Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Rooibos Herbal Tea

Pumpkin fest continues here with a review of the Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Rooibos Herbal Tea.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I am mainly a tea drinker. I drink black and green teas. I don’t drink coffee. I don’t know why. It’s just been one of those things. I have always had tea in the morning since I was out of college. I suppose I could start drinking coffee anytime, Becky loves a big cup of coffee in the morning. I think when I drank coffee early on it was black with no sugar or cream and that is simply too bitter for me. Recently, I had a few sips of coffee that Becky had made and it tasted pretty damn good. I’m such a geek, that I know if I started drinking coffee it would be one of those things. I would have to roast my own beans, grind my own coffee. Use some really expensive equipment to brew it… and so on… So, I think I choose to remain ignorant and keep it simple. Two big mugs of hot tea in the morning  and that’s that.

I drink Trader Joe’s Earl Grey black tea (7 bells, decent and cheap) and then I have a cup of Trader Joe’s Jasmine Green Tea (8 bells, I love jasmine in tea!). I occasionally have some herbal tea if I’m still in the mood for a cup of something hot. I really miss the Trader Joe’s green tea with blueberry in it. I thought the blueberries added some tannin and flavor and made it a fuller bodied cup of tea, but they discontinued it a while back. Darn it!

So, I was up at Trader Joe’s the other day and they are pushing all their new pumpkin flavored products and I had to pick this one up as a tea drinker. Rooibos tea is the hot new tea plant from South Africa. It’s not the traditional tea plant we all know from Asia but a different plant that has a robust flavor and has no caffeine. On it’s own, I kinda like the flavor of Rooibos, but I really want the kick in the morning so I still prefer black tea for my caffeine. This Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Rooibos Herbal Tea is mostly Rooibos tea with some spices in it, namely cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves are added to the tea to give it’s distinctive pumpkin spice flavors… but therein is the problem!

I like the tin it comes in, but I have no use for tins like that. It could make an interesting gift if you wanted. The tea comes in those newfangled triangular tea bags. When I opened the tin, I knew it was something that just wasn’t “my cup of tea”. I have to say that I just can’t stand that Christmas spice potpourri type of scent (and flavor). It reminds me of walking into those kitschy Christmas markets where they have those scented pine cones and candles and it smells just like this… sorry, if you like that melange of smells, you will love this but for me, I could barely put it in my mouth. The Rooibos did give it a richness that I liked, but I couldn’t get past the overpowering Christmas smells…

OK, I hated it, but that doesn’t mean it was crappy tea or anything, it was just me. Since this is my blog and opinion I am going to give this 5 bells. If you like nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon then you will like this!

8 Comments

  1. Love this stuff! it is a strong smell, but make a large cup with just one tea bag, add a tbsp of blackstrap molasses (meet your calcium and iron needs for the day) and splash with an ounce of 1% milk and man, best way to end your day.

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