August Uncommon Tea

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Recent Tasting Notes

78
drank Good Humor by August Uncommon Tea
2955 tasting notes

I’m not sure the base adds anything here. It isn’t bad, but nothing about it stands out.

I like the lemon/citrus and the creamy/buttery cookie flavour. This would make an excellent longer brew (overnight) with a touch of sweetener and some ice cubes.

I’m not sure if I get fig, certainly not ripe fig. I’ve eaten a lot of fresh figs in my day, and the fig flavour here is a bit weak. I can tell it is fruity and not citrus, but it could have been stronger.

Flavors: Citrus, Cookie, Creamy, Fruity, Smooth

Preparation
Iced 3 min, 0 sec

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75
drank Psychocandy by August Uncommon Tea
2955 tasting notes

I tried this one hot and deffinitly found it to be quite different than coldbrewed. I also added a splash of almond milk. I get more peanuts and sunflower seed flavour, very nutty, honey, milk, and toffee. I guess it’s a bit like peanut brittle? I don’t know what I expected, but I was hoping for more caramel or pumpkin. Thanks again to CrowKettle for the share. I was considering ordering a bag of this but have decided I don’t need to have it in my cupboard. I really enjoyed tasting it, though.

Flavors: Honey, Nutty, Peanut, Toffee

Mastress Alita

I ordered this recently, as I enjoy collecting pumpkin teas. Curious to try it out!

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75
drank Psychocandy by August Uncommon Tea
2955 tasting notes

I have no idea what to think about this one.

I get lots of toffee and vanilla. The most notable note is actually strawberry (or fig?) and yoghurt. Some honey from the rooibos. Oddly woody notes that seem more similar to molasses or resin than pumpkin. I also taste something spicy, maybe alcohol or pepper? It is quite difficult to place.

Flavors: Caramel, Cream, Milk, Molasses, Resin, Rooibos, Spicy, Toffee, Wood, Yogurt

Preparation
Iced 5 min, 30 sec 3 g 20 OZ / 600 ML

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drank Capri by August Uncommon Tea
6444 tasting notes

I just spent 2.5 hrs waiting for laundry so while I waited I packed teas for Sil and brewed this up. Honeydew and mint sounded like it would shine over ice. I opened the sample pack and I just barely had 3 spoonfuls. Plus majority of the sample was mint. I used two spoons today and am saving the last to try hot once I’m feeling better.

Iced, this is a bit disappointing tbh. It is vaguely sweet through the sip and if I focus I can maybe get honeydew which is a subtle fruit to begin with but then the mint takes over. It’s not sweet and doesn’t really fit in. Instead it’s like a smack of medicine. So the iced tea didn’t really go over well but hopefully the last spoon is better. I’ll hold off rating until then.

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40

120/365

This has to be the weakest of the AU teas I’ve tried so far. I’ve come to expect quite a lot, in flavour terms, but this is just chamomile? I know they’re saying it tastes of rhubarb and custard, but it doesn’t. Not even a hint of it.

As far as chamomile tea goes, this is fine. It’s sweet and honey-like, smooth, and a nice sleepytime herbal to round off the day…but I can get the same thing without the premium price tag and broken promises.

Disappointed.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp
Mastress Alita

Considering I don’t even like the taste of chamomile, I know I’d feel cheated if I paid AU prices and just got a tea that tasted like a chamomile tea!

Evol Ving Ness

I like camomile, but I’d like to be tasting the whole layering of flavours promised in the script.

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73

All the points are for the lemon cookie flavouring; jury’s still out on the whole unripe/green fig vibe. I’m meh on the green tea base here (Chinese Sencha blargh). The combined flavouring and tea gives me a marine impression, which I’m not completely loving.

Like Arabeseque, Good Humour’s deliciousness quotient relies on getting those steeping parameters right; too much leaf, temp, etc. leads to a bitter/drowned out cup.

Flavors: Apple, Cookie, Fig, Grass, Lemon, Lemon Zest, Lemongrass, Pastries, Tangy, Vanilla, Vegetal

Evol Ving Ness

It’s good to see you. We’ve missed you.

Crowkettle

I missed you all too!

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70

This tea’s alright? I reached for this one readily enough but I think I was hoping for something else. Maybe something with a complex tart-sweet dancong base?

I would like something with “whipped cream” and “prune” in the description to be a little darker, richer, thicker, and more nuanced¬ overall, with less of the candied thing going on; The plum and white chocolate come across as somewhat artificial over the course of the cup. I like the smell of the dry leaf though.

Flavors: Candy, Plum, White Chocolate

Evol Ving Ness

Too bad! It shows such promise, at least in the description.
It’s not been a good season for August Uncommon. At those prices, our expectations are high.

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100

104/365

This one came to me free from AU’s recent “try for a dollar” promotion. In the event, it went through the checkout without asking me to pay anything, and it arrived a week or so later. I’d been curious to try this one, so I was stoked to see it in my mailbox!

It smells wonderful. The apple and fennel are both really clear, even from just the dry leaf. Brewed, it takes on a slightly candy-like vibe – one of my colleagues said she could smell bubblegum, and it is a little like that. It reminds me slightly of apple Hubba Bubba, in the best possible way. It’s more nuanced when it’s actually brewed up – the apple is the main flavour; a touch sharp and acidic initially, with a slowly-developing sweetness. It’s definitely green apple! The fennel comes through second and helps with the sweetness, while adding a licorice-like note all its own. There’s a hint of clove in the background, making this a little less like candy and a little more like apple pie, plus a touch of malt from the black tea.

It’s delicious, and I love it!

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp
Lexie Aleah

Nice to see that someone else took advantage of that deal as well. That one was my second choice. I ended up going with Golden Arrow.

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70
drank Arabesque by August Uncommon Tea
1429 tasting notes

Sipdown!

My opinions haven’t changed in four years. I still think the flavouring of orange, vanilla, and sandalwood is pleasantly clean and aromatic in a way that invokes incense or essential oils. It’s also vibes like an orange creamsicle in places. The base is meh (Chinese Sencha is my “blah” tea).

Flavors: Cream, Grass, Orange, Orange Blossom, Spinach, Tart, Vanilla, Vegetal, Wood

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 45 sec

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70
drank Arabesque by August Uncommon Tea
1429 tasting notes

This is pretty nice, except for that weak Chinese sencha blend. I think I may just straight out hate that stuff at this point. It’s such a watery non-substance after such lovely flavours here (orange, vanilla, sandalwood). I think this could be something pretty special if it weren’t for that generic, lackluster, hateful tea base (now let me tell you how I really feel).

Flavors: Cream, Grass, Orange, Vanilla, Vegetal

Evol Ving Ness

yep, until I discover something sencha that I haven’t tasted before, sencha is my least favourite thing. But that flavour overlay, wow—such potential.

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70

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge February 2022: A black tea

Maybe I’ve grown up a bit and overcome my distaste of prunes, or maybe I’m vibing with AU teas now, but these last couple cups were not hard to drink at all (dare I say I found them enjoyable today?). Even at my most “anti-prune”, I enjoy the blend’s balance of cloves to fruit flavour ratio. Today I’m picking up more of the citrus (as a floral accent).

The assam base is pleasant and takes well to milk (imho), although its natural profile does emphasize the candied dried fruit thing (raisins, prunes).

Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Cloves, Dried Fruit, Floral, Lemon Zest, Malt, Orange, Plum, Prune, Raisins, Stonefruit

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec

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70

This one tastes strongly of prunes (plum), which I was force-fed as a child. I cannot find the will to love it or even like it much (A+ prune flavour). The citrus and spices do remind me of seasonal things though so that’s nice.

If this had not been prunes I may have enjoyed the interplay of stonefruit, clove, and bergamot a bit more, but alas…

Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Clove, Nutmeg, Prune, Stonefruit

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec
gmathis

Funny how those childhood food things last a lifetime. To this day, I can’t stand mashed potatoes.

Crowkettle

I can tell prunes are a good thing and I love fresh plums and other dried stonefruits. But the history is rife D:

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70

I mostly get clove-accented blackberries and stone fruits, with a floral citrus-orange mix that comes off as overly perfume-like. The floral perfume thing is unfortunately a little too much for me; it drowns out the room (and my tongue) for hours after the initial session. I kept thinking about how much Sil would dislike this one if I sent it to her.

Oh well, moving on!

Flavors: Bergamot, Blackberry, Citrus Zest, Cloves, Flowers, Perfume

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84

On a lark I decided to get this massive sampler box from AUT – because why not? Plus, I felt bad about how I wrote them off after that one bad shipping/customs experience (sucks how that can sometimes sour things).

So, I made this one up first, since I vaguely remember trying it before, and my first thought was that I probably underscored it because it’s delicious. Then I came on here to see that I actually gave it a pretty great score of 88 (see? getting slapped with duty on tea distorts all memories).

This may be the only apple tea that I like to date – and I like it a lot! With the clove and herb mix it’s reminiscent of a baked apple or a spiced apple cider (a fav). It’s perfect for the start of fall.

Also, I keep thinking the base is green when I’m not actively drinking it or looking at the packaging. My brain is garbage when it comes to Dots and Loops.

Flavors: Allspice, Bread, Cloves, Fennel Seed, Fruity, Green Apple, Herbs, Lemongrass, Malt

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 15 sec
Leafhopper

Yep, customs charges can bias me against tea companies too, which is completely unfair. Ditto for very high shipping fees.

Crowkettle

High shipping fees usually mean I just will never order from them – which I guess is bias lol.

These guys seem to have learned from last time though, although I had some doubts when the shipping method option showed up as Fedex (but they ended up using USPS)! No hidden duty charges this time! :)

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84

The last few months have been a bit of a struggle both mentally and healthwise, but the better weather here on the West Coast seems to have given me back some energy. I’m looking forward to drinking teas besides Cold 911 (maybe iced tea is in the cards?).

This one more than makes up for my poor experience with (cue Twilight Zone music) the Black Lodge. This easy steeper had such a lovely balance of sour-sweet green apple, fennel and citrus zest that I ended up never drinking it with milk- the cloves and strong herbs make me mentally group it as a chai but I’ll have to order more if I want a latte or iced cup now!

The description on the back makes me laugh though. “Melodic sonic modulations” what now?! This is a pretty happy tea drinking experience and it got me through quite a few sick days, so I’ll go with it. This will be on the reorder list when I eventually run out of Psychocandy.

Flavors: Citrus Zest, Cloves, Fennel, Green Apple

Fjellrev

Aww, I’m sorry you’ve had a rough few months, CrowKettle. I really hope 2018 will improve for you to the max.

Lexie Aleah

I’m pretty sure this one is on sale right now and they are trying to clear it out. I’ve been wanting to try it myself. Hopefully the rest of the year goes better for you.

Sil

hugs

Crowkettle

Thanks everyone. Things seem to be going more smoothly now.

I appreciate the heads-up, Lexie Aleah :)

Evol Ving Ness

more hugs to you, CrowKettle.

It sucks to be less than 100%.

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drank Far Afield by August Uncommon Tea
2291 tasting notes

I am seriously thinking about buying more of this tea.

But first, I need fewer herbaly bits and bobs.

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drank Far Afield by August Uncommon Tea
2291 tasting notes

Oh, this is good! The orange flavour reminds me strongly of another orange leafy-herbal tea I used to have.

It’s very much orange-sage-ginger. I added a tiny bit of honey to take it towards sweet and away from savoury.

Right up my alley.

Roswell’s description is true for the flavour notes, too. Earthy. Orange. A bit of spice. Yum.

(Also, i FINALLY got it today! I ordered right at the end of November, and had an argument with customs (tea is not taxed in Canada…). I’m super excited to drink the rest of what I got.)

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
InterMo

I want to try it too! Thanks!

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65

This one was good today, really clean and fresh-tasting. Now I’ve stopped looking for lemon curd, I feel better able to appreciate it for what it is – a pleasant, minerally green oolong.

I’d still love to get lemon from this, but I can live without it.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 45 sec 1 tsp

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65

083/365

So behind with these, but I only have one more left from this collection so I’m nearly there! This is the only non-flavoured tea of the five that were part of this release, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about a “pure” tea being marketed in this way. It feels…well, not entirely honest. I can see why they do it, because going with the name of the variety isn’t half so poetic. But still…

I second Daylon on this, and I think it’s a Jin Xuan. The beginning of the sip is creamy, with very slight lemon notes (although less sharp/sour/acidic than actual lemon, and more lemon flavour frosting). The mid sip is quite heady, with a fairly strong floral flavour; to me, it’s reminiscent of orchid, or lily, and it really lingers. The end of the sip is more vegetal, with a grassy, sometimes-almost-spinachy flavour. It’s a little heavily floral for my liking, but that’s entirely personal preference. It’s clearly a quality oolong, however you want to look at it.

This tea on its own is one thing. When you pair it with August’s high aesthetic and almost visionary description, it becomes something else entirely. This is more tea as artistic experience than “just a drink”. As I said, I’m not sure exactly how I feel about that. I guess it’s adding something to the process, but it makes me wonder how much is real, and how much imagined, and whether that justifies a significant premium on the price.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 45 sec 1 tsp

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68
drank Big Easy by August Uncommon Tea
6444 tasting notes

I made this both cold brewed and hot. My preferred method was definitely the hot tea as it made for a more interesting and less cloying drink. Cold it was all pineapple and sweet and not much else whereas hot the generic sweet came through more distinctly as caramel and the other ingredients, such as the lemongrass and barley, had more to contribute.

Check out my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2018/04/02/big-easy-from-august-uncommon-tea/

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68
drank Big Easy by August Uncommon Tea
6444 tasting notes

I can’t decide if I like this or not. It’s sweet and distinctly pineapple but there is a candy-like quality here that comes off artificial. Don’t get much from the lemongrass or barley though. I think I enjoy it but maybe not one to keep permanently stocked.

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85

I purchased this tea specifically to have it iced. It is absolutely true to it’s described flavor profile. I had no trouble at all identifying the peach, pistachio, lime and creme fraiche flavors as well as the base oolong tea. I thought that particular flavor combination would be really interesting and it was – and so delicious! The flavors work really well together and make a very enjoyable iced tea. I like this so much I may actually try it hot as well, but for now, I am very happy with it. No need to overleaf, and following the brewing instructions produced a perfect brew. Nicely done, August!

Flavors: Cream, Lime, Nuts, Peach

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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60
drank Golden Arrow by August Uncommon Tea
15006 tasting notes

alright bored with this one. I have a coworker who will appreciate this one and even if all he does is use it for cooking, that’s fine with me. :) Even with a little maple this is just a boring old lapsang.

VariaTEA

Damn, though I am glad we split tins as opposed to getting our own.

Sil

yep! sharing is caring. I’d almost always rather split a tin even if i love it.

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60
drank Golden Arrow by August Uncommon Tea
15006 tasting notes

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