pumpkin pie, which a couple of the reviews for this tea said it tasted like. You can definitely detect a pumpkin flavor in this tea. There is a surprising element of spiciness in this tea also, actually a lot of spiciness, almost like the finish of a very strong chai. There is also a really sweet element to this tea at the end, almost like a sugary sweetness, I can’t quite put my finger on it what exactly it is. I’m really happy that I got a box of this and I think a latte with this would be the ultimate pumpkiny goodness!

-Regular teabag without a string.
-Teabag smells of spices and ginger. Tea liquor aroma is of warm pumpkin pie.
-Tea liquor is a thick very dark brown color.
-Artificial gingery pumpkin flavor with a sweet stevia finish. Spicy aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Sweet and spicy pumpkin flavor.

Another Celestial Seasonings buy from Whole Foods yesterday, at least they’re cheap. :)

Yeah, like a lot of people mentioned this IS pretty sweet. Also Stevia leaves a bit of a funky aftertaste in my opinion. This does remind me a bit of Bengal Spice and I would say I’m detecting more spice than pumpkin. I added some soymilk to this which made it better, I think. It does remind me a little bit of Bengal Spice but it’s sweeter. I think this would have been fine without the Stevia and I’m not sure why they felt the need to put it in there!

Whooo. 80% sweet, 20% pumpkin.

Did I say this was sweet?

Don’t dislike it, but the next round is going to need some serious dilution. Milk. A bag of plain black. Something.

thank you so much momo for the amazing package of teas! Holy stevia! They should call this one stevia flavored. I’m definitely not a stevia fan. I feel like CS thinks the stevia tastes like pumpkin or something, so that is their idea of pumpkin flavor. The first tea I ever drank was a Celestial Seasonings chocolate chai, so there is some nostalgia there. I do enjoy some of their blends… the ‘Nutcracker Sweet’ especially. I was looking forward to trying the pumpkin as soon as I heard about it! They just went overboard with the stevia. The second steep has taken most of the stevia out, but probably much of the other flavor too. I’d say the second steep seems like it would have the normal amount of stevia you’d find in other teas. I don’t think they put much or any stevia in their other blends, unless they have started doing that now. That’s too bad, because it might have been a decent blend. I wouldn’t have minded all the spices with a better pumpkin flavor without stevia. I’m always up for trying though, so thanks again, momo!

Call me a spoilsport but I get a little cynical this time of year amid all the talk of pumpkin flavored this and that. Pumpkin happens to be one of my favorite vegetables. I eat a lot of it and know exactly what it does and doesn’t taste like. It’s a vegetable. From the vine it does NOT taste like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. These are spices we PUT INTO pumpkin to cover up the bad taste of the vitamins. (Yes,I’m from the Peg Bracken school of vegetable cookery)

Most “pumpkin flavored” items are all about the spices and have no pumpkin in them. So I was quite surprised to find these tea bags actually smelled like pumpkin as well as the spices. I brewed one up and found it quite good. It reminds me of the same company’s Bengal Spice (which I love), but with less butter and cinnamon and with a whiff of actual pumpkin. The stevia gives it a hint of sweetness but only a hint. If you want it really sweet, be ready to add some more. Being a pumpkin fan, I’m inclined to throw in some cream and a bit of salt as well.

In conclusion: If you like Bengal Spice, you’ll probably like this one. Except for the hint of pumpkin, for me this is like having the same stuff in regular and decaf. Not that I really mind. Since they’re both quite good, having two boxes is twice as nice.

I picked this up on a whim from the grocery store and I have to say it isn’t half bad! It really reminds me of a slightly less sweet, coffee-free Pumpkin Spice Latte. The pumpkin is present, spices are balanced, and the stevia isn’t overpowering. Many of the holiday teas from CS have been hit or miss with me, but this is pretty good.

This one is sweet on its own. (Actually, it’s too sweet. Milk or extra water helps even it out.) It really does taste like pumpkin loaded with spices. It is nice hot but it is delicious iced.

very good mixture of spice and pumpkin flavor. However, after the first cup I could distinctly start tasking the overly sweet element to it. Once I started noticing that, it started tasting kind of weird to me. Going to give this one a break for a few days before coming back to it, see if the odd quality lasts or not. Hopefully it’s just me drinking too much! Always a fan of pumpkin and pumpkin spice things.

Alright, I admit it. I have a pumpkin obsession!! So as soon as this tea caught my eye at Fairway I quickly picked up a box, or two, or three…before I even tried it. And I’m not disappointed – this is a great tea and it does taste like pumpkin! It’s not a very spicy tea so if you are looking for a Pumpkin Spice tea, this is not the one. That being said, it’s still great.

I allow the tea to brew for a while and leave it in until I finish the cup. Add milk and sugar and it’ almost like Thanksgiving in a mug.

I do not like what I think is the amount of stevia in this blend. (I do not make a habit of using sweeteners other than sugar, so I could be wrong.) It’s just too darn sweet, artificial tasting, and there’s nowhere near enough pumpkin. I literally had to drain the cup after two sips, and now I am stuck with a box of tea I hate. Boo. :(