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DavidsTea’s Pumpkin Matè

Pumpkin Matè by DavidsTea
Yerba Mate / Flavoured
$7.50 for 50g

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First Impressions

Pumpkin Matè reminds me a lot of the smell of spices for pumpkin pie. It’s quite strong in that regard, and I do not really get the aroma of pumpkin when I smell it, which is a shame considering the ingredients. Pumpkin Matè is part of DavidsTea’s Fall 2015 Collection and is a limited edition tea for the season, something to keep in mind if you want to give it a try. Pumpkin Matè consists of: roasted yerba mate, butternut squash, pumpkin seeds, coconut palm sugar, natural & artificial pumpkin flavouring. The disappointing part of the ingredients is the lack of real pumpkin in the tea itself – they opted for butternut squash (delicious) and pumpkin seeds. The squash and seeds are big and vibrant and stand out well in the tea, but how well will it translate in a cup of tea?

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For those unfamiliar with yerba mate, it is not an actual tea. Yerba mate is a South American drink that is high in caffeine. If you’re looking for a coffee replacement but still want the caffeine to kick start your day, yerba mate infusions may be a good coffee alternative.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends that Pumpkin Matè be steeped in 85°C (185°F) water for 4-7 minutes. I wound up steeping it for about 5-6 minutes. I should really start using a timer when preparing tea.

First Taste

Pumpkin Matè steeps to a dark brown colour and smells a bit like pumpkin pie. There’s that sweet aroma and undertone of pumpkin, which I would attribute to the natural and artificial pumpkin flavouring, and smells a lot like pumpkin spice mixes. First sip and I’m pleasantly surprised by the earthy taste to it, the tea is more enjoyable that I expected it to be. The earthy taste reminds me a lot of pu’erh teas, which was surprising (but I also like pu’erhs so I’m not offended by it). While I can smell what I would say is nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon – none of these are present on the ingredients list. Pumpkin Matè itself doesn’t taste spicy, but I also wouldn’t say that the pumpkin and butternut squash are strong contenders in the flavour profile – the roasted yerba mate overwhelms all of the delicate flavours and has a strong profile in this tea.

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A Second Cup?

Nope, Pumpkin Matè is good for one steep only. Resteeping the yerba mate resulted in a drink that tastes nothing like the original. It’s missing the sweet pumpkin aroma that was in the first cup.

My Overall Impression

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I thought that DavidsTea’s Pumpkin Matè was just okay. Honestly, I was torn between giving Pumpkin Matè one or two cups. One cup because it honestly does not taste like a pumpkin tea, which is what it should be because of the ingredients. On the other hand, Pumpkin Matè earns itself two cups because the taste is good. It’s earthy and is smooth, but isn’t quite as advertised. So while I did enjoy it, I won’t be stocking up on this one because there are better teas that could take its place.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Bitter Tea? Troubleshoot It!

Don’t you hate it when you’re making a cup of tea that smells amazing, but when you take a sip and it’s bitter? Bitter tea is the worst! Tea becomes bitter due to tannins from the tea leaves. Tannins are a naturally occurring chemical that is found in tea leaves, among other plants. Tannins are also responsible for that puckering feel you may experience in your mouth with some teas (and wines as well).

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Now how that does that result in bitter tea? Tannins are released when you are steeping your tea. This can be due to one of two reasons:

  1. The temperature of water you are using is too high for the type of tea you are steeping, or
  2. You are steeping the tea for too long.

Any of these reasons can result in more tannins being released into your cup of tea. This is one of the reasons why it’s so easy to wind up with a cup of bitter white or green tea – the water temperature is too high or you’re steeping it for too long (or both!). That isn’t to say that you can’t have other bitter teas, because you can definitely wind up with a cup of bitter black tea if you’re not careful as well. I burn my green teas on occasion, even if I’m careful, and find up with a bitter cup from time to time.

If you are steeping a cup of tea with a tea bag, it will be done a lot faster than a similar tea that is in loose leaf form – the tea in tea bags is typically much smaller tea leaves pieces (often referred to as ‘fannings’ or ‘dusts’) which results in a higher surface area and overall less time to steep a cup of tea.

You can play around with steeping times quite a bit to troubleshoot your tea. If the recommendation is to steep for 3-5 minutes and you find 5 minutes results in a bitter cup, opt for 4 minutes the next time you try the same tea. Quality of water also plays a role in the taste of the tea – if you live in an area with hard water, it might be a good idea to try filtered water to see if that helps improve the tea.

If you have any tips on making a better cup of tea, leave them in the comments below!

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Liquid Proust Teas’ Nostalgia

Nostalgia by Liquid Proust Teas
Black + Oolong Tea / Flavoured
$9USD for 1 ounce

Liquid Proust Teas has provided me with Nostalgia for the purposes of providing an honest review.
I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.” – Marcel Proust

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First Impressions

Like with the first Liquid Proust Tea I reviewed (Smoked Breakfast), the bag is very sturdy and a bit tough to open (at least it’s air tight?). It has a very subtle aroma, no perfumed smells to overwhelm the senses here! The tea itself smells sweet, it reminds me quite a bit like the smell of lychee and it comes off as ‘fruity’ to me, despite not being an herbal infusion at all.

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Nostalgia contains the following: 2012 Da Hong Pao oolong, Fujian black tea, and red sandalwood. This is my first time trying a tea with Da Hong Pao oolong and red sandalwood. It is a pretty tea, the red sandalwood gives nice bright pops of colour in the otherwise very dark tea leaves. I’m not too familiar with red sandalwood so I’m not sure if what kind of smell it should have on its own, but I don’t smell anything that reminds me of wood in this tea – it does make the tea look prettier though.

Preparation

Liquid Proust Teas recommends steeping Nostalgia in 205°F (96°C) water for 2-3 minutes. I steeped it for about 3 minutes.

First Taste

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Nostalgia had a very light scent when steeping – I couldn’t quite place my finger on what it reminded me of. It almost had a light earthiness quality, as well as smelling like black teas that I’ve tried in the past. The tea steeps to a warm brown colour that is very inviting. Nostalgia has a very smooth taste, there’s no bitterness that I noted. There was a slight astringency at the end of each sip that was primarily quelled by drinking more of the tea. While it had smelled a bit fruity to me prior to steeping it, I didn’t note any lychee qualities to the tea when drinking it – I didn’t really expect any as it wasn’t listed as an ingredient, but it did have the fruity floral scent to it when dry.

After I finished my first cup, I wanted to see how it would resteep so I had another steep of Nostalgia.

A Second Cup?

Nostalgia does really well with resteeping! I tack on another 30 seconds of so of steeping time for each subsequent cup, I resteeped this tea two more times and it tasted exactly the same, which is a nice quality to have in a tea.

My Overall Impression

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I thought that Liquid Proust Teas’ Nostalgia was just okay. It’s a beautiful tea and it resteeps really well if you’re looking for a tea that will last you throughout your day. While I did find the flavour of the tea quite enjoyable, I was not a fan of the astringency sensation that I get from this tea.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.