Pumpkin Patch Spice

Happy My Favorite Holiday, everyone! All the really fun Halloween themed stuff happened yesterday, so today I am just chilling and listening to music, and of course waiting for tomorrow when the candy goes on sale. Actually my breakfast was really scary this morning, it is getting close to grocery shopping time, so I improvised a meal of mustard covered sardines and a can of beanie weenies…yeah, it was nasty-good. Pennsylvania having a different day for ‘Halloween’ than actual Halloween will always throw my groove of, how am I supposed to go ghost hunting if they were all out yesterday?

You know what the scariest part of Halloween really is, the amount of time I spend searching out the perfect tea to review for the event. So many pumpkin themed teas out there, and honestly I don’t really like most of them because they lack a crucial gourdish element. Imagine my squee of glee when I saw M&K’s Tea Company’s Pumpkin Patch Spice, it has that most excellent element I was so missing. An herbal tea, it is a blend of: Butternut Squash (I totally had that for dinner last night actually), Green Rooibos, Pumpkin Seeds, Cloves, Chinese Cinnamon, Alfalfa, Honey, Pumpkin Powder, Vanilla Extract, and Natural Pumpkin Pie Flavor Blend, quite the impressive list of ingredients. Before I get into the tea itself, I have to say I find the packaging used by this company to be awesome, it is eye-catching and full of useful information, I love when labels are loaded with details. Ok, ghosts and ghouls, it is time for tea analysis, so get out your best costume noses! The aroma of the dry leaves is, well, it is pretty great, you can definitely smell the pumpkin and squash, along with the sweetness of honey and richness of spices, there is also a slightly nutty aroma making me think of crust. Don’t mind me, I am just going to drool a little thinking of pumpkin pie, because wow, this tea makes me think of it.

Time for steeping! Since it is an herbal tea I have a few minutes to kill (currently working on a very silly playlist describing one of my RPG character’s romantic angst) but the aroma wafting up is killing me, so good! The wet leaves smell like cooked pumpkin and squash, lots of spices and a touch of sweetness, it reminds me a little of the way I eat cooked butternut squash, just a hint of spices and a bit of maple syrup. The liquid is quite spicy and sweet, there is of course the aroma of cooked pumpkin and squash and just a hint of greenness at the finish.

Tasting time was fun, I shared a cup with everyone in the house and we sat and watched some Youtube weirdness while sipping. I will start by saying this is the best Pumpkin themed tea I have had, hands down, it is not perfection (I have a very distinct idea in my head, oddly enough, something I do not usually do) but really close to it. The taste is great, the squash and pumpkin have a real presence, I feel very much so like I am drinking Pumpkin Juice (yes from Harry Potter) it is not overwhelmingly sweet, just the right amount of a honey taste. The spices are really well balanced, not overwhelming and none of the mouth burning belly ache that I get from overly cinnamoned teas, so that was a love. The only thing this tea was missing was foundation, it is very gentle at the midtaste and I wish it had a little more body. I found myself thinking that maybe a little rooibos (the red more so than the green) or even a bit of a roasted green tea would give that rounding out that I crave. It was a small thing, but since I am on the perpetual quest for the perfect pumpkin tea, I feel a bit ok being super picky. I feel this would be a great tea to sip when getting over an illness or right before bed, or maybe even to accompany a piece of pie?

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/10/m-tea-company-pumpkin-patch-spice-tea.html