Pumpkin Masala Rooibos

[Incendiare]

Rooibos tea with red ginger, green cardamom, fennel, peppercorns, almond, and licorice, sweetened with coconut sugar and jaggery.

This is hella spicy in the vial! Pumpkin Masala Rooibos is packed with fiery cinnamon and chopped almonds. Actually, it kind of reminds me of Pumpkin Latte sans espresso but it is a lot more aggressive. Wet, the cinnamon is even hotter. After about five minutes, I am starting to detect a hint of liquorice. This has excellent throw and remains as a strong cinnamony rooibos tea with a hint of pumpkin.

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: Getting hints of all the notes. If this was a real tea, I would like to try it.

 

Wet: A nice tea scent, but the blasted licorice (did I say how much I dislike anise?) is trying to take over.

 

The dry-down: A light pleasant tea scent, with just a hint of sweetness. It's more fantastic in the bottle, and I don't like the wet phase, so this will have to become a scent locket scent.

 

The bear on the label is amusing, but the writing at the top of the label is very difficult to read, even in rather bright light. If you know anything about heraldry (a student of medieval history or a SCAdian, for example), you will know that colours on colours and metals on metals as shades or tinctures on the coats of arms were prohibited by the various College of Arms. There's a good reason for that, as there's not enough contrast.

[Alshneato]

Warm, rich spice. This reminds me more to Gingerbread Poppet, with a touch of pumpkin.

 

Foodie, spicy, rich.

 

I agree completely with this review!! Plus- the polar bear label is cute!!

 

ETA- has anyone noticed batch variations in this? My decant is what I reviewed first here- which to me seems like what everyone else is smelling... but I just got a bottle I bought on ebay and it smells like pine cones and black licorice, not sweet and not foodie...

Edited February 13, 2012 by Alshneato

[SadariEvenstar]

I didn't like Pumpkin Masala Rooibos the first time I put it on. It was too sweet and strong and overwhelming.

 

I kept it around though for a second test because I really wanted it to work. The second time it moved to the okay pile because the longer I wore it the more I liked what I smelled.

 

The third time was the charm though. On a whim I decided to wear it for a whole day, and that is when it began to shine. Applied to more of my body I really got the full glory of it's beautiful dry down. It's what I wanted it to be - a beautiful, spicy cup of tea.

[Viridian]

On me this is a spicier version of Pumpkin Latte without the coffee.

 

I'm not sure there even IS any pumpkin in here, since it's listed in the name but not the list of ingredients, but I don't get a lot of pumpkin from Pumpkin Latte either, just spiced coffee. This is spiced tea.

 

I'm not sure I need both, but I can't say for sure which is my favorite, either. They're both really good. I can pick out the licorice (or fennel? They smell similar to me) and it adds depth and more of a "tea" sense.

 

Overall really good if you like sweet, spicy scents!

[damonkitty]

I love this one . I was a little leary of some of the notes listed like the fennel, peppercorn, and almond. I am so glad I am just getting a spicy pumpkin with the sweetness of almost a peach jam scent in the background. I now wish I would have bought two bottles of this blend.

Edited February 26, 2012 by damonkitty

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Strong rooibos tea, pumpkin, and a spicy combination of cardamom, fennel, pepper, and ginger assault my nose with its pungency. It really is rather spicy.

 

Wet: The foody aspect of the pumpkin is strong in the wet phase, but thew spiciness of fennel, ginger, cardamon, and tea make it a scent I wouldn’t otherwise have considered liking.

 

Dry: It smells like strong pumpkin masala with hints of tea. I’m interesting, exotic, but just a little foody. I like this more than I thought I would.

[ami226]

On the skin: Spiced pumpkin tea. I am also getting a hint of sweet coconut. If this were in food form (preferably dessert) I would be scarfing it down!

 

The cardamom gets a bit stronger after a bit, but I would still classify this as a spiced pumpkin scent with hints of tea and coconut.

 

This is a great tea scent, but it just isn't for me.

[MiasmaResonance]

I wish this would've just been almondy, spicy pumpkin, but there's a green note that bothers me. Go away, far away, you evil green note of doom! It smells like the thing that made Bread and Butter-fly be retch worthy to me.

[tinyvulture]

Strong spicy chai tea, with a good amount of fruity pumpkin. I love how the pumpkin is present without being overwhelming. It really does have that distinct full-bodied red rooibos scent. I'm getting hints of cardamom and licorice, and sweetness from the jaggery. I just really love it! Although I'm reviewing it in May, it instantly takes me to chilly fall evenings.

[Soshoni]

It smells like something I would drink - like a warm, sweet and spicy herbal tea.

 

Wet, it's predominantly butterscotch and cinnamon. On me, both of those are overpowering enough that I can't pick out anything else.

 

Once dry, it smells vaguely of cinnamon, with the butterscotch and faintly of rooibos and coconut.

 

I love this scent, but I've never been able to pick out the pumpkin, and it fades to a very faint coconut after just a couple of hours.

[inhumation]

I had to immediately swap this one away because I couldn't stand the smelling like cardamon. if there were other notes there, the cardamon was beating them down and screaming at the top of its lungs. it reminded me of the saffron note in Great Sword of War... for both, I smelled like I took a bath in curry.

[bellumed]

Lighter than I would have expected and pleasantly spicy! Tickly ginger, cardamom, and tea. A little more fennel than I like on drydown but at least the licorice isn’t being obnoxious. After a couple of hours, peppercorn becomes the dominant note. Not an all-time favorite, but I would wear it again.