August Uncommon Tea

I seem to enjoy this one more than the other Steepsterites. The dry leaf hits you with warm prune (hey, I like prunes) and a shot of booze. Steeped, I don’t really get hazelnut brittle but mostly creamy cocoa butter and brandied prunes. The base is subtle and pairs perfectly with the fruit. Adding milk does kill the soft cocoa butter background, and you are left with a whisper of plum. I’m glad I just got a sample size, but for what it’s worth, it was money and time well spent even though it’s not my favourite blend of theirs.

This one was malty yet had a thin mouthfeel, which was a little strange since I find malty teas to have a thicker mouthfeel. Also, of the three times I had it, each and every time, it was simultaneously astringent. All it did was make me crave a strong, malty Assam.

Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but it didn’t knock my socks off.

I bought a sample in my last order but polished it off a couple weeks ago. All I recall is that this was vaguely sweet but lacked an obvious caramel note. The pumpkin was very mild? The good news is that the base wasn’t crazily woodsy. Quite well-behaved in that respect. Adding milk just made it taste like a sweetened pumpkin. Still no warm, browned caramel.

This is cold now and though it is not bad per se, it is not really great either. It is malty and cocoa powder-y with a tinge of bitterness that aligns with the cocoa aspect. It is a sort of chocolate black tea. Nothing special and I certainly have had better.

Silly me ordering tea when I have barely been touching the stash I have as it’s been collecting dust over the past while. But once I saw that August restocked on Passage, I just had to do it.

Sample size of this. The fennel is the most prominent note here, tannins quite strong, but the apple is on the faint side, which I don’t mind. I’m at the very least glad it isn’t a fake, strong candy apple flavour you get from other companies (I think we all know…). The mouthfeel is thin and I’m left with astringency.

This is one I’ve been looking forward to trying for a long time now, and I have to say – it was worth the wait! At this point, I probably have three other beloved orange-flavored teas in my stash, but this one still has a place! The green tea is mellow and almost buttery. The orange isn’t fake or overbearing. There’s a vanilla flavor that compliments the whole thing. I sipped this cup slowly at work yesterday, and I loved every drop.

The main flavor here is eucalyptus. It’s light, cooling, and not at all bitter. I enjoyed it without sugar, and once I put the sugar in I kind of regretted it. Definitely a unique flavor! At first, I wished I could have tasted more of the melon, but the flavor was pleasant and interesting enough that I’m glad it just has its own thing going on. This is a good one! Best lukewarm.

Warm, I taste lime and peach with a bit of creaminess and some bitterness. As it cools, there’s more bitterness and I can’t find the other flavors anymore. I didn’t get any pistachios in my strainer, so that’s probably why I don’t taste any. I quite enjoyed the fun flavor combination, and next time I’ll make sure to drink it all while it’s hot!

Sample Sipdown! (21)

This is probably one of my favorites so far from August Uncommon. They have a lot of strange combinations, but I have enjoyed a few of their offerings – like Tropic of Capricorn, Psychocandy, and Dots and Loops. I also have a few samples that I haven’t tried yet!

This one has a lovely creamsicle-like flavor. The vanilla is sweet and creamy and spot-on for vanilla ice cream or custard. The orange is perhaps a bit more of an orange zest flavor than it is orange popsicle, but it does work well with the vanilla. I’m not familiar with jatoba wood, but to me it’s quite similar to a sandalwood sort of aromatic wood note. It adds a nice touch of refinement while still melding well with the other flavors. There’s also a bit of floral here, and it’s a somewhat heady but sweet flower such as orange blossom.

The green tea base is forgettable, but I can forgive it for that as it’s still a nice enough foundation for the added flavors here without getting completely lost.

So for me, this is sort of like a refined adult creamsicle green tea. Which frankly sounds ridiculous, but there you are! :P

I’ll definitely consider ordering a packet of this one once my stash is bit more under control.

Home – 6:30 PM

Merry Christmas, my fellow Steepsters! ❤

I have been doing absolutely nothing all day. The boyfriend and I didn’t do anything for Christmas this year, as we’re moving into our new house in a couple of days. We’re not the type to buy each other presents either, as generally we buy things that we want throughout the year and don’t really have “wished for” items for Christmas. So we’ve been spending the day playing games, lounging, watching various things on the Fire TV, and doing some laundry. Yay for lazy days!

Anyway, the tea. This is from my second August Uncommon sample order, which was made specifically for this tea and Dark Iris. Obviously I threw in several other samples as well, because duh… My small sample had a giant slice of dried orange in it (just like the photo), which I promptly chopped up since I didn’t want the entire piece in one mug of tea.

This is very yummy… It’s super creamsicle-y, with sweet orange and lovely creamy vanilla flavors. I can see how the jatoba wood does give it a slight sort of sandalwood-ish flavor, but mostly it’s dreamy ice cream bar goodness. There’s maybe a slight floral note here, and it reminds me of orange blossom.

The base tea is very mild, though I do get a slightly grassy sencha flavor from it, with a hint of vegetal spinach. I would argue that the stronger flavoring could take a bit stronger of a base tea, and it would also be delicious with a black tea.

But I do love it. This might be my favorite from August Uncommon so far!

Home – 8:00 PM

So I made another sample order from August Uncommon. I mostly wanted to try Dark Iris and Arabesque, but ended up choosing several teas. I didn’t love all the teas I tried from them previously, but there were some I enjoyed and they offer samples with free shipping. What more can you ask for? The leaves here looked quite broken and I knew it’s Assam, so I only steeped it for 2.5 minutes instead of my usual 3.

Oddly, the dry and steeped tea both smell like either coconut or cherry cordials. Which is strange because neither coconut nor cherry is in ingredient here.

It’s a somewhat brisk and malty black base with a big hit of caraway. I do get cocoa as well, and it’s definitely the unsweetened variety. There is some bitterness even with the shorter steep, and also a bit of astringency. Honestly, it smells so much like cherry cordials that I’m disappointed it doesn’t taste like them. I get a hint of maraschino cherry or amaretto near the end of the sip. But it doesn’t really make sense with the caraway.

To me, it’s a bit discordant. Also, there’s too much bitterness and astringency, which takes away from the sweeter notes. I may try a 2-minute steep next time.

I think perhaps I would really like this one if it weren’t for the caraway flavor.

This has surprisingly turned into possibly my favorite caffeinated tea currently in my stash. Even when I oversteep it, it doesn’t turn bitter. The ingredients truly go together so well. The pineapple is sweet, and mixed with the lemongrass and flavoring, it ends up cakey, caramely, and delicious. I’m bumping up my rating for this one even more. I’m not a huge green tea fan, but I’m sure I’d be a bigger one if there were more blends like this!

Hot, this one tastes a lot like Teavana Pineapple Kona Pop. I wish I could taste more of the barley! As it is, it’s just a grassy, sweet, fake pineapple. I like it, but I wouldn’t buy more.
EDIT: Actually, as this cools, the fake pineapple fades, and it really does taste like caramel and cake. I think I’ll bump up my rating because I’m really enjoying this now.

Home – 8:15 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 8

This is the last of the samples from my August Uncommon order. I would really like to try their Dark Iris and Arabesque blends, but every time I check their website one or both of them are out of stock in the sample size…

Based on the other notes on this tea, I was expecting it to be horrible. In fact, I don’t taste truffle at all here, which is a relief. I do taste banana and an earthy smoke flavor. There’s a bit of very burnt caramel as well.

I think the ingredient that makes it weird for me is the blackberry leaf. It makes it oddly sweet and that in turn makes it taste artificial. I think if the blackberry leaf weren’t included, it would be fine.

As-is, it’s a “no” from me.

Home – 3:00 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 25

Ahhh first tea of the day… Well, besides a matcha milk this morning. I slept in and then went to visit my house-in-progress for a bit. This is one of the teas I chose in my sample order to August Uncommon Tea. I admit, their teas have been extremely hit-or-miss for me. I really enjoy Dots and Loops, Tropic of Capricorn, and Psychocandy though, so hopefully this one is more in that vein.

Hmm. This reminds me vividly of these Japanese plum candies that I once bought at an Asian supermarket. They were almost like smarties in a way, sort of powdery and disc-shaped. But they were plum-flavored and somewhat tart, and they tasted exactly like this! Which is funny because it’s an unusual sort of plum flavor. It’s certainly very candy-like, and I’m not sure I would immediately guess it was plum if I didn’t know what it was meant to be.

I feel like they over-advertise the Earl Grey aspect of this. There is a little bergamot, but it’s very little and I’m not sure I’d notice it if I weren’t expecting it. It’s a bit overwhelmed by the strong, tart candy plum and the floral notes. I don’t get clove at all. Perhaps I missed getting a clove in the steeping basket?

I’m not sure I get this one really. To me it mostly tastes of candy plum with a bit of floral, and not much else. The base tea is very light, so I can’t really taste that either. I would like it better if the bergamot were strong, and the plum weaker.

Is it just me or are their Dark Iris and Arabesque teas chronically out of stock in the sample size…?

Home – 10:00 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 27

I’m actually running out of caffeine-free teas to try in the evening. I only have a couple more untried ones to go, and then I suppose I’ll allow myself break into the swap samples in the evening.

I actually ended up using the whole sample packet of this for my 16-ounce pot, because the fruit chunks were huge and heavy so there wasn’t that much volume for the weight.

This is… not what I expected. It’s barely sweet at all, and there’s an interesting slight tartness. I suppose it must be from the apple and pineapple? I guess I was expecting it to taste more like melon, since that’s the primary flavor mentioned. There’s definitely mint, but it’s more of an herbaceous peppermint which isn’t my favorite. It tends to taste a bit… musty? Or something? I’m not even sure how to describe it besides “sort of like a wet dishrag”.

This one is a bit disappointing to me. I feel like the apple overshadows the melon too much, and that it would be nicer with spearmint in place of the peppermint as well as a bit less mint in general.

Nice light melon flavor with a touch of mint. I would’ve liked even more mint, but it was still good. I basically drank this one every day, and now it’s gone, so I’ve been adding mint to my various other fruit teas to get my minty fruity fix. I’ve had better teas of this variety, but I could see myself repurchasing this one day.

Sample Sipdown! (24)

So I kept thinking about this tea after mentioning this one in my note for Arabesque yesterday. It’s such an interesting and unusual combination…

I really love it though. The strongest note is probably the melon, and it’s a ripe honeydew sort of flavor. It blends perfectly with the cooling, minty eucalyptus, even though that sounds like an odd combination. I suppose melon and mint is a fairly common pairing, but eucalyptus just sounds so weird. Luckily, the eucalyptus doesn’t taste medicinal here, just almost minty with touch of pine.

I don’t really know what dragonfruit tastes like, but there is another fruit flavor here. If I had to guess, I would say something like kiwi-strawberry? It adds a little more sweetness and a different, slightly tart fruity note. There’s also a smooth herbal flavor from the lemongrass that melds slightly with the eucalyptus flavor and tempers it slightly.

I’m not sure I really get much from the base tea here, other than a bit of body and slight sense of grassiness. But I’m not complaining, as the added flavors really get to shine.

This one is definitely on the list to order a full-size pouch! I bet it would be fantastic cold-brewed as well.

Home – 5:30 PM

For some reason, I have had a headache all day. It’s very unusual for me, and quite unpleasant.

Anyway, I added this tea to my sample order from August Uncommon because it sounded so unusual and intriguing. Plus most of the order was black teas, so it was nice to add a green in there.

This is not at all what I expected. It tastes mostly of melon, which is not one of the two flavors mentioned in the short description. It tastes juicy and ripe, and perhaps with a bit of cucumber mixed in. There’s also a creamy grass flavor and slight hint of umami that remind me of matcha. I’m not sure what dragonfruit tastes like, but this does have a touch of tropical edge. The eucalyptus is light, thankfully, and somewhat piney.

Overall, I dig it. I bet this would be amazing as an iced tea.

Sample Sipdown! (34)

Whoa, there must have been a lot of blackberry leaf in the bottom of this sample packet, because this is way sweet. In fact, it’s too sweet.

The buttery and creamy caramel is still enjoyable, but the overly sweet quality of it is making me rethink my plans to order a full-size pouch of this one…

Hmm, what to do…

Home – 10:30 PM

August Uncommon Tea blend of the day!

This is one of only two herbal blends I chose in my sample order. I don’t tend to love red rooibos blends, but I’m trying to give them a chance.

This one is quite good! I can taste the woody rooibos, but the other flavors compliment it very well. The strongest flavor is the caramel – it’s sweet and rich with a nice buttery taste and has brown sugar and maple notes. There’s also creamy vanilla bean that reminds me of custard. It tastes a bit boozy as well, perhaps dark rum?

I’m not sure I get pumpkin at all, which isn’t surprising given the strength of the other flavors.

I find this is similar to Lupicia’s Caramel & Rum, which is also a rooibos. I haven’t had that one in a while, so I’m not sure how similar.

In any case, it’s yummy! I would describe it as a boozy crème brûlée rooibos.

Oh boy oh boy White Puer!

Full passing points in white tea blends done right in my book. I appreciate it so much because white tea is rather difficult to process, so not only was this one completed pu-er fermentation style, it was done with a well selected combination of flavors.

When hot you can enjoy a bold white that holds interests yet keeps its mellow elegance. In a cold brew or iced tea its a lightly refreshing guessing game of fruit varieties. (those cucumber notes really balances things well). It’s pretty loud and has personality for a white without compromising the nature of the tea- a perfect blend of east meets west.

Home – 6:00 PM

I realized that I forgot to try an August Uncommon Tea blend yesterday. Oopsies!

It’s interesting to me how they don’t really mention the lapsang in this tea in the description. I looked at the ingredients, so I knew to expect it, but anyone who didn’t might be quite surprised by the scent! XD

To be honest, I could do with a bit less lapsang in this blend, it does dominate the Yunnan and Assam a bit (even though it’s listed last).

I think a bit more toffee flavor would be nice too. I do get a burnt brown sugar sort of note, but to me toffee has to taste buttery. This is closer to molasses with its dark and toasty sweetness.

The base tea blend does have some nice notes of tobacco, wood, and malt, and it’s definitely rich-tasting. However, I think the smokiness is a bit heavy-handed and it masks some of the other subtleties present here.

Not bad, but could definitely be improved.

Home – 6:30 PM

August Uncommon Tea blend of the day!

Hmm… I’m not sure about this one. The stonefruit flavor is more tart than I would like, which kind of takes away from the richness of it all. I definitely get the booze notes, maybe brandy or even rum. I’m not sure I get white chocolate – there is some cocoa and some creaminess but they don’t really translate into white chocolate for me.

Last but not least, there’s something soapy and combined with the tartness and cream notes, it makes me think of rancid coconut. Not a great association to have…

Overall, it’s a miss for me. I wish the prune flavor were richer and less tart, I think that would make a big difference. And I’m not sure what’s going on with that soapy taste…