August Uncommon Tea

This is a tea I would repurchase for the scent alone. Opening the pouch, you’re hit with a strong cherry scent (almost reminiscent of cough medicine, but not that bad). The prune also comes through, but not as strongly. There is another scent I can’t quite describe, maybe that is the note of armagnac, which I’ve never had. The tea also smells wonderful while steeping. The cherry isn’t as overpowering as it is when the pouch is first opened.

Drinking the tea, I think the prune comes through more than the cherry flavor that the makers note in their tasting description. Again, I can’t speak to any boozy flavors. The brew has a thin mouthfeel, but that may be because of my steeping.

A note about steeping: they recommend 3 T per 8 oz, for 5 minutes. I’ve not tried it there, that seems like way too much tea for the water. I’m afraid of getting something bitter and undrinkable, but maybe that would solve the problem of the thinner mouthfeel that I get from the August Uncommon Black Teas.

In the Mod for Love describes precisely the opposite way I’m feeling this morning—maybe I gravitated toward this tea in a subconscious effort to boost my mood—mood regulation through suggestion, I suppose. I had some disappointing news yesterday, which has my brain weasels out in full force this morning. What was supposed to be celebratory champagne last night turned into “drowning my sorrows” champagne. So here I am this morning, facing my own looming lack of forward motion in my life with nothing more than tea, blueberries, and the love of a few good dogs.

Anyway, the tea, what we’re all really here for. I altered my typical preparation for this tea, and doubled the amount of leaf. Rather than the 1 teaspoon per 250 ml of water, I used 2, and left the steeping time alone, at 5 minutes. Increasing the amount of leaves improved the mouthfeel of the tea, not surprisingly (I’d found it thin before), and didn’t make it overly bitter or overwhelmingly strong like I was afraid it might. Maybe Fujian teas need more leaf—its been too long since I had a straight Fujian, I don’t remember. Anyway, increasing the amount of leaf really increased my enjoyment of the tea. I still don’t get any chocolate notes like their tasting description suggests I should. What I’ve noticed with a lot of these August Uncommon teas is that I get a whiff of leather, which may just be the aromatic notes of the black tea base itself.

Drinking all of these flavored teas reminds me of my fundamental tea self: while I like the aromatic notes of the teas, I don’t ever really taste much. Its the tea-as-potpourri philosophy of tea drinking. I’d gravitated more toward straight teas, with the exception of genmaichas, which I really can taste the toasted rice note. After drinking several cups of these August Uncommon blends (I got 5, and I’m probably halfway through them all already), I’ve decided that I’m going to move back toward straight teas—the quality tends to be better because there are no attempts at flavor to cover up an inferior base.

This tea is a Fujian black tea, and tastes pretty much like what it is supposed to. Unlike my other August Uncommon Teas, this one doesn’t really have a noticeable scent other than the expected black tea scent on either opening the pouch or steeping. The tea is perfectly serviceable black tea, a little thin in the body, but not too bad. The scent of the tea when the package is opened and while brewing is a major selling point for flavored teas for me, since I’m not able to detect finer flavors and such when drinking. I’ll finish out the 50 gram bag, but I don’t foresee buying this tea again.

I was intrigued by August Uncommon when I saw ads on IG. I’d gotten out of the habit of drinking tea, but decided to try a few blends. Combray was the only green tea blend that appealed. The first time I prepared it, I brewed 3 teaspoons in 750 ml water and steeped for three minutes. The vanilla and cardamom were strong, but were overpowered by the bitterness of the brew. The steeping recommendations that come with the tea are wildly off the mark, in my opinion. Rather than using a tablespoon of tea, steeping for five minutes, using one teaspoon per 8 ounces is more than sufficient. The second preparation I made steeped for only two minutes, which yielded a much more pleasant tea. The brewed tea has a nice vanilla scent, and the cardamom vanilla flavor doesn’t overpower the green tea base. It seems fairly well balanced. I’ll probably buy more of this tea when I use up my current stash.

I’m not the target for this tea. I don’t even know why I bought this when I don’t enjoy the combination of fruit flavoring and menthol (in this case eucalyptus).

This smells like a fruity Hall’s cough drop. The taste is bland with no depth. The eucalyptus menthol that is so strong in the aroma is much less prominent in the mouth. I can taste a generic melon flavoring (watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew), grass, eucalyptus. I can’t taste the lemongrass, rosehips or dragonfruit, which is I think easily overshadowed by the euc leaf and melon flavor. There is a quality that skirts mineral into metallic. It is a cooling tea, I’ll give it that.

Boring. Last serving of the sample pouch is cold brewing. Will it find redemption?

Wait, I do taste the lemongrass when it cools a bit on the second steep.

This feels like the innocence of limber and languid ice cream truck summers at my grandparents’ house, rolling right past the tumultuous teen years and into those humid days and hazy nights of — hey nineteen — living on my own. A still impressionable girl developing her poise and confidence as a young woman.

Strange. Tasty. Needs a stronger base.

Edited to add: If you ever come across this review, Dad, thanks for the memories. It was nice to talk yesterday.

Song pairing: Steely Dan — Hey Nineteen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J7IrPVLc4U

It’s 100F currently and not even peak temperature for the day. So what am I doing? Drinking a hot black tea of course!

I’m digging these August Uncommon blends that I received as a gift from Mastress Alita. This one’s mellow, medium-dark and herbal, not so in-your-face as the Dots and Loops I had yesterday and this morning.

Light earthy, rich and herbal aroma. Sip is thyme and juniper, with rosemary to a much lesser extent. The tea quickly expands into a moderate earthy puerh note with light malt from the black tea, tanginess I attribute to the black currant, minerals and a hint of molasses. The juniper persists but isn’t dramatic. The herbs flow through lightly. It finishes the same with additions of tannins and oiliness. Despite the thin body, everything’s slick, my tongue, my teeth and there is a soft and persistent tongue-numbing effect.

Overall, it’s definitely a smooth, savory tea — herbal, woodsy and earthy. Pretty neutral taste for me that makes a fine hot tea for a blistering and dry California summer day.

Addendum: brewed 4g to 8oz western and the liquor was substantially thicker. I really enjoy the character of this tea! Upped from 80 to 85.

This tea is so good!

The dry leaf, wet leaf, aroma and taste all stick to the same palette with no surprises. That doesn’t mean it’s a straightforward tea. This blend of savory, sweet, tart, fruity-floral and spicy has a load of depth.

The apple aroma and flavor is unique; I wouldn’t say it’s green apple but very close — almost sweet like candy but very floral, somehow reminiscent of both crisp and tart fresh green apples and the deeper, comforting aroma of some kind of heritage red apples baked with brown sugar. Clove, fennel and caraway create a sweet, herbal, citrusy, almost peppery and pungent rye-like taste, of which the perfume lingers as an ether after the swallow. All of these flavors are layered into a black tea base that’s malty and somewhat bready with cleansing tannic and mineral qualities.

The tea is actually pretty refreshing for a liquor so savory. I think I’ll keep sipping on this with today’s 95-100F temps. I’d love to try it in the fall since it reminds me of Oktoberfest but the remainder of this gift from Mastress Alita won’t last more than a week. August Uncommon has some interesting teas. Maybe I’ll suck it up and place an order later this year. Thanks, MA :)

Edit: 2nd infusion is watery but still has the flavors of added ingredients. Going to try with higher leaf, shorter steep next time in hopes of pulling out a more substantial resteep.

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.

…what a weird tea this is.

It sounds good in theory, I love plum and enjoy bergamot. But the plum here is very odd and candylike, and a bit chalky. The bergamot and clove combination becomes very perfumey.

Overall, it’s a weird artificial and medicinal mix and the rest of the sample is getting tossed. A shame, this was one of their teas that I was most interested in.