Painted Desert

I had sampled some of my August Uncommon before but wasn’t logging, so now they are a bit confused in my brain.

As other reviews have stated, each cup of this one seems unique. I remember more of a chili “bite” in the throat from my first sampler, but little else. I’m going through these now for the Black Friday deals.

August Uncommon typically has some pretty strong teas, but I went ahead and did a boil and 5 minute steep with this one with 1 Tea spoon to 4 ounces of water. Surprisingly this one is milder than many of their others. I get a small note of chocolate and chili but it has mellowed in my cupboard.

It is drinkable, but not just right for a full order.

The taste does get stronger as it cools

I’m having this with milk, and the chocolate is pretty thick and authentic. I also taste cinnamon and some sort of spicy pepper. It all goes together super well. It’s complex and interesting. As it cools, I feel like the spices are disappearing into the chocolate a little bit, but I’m a fan anyway. The resteep was decently chocolatey as well. This is my second favorite spicy chocolate tea after Mayan chocolate chai from 52teas.

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!

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.

I made the last sample of this as a latte with a good amount of almond milk. It’s definitely suited more towards this prep which makes sense since it’s a take on Mayan hot chocolate.
As a kid I used to love going to spice shops and getting bulk flavored hot chocolate blends. One of those ones was a Mayan hot chocolate and I didn’t particularly love it given the darker chocolate used and spiciness from the chili. I think if I were to try it now I’d appreciate a less sweet hot cocoa offering a lot more than when I was younger.
Anyway, this tea-prepared latte style reminds me of Mayan hot chocolate but isn’t quite thick enough or rich enough in feel. The chili warms the back of your throat along with the cinnamon and dark cocoa. It makes a really lovely latte and probably would be closer to hot chocolate with milk or a different non-dairy milk. I prepared this with almond milk. This one was a no for me when I tried it plain or just with milk so latte prep is essential.

Advent Calendar Day 23

I can’t believe it’s the second-to-last day of advent already! The month has flown by and trying a new tea every morning has made the days feel special. I was excited to see one from August Uncommon today, as nearly everything I’ve tried from this company has been outstanding! This wasn’t a flavor profile I would have chosen on my own, as chocolate and cinnamon can both be hit and miss for me in tea and I’m a bit of wimp when it comes to spice. But this one is so beautifully balanced, I’m actually enjoying it quite a bit! The rich dark chocolate comes to life with the brightness of the cinnamon and the hint of chili keeps things exciting without burning my throat on the way down. Never would have bought this, but glad I got to try it!

Sample sipdown!

While I can recognize that this is a high-quality tea and it smells deliciously chocolaty, it’s just not for me.

I do get the promised cocoa, which is not at all sweet and in fact quite bitter, along with cinnamon and some chile heat. The base tea is somewhat tobacco-y with some woody notes as well.

I’m never a huge fan of chile and chocolate together, so I’m just not enjoying the combination here. But I’m sure others who do like this flavor profile would really love this tea.

I should post an update some months later.

I am honestly really pleased with this one, it has claimed a spot in the list of teas I drink all the time. Now once warm weather returns, my moods will change and I will likely put this aside until the blessed cooler weather returns. But for now, I am drinking it once or twice a week.

I do want to update my comment in regards to the chilis. Sometimes I can sense the chili as a mild warmness/tingle in the back of my throat. Sometimes I don’t notice it at all. Odd how that works, but either way, its really good.

Painted Desert goes really well with my afternoon ritual. A hot cup of tea and a small square of unsweetened 100% dark chocolate. Such a wonderful combination and allows me to take a few minutes each afternoon to shut out what’s going on and just relax.

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!

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.