Pumpkin Chai

This tea is incredible. I always get hooked on this during the fall. It’s amazing iced, but I like to drink mine hot with a touch of milk. The flavour and aroma are divine.

If you want a picture of what the autumn season is all about this is no doubt one of the places to start. The sweet deep flavor of pumpkin pie in a mug that is the best way of describing it. The spices and little pumpkin candies make this a very endearingly warm tea that begs to be savored slowly to get every nuance out of it. The scent itself is very alluring even to passerby’s who ask what the tea is. No matter the season this tea just fits perfectly for a “pick me up”.

Icky morning before an icky day, so I made myself a comfort drink this morning. Did this one up as a double strength latte, sweetened with brown sugar and the milk blended with pumpkin pie spices. It hasn’t fixed my icky morning, but it did bring me at least a small smile.

The first word that comes to mind when I think of this tea is “disappointment”.

It isn’t BAD and it certainly isn’t the worst tea I’ve ever had, but it really fell flat when I tried it and didn’t live up to my expectations.

When I went to David’s to find a new tea to try, I thought I’d try a cup of the Pumpkin Chai, so I asked to smell it. When it was brought to me, I smelled it, and immediately told them to forget about the cup and to instead give me a 50g bag. It smelled AMAZING. It smelled sweet, spicy, warm, and it honestly made me feel like it was autumn all over again. The scent was just phenomenal, even better than I thought it would have been. I went home and I was so excited to try it. I wanted to see if it really was as amazing as I thought it was going to be.

It wasn’t. It really, REALLY wasn’t.

There was no spiciness, no pumpkin flavour, no nothing. All it tasted like was boring, bland, black tea. It was just… dull. It lacked all the flavours and sensations that the scent seemed to promise.

I tried it several more times, to see if maybe it was just a fluke, but nope. Each time it was the same, disappointing tea I had tried the first time.

All in all? If you like the taste of regular black tea, go for it. But if you try this tea and expect something phenomenal, prepare to be disappointed. I know I certainly was.

Oh my god, I’ve died and ascended to Fólkvangr and the goddess Freyja. Life is amazing. Life is beautiful. Life tastes exactly like pumpkins.

Very rich and flavorful with a taste that lingers on your tongue. I’ve yet to steep this just in steamed milk, as is how I often enjoy my chai, but prepared as a black tea with a bit of milk and honey added to it as you do, it’s still divine.

Mmmmmm…one of the great pleasures in life = a huge mug of pumpkin chai on a soggy Vancouver evening :-)

I’m on what feels like an eternal quest for the perfect chai. Ever since I had it made from scratch at a friend’s house a number of years ago, freshly ground spices and all, I haven’t been able to find something close to that wonderful taste. Along the way I do find real gems like this tea. With a bit of brown sugar and milk, Pumpkin Chai is a real winner in my books.

I love how the pumpkin is dominant. Too many flavoured chais that I’ve tried make it seem like the flavour was an afterthought. This is nicely spiced, although it would have been nice to have just a little “bite” to it. I normally steep this closer to the 6 minute mark, but today I was too impatient to get my relaxing time started.

Since I’m just discovering this now, it’s probably too late for me to get a tin to last me through the year. My chai search continues, but this will (hopefully) have a place on my tea shelf.

This tea is so wonderful during the holidays!!! It literally tastes like thanksgiving!!! Amazing pumpkin flavour and sooooo good as a latte with a little brown sugar….yum

I’m really not a pumpkin lover… I think. I’ve never actually tried anything pumpkin before this tea – that’s right no pumpkin pies in this household… And before you get on my case, let me say I blame my parents and that (again) British upbringing where you stay with the tried and true and never sway from the norm… That being said, I am the adventurous one in my family – no boring every sunday is roast and potatoes, every monday is… well you know.

So skip forward in time to my introduction to David’s teas less than a month ago. I bought the fall sampler, got a whiff of this tea, tried a cup plain (no milk no sugar – ahhhh those ancestors love me for that), and liked it enough to by 100g. Then decided I really like it so bought another 100g on my last order…

Did I mention I’m not a pumpkin fan? So why do I LOVE this tea? The smell is amazing and the taste? Amazing too!

So tonight this not-a-pumpkin-lover freak made a Pumpkin Chai Latte and am in heaven. Definitely glad that I made the extra order before it went out of stock!

(For those curious made the tea with 1.5 tsp tea steeped in boiling water with a squirt or two of agave syrup added to steamed and frothy skim milk)

Oh my.
Oh my goodness.
I usually pre-amble before I taste the tea but didn’t in this case and I AM IN HEAVEN! (Which either means that I died quite recently or that I sipped the tea before typing.)
I accidentally added way too much sugar — which I’m kind of thinking may be ANY sugar — but hoooooly mackinaw, is this a tasty tea.
I’ve only tried it from the store before and it was too weak for me. I tend to throw in a lot more than the suggested tea. I likes it heavy.
It tastes like a liquid pumpkin bundt cake with that beautiful white cinnamon-bun-style icing drizzled heavily over the top. I couldn’t ask for more from this tea. Even the aftertaste is like a food.
The tea itself smells so sexy that even though I’m currently pregnant (and drinking a black tea, DON’T JUDGE ME), I think I might be having twins now. I want to grab a handful and shove it in my mouth like a snack mix. Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Put a TBSP in a 16oz steep, added a tsp of sugar and a splash of nonfat milk. Next time, no sugar.

Outside: it is unseasonably hot. Like… CRAZY hot for Winnipeg. If you don’t know where Winnipeg is and have seen the movie Fargo, that’s pretty close. We had to turn the air conditioner back on yesterday because it was 83 degrees in our house and my daughter couldn’t sleep. Unfortunately it’s paired with a wind so sharp that it makes even kite-flying impossible. Oh well.
Listening to: Lonely Island with Michael Bolton singing Jack Sparrow. Whoooole load of swears in this song, so like heads-up. (As if you haven’t heard it already.)
http://www.youtube.com/user/thelonelyisland#p/u/0/GI6CfKcMhjY

It’s almost fall… which means the decadent flavours of fall are also back! Pumpkin Chai is back at David’s Tea and it’s absolutely scrumptious. Chai is one of the few tea flavours that I actually dislike, but in the case of Pumpkin Chai, it’s amazing! The tea is more sweet than spicy, so if you approach chai with apprehension, such as myself, you may be able to handle this tea. The caramel and cinnamon are definitely the flavours that shine in this tea.

I tried this tea in the form of a latte as well (steeped with almond milk, and a tiny bit of vanilla), and it was spectacular! Probably the best tea I’ve turned into a latte yet. Yum!

I love this tea. Love. Not even a strong word here. I’ve been slowly eating away at my stash for the past year, bidding my time, and it’ll finally be back in stores next week, so I’m indulging right now!

This is the tea that got me hooked to DavidsTea. A friend was obsessed with Pumpkin chaï late coffee, and found this tea at our then recently opened Davids. She stopped by work to have us snif the can in delight. The smell is heavenly, the taste is great with the actual pumpkin coming through the slightly sweet spices… The only down side I’ve found is that as it cools down, I found the taste changes drastically. But it’s meant to be drank hot, on a gloomy day like today that reminds me autumn is just around the corner and that I’ll need to dig out my thermos travel mug soon.

This is the first tea I got from Davidstea a long time ago. It has a very unique flavour. The pumpkin is quite strong, but it’s still natural and there is a hint of spices. I would like it to taste a little more sweet but I haven’t got the chance to try it with agave. I think it would bring out a pumpkin pie flavour. I got a little tired of this tea after a while and gave it to a coworker.

Upon hearing the AMAZING reviews this tea got, I knew I had to get my hands on some.
I love chai, and when I would drink coffee, pumpkin spice was my go-to during the holidays.

I must say that while it was good, and had a nice pumpkin aftertaste… it’s not the ABSOLUTE best chai I’ve had. Will finish my 2oz and maybe come back to it in a few months to change things up.

Yay! Finally trying this today. So good! It’s weird because when I smell it, it doesn’t really excite me..which I think is why I didn’t try it right away! My nose isn’t so powerful though. But yum! I love this tea. I think it’s a new favorite. I love everything chai and although I’m not overly a pumpkin fan, it really works in this tea. REALLY works. It was a snowy day today and it warmed me right up! Pumpkin pie-y. Nom. I want to add brown sugar to my next cup! Or a cinnamon stick!

I find it hard to believe that I’m drinking the same pumpkin chai that everyone else is drinking. This tea has such glowing reviews. Meanwhile, I couldn’t even finish my cup. The artificial pumpkin flavour is simply too much for me… it’s cloying, overpowering, and not like pumpkin at all.

A sweet slice of fall heaven. Tastes like pumpkin pie, particularly good as a latte. The perfect thing to drink in between the summer and winter, as it is starting to bring in the spicy flavours I associate with Christmas without being exactly like them. There is a reason my Davids sold out of it the first week they brought it back. This tea IS fall.

New best recipe ever:

Brew a full tsp or 2 in 1/2 cup hot water for 5 minutes. Add a packet of hot choco mix, cocoa powder and sweetener or chocolate syrup and top with hot water and/or milk. AKA pumpkin spice hot chocolate. DEEELISH!!!

Tea on it’s own is my absolute favourite tea. I never get sick of it. It’s amazing as a latte, or just straight. Perfect balance of sweet and spice.

I had high hopes for this tea. I just can’t resist anything pumpkin flavored, especially around this time of year, and spiced chais are my favorite teas. The smell of the dry leaves is divine. Spicy, pumpkin-y, slightly vegetal, and with cute little orange pumpkin sprinkles. The steeped tea smelled only of pepper, however.

I added turbinado sugar and milk and had a taste. Hm. First impressions: Verrry bland, no hint of spice. However, it DOES taste like real pumpkin and has a slight creaminess, but no real backbone. Overall, I’m not impressed. This is also the first tea I’ve tried that does not really go well with turbinado sugar. Brown sugar would probably be much tastier, and I think adding cream would help give it some body.

I will try this again, probably steeping much longer than the 4 minutes I gave it and adding more tea than the suggested 1.5 tsp per cup. I might also try steeping it in milk on the stove, and hopefully that adds some flavor and richness. I’m not giving up on this tea that easily!

I must preface this with saying that I am not really a lover of chai, pumpkin, cloves, or cinnamon, (at least in my tea), but the SA at Davids encouraged me to give this a try. Although I don’t love it in that “gotta have it” kind of way, I’m glad I listened to her suggestion. I like to drink my tea with no milk or sugar, but I can see how those little additions could certainly make this tea even more rich and dessert-like. Personally, I wouldn’t buy this one again, just because there are so many other teas that I prefer, but for a tea with so many contents that are “not my favorite” I am very glad that I gave this one a taste. Having said that, I would still reccommend this one to any pumpkin lovers out there

I’ve been waiting all year for this to come back so I could sniff it in store. I had it made as a hot latte today and it was perfect. One of my top favorites for the cooler months. Reminds me of fall and pies! I’m so glad to have it on my tea shelf.

How I drink it: Make it into a latte with foam and toss a bit of cinnamon on top! YUM YUM