August Uncommon Tea

I wish I could vote ‘Sorta’ rather than a No or Yes on my recommendation. The first infusion was super bitter. I followed the directions but it came out so bitter that it hid the clove and plum notes. I didn’t put in any honey but I sure did with the following infusions. By the third infusion, the taste had calmed down enough and I have adjusted my amount of honey to finally enjoy the tea.

While I like AUT, this isn’t one that I will repurchase. They have too many others that I do like better.

I had some expiring AU rewards points to use up, so I ordered a few sample-sized bags of some blends I hadn’t yet tried. I’ve seen this one compared favorably to Low Country, which I enjoy, so I was excited to give it a shot. It’s definitely got a similar flavor profile, but whereas the smokiness tends to get lost in Low Country, it’s really front and center in Golden Arrow. The blend has a really lovely scent of buttery toffee with a bit of smokiness, and it’s carrying through in the flavor. The first sip was very heavy on the campfire smoke, but as it’s cooled, I’m getting more sweet, caramelly notes. It’s flavorful without being overpowering. It could maaaybe have more buttery notes to evoke toffee a bit more strongly, but that’s nitpicking.

I really like this one. I prefer it to Low Country (which sometimes veers toward the cloying) and would definitely consider restocking in a larger size.

I’d read many reviews saying this one tastes like straight chamomile, but I figured I’d give it a try anyway. Yep, it’s mostly just chamomile. When oversweetened, I feel like I get a bit of red fruitiness, but it’s subtle. I enjoy this cold, but there are much cheaper places to get mildly flavored chamomile.

Oh boy this rose flavor is extremely strong. And it’s the weird, sour type of rose. I also taste a little nuttiness and maybe a little saltiness, but nothing can overpower that rose. Adding milk helps a little, so it’s drinkable, but it’s not my sort of thing.

Sipdown!

This herbal taste like a lot of mint with vague summer fruit inserts. It is what it is.

I bought this tea for my sister, and I tried a few sips. The coffee flavor is very present and authentic. I don’t get much flavor from the black tea. If I concentrate, I can taste a little hazelnut. I’ve preferred the DavidsTEA coffee blends so far since those are more heavy handed with their supplementary flavors.

Sipdown!

Huh, I thought I’d reviewed this one before! I bought it last year thinking I’d either love it or hate it, and happily I’m in the “love it” camp. It’s fruity, floral, and robust, with a hint of smokiness at the back. It’s just a really interesting and tasty tea!

I enjoyed this one more than some of my other August samples. It took me a while to try it because when I smell the dry tea the first sniff smells amazing but if I sniff again something smells off to me. Maybe it’s a conflict between the tea base and the flavoring for me? I’m really not crazy about how the wet leaf smells after steeping the tea. There’s some fruitiness coming from the tea leaves that mixes with the perfuminess of the cardamom in a way that doesn’t appeal to me. The brewed tea smells okay to me, though. The green tea has a bit of a bite but not too bad. The vanilla and cardamom give a lovely vanilla cake batter type flavor. It was really good with a shortbread cookie. This is a maybe for reordering. I wouldn’t make an order especially for more but if I was already ordering some other stuff I might pick up at least another sample bag. I really thought August’s black teas would be the ones I liked best but so far the greens and oolongs are working better for me.

I just found my pile of August samples and remembered I’d only tried about half of them. When I was tasting them before they were all seeming really acidic to me and it just wasn’t doing it for me. I’m not sure if it was me or something in the flavorings they use. I was in the mood for a black tea that could handle added cream today and contemplated both Low Country and Golden Arrow. Low Country won the sniff test of the dry leaf.

I think I followed the steeping instructions on the package for the other August teas so I went with that on this one too. Package recommendations were 3.5g or about 1Tbsp of leaf for 10oz boiling water, 4-5min steep. I used one scoop of my handy August clear plastic scoop (I think it’s 1Tbsp?) and 4 minutes (I actually set a timer this time!), will probably bump it up to 5 minutes if I decide to do a second steep. Glass tea mug with glass infuser…love this thing because it doesn’t give any weird metallic flavors like some metal infusers and it doesn’t absorb flavors/smells.

The dry tea smells really sweet and caramely, a bit boozy. A little smoke but it doesn’t punch you in the face like Golden Arrow. The steeped tea doesn’t smell nearly as sweet as it did dry…it smells more boozy and smoky. Before adding cream, I can taste smoke but it isn’t super crazy strong. I don’t really get the caramel that I could smell in the dry tea. The bourbony booziness I could smell is in the flavor but it has a weird artificial bite to me. This tea doesn’t do as well with cream as I hoped. Or maybe it needs more leaf to be strong enough to hold up to the cream. With the cream I’m mostly just getting that artificial bite and an aftertaste of smoke. It’s a bit disappointing because the dry tea smelled really good. I guess what I wanted was a strong black tea with cream plus the flavor of awesome homemade butter caramels and this just isn’t it. It’s drinkable, it’s just not what I had in mind for my tea today.

The smoke smells really strong, but the flavor is a pleasant level. It’s a little simplistic with the only flavors really being smoke and cardamom, but it’s not bad. I recently ordered myself most of AU’s flavors, but not this one, so it was a fortunate find from the tea box!

Advent tea
This is August Uncommons version of chocolate chai and the chocolate is a bit weak. I can tell there are chiles in the mix due to a mild tingly aftertaste. Not really tasting the cinnamon, and the chocolate is unbalanced by the sharp spicy pepper. I do feel a bit warmer after drinking this cup, a fun and different addition to an advent!

what was i thinking.

haha.

it’s like kool-aid but nasty.

won’t bother ordering from august uncommon again. we don’t play nice together.

on a more positive note, chinese and spanish classes are done. i’m freeee!

Like Low Country, having tried a few sips unadorned, I decided to add some cream-top whole milk. It’s a sensual cup this way. Forward in approach. I’m pretty sensitive to rose, and August Uncommon heavily flavors their teas, so a peppery rose perfume is still the standout note after adding milk. The clove is present, softened and deep. Cocoa shells give a rich yet mild bottom touch. (Bottom touch – I’m leaving it.) The finish is rather citron. The tea itself, harsh edges rounded by the milk, gives me a muted impression that’s darkwoody-spicy-muscatel. Strong floral compounds in teas – here, rose – tend to land me all lala; this one is no exception. I have found my way into bed at nearly 11am to type this note.

Sipdown 75

This really got better and better as it aged. The smokiness became much more subtle, which allowed the vanilla to really bloom. Really enjoyed it and may purchase again when my stash gets under control.

Trying this again. Less smokey this time! But bitter….sigh. Used 195degree water and steeped for under 3min. Perhaps 2min is the way to go? I am set on making this tea work for me.

I love August Uncommon. They seem to be pretty divisive, but I’ve really connected with a lot of their blends. Golden Arrow is one of my absolute favorites, and I decided to restock during the Black Friday sale.

I was excited to add a pouch of this to my order as well. So confident that I was going to love this, I went straight for the 50g pouch rather than getting a sample. I wish I got a sample bag instead.

This tea just does not deliver on the promised notes. I wanted smokey vanilla custard. I just got smokey. Not getting any vanilla whatsoever. Golden Arrow is actually closer to the description of this tea. I’ll need to try out some different steeping parameters.

After taking the first sip, I realize this tea will wreck even the most fortified of stomachs. So, milk.

Sweet butterscotch aroma that barely creeps into the taste which is so often the case for flavored teas. The taste is like drinking a fresh, peppery cigar with a strong black tea note. And then there’s the leather, the taste of which feels like a lead blanket draped over the body. It’s more than just wearing a leather jacket. Piled in steer hides. Lightly smoky whisky and burnt sugar remain on the palate. This tea is heavy and earthy, sultry and rich. Wet backwoods, tobacco plantations, rolling hills, tack rooms.

Sipdown! I enjoyed this one for the most part, despite being a roasted oolong. It reminded me that sometimes I need to give teas another chance with a different steeping method (western was decent but gongfu was much more fun).

Gongfu: 15 second rinse, 5-15 seconds steep times (it’s been a long time since had a gongfu session, and was with a new set, so I didn’t quite nail it).

Steep 1-2, leaves not fully expanded: these cups had a thick floral and subtle honey sweetness (not as cloying as some), infused with a slightly fruity sour tang. Reminds me most of the small soft purple plums, with a rich gold center, from our old plum tree (RIP – you were an amazing fruit tree).

Steep 3-5, new fully expanded leaves: the sweetness is slowly becoming a secondary and complimentary component to the the sour and malt notes. The vanilla aspect is now noticeably present but is a reminder that that which smells nice isn’t always “sweet” (those who’ve tasted vanilla extract know what I mean). I’m also reminded of a savoury- sweet sourdough, or a starchy banana- maybe a more savoury plantain. My fourth cup is velvety and very good – possibly enhanced by a tiny spoonful of honey I tried prior to gulping No.4 down. No. 5 has the roasted oolong note which I dub ice cream cone.

Steep 6-7, toppings for toast: the honey returns (No, I promise didn’t eat more honey)! These were nice cups, and the wet leaves went from a roasty roast wood aroma to a jam one, but unfortunately it got a bit late last night so that’s the end of that.

Across the board, the aroma is delicious – like vanilla (orchid) and heliotrope (can’t eat but smells divine), with varying levels roasted malt.

This would possibly go nicely with Cantonese style BBQ duck. It’s lovely with the Vindaloo I was eating alongside it- both have a vinegary/sour note that I’m really craving right now. The curry’s profile of roasted cinnamon, mustard seeds, cloves, and other spices really shines with the florals in general – particularly rose – but the stone fruit and vanilla notes of this tea also pair well in a pinch!

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Saturday, November 20th: National Absurdity Day

While it’s not unheard of, there’s something odd about coffee flavoured teas (who wanted this and why). For one, All the coffee drinkers in my life dislike every single one I’ve ever showed them (this one being no exception).

The coffee beans in this are nice ones and when I got the steeping parameters right my cup tasted like a coffee cake, which is alright. Maybe. Unfortunately for this sipdown, the mate in the blend is coming through in an overly earthy way today. It tastes like dirt coffee compost. I do not love it. I want tea.

Happy National Absurdity Day! Today the prompt is to drink your strangest tea blend.

I think this tea is probably the most off-the-beaten-path tea I have, as it uses a lot of savory herbs that I personally don’t really get in my tea blends, like rosemary and thyme. A blend of black and pu’erh for the base, with juniper berries, black currant, rosemary, and thyme, the aroma of my steeped cup is spot on for a forest of cedar and pine. It’s a little tickly on the nose, but pleasant.

On the sip, I’m getting a very forward pine tree flavor, which I really like. I was a little skeptical because of the herbs used (I have memories of a tea with rosemary and sage getting very savory and hard to sip) but a gentle hand must have been used here, as they are blending with the juniper note very well to add a somewhat brisker pine note, and the lingering rosemary aftertaste makes me think of sap. There is body to the tea, but it is hard to taste any base flavors beneath the strong pine flavor; a touch of musty earth, if you really reach for it. I only started to taste a subtle black current note as the tea started to cool down, which hits the back of the throat at the end of the sip. It goes nicely with the juniper notes, and I wouldn’t mind if it was a bit stronger or popped a bit more.

I didn’t really think I’d like this one much going in, but I’m really digging the strong pine flavor. I really need more juniper-forward teas in my stash.

Sipdown!

Now this is more like it. Usually I’m extremely disappointed in chocolate pepper teas; they’re never fiery enough, or the chocolate is off (and Silencio was just black pepper, not good chili pepper). This, however, has a decent fiery kick and tastes like Mexican chocolate minus the actual powdery texture. Although it feels like it’s crunchy.

I drank this all today, in-between the 5 hour power outage and news updates on regional flooding and landslides (In the Lower Mainland, we are effectively cut off from the rest of Canada right now; all of our main highways took some serious blows). I’m trying to imagine being in a baking hot desert that is not flooding aggressively and this tea helps.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Saturday, November 13th: National Hug a Musician Day – Dead Can Dance

Sipdown! This tea is musty, bittersweet, and earthy in way that does feel like an old library, but it also has lots of sweet grain and nut notes. Its profile and creative vision remind me of that time I was an anthropology undergrad student, reading lots and lots of books and articles late into the evening (and early in the morning) on agrarian societies, reciprocity, liminality, snub-nosed monkeys, funerary practices, and the like. Dead Can Dance was not the only music to get my through my school work but it’s definitely the one I most associate with the smell of musty books, grains, old bones, and pottery fragments…

Here. Have a book. “Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOunrC2QQa8

Taken with milk.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Saturday, November 13th: National Hug a Musician Day – Tame Impala

Sipdown! I’m partially giving this tea to Neo-Psychedelia Aussie artist Tame Impala because, flavour-wise, I largely feel like I’m in surfer’s territory with this one, and the “there but not really there” coconut thing that’s going on (also, as mentioned in another note, I’m stuck in 2012 today). However, the name and concept of this tea just as easily make me think of artists I’m less familiar with – like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or an ensemble like the Buena Vista Social Club.

I reaaallly like the aroma of the loose leaf and the steeped mug. Pineapple is apparently an easy win for me and I should bump it up on the priorities list when looking for flavoured blends.

The main flavours I get out of this are fruity pineapple and tobacco flower (a secretly good combo, even with the cocoa). I liked this one much more than August Uncommon’s other tea with tobacco notes. I don’t get too much chili from it except as an element that makes the cocoa pop a bit – kind of a pleasant finish/aftertaste component.

“Apocalypse Dreams” – again, I blame the fruity pineapple, the flowery veneer, the trippy “not-coconut”, and the black pepper that really comes across as more of a texture – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQH2Kq1QXaI

Taken with milk.

Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | January 2023 | A tea by candlelight

Heh, I seem only to log this one as a sipdown! This one always ends up in my cart on the rare occasion I purchase from August Uncommon (typically when they email me about rewards points or a sale or something). I had a couple servings left and brewed a potful to enjoy while doing some leisurely reading on this very cold and rainy afternoon. I did cheat and plug in some twinkle lights alongside the candle because it’s too grey and gloomy to read by candlelight alone. (As a side note, we in Maryland have gotten no snow this winter and I’m so over it. I WANT SNOW, DAMN IT. Not freezing rain, not sleet, not hail… GIVE ME SNOW. Seriously pondering a move to colder climes at this point.)

Aaanyway, I continue to very much enjoy this tea, and also to think that it is almost too aggressively flavored. It’s also strong! I’m slightly regretting drinking so much at 2:00 p.m., but the damage has been done.

Leaving my rating the same.

2023 sipdown count: 13/75