Pumpkin Milkshake 2.0

The spices came to play tonight, and my cup turned out a little bitter. Ick. But hey, at least I only have one more cup worth left! So close to a sipdown, and then to pick something else to slowly whittle away at. Maybe Butiki’s Traditional Plum Pudding Oolong?

Yeah, that sounds like a plan!

I was packing some of this up for Dexter3657 (I was actually shocked when I realized I was sending Dex a Butiki tea but I am always happy to share)and once I had some out, I decided to brew myself up a cup.

For some reason I always forget to double the leaf when I use my gravity steeper so I only used 1.5 tsp for 16 oz and then after pouring the water realized and had to frantically find the tea again and quickly dump in the other 1.5 tsp. Luckily, the end result is pretty tasty!

Honestly, this is probably the most accurate pumpkin flavor I have ever had in a tea. It was shocking when I realized how spot on it was (although I am not sure why given this is a Butiki blend after all). Moreover, I can taste the base and to me it is slightly vegetal and yet that only enhances the pumpkin. Although, aside from a nice smoothness, I don’t get much “milkshake” which makes me sad – not sad enough that I am not happy to drink the mug but just a little disappointed. Nothing I can’t get over though.

Ok, am I the only one who gets ginger in this? Does this even have ginger in it? No one else seems to be really commenting on it, only on cinnamon and clove. I get those too, the cinnamon more so than the clove, but I swear ginger is the domineering spice note in this.

I tried shaking up the bag, as Roswell tried the other day, to see if that brings out more pumpkin since the heavier pumpkin flakes might have fallen to the bottom. Like VariaTEA, unfortunately, there is no difference in the flavour. Oh wells.

I tried it with half and half this time. It’s better, mainly because it balances out the spices, but I’m still not getting any pumpkin or vanilla. To me, this is like a lighter chai.

Keep experimenting, I shall.

I survived yet another birthday yesterday.

I have both this version and the original version of Pumpkin Milkshake, and while this one is tasty, I may actually prefer the first. I might just brew them up together to verify once I’m done this cup. The flavours don’t seem quite as apparent as in this one.

Both TheTeaFairy and VariaTEA were generous enough to send me samples of this tea. Thank you ladies for your generosity.
I actually liked it better with less leaf shorter steep times – it was more neutral for me. More leaf, longer steep was too clove and something “metallic”? that I didn’t like came out of the base. However less leaf, shorter steep was way too bland for me – didn’t really taste like anything when hot, was better when it cooled but still pretty subtle for my tastes.

So i didn’t realise it when i brewed my teas, but i brewed up this one along with the tea that makes the base. I tend to drink teas in pairs at my place and it’s a coincidence that i brewed the two together. I’m mostly just trying to try all of the new stacy teas in my house today so tomorrow can be a sipdown day haha.

this smells delicious. first sip? bitter. So i bounced back and forth tasting this one and the base to figure out what i was tasting. it’s not the base. i know i followed the steeping parameters so not sure what’s up here.

I added a bit of sweetner which really made the pumpkin taste POP so now it’s drinkable but i’m not in love. I’ll have to try this again and see what i might have done wrong and if it still doesn’t work for me, then it wasn’t meant to be!

Another sample from TheTeaFairy — thanks for sharing this!

I’ve been wondering about this one, reading all the reviews over the last couple of weeks or so it seems people were drinking and commenting.

I’m getting a slightly astringent tea, slightly bitter, that tastes of cloves. Sadly I’m not getting pumpkin or milkshake. Maybe if you added a lot of sugar and milk, but then wouldn’t they all be “milkshake?” :)

Thank you, TheTeaFairy, it is becoming obvious we love different teas. You like them strong, eh?

Why did I think that this one was a herbal? Maybe the original one was? Huh. Well, regardless I was halfway through steeping it a bit late at night and realized my mistake too late. Luckily caffeine doesn’t affect me that much.

I was not really wowed by this. The pumpkin/squash flavor was weak and the spices (cinnamon, predictably) were more prominent. I like to taste actual pumpkin so that’s the main source of my ambivalence. But I will play around with it – and maybe add some sugar next time to see if that makes a difference.

First cup of the morning that I randomly picked out of our new teas bag. I totally get swept up in the pumpkin madness in the fall, and always want to try all of the pumpkin flavored teas. The aroma is always wonderful, and then the first sip hits and about knocks me over with the spiciness. I don’t like ginger and I like cinnamon, but if it’s a pumpkin tea I want to taste the pumpkin! This Pumpkin Milkshake 2.0, my friends, is the answer! I can taste the fresh pumpkin flavor that reminds me of pure canned pumpkin. There’s a creamy vanilla note and some spices, but they are far in the background and just compliment the pumpkin rather than completely overwhelm it. This is a perfectly balanced cup and my favorite pumpkin tea by far!

It’s a dreary day outside, but so warm! I walked the dog this morning in a short sleeve shirt and have our heat turned way down. I think it’s supposed to rain all day, which is fine because I’m going to bake cookies with my mom and the 92-year old man that she cares for. He is the cutest little thing, and is so excited because I’m bringing along my little Chihuahua, who he loves. We sent out Christmas cards this year for our dog (she has her own Facebook page for animal rescue/awareness) and my mom said that he wants to frame the card because it’s from her. Haha! Hope everyone enjoys their Sunday!

-Dry blend has very large green and brown tea leaves with pieces of dried pumpkin.
-Dry leaves smell of fresh pumpkin with a hint of sweetness. Tea liquor aroma is of sweet vanilla with a touch of fruitiness.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange yellow color.
-Fresh pumpkin flavor with a small sweet/spicy finish. Creamy vanilla pumpkin aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A creamy cup full of fresh pumpkin flavor with a hint of vanilla sweetness. No overwhelming spices.

Sipdown! Unfortunately, this sipdown occurred quite a while ago… and I can’t say that I paid much more attention to the tea than I did the first time around! However, it was definitely pumpkiny, with great spicing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’d like to compare it to Pumpkin Creme Brulee at some point, though I’ll plan something like that for around Halloween/Thanksgiving. Thanks again to…. Roswell Strange (I think?) for sending me some of this!