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.
Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Cherry, Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Malt, Spices, Vanilla, Wood
