August Uncommon Tea

A tea inspired by an Almodóvar film, with a disjunct combination of ingredients- how very typically August Uncommon. Not saying it’s a bad thing! Just very much their style. I’m actually loving this blend. The cocoa, clove, and rose are all distinct, without fighting with one another. It smells absolutely divine as well.

This tea is quite interesting! The black tea is very bready, almost like a pastry. The green apple is somewhere on the border of candy-like and crisp. I’m only getting a slight fennel flavor in the after-taste. Happy to drink this cup, but not sure if I need to finish the sample bag.

A generous and unexpected gift from amandastory516.

Bursting with cherry right from the bag. More cough drop on the back end. Once steeped, the smoke from the Lapsang comes thru. Not overpoweringly so. Is overpoweringly a word? The cherry has also become more subtle. Not so Punch You In The Face.

PS – I’ve gotten so lazy with my notes lately. And my tea drinking to think of it. I’m home, sitting mere inches from the tea cabinet and this is the first cup I’ve had in a week. What’s going on here???

Group share – Favorite comfort tea to get you through a global crisis? Which ones were you saving that you’re drinking now?

Usually I’m not a huge fan of white tea, as I feel it’s too subtle, causing me to oversteep it and then getting a less than desirable result. This is a flavored one, though, and that makes a big difference. The orange blossom floral note is quite pleasant, which is saying a lot because generally I’m not into floral teas. Somehow, the floral notes along with the almond flavor all wrapped up with hints of honey works really well. It’s surprisingly tasty for a white tea. It makes a very nice afternoon break cup of tea, especially with a little something sweet to snack on. This sugar addict is having a rough time giving up her sweets completely.

I like August teas, but this one tastes like Listerine. It’s the one and only time in my life that I am throwing out a canister of tea. It’s fugly!

Cold brewed this, and I definitely need to bump my previous rating up substantially. This definitely tastes like a pineapple upside down cake and I’m really enjoying it on this hot afternoon.

I ordered about 10 more August Uncommon samples. I’m trying to work my way through their entire collection. I can’t say this one is my favorite. The balance of flavors is really strange, and there’s a very odd scent. I think it’s the barley that is working against the pineapple. I’ll finish the sample, but I don’t think I need to repurchase this one.

Sipdown (1423)!

A weirdly fruity cup of this tea for my final send off. I see that someone else has added marzipan to the flavour notes of this blend, which is interesting to me because I tasted cherry and I know there’s a weird flavour overlap/perception thing when it comes to cherry and sweet almond based things like marzipan or amaretto.

Aside from that observation, though, this was rich and coating on the palate with all the chocolate and caraway deliciousness that I’ve come to expect from the blend. I likely wouldn’t repurchase because there’s just only so much room in my stash and attention I want to devote to chocolate teas, but for people looking for a more elevated/classy chocolate tea option I think this warrants consideration.

My morning cuppa today!

I pulled this one in a rush this morning because I saw “caraway” on the label and that sounded up my alley today – but I totally forgot that it’s a chocolate blend, and I’m not particularly in a chocolate mood today. However, it’s still making for a really pleasant cup today despite that; it’s smooth and full bodied with pleasant and complex notes of smoked chocolate, malt, sweet potato, caraway, and a bit of brandied fruit. Many of those notes are particularly coming from the black tea base, and I really love how much the base contributes to the flavour and compliments the additions.

For a chocolate blend, this is a sophisticated and elegant cup – I love those boozier undertones with everything else. Nothing is “too much” or “too little” and I’m enjoying it as something reflective and calm this morning.

This is one of those few August Uncommon blends where the “Feels Like” descriptors REALLLYYYYY draw me in/I can picture exactly the sort of vibe that they’re going for…

The dry leaf and steeped tea smell really strongly of Chocolate Guinness to me. I know Guinness is an insanely polarizing beer, but to me that’s a really positive thing. I love a good pint of Guinness, and chocolate Guinness works so well. However, I found the flavour of the steeped tea a bit off – still rich/chocolatey but also quite unpleasantly bitter with a sharp and more acidic top note, and a very puckering astringency. I think milk could have rounded the flavour out a bit, but I didn’t test it.

I think I need to revisit this again with either less leaf (though I used my normal amount) or a steep time shorter than four minutes, but at least at first impression this was a bit of a let down for me…

Having the last of this taster. I was really hoping to adore AU teas. They have such interesting sounding blends, but they more often than not don’t translate to a cup I thoroughly enjoy. This one for example is good. It has an interesting blend of flavors. Fruity with spices. The apple comes out really well in the sip and doesn’t taste artificial. The fennel is very present in the finish. Somewhere between sip and finish is an alkaline appearance that I can’t get over. Each sip is like a roller coaster of spicy fruity goodness plunging down into a taste void and then back up to deliciousness. It’s distracting and playing hard to get in between being welcoming. I’ve had relationships like that before and they don’t last. Farewell to you, little tea.

I thought I had posted tasting notes for this tea before. And I thought that I was so so on it. I’ve been struggling to get a good cup out of AU teas. All of the French black teas I have lower steeping temps, which has made a significant difference in the cup, so I decided to try a lower temp on this one. I like it! I’m getting aromatic apple and clove dominating. I can taste that there are more flavors in it, but I can’t pick out what. It’s very spiced apple. As it cools there is a little alkaline tinge that creeps in making it taste a little flatter than when it’s hot, but it’s not too distracting. Now I’m going to have to go back and try all the other AU teas at a lower temp and reevaluate how I feel about them!

After taking a few years to sip down a giant stash, I am finally buying some new teas! Teaching means no time for loose leaf most days except in the evenings, so it has taken quite awhile. I have been taking extra time to brew this in my to-go cup in the mornings, though. The burnt sugar aspect really shines with a little milk and a smidge of sweetener, and it is divine. On it’s own, it edges on a bit tangy.

So after some initial pondering (Do I even like flavored teas anymore? What’s happening to my taste buds?), I decided that there is room in my life for both flavored and unflavored blacks – which brings me pretty much full circle. I needed a dessert-like tea after dinner last night so I chose Cabaret.

It tasted like chocolate cake with boozy cherry filling. It’s really good, and definitely hits the sweet spot for a sugar addict like me who’s trying to cut down on the thing she loves most for health reasons. August has some very tasty flavors, and this one is no exception. The only thing I don’t find so great is the booziness of the fruit notes. I had a similar issue with Breathless, where the brandy flavored prune flavor was a bit off. I solved that by making it iced, and that seemed to cut down on the strange tangy flavor. This one, however, I don’t see as an iced tea, so I’ll try to cut down on the leaf to see if that helps. August seems to always want you to use lots of leaf per serving – maybe they really want the flavor to be very intense, or maybe they just want you to go through the tea faster so you can order more – not sure. I don’t mind cutting down on the amount just a little to see if I can still get my chocolate fix without such a strong alcohol flavor. Other than that, the chocolate + cherry flavor is a winner for me.

Just finished up my sample of this one, and while I did enjoy it, it’s not something I need to have in my stash. I’m not getting any of the white chocolate or pistachio that’s in the ingredient list. I get a bit of the rose, and some lime zest, but mostly a nice juicy peach. The smell reminds me of peach rings, but the taste isn’t quite as synthetic. Overall, a very pleasant, but unextraordinarf blend for me.

This is my current cuppa, and it’s not bad.

In terms of August Uncommon’s flavoured tea selections, I think this might actually be the simplest one I’ve tried in regard to concept/profile. It’s a smooth, grassier tasting green tea with some nutty elements paired with an aromatic and very custardy vanilla that finishes with a hint of warming cardamom. Nice and easy drinking, some layers of flavours but doesn’t make your brain hurt trying to digest the concept. I do wish it was a bit richer, but I think that also might be my hatred of green tea flaring up and wanting to cover some of the grassier notes.

Fans of creamy things and with an appreciation for smoother, delicate/gentle teas will love this one!

I really love this one and so I hoard it for no good reason. Last I checked, it was readily available. A habit I should really try to break. So I finished off the last of my sample bag tonight with my husband’s help. Not sure if he liked it or not, as he retreated quickly into his gaming room with it. If I find it half-drunk somewhere late, I can promise I’ll be reheating it and finishing it off myself.

I goofed and used more water than I intended so I hope this doesn’t come out a bit on the weak side.

Not too light at all! I really love this one so I hoard it, but I know I shouldn’t.

I’m beyond excited to try this violet tea, a generous gift from amandastory516. I don’t remember ever having had violet before, so Amanda also sent some violet candies for me to try so that I can distinguish the flavor. The candies are delicious, immensely floral with an almost licorice sweetness in the aftertaste that I actually enjoyed. I’m generally not a fan of licorice, but it worked so well with the other flavors.

I waited for the weekend so I could take the time to enjoy this tea fully. I can taste the same flavors here that I noticed in the candies. Not quite as floral but I can tell that the primary flavor is the same. I don’t taste the blackberry or the smoke (would have liked more smoke maybe), but if I hadn’t known it was supposed to be there I wouldn’t have missed it. A unique and delicious tea, one I think I’ll keep around. Thanks, Amanda!

Not to my tastes; it’s the base tea I think I just don’t like.

I’ve never had bourbon, so I’m not sure if this blend tastes like it or not! What I taste is caramel and a hint of smoke, which doesn’t sound like it should work, but it does. A delicious and high quality dessert tea. August Uncommon keeps impressing me!

Everyone should have tea friends who order samples and split them with you! Huge thanks to my friend Elizabeth for an opportunity to try 3 new-to-me August Uncommon teas. :) This one may have been my favorite of the bunch. It’s super rich and malty with chocolatey undertones. No bitterness or astringency and re-steeps beautifully! Wouldn’t mind adding this one to my cupboard.

Steeped this up on Monday and thought it was fine. There was something about the chocolate that, in this cup in particular, tasted very thin to me. However, I loved the level of heat I got from the chili. Started off very mild but built on my palate gradually to the point where I felt some heat but never anything close to intense. Just enough to make sure you knew it was there.