Stirring up Nostalgia series, part 2
How to Fit a Pumpkin into your Teacup
Ahh, fall. The turning of the leaves, back-to-school flutters, and cool mornings that beg for spiced, pumpkin-y hot beverages. Autumn in North America has a distinct flavour and feel—it’s the season where cozy sweaters, vibrant foliage, and the rich scents of comfort food dominate the senses. Our noses tell us everything we need to know about the shift from summer to fall (and not just because they’re getting cold).
As the air gets crisp, it’s time to welcome the autumnal moments that bring cozy memories: the aroma of pumpkin pie baking, the bite of an apple plucked right from the tree, and the unmistakable scent of wood smoke that drifts through the air. And what better way to enjoy those flavours than incorporating them into your daily cup of tea?
So, what are my favourite flavours for fall? I’m glad you asked!
My Top Fall Flavours:
- Pumpkin spice (yes, it’s basic, but in the best way possible)
- Wood smoke (that distinctive note of a bonfire night or old school wood burning fireplace)
- Cranberry (a burst of tart, bright flavour, and deep crimson hue that can walk both sides of the sweet-savoury divide)
Let’s look at how to infuse these iconic fall flavours into your teacup, and celebrate the essence of autumn in every sip.
Incorporating Fall Flavours into Your Cup of Tea
1. Pumpkin Spice
What makes pumpkin spice so nice? I don’t think it’s the colour orange, or even the taste of pumpkin itself. I think that pumpkin spice magic comes from the combination of creamy mouthfeel that comes from pumpkin puree, plus the blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves that make up the pumpkin pie spice blend. Legendary in a pie or a cuppa.
You can find great DIY pumpkin spice tea latte recipes online: Here’s one from Cookie + Kate that we can use as inspiration. Since this is Proper Cuppa, obviously we’re going to play around until we find the combo that’s perfect *for you*.
Pumpkin Spice Tea Latte (Sarah’s Version)
- 1 tsp (2.5g) strong black tea, perhaps a combination of Ceylon and Assam
- ½ cup milk of your choice (I prefer something with a higher fat content, for a luxuriously creamy sip)
- 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp maple syrup (start with 1 tsp, add more if you like)
- 1 tsp (~2g) pumpkin spice blend: Yes this is a lot, a good chai mix will easily be 50% (or more) spices. If you prefer whole spices, crush them and add to your tea leaves to brew.
- Sprinkle of nutmeg to garnish
Steep the tea (make it strong!) in half a cup of boiling water. If you’re using whole spices, brew (or boil) them with the tea and then strain. When the liquid is intense, remove the tea leaves and blend the tea with the milk, pumpkin, maple syrup, ground spices (if you didn’t use whole). Warm up the concoction in a pan (or, let’s be honest, the microwave), adjust sugar and milk to taste, and garnish with a dash of nutmeg. Yum.
2. Wood Smoke
While wood-burning fireplaces are not the norm these days, one of my favourite fall moments is taking a walk in the cold autumn evening and lifting my nose to catch a whisper of wood smoke layered over the crisp, leafy air. Luckily, there’s a tea for that. Lapsang Souchong is a black tea smoked over pine wood fires. Every Lapsang is a little different, so if smoky is for you, shop around until you find the one that you love (try this Lapsang ‘add-on’ with your Proper Cuppa Blending Kit). I love using this tea in blends, because I find that it doesn’t have a lot of body, but just a pinch can bring a whole new dimension—and vibe—to your cuppa. And while you might assume that smoky notes pair best with savoury flavours (like a grilled steak), consider emulating the perfect smoky-sweet complexity of a toasted marshmallow, or get inspiration from a fruity-smoky barbecue sauce.
A couple of smoky tea blends to try:
1 tsp (2g) Ceylon tea
½ tsp (1g) Keemun tea
A pinch (0.25g) Lapsang Souchong tea
1 tsp (2g) Earl Grey
A pinch (0.25g) Lapsang Souchong tea
½ tsp (1g) Jasmine tea
½ tsp (1g) Vanilla tea
½ tsp (1g) Assam tea
¼ tsp (0.3g) Lapsang Souchong tea
3. Cranberry
Finally, in fall I celebrate cranberries (and they come with a great soundtrack too). Cranberries are a bright red fruit that grow in bogs and are harvested by flooding their fields. With their bright, tart flavour, they’re the perfect nod to the turning of the seasons.
Now to incorporate the bright flavour of cranberries into your tea, we need to take some realities into consideration. One: sour fruits (like lemon) will curdle milk – so I don’t recommend mixing milk and fresh cranberries in a drink. Two: sometimes in tea blending, we need to add a little bit of something unexpected in order to hit a flavour note that we’re aiming for. In this case, given the difficulty of using real cranberries, I would use dried hibiscus flowers to help dial up the cranberry in my tea. Hibiscus adds a tart, fruity flavour (similar to cranberry), with an appealing floral note, and a beautiful red colour in the cup.
A zingy combination to test out:
- 1 tsp (2.5g) Rooibos, honeybush or a black tea (perhaps Keemun) as a base
- A sprinkling of dried hibiscus (my personal preference is just a pinch)
- Dried cranberries (if you get the snacking kind with oil added, it will put a sheen on the top of your cup, but it’s not the end of the world)
- Orange zest
- A cinnamon stick
- Feel free to garnish with a stick of fresh, sugared cranberries (for the ‘gram)
Combine the tea, hibiscus, dried berries and orange zest in a large infuser. Add cinnamon stick in the infuser or directly in the cup. Steep in boiling water for 4 minutes. Remove the tea, sweeten with maple syrup or honey to your taste, and stir with the cinnamon stick.
Time to Share: What Are Your Favourite Fall Flavours?
We’d love to hear what flavours make you think of autumn! Whether it’s the omnipresent (and omnipopular) pumpkin spice or something a little more unique, we want to know what gives you that fall feeling—and we’ll add some ideas to get that flavour into your cuppa. Share your favourite fall tea flavours with us on Instagram using #ProperCuppaFallFlavours.