Waking up to the first crisp mornings, windows open and the bay breeze blowing in, I can feel it.The beginnings of fall are here, the leaves just starting to turn and the sunset coming earlier. Like clockwork, I want pumpkin everything.
While I drink hot tea in the morning year round, it's simply more satisfying when the weather is cool. Combining my love for tea and pumpkin, Plum Deluxe 's Pumpkin Spice Brulee Oolong Tea hits the spot as the perfect fall pumpkin tea. With notes of gentle spices and honeyed squash, this pumpkin spice tea has the ideal blend of real pumpkin, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and smoked vanilla making this truly my favorite pumpkin spice tea.
If you are like me and crave all things pumpkin this time of year, then you will want to stock up on this blend and learn all the ways you can enjoy it.
Hot Pumpkin Tea
90 years ago, Baltimore, Maryland’s renown spice company, McCormick & Company marketed their “pumpkin spice" blend for Thanksgiving. Who could imagine those spices blended together would become such a craze every autumn? While everyone takes liberty with their pumpkin spice recipe and what to sell under such a name (cheese, room sprays, garbage bags, the list is endless and seems to grow every year), I think a cup of tea is the perfect way to enjoy this seasonal trend.
This bruleed pumpkin spice tea has a base of oolong tea, making it rather unique. Oolong Teas come from the same Camellia Sinensis tea plant that all your favorite tea based blends come from. The differences between white, green, oolong, and black teas are the amount of oxidation and the way the leaves are processed. The oolong in this Pumpkin Spice Brulee Oolong is similar to a black tea, in that it's best steeped in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. After your tea is steeped and cooled a bit, give it a sip and decide if you want to add anything to it. I like milk in my darker teas. You can also add sugar, fancy infused sugar like our vanilla sugar dust, or honey.
Hot Pumpkin Tea Latte
If you like your tea milky, why not try a pumpkin tea latte ? To make a good pumpkin spice latte, steep pumpkin tea 2 -3 teaspoons to 2 ounces of water. You want to make a strong infusion. It's always best to add more tea than to lengthen steeping time, which would bring out the tannins in the oolong and could cause bitterness to come through. While your tea steeps, heat and froth about six ounces of milk of your choice. Strain the tea, sweeten to taste, and pour the milk over it, reserving the foam for the end. Dust with cinnamon and you have yourself a homemade PSL!
Iced Pumpkin Tea
While many of us are eager for fall to start, I know that the temperature doesn't always cooperate with that desire. When it's still toasty outside, but you want to indulge in the season, try cold brewing your pumpkin spice tea. To cold brew, simply add two teaspoons to eight ounces of cold water and allow to steep in the refrigerator at least six hours, but preferably overnight. Make a big batch and have iced tea to quench your thirst all day long.
Iced Pumpkin Tea Latte
Lastly, we come to my favorite way to enjoy pumpkin tea- an iced PSL! Where I live in Maryland, the weather stays warm during the day into October, but I like to jump on the pumpkin craze as soon as it becomes available.
You can make an iced pumpkin tea latte similar to a hot latte, just by chilling the ingredients first. Brew your tea nice and strong, at least two teaspoons to two ounces of water, and then allow it to cool some. You can always double or triple the proportions ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you are ready.
Sweeten to taste before chilling. If using hot tea, help cool it by adding four ounces of milk to the strained infusion. Then pour over ice. This helps some with keeping the ice from melting, watering down your latte. Now you can top with whipped cream or cold foam, both which you can either buy in stores or make yourself.
Cold foam is simply three tablespoons of whipping cream, two tablespoons of milk, and one tablespoon of simple syrup beaten together until a light, fluffy foam appears. It's similar to whipped cream, but with a softer peak. You can add a touch of vanilla extract if you like. Then dollop generously on top of your iced pumpkin spice latte.
Fancy Up That Pumpkin Spice!
If you really want to up your pumpkin spice flavor while adding some creamy sweetness to your tea, I made a pumpkin creamer recipe just for you! It's very easy, just mix the ingredients together and add 2 spoons full to your latte extract before adding milk. After you've added your milk, give it a taste and decide if you want to add more.
Pumpkin Creamer
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- ¼ cup of plain pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Dash of cloves
- ½ tsp cardamom
- ⅛ tsp ginger
Mix all ingredients until well combined. Store in the refrigerator. Start with adding two spoons of pumpkin creamer to your lattes or hot tea and adjust to taste.
Pumpkin Tea Pairings
All of these pumpkin teas and pumpkin tea lattes pair perfectly with our list of pumpkin goodies on the Plum Deluxe Blog. I'm biased, but I just love my recipe for soft pumpkin cookies made with white chocolate and honey. Might I suggest inviting some loved ones over, making pumpkin tea a few different ways, pairing it with a tea treat, and celebrating the changing seasons?
