Grandma's Pumpkin Pie

I am trying to rate and review some of the teas I’ve had for a while before opening new ones. I’ve had this one for a while now and while it is enjoyable I still find myself making my own chai when I want spice rather than drinking my chai influenced blends so I am better off not buying them. Saying that this is a nice representative of it’s genre.

The tea has a smooth slightly sweet and refreshing base over laden with cinnamon, then the deeper tones of nutmeg cloves and vanilla mixed with vanilla that remind me a little bit of cream followed by a bittertone from the base tea mixed with hints of sweet pumpkin. There is an aftertaste of cream, spice and sweet tea and pumpkin.

The spice especially the cloves are not overwhelming as they can be in this type of blend. However this blend still makes me think more of graham crackers mixed with a slightly stronger bite of ginger and cinnamon rather than pumpkin pie for some reason. It re-steeps decently well, maintaining a decent body and has a nice spicy flavour.

I had my sample of this from Janelle this morning. I really didn’t get any pumpkin out of this, just a small hint of cinnamon and if I wasn’t expecting cinnamon I don’t know if I would have been able to identify it because it was so subtle. It was a pleasant enough black tea, but nothing special. I drank this right after I had a cup of Butiki’s Pumpkin Crème Brulee, so that might have clouded my judgment a bit. I will stick to Stacy’s pumpin black though.

The last from my first Della Terra order.

Oddly, this one tasted a lot like Oatmeal Raisin Cookie except without the raisins. I tasted cinnamon, and an oaty-sort of pastry flavor, and didn’t really get any pumpkin or pie impressions. This surprised me, since this one is such a hit with most Steepsterites. :(

Once again, I just couldn’t enjoy the black base. I hurriedly finished my Della Terra order off so I could go back to drinking my other teas.

Overall, my opinion of Della Terra is higher than that of Davids (as despite how much this just tasted like Oatmeal Raisin Cookie again the flavors of what I’ve tried are quite good) but I think I’m too snobby to order again.

This tea was given to me by jess I can’t def taste the spices in this tea this is very good don’t really taste pumpkin but this tea is defiantly good !

Sipdown! Finally finished off the rest of my sample from tattooed_tea earlier today. It might be May, but I love pumpkin enough to enjoy it year-round. Besides, it was freezing cold today (but 90 just two days ago, seriously Kansas?!), so delicious pumpkin spice tea was just what I needed.

This smells absolutely wonderful. The pumpkin, brown sugar, and spices all come together to create the aroma of pumpkin pie. As with other Della Terra black teas, the trick is to make it extra strong. Once steeped, the pumpkin really stood out in both the scent and the flavor. I woud have preferred just a tad more spice, but this would be a good option for people who don’t want to be slapped in the face by cinnamon.

I can safely say that this is by far my favorite black tea that Della Terra offers (though I have yet to try Pineapple Upside Down Cake). This reminds me a lot of David’s Pumpkin Chai. Now that I think about it, I should have done a side by side taste comparison with my last cup. Too late for that now!

Got this one in my custom try me pack a while back and am just now getting to it.
As soon as I opened the package I wanted to eat the tea! It smells so good! I get pumpkin pie, but more than that I am getting a nice loaf of pumpkin bread, which is one of my favorite things about the Thanksgiving season. Yum! It’s spicy, pumpkin-y, and sweet smelling.
Once brewed the black base came out more. It still smelled like spice and pumpkin (even the pumpkin bread smell remained), but it wasn’t quite as strong.

Taste: I’m getting a lot of pumpkin in here, and a fair amount of cinnamon, though I think it could be enhanced. It tastes like a pumpkin spice tea, though not sure about the pie part (or the delicious pumpkin bread I smelled!). I am picking up a hint of a nutmeg-esque taste, though I think that, too, could be a little stronger. The black tea base is very light, only popping through here and there. I think it’s a tasty tea, but I feel like it’s lacking somewhere; maybe the spicing? I think I’d like a bit more of the cinnamon/nutmeg combo. I also think having a black tea base with a baked-goods aspect to it would benefit this tea (some black teas I’ve had give off this wonderful taste and I think it would be perfect for anything that’s supposed to taste like a baked good). Here, the black tea falls a bit flat. In the past I would have liked this, but lately I’ve come to appreciate pure black tea and all the wonderful flavor profiles they can have. The mouthfeel is smooth, but I wouldn’t say creamy.
There is also a bit of an artificial taste that I don’t care for at points in the sip. Maybe this is from the pumpkin candies? Or maybe the flavoring is artificial… I don’t remember if it’s natural or not. Whatever it is, it’s not totally over the top, but I’m still detecting it.

I have enough left of this sample to have another cup, so I may try adding a little sugar and milk to see what I get.

Overall I think this tea is decent. Is it perfect? No. I think there are a few things that could be improved. Is it awful? No. I think some things are well done. To me, this is a blend that hasn’t found its sweet spot yet. I think a little more balance is needed. I wouldn’t discard or refuse this if it was given to me, but it isn’t what I’d call a permanent cupboard dweller. Now, if it tasted more like it smelled: YUM! Maybe every once in awhile I’d pick up a sample size.

I’ll update once I try this with milk and sugar.

Another from my swap with azzrian. Thanks!

So, apparently pumpkin chais and I aren’t friends. This is the second one I’ve had, and both times I’ve not detected much chai, and definitely no pumpkin. The black base is fine, drinkable and not bitter, but as a flavored black its missing the flavour. I might on gift this to a friend, see if they like it.

Pleas don’t worry azzrian, I love trying all the new teas you’ve sent, and I’m sure someone else will love it!

I received this one in a random sample swap with Jes! So thank you :] Well I messed it up by adding too much water. Oops :/ But it smells like warm pumpkin pie! And I love the little pumpkin candies :D The flavor is slightly spicy with notes of pumpkin. The spice certainly does have a little bit of a bite to it! MM.. One of the better pumpkin teas I’ve had this fall :] A nice start for this morning! Thank you again!

Thanks Emilie for this sample!

Mmm fall teas. I love fall, I can’t wait to cuddle up in a sweatshirt and drink some tea and watch the leaves. Ah, I love it!
Steeped for 4 minutes, though 5 was advised. Didn’t want any bitterness but I have a feeling it would have been okay anyway.
This smells like a fall candle, which is a good thing! Lots of my favorite spices and of course pumpkin. It tastes really good too, I do get some sort of cool feeling on the back of my tongue dunno what does it, and it’s not bad. There is a little bit of something artificial in there, it may be the candies. Tasty nonetheless!

Tastes like the end crust of a pie with residual pumpkin. I am surprised that there is even a detectable pumpkin flavor in this, rather than just spice, but it’s artificial tasting. The overall flavor is rather flat and unexciting. Of course, after finding Butiki’s Pumpkin Creme Brulee, I have high standards for pumpkin and spice teas :D Thanks for letting me try this one Shmiracles :-)