Halloween Night Tea Bar: Root Beer Tea, Chai and Spiced Cups

Set the table for a Halloween night in

A tea bar is an easy way to warm up a room on a chilly October night. Set out a few pots, a garnish bowl and small labels, and let guests pour their own. It suits a family movie night or a fall potluck, long after the costumes are put away.

The backbone is three loose blends that Mountain Rose Herbs lists as caffeine free: Root Beer Tea, Firefly Chai and Winter Spice Tea. A pot of rosehips adds a tart fruit cup, and sweet cinnamon chips sit in a bowl for anyone who wants more spice.

Root beer tea, the familiar first pour

Mountain Rose Herbs describes Root Beer Tea as having an herbaceous aroma with rooty notes and green, earthy undertones, with hints of sweet and spicy ginger as the tea opens. It calls the flavor strongly reminiscent of root beer soda, balancing sweet, spicy and earthy in a light blend.

The name root beer refers to the root of the sassafras tree. The product page notes that sassafras was used in indigenous beverages long before Europeans arrived in North America, and that root beer syrup appeared at confectioners around 1840. There is no sassafras in this blend, though. The ingredients are birch leaf, sweet cinnamon chips, ginger root, chaga mushrooms, licorice root, dandelion root and root beer flavoring.

Chai and winter spice by the potful

Firefly Chai is a caffeine free chai built on red rooibos instead of black tea, with ginger root, cassia cinnamon chips, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg. Mountain Rose Herbs describes a spicy, robust aroma, a warm start, a piquant finish and a semi-sweet linger. A small jug of warm milk on the side lets guests make it creamy.

Winter Spice Tea is the boldest pot on the table. Its ingredients include eleuthero root, cassia cinnamon bark, roasted dandelion and chicory roots, astragalus root, orange peel, ginger root, licorice root, cardamom and cloves. The product page calls it a spicy, festive decoction. Besides the usual 3 to 5 minute steep, the product page states it can be simmered gently in a saucepan for 10 to 12 minutes for a stronger decoction, which is handy for a big batch. For a creamy pot, Golden Milk Tea is also listed as caffeine free and can be simmered in milk or a milk alternative; it contains coconut flakes and black peppercorns.

A tart rose hip pot, and a word on hibiscus

One fruity pot balances the spice. Mountain Rose Herbs describes rose hips as the fruits of the rose, which appear in early summer and ripen into late autumn. Its rosehips come from Rosa canina and Rosa rubiginosa, with Lesotho and Chile listed as origins. The page calls the flavor tart and says dried rosehips can be steeped as tea.

The page gives no brew amount or time, so start with a small spoonful and adjust. It also does not state caffeine, so label the pot "caffeine not stated."

For color, hibiscus is the classic choice. Mountain Rose Herbs describes Hibiscus sabdariffa as known for its vibrant red flowers and a brew that can be quite tart. Its hibiscus flowers showed as out of stock on Oct 23, 2026, so check the page before planning around them, and see the peanut note in the safety box.

Brew big, keep it warm, label every pot

Scale the tea to the water

Each brew instruction is written per 8 ounces of water. For a teapot or pitcher, count how many 8-ounce mugs it holds and add 1 tablespoon of tea for each, or 1 teaspoon for Golden Black Tea. Large Press 'N Brew Tea Bags, which Mountain Rose Herbs calls good for whole pots of tea, make cleanup quick.

The Fuji Glass Teapot comes in 18 oz. and 32 oz. sizes, with a fine stainless steel strainer built into the lid. Mountain Rose Herbs says not to put it on a heating element and not to lift it by the filter lid.

Since the glass pot stays off the burner, keep the Winter Spice saucepan on the lowest setting after its simmer, or pour finished tea into an insulated carafe.

Cinnamon and labels

Set sweet cinnamon chips in a small bowl with a spoon. Mountain Rose Herbs describes them as Ceylon, or "true," cinnamon from Sri Lanka, with a more subtle, delicate and sweet flavor than cassia, and suggests adding them to your favorite tea blend. Guests can drop a pinch into the strainer with any pot, then strain the firm chips out.

Label each pot with its name, its caffeine status as the product page lists it, and any ingredient a guest may want to avoid, such as licorice root in Root Beer and Winter Spice, nutmeg in Firefly Chai, or coconut in Golden Milk. If grown-ups want caffeine, add one clearly marked pot of Golden Black Tea, which its page lists as containing caffeine.