I wasn’t sure quite what to expect from this tea. I have limited experience with pumpkin generally, and I’ve never before tried pumpkin tea. Still, with it having just been Halloween, I thought I’d give it a topical whirl.
The smell of the dry leaves is a little strange. It’s quite spicy — cinnamon, cloves, ginger — and it has a slight undertone that’s making me think of an old-fashioned apothecary. It’s such a deep, dark, almost musty smell — I’ve really nothing to compare it to.
Having established this, it was probably silly to judge by the pumpkin soup I had for lunch the other day, but that’s my only recent frame of reference. Based on this, I was expecting something sweeter. Slightly savoury, perhaps, but sweet nonetheless. I don’t know quite what it is about this, but it has a relatively bitter aftertaste. Maybe there are too many spices, or perhaps it’s the sunflower petals. Possibly it’s just the base tea. I’m not sure. All I know is that I can’t taste pumpkin in quite the way I was expecting.
That said, on first sip this tea does have a sweetness to it that I rather like. It’s a shame the aftertaste takes over and spoils it a little, but it’s a pleasing tea otherwise. If the sweetness had been more pronounced, and the aftertaste less bitter, I would have absolutely adored this tea. As it stands, I find it pleasant up to a point, but it’s never going to be my favourite. Not bad for a first acquaintance, but I can see I’m going to have to look elsewhere if I want to find a truly appealing pumpkin tea.
This one seems universally disliked. There are some great pumpkin teas out there though! DAVIDsTEA makes one that is to die for! It’s called Pumpkin Chai. Mmmm, I’m drooling just thinking about it.