Pumpkin Spice Tea, Three Ways: Choosing the Right Chinese Red Tea
There is a point in autumn when cinnamon starts turning up in almost everything. I enjoy those familiar warming spices, but when I began working on a pumpkin spice tea for Astraluna, I wanted the tea itself to matter just as much as the spice.
That is why I have been exploring the same simple blend with three different Chinese red teas. The apple, cinnamon, orange peel and ginger stay recognisably autumnal, but the character underneath changes. One version moves towards spiced orchard fruit, another towards cocoa and gingerbread, and the third has a lighter, more fragrant quality.
What I like about this approach is that it treats the base tea as an ingredient with its own personality, rather than something for the spices to cover up.
First, what is pumpkin spice tea?
Pumpkin spice takes its name from the warming spices traditionally associated with pumpkin desserts, particularly cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove. It does not have to contain pumpkin.
My version combines those spices with dried apple, a little orange peel and Chinese red tea — the style usually called black tea in Britain. There is no pumpkin, vanilla, oats or added flavouring in this recipe. The sweetness comes from the impression of fruit and spice, rather than from sugar or syrup.
I have deliberately kept the ingredients straightforward. A small quantity of clove gives depth; orange peel lifts the blend; and apple gives the cinnamon something softer and fruitier to sit alongside. The choice of red tea then determines whether the cup feels more fruity, rich or floral.
My pumpkin spice tea recipe: a 25g blend
This is the starting recipe I use for comparing the three teas. It makes approximately five 5g servings, depending on how you measure and portion the fruit and spices.
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Chinese red tea (black tea) | 10g |
| Dried apple | 7g |
| Cinnamon chips | 4.75g |
| Dried orange peel | 2g |
| Dried ginger | 1g |
| Nutmeg | 0.15g |
| Clove | 0.10g |
| Total | 25g |
Use plain dried ingredients rather than sweetened fruit or ground spice mixes if you want to keep the blend easy to measure and strain. Cinnamon chips distribute more evenly through the loose tea than large whole sticks. For the very small nutmeg and clove quantities, a scale accurate to 0.01g is useful; for a larger batch, multiply each amount by four to make 100g.
There is quite a generous cinnamon presence in this recipe. That is intentional for an autumn blend, but it also means the base tea needs some character of its own. Here are the three directions I find most interesting.
1. Fruity Lapsang Souchong: baked apple and honeyed spice
For the most naturally fruit-led version, I would start with Astraluna's 2026 Fruity Lapsang Souchong. This is a hand-finished, high-mountain red tea with ripe red-fruit notes, golden honey, warm spice and a rounded texture. It is not the heavily smoky style some people associate with the Lapsang name.
Those qualities make it a particularly comfortable companion for dried apple and cinnamon. The flavour direction is spiced apple, red-fruit compote and honey, with the orange peel providing a little brightness and the ginger warming the finish.
I like this combination because nothing needs to compete for attention. The tea's existing fruit notes support the apple, while its honeyed depth gives the spices a smooth foundation. If you want a pumpkin spice cup that feels distinctly fruity without becoming sugary, this is the place I would begin.
Blend adjustment: None. Use the 25g recipe exactly as written above.
2. Honey Snow Bud Dian Hong: cocoa, malt and spiced apple cake
For a deeper, more dessert-like interpretation, I would choose Astraluna's 2026 Honey Snow Bud Dian Hong. This Yunnan red tea has a distinctly chocolate-led aroma, with cocoa, warm malt, floral honey and a delicate suggestion of rose.
Against cinnamon and ginger, those cocoa and malt qualities pull the blend towards spiced apple cake, gingerbread and a soft chocolate undertone. The apple keeps it from feeling too heavy; the nutmeg rounds out the warming spice.
This is the version I would reach for when I want more depth than bright fruit. It also makes sense as the first one to try with a small splash of milk, although I would taste it plain initially to appreciate the underlying Dian Hong.
Small adjustment: For a slightly rounder 25g blend, use 7.5g dried apple and 1.5g dried orange peel instead of 7g and 2g. Leave every other quantity unchanged. The total remains 25g.
3. Floral Lapsang Souchong: a brighter, more fragrant autumn cup
Astraluna's 2026 Floral Lapsang Souchong takes the recipe in another direction. Made in an unsmoked, floral style, it brings bright floral notes, gentle natural spice and a pleasing sweetness.
With this tea, I want the orange peel and apple to feel lively, rather than allowing the cinnamon to dominate. The flavour direction is sweet orange peel, delicate florals, soft apple and warming spice. It is an elegant variation, less like an autumn pudding and more like an aromatic tea for a cool afternoon.
Because the floral detail is part of what makes this tea special, I give it a little extra room in the mixture.
Small adjustment: Use 10.5g Floral Lapsang Souchong and 4.25g cinnamon chips, rather than 10g and 4.75g. Keep the other ingredients unchanged, for a 25g total.
Three versions, one simple recipe
The three variations are deliberately modest. I am not trying to create completely different flavoured teas. I want to keep the same recognisable pumpkin spice blend while letting each base tea lead it in a different direction.
| Red tea | Flavour emphasis | Change to the 25g recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Fruity Lapsang Souchong | Spiced apple, ripe red fruit, honey | Use the original recipe |
| Honey Snow Bud Dian Hong | Cocoa, malt, gingerbread, baked apple | Apple 7.5g; orange peel 1.5g |
| Floral Lapsang Souchong | Florals, orange peel, soft apple, lighter spice | Tea 10.5g; cinnamon 4.25g |
If I were comparing the blends side by side, I would make the original 25g recipe with each tea first. That shows what the base leaf contributes without changing anything else. Then I would try the small adjustments above. Keeping water, steeping time and serving size consistent makes those differences much easier to notice.
How I would brew pumpkin spice tea
For a conventional mug infusion, these are my starting points:
- Tea blend: 5g per 250ml water
- Water temperature: 95–100°C
- Steeping time: approximately 4 minutes
- Finish: strain well, then taste before adding milk or sweetener
This is a fairly spice-forward recipe, so a little adjustment is useful. A shorter infusion emphasises the fragrant top notes; a little longer brings out more warmth and body, though the clove and cinnamon can also become more pronounced. I prefer to start at four minutes rather than prescribe one perfect steep for every palate.
Give the dry mixture a gentle stir before measuring. Apple pieces, cinnamon chips and tea leaves are different sizes and can separate in the tin, so an uneven scoop can change the flavour of a cup. If you are using particularly large dried fruit pieces, cutting them smaller helps keep the blend consistent.
There is no need to treat this like a traditional Gong Fu session. Fruit and spices benefit from a slightly longer infusion, and a simple infuser basket is perfectly suited to the job. If you would like more on preparing the tea base by itself, I have also written about brewing Chinese red tea.
Why the base tea still matters
It can be tempting to use any black tea when cinnamon and ginger are involved. But Chinese red teas have remarkably different natural aromas. A fruit-led Lapsang brings something different from a malty Yunnan tea, and a floral Lapsang gives the same spices a lighter frame.
That does not mean the finest or most expensive leaf automatically makes the best blend. Strongly scented ingredients can hide subtle qualities. For me, the point is to find a tea whose character works with the recipe, rather than choosing one simply because it is available.
Of these three, Fruity Lapsang is my starting choice for a balanced autumn blend. Honey Snow Bud is the richer alternative, while Floral Lapsang offers a more delicate direction. Each begins with a tea worth understanding in its own right.
I like that a seasonal recipe can also be a small lesson in tea. The spice mixture stays familiar, but a change of leaf gives you a different perspective on the cup. That is what keeps blending interesting for me.
Balance · Ritual · Connection
