Every year, I eagerly await the arrival of seasonal autumn tea flavors at my local grocery stores. Whether it’s Celestial Seasonings flavors such as Sweet Harvest Pumpkin and Caramel Apple Dream at my local regular grocer, or Harvest Blend Herbal Tea and Maple Espresso Black Tea at Trader Joe’s, it’s always a treat to start the morning with a hot drink brimming with the flavors of fall.
Another good place to find the occasional seasonal tea is at Aldi. I tend to find more spring, summer, or winter teas at the discount grocer.
However, this fall, I found an array of fall-themed teas sold as limited-time specials. The fall teas came in three flavors: pumpkin spice black tea, cinnamon apple herbal tea, and cranberry hibiscus herbal tea. I bought the pumpkin spice black tea to try.
Benner Tea Co. Pumpkin Spice Black Tea cost $2.09 at the time of publication for a box of 20 tea bags. That comes out to a little over 10 cents per tea bag. The tea bags are individually wrapped in (unfortunately) plastic.
This tea is an Aldi Find, which means it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone unless Aldi decides to bring it back next fall. Aldi does not offer online ordering for a product if it’s not in stock at your local store.
The box describes this tea as “a blend of black tea, cinnamon, sweet blackberry leaf & other natural flavor.”
Ingredients are black tea, cinnamon, sweet blackberry leaf, natural flavor, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, clove, and pumpkin. I do wish this didn’t contain natural flavor, which is anything but natural.
Ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
The box has brewing instructions.
For hot tea, bring fresh cold water to a rolling boil. Pour 8 ounces of water over a tea bag and steep for 3-5 minutes. Remove tea bag. (I compost most of my used tea bags.) If desired, serve with sweetener.
For iced tea, bring fresh cold water to a rolling boil. Pour 4 cups of water over 3 to 5 tea bags and steep for 3-5 minutes. Remove tea bags and pour tea over ice-filled glasses. If desired, serve with sweetener.
I made a cup of this tea as part of my morning tea routine, and it didn’t disappoint. It isn’t the strongest black tea, and it didn’t give me as much of a noticeable caffeine jolt as some other black teas. It does have decent black tea flavor, though, along with the classic fall notes of cinnamon and spices, with a bit of sweet pumpkin pie-like flavor added in. Not surprisingly, this is a tea that smells as good as it tastes.
I liked this tea enough that I’d buy it again if it shows up at Aldi next fall.
The Verdict:
Benner Tea Co. Pumpkin Spice Black Tea is a blend of black tea with spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. This also has pumpkin and sweet blackberry leaf. We like it. If you’re looking for a tea that has the flavors of a cinnamon-spiced herbal tea with some of the caffeine perks of a black tea, this might be just the thing.
