August Uncommon Tea
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This was a sample included with my recent August Uncommon Tea order. I was glad to get this one as I’m especially fond of flavored rooibos teas. I bet it smells heavenly, but I don’t have a sense of smell. And due to my current ongoing chemo I have a lot of mouth sores, so anything hot is painful, but so is anything cold. I brewed this at boiling and waited until it was at a lukewarm temperature to drink and I think I got some black licorice flavor from the anise. No almond/amaretto unfortunately. I will try it again when I’m done with chemo and see if I get anything else from it. Life sucks right now but it will get better.
Preparation
I’m always on the lookout for more coffee alternatives but this one didn’t do it for me. It kind of reminded me of popcorn-flavored water. It didn’t have the body that I associate with good coffee alternatives, as it really didn’t have much of anything at all except for artificial buttery flavors.
Flavors: Butter
I like cocao teas and the spices in this one were a welcome addition, giving it digestif qualities. They remind me a bit of the candied spices that some Indian restaurants give out (Mukhwas). However, it doesn’t quite have the flavor and body of other cocao teas like Crio Bru.
Flavors: Cacao, Fennel Seed
Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #10
This is an interesting blend. While I go understand the blend is supposed to be a negroni that uses bitters in it, I find this blend way too bitter. Not in a bitter melon way but more like orange rind (marmalade?) or that white pithy stuff on a Mandarin or tangerine. The rooibos is nice, but even milk couldn’t save this one. It did brew up very orange in colour though! I can taste a herbaceous kind of flavour, especially in the after taste. It isn’t quite sage but is some sort of plant I can’t identify. Overall just not for me at all. It also doesn’t taste like any Negroni cocktail I’ve ever had (no sweetness or acidity)
Flavors: Bitter, Earthy, Herbal, Orange Zest, Rooibos
Preparation
Inkling Advent Day 18. I actually bought a bag of this last year which I was only able to drink one cup of before somehow losing it. I assume my cats kicked it somewhere. I have some notes saved from that time, but I never posted them since I prefer to try a tea several times before posting. I’ll include my notes from both batches here:
My sister makes tasty rosemary caramels, and the first time I had it, this tea reminded me of those. It was good before I added milk, but I think milk brings out the flavor even more. It’s a fun combination of ingredients, and the black tea is a good base for it. I do wonder if rooibos would have been an even better base for it (thinking about the awesome rosemary caramel rooibos from Plum Deluxe). The next time I had this, I tasted orange and something else, but it was totally different from my last batch! I didn’t taste the rosemary or dessert flavors. The orange wasn’t juicy, just kind of dull. Something in there was adding a twang that I didn’t prefer. I still want to buy a new bag because I really enjoyed this the first time I had it!
Last Sips by tea for September!
This one was highly disappointing. It had a nice apple smell in the bag, but I’m struggling to find the apple when it comes to the taste. Mostly it just tastes like a roasted oolong, maybe with a tiny hint of apple in there somewhere. Not bad, just not the apple tea I was hoping for, especially when August is usually a bit over-the-top with their flavorings.
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Dry Grass, Dry Leaves, Mineral, Roasted, Toasty, Woody
Preparation
Will probably just toss this one, have given a few chances.
Something weird with the the blend that puckers as you keep sipping.
I will say Daybreak, on the other hand, is one of my favorite Decaf offerings ever and I’m about to order more of that stuff. Nightfall sounded like a good companion, but unfortunately not.
You do have to take care with the steep of this one as it’s pretty strong – and it still has that drying end touch in the throat, I don’t like high astringency type. This is all herbal and the fruit notes are great, but there is something about the mixture that can be overbearing. This time I brewed less than 1 scoop in a large mug for 4 minutes. Herbal generally encourages longer steep but not with this one, something in it is simply too drying.
Says – Tastes like strawberry, ginger, lemon verbana
Feels like: Strawberry field dreams
This tea did not help me sleep but I adored the name and love ginger when done right. Same for lemon verbana. The strawberry makes a nice note – a strawberry tea background touch, not the tart jam. The main ingredient is chamomile, which I am super picky with, but there are many ingredients in this one that definitely balances it out, including turkish apples, fennel, blackberry. Natural licorice root adds some natural sweetness but nothign artificial that licorice tends to do if applied too heavily
Another keeper – this one for “Nightfall” and caffeine free modes
Company says:
Daybreak: Sweet Roasted Coffee Alternative
Tastes like Buttered Popcorn, Pecan, Marshmallow
Feels like Tennessee Summer
I included this one in a large recent order. It is a confusing tea because it is a “coffee alternative” with dandelion and chicory root – but they left out caffeine, so it’s caffeine free. As a coffee tea and called “Daybreak”, leaving out caffeine is a bit odd.
The smell of this one dry is not pleasing, and I was not looking forward to a buttered popcorn taste
To my surprise, I very much enjoyed this sweet and delightful tea. Steeped five minutes with some sugar. Very good and vibrant. It is creamy and buttery. I will definitely keep Daybreak as a keeper, although with the caffeine free it would be a great evening tea despite the name.
I think coffee alternatives generally are caffeine free, as the caffeine is the reason a lot of people can’t/choose not to drink it.
Company says:
TASTES LIKE: bitter orange zest, neroli flower, tart black plum, blackberry, clove
FEELS LIKE: sparkling conversation on a city terrace
This is definitely a….unique tea. I decided to try another after working late and playing some Sims 3 – my Sims was about to finish his first semester of University, and the game takes forever to boot up even on my new computer, so I got to know this one in the meantime.
And mainly, yech.
The dry smell, first of all, reminded me a little of bubble gum for some reason. The taste was not bubble gum but was not earl gray or orange zest with plum that I could tell either. I did a five minute steep. It came across almost very, very vaguely of a pepto bismo tea for me. I think the bergamot they used, or else they way it blended with the other stuff, made it almost pepto, almost cheerios, very odd tea. Not to my liking unfortunately.
Company says
Tastes like: Baked apples, burnt caramel, and Petricho.
Feels like: Warm Summer Rain"
So….my supervisor is back from vacation and annoying me greatly. I am wanting to work late this evening. Time for some stress relieving mini tea break, eh?
This one is lighter than I supposed. Still get a tickle that my electric tea brewer has an oolong button. I’m so easy to please sometimes….and sometimes not >:( It’s hard to be such a creative mixture of “high maintenance” and “easy going” in life.
I steeped it four minutes. Next time may try five. Especially for August Uncommon it’s a bit mild, but I really like it. The color and taste do remind me almost of apple cider tea. I am trying to find the caramel but I have weak taste buds. Have no idea what petrichor is supposed to taste like.
This is a sample bag but will keep playing with it. And of course I love their tea names and descriptions. September is an awesome month and I’m a rain kind of gal, and the name, “Avalon” is just ridiculously cool.
Preparation
Finished up my little bag of this. It is a very unique tea. I like it, and sometimes I don’t. It’s for certain moods and certain palettes; however, I don’t feel I’ll order it as a staple. Love the name, though, so that’s kind of a shame, but there’s so many teas and so little room and time.
I followed AU’s instructions for making this into an iced tea but added some sparkling water instead of still. The first sip was INTENSE. It took a second for me to register what I was tasting: aromatic bitters, like gentian. I was playing around with cocktail-making toward the beginning of the pandemic and ordered a few craft bitters, and this tea reminds me of an orange variety I particularly liked. I’m getting bitter, pithy orange peel flavors along with a smidge of anise and other herbs I can’t quite identify.
I don’t drink too much alcohol anymore, but I love adding a few drops of bitters to sparkling water — you can really taste the bitters’ flavor when you let them become the star of a drink. This iced tea is reminding me of that concoction! It’s giving mocktail vibes and I’m OK with that.
Flavors: Bitter, Bright, Orange, Orange Zest
Great tip! I very rarely drink alcohol, if ever, and I found these fancy bitters at our local spice shop I couldn’t pass up XD. I got the cacao & macadamia, but often consider going back for some of the other flavours — as if I need any!
I was sure I’d tried this one before, but I didn’t see a Steepster review from me, so I added a small bag to my most recent AU order. When I tasted this hot, it was pretty off-putting. It had such a floral tang combined with the black tea that it started to take on a metallic vibe. I put it in the fridge, and now I’m drinking it cold with soy milk. It’s drinkable now, but still not delicious. It’s too metallic, and I don’t think I like this particular elderberry flavoring.
I wonder if it’s one of those teas that needs a little aging to mellow out and merge the flavors in the cupboard.
Ha I made this order in September and am just getting around to opening this one :P caffeinated teas are hard to get through in my house!