Fall Flavors, Steeped: Four Teas for the Season’s Table
Finally, cooler temperatures and the steady decay of autumnal daylight lead us toward hallmarks of fall cooking. We hit farmers markets for winter squash and apples, leeks and eggplant, potatoes and the last of the year’s tomatoes.
Dreams of soup begin commandeering our attention. A passing gratin recipe doesn’t float away—it roosts in our brain for this Sunday’s dinner. Morning invites warm oatmeal with apples slow-sautéed in butter, cinnamon and brown sugar.
With the autumn harvest upon us—it stands as the height of the growing season, which is why so many holidays around the world celebrate the season’s abundance—it’s time to pivot our cooking. We ache to embrace the gorgeous vegetables our farmers are harvesting today.
And here at Ku Cha House of Tea, we also like thinking about how tea, an agricultural product, can complement fall’s culinary diversity and grandeur. The season itself can keep tea farmers busy; most harvesting takes place in spring and summer, but certain styles revolve around fall harvests. Either way, just as arrival of autumn puts us in a pumpkin-spice frame of mind—that includes teas that revel in the seasonal PSL flavor bomb—it also inspires us to sip other teas that conjure fall without the wallop of baking spices.
In the realm of traditional Camellia sinensis, brewed teas can broadcast flavors that resonate with earthy fall notes, with bright malt, with honey, herbs, grass and smoke. Blends bring just about any flavor to the tea table—chrysanthemum and lavender, vanilla and rice, blackberry and white pepper. All of them have the potential to pair in lovely ways with fall cooking.
With the autumn equinox behind us—that took place on Tuesday—let’s explore a range of teas that we think celebrate fall, and complement the season’s culinary classics.
Fall-Inspired Teas: Hojicha
As Japanese farmers harvest hojicha leaves from late summer into October, we had to include this classic in the fall lineup. With its rich taste and bold perfume, hojicha resonates autumn like few other Camellia sinensis styles. The naturally low-caffeine tea also offers a lower tannin profile than many teas, making it a wonderful complement to a wide range of foods. To make hojicha, farmers steam, dry and then roast the leaves immediately after harvesting. The dark leaves create a deep amber-colored infusion, one that serves as a lovely complement to caramelized roasted squash. It also doesn’t fight the acidity of late-season tomatoes. Tomato soup with hojicha? Oh yes.
Fall-Inspired Teas: Rou Gui Rock Oolong
Like all rock oolongs, rou gui gets harvested in spring. But turning those spring-plucked leaves into rou gui takes months of work. They undergo their first roast in June. A second one takes place in August. And finally, in late September or October the rou gui leaves experience the last roast, yielding a tea known for its complex cinnamon spice notes. And that cinnamon profile pairs beautifully with so many fall culinary experiences.
We carry rou gui year-round, but tea merchants normally release the year’s leaves in October. So this one also counts as a seasonal tea—its fans celebrate its release every year. Count us among the celebrants!
Fall-Inspired Teas: Alpine Chai (Organic)
Chai, the OG pumpkin spice tea, covers a ton of ground. Some versions contain black peppercorn and cayenne. Others lean into ingredients like turmeric, rose petals and saffron. All of them offer at least some classic baking spices—and each style of chai, too, merges effortlessly with autumn. If one style of tea could signify fall, we think chai fits the bill. We love it, of course.
Our organic Alpine Chai leads with strong Keemun black tea—a proper, bracing way to anchor a chai blend. To that we add cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, clove and nutmeg—that covers most of the baking spices, minus allspice and a few others. Paired with apple pie, or a cheese and apple plate? Egads—perfetto! If you choose to fortify your batch of Alpine Chai with a milk of some sort and honey, we applaud your decision.
Fall-Inspired Teas: Tuscan Groves Herbal Blend
There’s something about our Tuscan Groves Herbal Blend that delivers us to an autumn state of mind. Could it be the silver linden blossom? The lemon balm? The lavender, rose, apple, orange peel or blackberry leaf? Well, it could be one or more of them, but we think it’s the whole package that gets us daydreaming about the sound of crisp leaves rustling underfoot during a neighborhood sidewalk stroll. This gem—smooth, gently floral, naturally sweet—finds its inspiration in the beauty of Tuscan chestnut groves. In addition to the winning flavor, we adore what the silver linden blossom brings to the brew: natural medicine practitioners turn to it to ease anxiety, reduce inflammation and support healthy blood pressure.
Its floral profile also makes it a nice complement for something like a caprese salad or a tomato tart. The blend can serve as a pleasing palate cleanser between courses, too.
