August Uncommon Tea

I really wanted to open something new and opted for this tea. I got 4 cup sample quantity of this for 99 cents+ free shipping during a promo that the company was doing. I haven’t tried any teas from this company before but their uniqueness of their blends intrigued me. After This came I looked on Steepster and was disappointed to see that the reviews weren’t very good.

I drank this plain with no milk or sweetener. I actually really liked this unlike the other reviewers. The taste is more complex than just a lapsang souchong tea. It’s smokey but not in your face smokey. The toffee gives it a natural sweetness. It’s definitely hard to describe because it’s so complex. I pick up on some wood notes as well. Overall it has a very luxurious feel to it. I really like the mood of it too if that makes sense.
If Roswell_Strange’s perfume tea pairing didn’t have to be just Davids Tea’s this one would be a great pairing for one. It might lean more towards a cologne pairing though.
I definitely want to buy a tin of this.

Looks like I’m the odd one out. I almost didn’t order this due to the less-than-stellar reviews, but I’m so glad I did! It is very fragrant and heavy on the clove and plum especially. A little floral but not overwhelming. That plum note is so syrupy, like candy, and the clove is very present but not to the point that it feels like your tongue is falling asleep. Plus the orange peel contributes to that candy vibe. The description mentions that EG lovers would love this, and while I’m an EG fan, I don’t see much of a similarly between the two flavour profiles.

Yesterday, I discovered this for the very first time though I’ve had it for a while. What an enchanting blend! Very much white chocolate meringue mint with a hint of something else, possibly the citrus freshness of the grapefruit peeking through—though I did not pick up on straight grapefruit flavour here. Maybe in the next cup. The rooibos doesn’t assert itself much.

Really yum. I am a fan.

Perhaps this is now day 14 of cutting off caffeine at 3, or at least, aiming for that cutoff even if the reality is more like 5 on most days. Still, the awareness is positive, as is the discovery or rediscovery of herbal blends and tisanes. All good.

Tried this one as a hot brew first, and was a bit concerned. Although I like the Assam base tea and am definitely detecting the creamy, white chocolate, there is something off about it. I first noticed it in the scent of the dried leaf – overall enticing, but then ruined by some weird, tangy note that seemed very off putting. It showed up in the liquor as well, unfortunately. I usually really like August teas, and the description seemed perfect for me, so this was a little disappointing. I then tried it iced. So. Much. Better. Makes a lovely iced tea and for some reason, that weird tang (perhaps the booziness others are noticing?) was almost completely obliterated. Whew! It’s too bad I can’t really enjoy it hot, but since I do drink a lot of teas iced, this will definitely be drunk.

Today, I devoted time to shuffling and sorting teas from place to place. Since I am mostly drinking green and oolongs and herbals and tisanes these days, I decided to arrange those teas to make them more easily accessible while giving the black teas a bit of a rest backstage.

Of course, this created a surge of newly excavated and heretofore forgotten teas. Sorting teas can be a traumatic experience. Some of you might know exactly what I mean.

I think I may be finding my way around this blend. I hadn’t been taken with it before, but now I seem to be appreciating the subtleties present here more. The strawberry veers towards pineapple. The base is vegetal in a smooth hearty way. Grandpa steeping the leaves after the first two steeps produces a bit of earthiness once the flavoured layers have dissipated.

Today’s cup was delicate strawberry and green. Nice, but not particularly memorable.

Continuing my green tea thing. Something in my spirit must know that spring is making its way here. Slowly and eventually. The sun was super lovely today, so I suspect it is coming. I was even tempted to shed my jacket for a moment or two.

For some reason, I thought this contained pineapple. It’s got this bright fruit feeling to it with a bit of tang on top of the sencha. I suspected that it was pineapple and lemon rind, but now that I am checking the ingredients, strawberry and orange peel are plausible too.

I brewed this to review for Sororitea Sisters. I then got distracted so its cold and I’m too lazy to do a full review so I’ll just say that when steeped this smelled awesomely like caramel. Cold, it is just too sweet. That could also be my steeping (2 perfect teaspoons in 16 oz of water steeped for 4 minutes at 200F water). I could see this one being better hot. At least I hope it is because cold the caramel coats the tongue and becomes too much. Thankfully I know someone I can pawn this off on if I can’t make it work for me.

I didn’t expect to like this one so much, but it is actually one of the most unique and delicious blends I’ve had in a long time.

This is very heavy on the clove, some nice fennel, some vegetal but fruity notes (green apple). The black base is absolutely perfect for this blend. I used 2 tsp leaf in 500 mL cold water, 45 min steep. I appreciate how refreshing this is iced, but I wanted to comment how much I like the apple flavour. It is present, but it isn’t like green apple candy/apple skin from most green apple teas. I’ve always disliked green apple flavour, so I was pleasantly surprised at the flavour in this blend.

Not sure i’m getting white chocolate from this one – i don’t really eat white chocolate….but i am getting the brandied prunes. This is a half decent cup, and a welcome change from the more recent AU flops that have been most of their teas lately. Still nothing i’m sad about missing, but i appreciate the opportunity to try it VariaTEA!

I’m not sure the base adds anything here. It isn’t bad, but nothing about it stands out.

I like the lemon/citrus and the creamy/buttery cookie flavour. This would make an excellent longer brew (overnight) with a touch of sweetener and some ice cubes.

I’m not sure if I get fig, certainly not ripe fig. I’ve eaten a lot of fresh figs in my day, and the fig flavour here is a bit weak. I can tell it is fruity and not citrus, but it could have been stronger.

I tried this one hot and deffinitly found it to be quite different than coldbrewed. I also added a splash of almond milk. I get more peanuts and sunflower seed flavour, very nutty, honey, milk, and toffee. I guess it’s a bit like peanut brittle? I don’t know what I expected, but I was hoping for more caramel or pumpkin. Thanks again to CrowKettle for the share. I was considering ordering a bag of this but have decided I don’t need to have it in my cupboard. I really enjoyed tasting it, though.

I have no idea what to think about this one.

I get lots of toffee and vanilla. The most notable note is actually strawberry (or fig?) and yoghurt. Some honey from the rooibos. Oddly woody notes that seem more similar to molasses or resin than pumpkin. I also taste something spicy, maybe alcohol or pepper? It is quite difficult to place.

I just spent 2.5 hrs waiting for laundry so while I waited I packed teas for Sil and brewed this up. Honeydew and mint sounded like it would shine over ice. I opened the sample pack and I just barely had 3 spoonfuls. Plus majority of the sample was mint. I used two spoons today and am saving the last to try hot once I’m feeling better.

Iced, this is a bit disappointing tbh. It is vaguely sweet through the sip and if I focus I can maybe get honeydew which is a subtle fruit to begin with but then the mint takes over. It’s not sweet and doesn’t really fit in. Instead it’s like a smack of medicine. So the iced tea didn’t really go over well but hopefully the last spoon is better. I’ll hold off rating until then.

120/365

This has to be the weakest of the AU teas I’ve tried so far. I’ve come to expect quite a lot, in flavour terms, but this is just chamomile? I know they’re saying it tastes of rhubarb and custard, but it doesn’t. Not even a hint of it.

As far as chamomile tea goes, this is fine. It’s sweet and honey-like, smooth, and a nice sleepytime herbal to round off the day…but I can get the same thing without the premium price tag and broken promises.

Disappointed.

All the points are for the lemon cookie flavouring; jury’s still out on the whole unripe/green fig vibe. I’m meh on the green tea base here (Chinese Sencha blargh). The combined flavouring and tea gives me a marine impression, which I’m not completely loving.

Like Arabeseque, Good Humour’s deliciousness quotient relies on getting those steeping parameters right; too much leaf, temp, etc. leads to a bitter/drowned out cup.

This tea’s alright? I reached for this one readily enough but I think I was hoping for something else. Maybe something with a complex tart-sweet dancong base?

I would like something with “whipped cream” and “prune” in the description to be a little darker, richer, thicker, and more nuanced¬ overall, with less of the candied thing going on; The plum and white chocolate come across as somewhat artificial over the course of the cup. I like the smell of the dry leaf though.

104/365

This one came to me free from AU’s recent “try for a dollar” promotion. In the event, it went through the checkout without asking me to pay anything, and it arrived a week or so later. I’d been curious to try this one, so I was stoked to see it in my mailbox!

It smells wonderful. The apple and fennel are both really clear, even from just the dry leaf. Brewed, it takes on a slightly candy-like vibe – one of my colleagues said she could smell bubblegum, and it is a little like that. It reminds me slightly of apple Hubba Bubba, in the best possible way. It’s more nuanced when it’s actually brewed up – the apple is the main flavour; a touch sharp and acidic initially, with a slowly-developing sweetness. It’s definitely green apple! The fennel comes through second and helps with the sweetness, while adding a licorice-like note all its own. There’s a hint of clove in the background, making this a little less like candy and a little more like apple pie, plus a touch of malt from the black tea.

It’s delicious, and I love it!

This is pretty nice, except for that weak Chinese sencha blend. I think I may just straight out hate that stuff at this point. It’s such a watery non-substance after such lovely flavours here (orange, vanilla, sandalwood). I think this could be something pretty special if it weren’t for that generic, lackluster, hateful tea base (now let me tell you how I really feel).

I mostly get clove-accented blackberries and stone fruits, with a floral citrus-orange mix that comes off as overly perfume-like. The floral perfume thing is unfortunately a little too much for me; it drowns out the room (and my tongue) for hours after the initial session. I kept thinking about how much Sil would dislike this one if I sent it to her.

Oh well, moving on!

The last few months have been a bit of a struggle both mentally and healthwise, but the better weather here on the West Coast seems to have given me back some energy. I’m looking forward to drinking teas besides Cold 911 (maybe iced tea is in the cards?).

This one more than makes up for my poor experience with (cue Twilight Zone music) the Black Lodge. This easy steeper had such a lovely balance of sour-sweet green apple, fennel and citrus zest that I ended up never drinking it with milk- the cloves and strong herbs make me mentally group it as a chai but I’ll have to order more if I want a latte or iced cup now!

The description on the back makes me laugh though. “Melodic sonic modulations” what now?! This is a pretty happy tea drinking experience and it got me through quite a few sick days, so I’ll go with it. This will be on the reorder list when I eventually run out of Psychocandy.