August Uncommon Tea

Beautiful, sophisticated tea. This one is for when you want to focus on the tea itself, not distractedly sipping it while doing something else. I say this because the flavors are complex, and not obvious. Best enjoyed when you’re in a more contemplative mood. Dry leaf smells lightly sweet, earthy, vegetal. The vendor states this tea can be resteeped (three infusions total), so that is what I did. First infusion was a bit tannic, definitely tasted the peanut flavor, along with a spinachy note. Second infusion didn’t have a tannic bite at all, well-balanced between the nutty, sweet and vegetal notes. This was my favorite infusion. Third infusion was light and sweet, with more of the molasses coming out. I thoroughly enjoyed this tea, especially how different each infusion was.

Reordered a larger amount of this tea a while back and I’m just getting around to brewing it again. Rich, earthy cocoa flavors dominate – almost like drinking a hot chocolate/tea hybrid – so delicious! This was one of their fall 2014 teas, and I am so glad I reordered – it’s still fantastic. I usually enjoy drinking teas in the appropriate season, so it’s strange that I don’t mind drinking this one now that it’s spring, but I guess that’s the chocolate fiend in me! I didn’t even add any milk to it, and both infusions were great. This one is such a winner!

I’ve never had tea from this company before, so I’m excited to review something new. Black tea with chocolate and chestnuts? Sign me up! Dry leaf scent was sweet with a little alcohol pungency. I followed the directions from the tea company and brewed it for 5 minutes, which was the longest time recommended. The brew was a little cloudy. Brewed tea aroma was chocolate and nutty – enticing! The taste of sweet milk chocolate was so THERE, with a creaminess even without milk added. This was complemented by a subtler nuttiness and earthiness from the chestnut flavor. I enjoyed this tea immensely. And to make things even better, it can take a second infusion! I’ve never had a flavored black infuse a second time so well. The flavor was only very slightly diminished in the second steeping. Impressive! The only question now is regarding consistency. Since I’ll definitely be ordering more of this, I’ll be able to answer that soon. I was also really impressed with the turnaround time on my order – it was shipped the same afternoon that I ordered it and arrived just a couple of days later.