The first warm cups of fall

Once the mornings turn cool, we trade the iced tea pitcher for the kettle, and the teas we reach for change with it. In fall we want roasted, toasty, and smoky flavors in a cup you hold with both hands.

Northwest Tea Time is our own blend, made for long, damp Northwest winters. The base is malty Assam, with a little smoke from Keemun and Lapsang Souchong, a Chinese black tea dried over pine fires. It smells like a campfire without the smoke in your hair. Try it on a gray afternoon with milk and a little sugar.

Toasted Kukicha is made from the twigs of the tea plant. These leaf stalks, called kuki, are gathered during the making of Japanese sencha and bancha and then toasted. What you scoop out of the tin looks like a pile of tiny sticks, so instead of loose leaf, you can call it loose twig. It's mild and nutty with a full body and a sweet finish, and it's naturally low in caffeine, which makes it an easy afternoon pot.

Hojicha Powder starts as green tea from Kyoto. The leaves are steamed, rolled, and dried, then roasted until they're brown and taste of cocoa and malt. Ours is milled fine, so there's nothing to strain. Whisk a teaspoon into eight ounces of hot water, or make a Hojicha Maple Latte: whisk the powder with an ounce of water, then pour in hot frothed oat milk sweetened with Maple Sugar and finish it with a dusting of Cinnamon.

Honeybush comes from a shrub in South Africa's Eastern Cape. It's a caffeine-free cousin of Rooibos, sweeter and more mellow, with a honey-like flavor and no bees involved. Give it a longer steep than you would a black tea, five or six minutes in water just off the boil.

Tea Tip

One small habit makes any hot cup better. Before you brew, pour a splash of hot water into your mug or teapot, swirl it around, and dump it out. The water stays hotter while the leaves steep, and your hands get warm a minute sooner.

Come find us at the Northwest Tea Festival

If you love teas from Colorful Tea Co., come taste them in person. We'll have a booth at the Northwest Tea Festival on Saturday, September 26, and Sunday, September 27, at Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. Bring your tea questions, and look for the rainbow chalkboard.

Get your tickets here

Put the kettle on, and we'll see you at the festival.

- World Spice