August Uncommon Tea

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.

I remember really liking this one the last time I had it, and my rating seems to support that. What I don’t remember is the heat/spice of the chili pepper being so strong! I drank this one pretty late at night while rewatching Thumeblina on Disney+ (the soundtrack was so much better than I remember it being)! and I found myself almost panting at points because the heat of the chili was so intense with each sip. It works really well with the more dark cocoa like notes and black tea and if the goal was a Mexican Hot Chocolate sort of vibe then I think it was totally achieved!

So far this is my favourite from my most recent AU order; though I still have several new samples to go through…

I love the slight bitterness of this rich dark chocolate paired with a sweet, warming cinnamon. The mild heat of chilli in the back of the throat is not to be missed, and it’s that note which adds a complexity that sets this apart from other chocolate chilli blends I’ve sampled!!

I still find this blend so odd. At least now I’m tasting the cardamom. It’s actually pretty much all smoke and cardamom.

I’m glad I didn’t read reviews of this tea before I purchased a sample of it, as it seems pretty hated across the board. Cardamom and tobacco were extremely intriguing, and I get absolutely none of either. This is definitely charcoal level smoke, and extremely medicinal. Quite a strange blend, but I don’t entirely hate it.

I just finished off my sample size and purchased another bag. The cocoa and anise is so well-balanced, and such an interesting combination, I’ve found myself craving the flavor combo recently. August Uncommon posted a recipe for an affogatto using this tea, and I’m very interested in trying it. I’ll have to grab some vanilla ice cream next time I’m at the store.

This is an interesting one! The anise smell was extremely strong, and continued to be prominent when it was first brewed. As the cup cooled, the anise settled, and I was left with a cup of smooth malted chocolate. Really nice nighttime tea!

Sipdown (1151)!

This grew on me a little bit over time, but it’s something I’m mostly pretty relieved to be finished with – especially because my rooibos/herbal tea sample drawer is so full right now that I can hardly close/open it. It was mostly creamy pistachio in this cup, but it always has a menthol peppermint note and is a bit too apple-y/fruity to work all fit together nicely. Long steeps are better though – more pistachio/almond.

Still smells weird before it’s steeped, but the taste is growing on me a lot. Creamy/minty flavour combinations really seem to be my jam right now and that’s sort of what’s going on here, but with the added layer of a rich nuttyness as well and just a hint of something floral. I find it more complex as a blend than it needs to be, but well balanced at its core.

Another new AU blend.

This seems like a strange combination of ingredients, but AU does have a magical way of making flavours that seems contrary taste good when mixed together. The dry leaf aroma was, admittedly, pretty bad though. Definitely nutty and minty, but the mint had a very herbaceous and muddy note to it and I just felt like that meant the cup was going to taste the same way…

It’s weird though because I feel like the taste of this tea is almost entirely different from how it smelled. It’s still very minty but a much softer and creamier more, much more akin to a candy cane type of mint over the actual herb. It’s also nutty, but like a pistachio creme over raw or roasted pistachios. I was kind of shocked at the difference from smell to taste but I liked the blend a lot in the end. Though, it does feel a little bit Christmas-y.