August Uncommon Tea

Trying a new approach with AU teas… lower temp. At the start of the cup I thought it was an improvement, but as I continue it seems less interesting. As it cools to a drinkable temp, there is an alkaline taste in there. I get something fruity in there, but can’t name which fruits. Sad to say I’m not into this one.

I can’t get the hang of this tea. If I steep it for 2 minutes it is weak and if I steep it for 3 it seems a bit bitter. It reminds me a lot of MF’s Wedding Imperial, which was also a tricky tea to get a good cup out of and required a lot of trial and error. Maybe I should look up my notes on that tea for the next cup of this. I’m struggling to get a good cup out of several August Uncommon teas. I have followed the steeping instructions, but come out with a cup less than what I was hoping for and not what the scent of the tea teased of. I feel like the times and temps are too high, but haven’t sorted out what they should be for each tea. I don’t want tea to be so much work! LOL!

I smell deep rich caramel in this. The sip starts out neutral, then the caramel creeps in, then the bitterness mid way and through the last of the sip. It fades on the finish and the caramel notes come back on the finish. Adding cream dulls the flavors, but also mutes the bitter. I have a lot more to work out with this tea.

I’m not big on herbals but the melon aspect surely made me curious. This tea is very different from anything I normally drink but it’s not too bad. The melon is very front and center. It would be very easy for mint to overwhelm the melon but it’s honestly perfectly balanced to not overwhelm. Theres a nice cooling sensation that follows the melon. I thought it was pretty tasty as a hot tea and I could see myself drinking it here and there but my next task will be to try it cold. I think it’s going to be a spectacular iced tea!

I’ve decided this tea just isn’t for me. AU tea’s can be very polarizing. I want to like this tea. The idea of these flavors is amazing and traditionally these are flavors that I like but I just don’t like them combined in this tea. The cinnamon seems artificial to me. The cocoa is very mild. The overwhelming flavor is really more of a sensation. The chili comes across mostly after you swallow and for me, gets caught in my throat. I like spicy foods so its not overwhelming or unpleasant exactly but it doesn’t add anything to the tea in my opinion. I don’t see myself drinking this again. It has quite a following based on the reviews on their website so perhaps I’m missing something but this one just isn’t for me.

I had some chocolate with crisped rice before this cup and I keep getting toasted rice notes while drinking this. It’s nice, but distracting from the flavors of the tea. It smells like honeyed almonds and I get a little bit of that in the sip, but there is also a flat dough taste too. I can pick out the orange if I think hard. I’m not digging on this one so much, but I don’t often find white teas I like.

This has a strong scent of coffee when dry. Once steeped I don’t get much coffee on the sip. About half way through the sip mate and coffee creep in and last through the finish. It’s an okay cup, but I feel like it needs an extra element. If there was orange or something bright included to make it more interesting I think I’d like it better.

I love the combination of chocolate/chili/cinnamon, so was very excited to try this offering from August Uncommon. It had a nice balance of the three flavors, with none of them competing over the others.

This tea came to me from derk! Thank you!

I saved this to drink with my youngest who has just returned from five months abroad. She has always been food adventurous and loved all the beets (is there any borscht left in Eastern Europe or did she eat it all?) and the flavored milk drinks, but she really fell in love with green apple juice.

She LOVED this tea. The description says it is bright black tea with green apple and fennel. It also has caraway and clove, but the dominant flavors are indeed green apple wedded in a beautiful balance with the fennel. The “bright” is just that. You taste the tea without it being buried in flavorings but it doesn’t have that sometimes annoyed harsh and tart brightness of high grown Ceylons.

It was the perfect tea to share with her on our belated Christmas celebration!

I feel like I’ve had this tea before. There is another with similar ingredients that I usually keep stocked, this one replacing the turmeric with sage. Ginger is dominant. The orange comes up behind in the sip and sage shows up in the finish. It’s nice, but I have enough of the other tea that I don’t feel this fills a niche in my cupboard.

Mastress Alita’s Monthly Sipdown Challenge: a cherry tea
Sipdown 1/16-2022

I remember really enjoying this last time I had it (which was probably about 2 years ago). But, this is not good. No cherry, just that terrible fake chocolate flavor that I despise in teas. This was a sealed sampled that was given to me, so not sure how this went so wrong.

Still a bit left in the packet, but I’m putting it into the giveaway pile, and thus counting it as a sipdown.

This seems to be a new offering from August Uncommon, and one that I added to my most recent order of holiday gifts. When I first sipped this, I didn’t think I liked it. There was a bitterness to the dark chocolate that wasn’t pleasant. But, as it cooled, it really began to taste like a chocolate cherry cake right out of the oven. August Uncommon has done it again.

What I smell: toasted almonds, orange marmalade, barley

What I taste: orange rind

Notes: Amazing scent from the dry leaves, but quite a mellow tea when steeped. Reminds me a bit of an orange saison in tea form. Mild almond notes in the background too.

I’ve been wanting to try this tea for awhile, but it always seemed to be sold out. I placed an August Uncommon order for a Christmas present, and this was back in stock. Of course I had to grab a sample bag for myself to try. This has a rich, dark, molasses flavor, and no trace of rooibos for me. It’s has a very distinct squash flavor, but isn’t starchy. I definitely would’ve loved to sip on this mid-October.

Finishing off the last of my sample of this one. My previous note mentioned that there wasn’t much flavor, so I doubled the amount of tea leaves this time. Adequately bold but not overdoing it.

Ugh, lost my note. Basically, I normally really like this one but today I didn’t. Not much flavor. Should have maybe dropped to six ounces instead of eight.

Day 21 of our Advent Tea Swap. From amandastory516.

This is the only tea I’ve received from Amanda so far that I’ve tried previously. But it’s also one of my favorites from August Uncommon so no complaints here. :)

The smoke is prominent in the dry leaf, as well as in the wet leaves, but there is also something like cherry that comes through after steeping. I drank this one so quickly. I really just love it. So happy you sent this one, Amanda!

Advent day 7! I’m a bit behind on some of my advent notes. But, was a welcome surprise in my advent from Inkling, as I don’t think I’ve tried a yellow tea before this one. It definitely has that nutty/peanut note that I see many others describing. A bit of a salty note, and mild vegetalness.

I mostly followed the instructions on this one.

What a lovely blend – all mauve pinks and moss greens with some earthy brown twigs thrown in for good measure. It reminds me of spring. The dry tea is fruity and candy sweet. One steeped, there is the slightest bitterness. I can taste the almonds. It reminds me of an herbal tea. My husband loves it so that must be right (he only drinks herbals these days). Overall, it’s good but not one I would reach for on a regular basis.

Thanks, amandastory516, for sending this one!

Not usually an oolong fan, but the peach, pistachio, lime combo caught my interest. The scent of the tea once steeped smells strongly of peaches and reminds me of my favorite peach tea, Momoko, but with some deeper notes. I often fine a flat cardboard taste in oolongs which has been a deterrent with many oolongs, but I’m not getting that at all in this tea. I get a strong peach flavor on the sip that is really well balanced and deep. In the finish the peach becomes lighter and more floral. I can’t say that I can pick out the lime and pistachio, but maybe those are the supporting flavors that blend so well in making the peach deep that I’m not able to detect them on their own. It’s a really nice peach tea and I’m glad I decided to give it a go.

Sipdown! Still feeling eh about this tea. I still get the sweetness and mix of spices, but it’s not capturing my attention.