The Journal · Autumn
The October reset: an autumn tea ritual
Moving the tea back indoors, and the five cups that carry the week.
There is one evening, usually around now, when you shut the window without thinking about it. The jug of cold brew is still in the fridge from August and nobody has touched it for a fortnight. The kettle goes on at five instead of eight.
Nothing announces this. It just arrives, and the drinks that carried the summer stop landing.
The short answer
An autumn tea ritual is two decisions. Spiced black blends for the daylight hours, Heirloom Orchard, Ginger Bread Bakery and Caramel Pear Pudding, brewed three to four minutes with water just off the boil. Then caffeine free fruit or rooibos after six, Mulled Glühwein or Kick Back Relax, five minutes and they will not turn bitter. One gram of leaf per 200ml cup either way.
What actually changes in autumn
Light, mostly. Less of it, earlier. When the evenings shorten, what you want from a cup shifts from refreshment to warmth: something with weight to it, something spiced, something you hold rather than sip through ice.
The blends that do this well are not the summer ones served hot. They are built differently, around depth rather than lift, and they are the reason autumn is the best season we have.
Five warming teas for an autumn week
The week, one cup at a time
Heirloom Orchard. Plum first, deep and gently sweet, then cinnamon and ginger through the middle over a black tea base. Warm, lightly spiced, quietly nostalgic.
Ginger Bread Bakery. Gingerbread spice, warm and aromatic from the first pour, held steady by the black tea underneath. Rich without being heavy.
Caramel Pear Pudding. Soft pear, then caramel building through the middle. Black tea for structure, white tea to soften the edges, a note of currant to lift the finish.
Mulled Glühwein. Hibiscus opens it with a deep, wine-like tartness, then apple and rosehip round it out and beet carries the depth. Caffeine free, and it is the closest thing to the smell of a Christmas market in October.
Kick Back Relax. Rooibos, smooth and naturally sweet, chamomile for a soft floral calm, a subtle caramel note underneath. Caffeine free, and made for the hour before bed.
The five o'clock cup. This is the one the season is actually about.
The one change worth making
If you do nothing else this month, move your caffeine line earlier. The afternoon cup stays exactly as it is. The evening one becomes something with no caffeine in it at all, so the ritual survives the hour without following you upstairs.
That single swap is why the two caffeine free blends above are on the list. Not as a compromise, as the better cup for that time of night.
How to brew autumn blends
One gram of tea per 200ml cup, into an infuser in the mug or the teapot if there are two of you.
- Spiced black blends: water just off the boil, three to four minutes. Milk is optional, and the spice carries it well if you take it.
- Rooibos and fruit blends: five minutes, and they will not turn bitter if the conversation runs on.
- Many of the black blends give a good second steep, a minute longer than the first.
Then sit down with it. That is the whole reset.
Questions we get
What tea should I drink in autumn?
Spiced black blends for the day and caffeine free fruit or rooibos blends for the evening. Heirloom Orchard, Ginger Bread Bakery and Caramel Pear Pudding cover the first, Mulled Glühwein and Kick Back Relax the second.
Which Boteane teas are caffeine free?
Mulled Glühwein and Kick Back Relax both are, along with the rest of the caffeine free range. The Discovery Subscription has a caffeine free option if you want the whole box that way.
How long do you brew spiced black tea?
Three to four minutes with water just off the boil, one gram per 200ml cup. Four minutes if you take milk.
What tea should you drink in the evening?
Something with no caffeine in it. A rooibos and chamomile blend like Kick Back Relax, or a hibiscus led fruit blend like Mulled Glühwein, both brewed five minutes.
Can you still cold brew in autumn?
Yes, and fruit blends still do it well. Cold brew is about extraction, not weather, so the jug in the fridge works in October exactly as it did in July.
Five blends, one week, the kettle on at five.
Shop the autumn blendsOr let five arrive each month: the Discovery Subscription.
New to brewing loose: start here.
JoJo