Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake

So, the first time I tried this tea, I oversteeped it. This morning was much better, though, so I thought I’d weigh in.

The smell coming off the loose leaf is intoxicating. I could almost just sit there for five minutes smelling it and be totally satisfied.

Almost. ;)

I tried it first black, with just a single tea scoop of sugar. The pumpkin was there, but the black tea tasted off somehow, and the caramel was almost toasty, like it had been cooked right to the point of being almost burned. However, after I added a TINY splash of milk and a little more sugar, WHAM, the caramel mellowed and sweetened, and the creamy, tangy cheesecake made itself known! So, boys and girls, the lesson here for me is simple: never have this tea without some sort of cream/milk element. :) Super delicious!!

Came across a tiny bit of this in my sip down basket. Delicious. However, I’d like a bit more caramel and a bit more pumpkin and a bit more cheesecake. I am detecting only a bit of caramel and the slightest bit of of cream on a lovely base. A delicious cup—and I’d happily drink many many more as is—but not quite living up to its name.

That said, to be fair, this leaf is getting a bit old. It is from fairly early on in Anne’s reign.

Here’s Hoping TTB

Not sure what the base tea is on this one, but it’s super smooth with an almost silky texture. It reminds me of an oolong, though it’s definitely a black tea. I’m not picking up on a lot of caramel or cheesecake flavor, but I’m definitely tasting the pumpkin. Not a stand-out among the 52Teas blends I’ve tried, but still quite tasty!

Caramel? No. Pumpkin? Sorta. Cheesecake? Not really. This was a miss for me.

I’m drinking my reblend of this right now. I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of it – that’s two black teas in a row that I’ve not taken photos of!

Anyway, this is really good. I think it’s important to note that an ample cool time on this tea is necessary. When piping hot, it’s a wee bit astringent. I let it cool about six minutes, and it was still just a tad astringent and the flavors were not real focused yet, so another five minutes cool time brought the tea to a really lovely sipping temperature that was warm, not hot, but not cold either. Warm and cozy and easy to drink.

The astringency has smoothed its way out now and the flavors have come into focus. A nice pumpkin-y note with a tangy cheesecake flavor. The caramel isn’t as strong as I’d like it to be so I’ll make note of that on the recipe for future reblends. I think in the future, I’ll also add a touch of spice because I find myself wanting a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon here, just to enhance the pumpkin.

Overall, it’s good, but it can be improved upon, I think.

Thanks to CrowKettle for sending me this tea!

I am enjoying this tea thoroughly, though I am not getting much pumpkin from it. It just tastes like a nice mildly spiced creamy black tea. The winning pumpkin tea IMO is still Butiki’s Pumpkin Milkshake for sure! But I will still easily drink this one, for sure :)

I tried a bit of this one yesterday afternoon. My taste buds are still recovering from a cold so I’m not sure about my thoughts on this one yet.

Yesterday I got caramel and black tea, not much more. I’m hoping that since my tastebuds are inept at the current time that I will enjoy this one more in a few days… Hopefully picking up the pumpkin and the cheesecake. If not, still a very drinkable cup, just hoping it will live up to it’s name for me.

I will hold off on rating this one for now until I can give it a fair shake. Thanks so much Crowkettle for sharing this one with me.

Got this from my swap with Eva. I was a little leery of more pumpkin-flavored tea, as the last one I had was not to my taste. This one surprised me by being rather chai-like in terms of flavor and spiciness. I may have oversteeped a bit, since the liquid ended up being very dark and the initial flavors were stronger than I’d anticipated. There wasn’t much creaminess to it – which, again, maybe have been a victim of my chronic oversteeping tendencies – but I can’t say I missed it much given the flavorful punch that was delivered instead. The clove is prominent, with the sweetness of the molasses/caramel being slightly more subdued, but still present. Even though I expected the leaves to be spent after my initial (long) steep, I was surprised that it still retained enough flavor to make a second steep worthwhile.

This tea is delicious! I cant taste the cheesecake flavors but the caramel and pumpkin are definitely there! I drink this with a splash of milk to make it a little creamier – i’ll be hoarding this until i can get my hands on some more – delish!!