August Uncommon Tea

August’s recent email announcing some returning blends nudged me towards this tea, realizing that I only have one cup, so that’s a sipdown. I wasn’t overly impressed with this one, as the flavours fell short. It sadly didn’t remind me of a Christmas market. But it was still an easy one to drink. As a side note, I was so stoked that they were bringing back other blends, hoping that meant that Passage du Desir, but sadly not. Come on, guys, do it!

Ok, I’m totally not getting the desserty (by way of cinnamon bun, chocolate mousse, etc) that others are mentioning. Impressive that the rooibos base is nearly undetectable, but it smells more like chocolate than it tastes. Cacao shows up later as a lingering note but it isn’t prominent. I am also disappointed to not get any nutmeg.

Rather, I get black pepper. That’s right. Yet it’s not listed in the ingredients? Maybe it’s part of the rooibos base, who knows, but there is a distinctive bite of black pepper. It’s like it’s trying to be like a black pepper-infused chocolate chai, but it’s weak.

There is a creaminess to this, I will give it that. To be fair, the chocolate comes out a little more as this cool, too. In spite of my slightly disappointing observations, I still enjoy this, particularly as a latte.

And that’s a sample sipdown! Glad I didn’t get more because its notes were a little disconnected. Interesting but nothing I’d want to experience again.

Strange tea. At first, I was stoked by the chunks of fruit, lemongrass, and sweet vanilla scent of the dry leaf. Steeped, it smells just as intriguing.

The initial sip, I was like, “Score!” because it was a blast of caramel. Then the sweet pineapple follows, but this is where things get strange. The caramel fades and the sweetness from the pineapple strengthens, only the sugariness, not the pineapple itself. But then the sweetness, which is artificial as it is at this stage, morphs into a plasticky note. As this cools, I am getting a little roastiness from the barley, which is helping to cover up some of those plasticky undertones but it just isn’t enough to truly enjoy this.

Upside is the sencha base didn’t go bitter and it isn’t too grassy or vegetal either.

Hmm, it’s like drinking a plasticky pineapple caramel genmaicha.

This tea is uplifting – good humor indeed! I busted this out this afternoon for a nice break before I have to dive back into med school apps, and it did the trick.

I’m getting a mellow citrus, which I like – almost lemon meringue pie rather than straight up lemon flavor. I’m also getting a faint apple taste and an underlying earthy sweetness that I’m contributing to the fig. I’m still getting some grassiness from the green tea peeking through, which I enjoy since that sets this apart from all of the sweet, pastry-flavored tisanes I have lying around.

And it’s a belatedly posted sipdown!

#long time ago internet hiatus sipdown

I adore this one. Today, it was all chocolate and caraway and rich malt.

Dexter noticed that I was a fan and hence, this cup. Thank you, Dex!
(COME BACK!)

So much loveliness in my cup today—dark chocolate, caraway, pumpernickel bread, and that rich dark base.

Thank you, Dexter, for noticing how much I adore this and then plying me with some in your surprise box.

When are you coming back?

Oh how I love this tea! So grounded— so very very grounding when on the edge of overwhelm with things.

Thank you, Sil, for sharing this one with me.

Sipdown (628)!

Happy to clear out another green tea from my cupboard. This one is a little bit bitter; I over steeped it by just a touch. It doesn’t make a huge difference though, even if it wasn’t over steeped I know I wouldn’t like it. Profile is rather umami overall with lots of green bean, lawn clipping, and moss sort of notes. Not as nutty as I’ve experienced in the past, either. It is made better by the fact I’m drinking it while also eating some matcha white chocolate. I’ve been putting a square in my mouth, and then taking a big sip of hot tea – it melts the chocolate, and the whole thing just becomes this sweet and creamy bomb of green tea chocolate in my mouth. Big improvement, in terms of flavour.

Farewell, tea.

I’m really, really trying to have an open mind when drinking these sort of green teas since I know they’re something that usually isn’t up my alley, but it’s very hard for me when they taste like this one. I mean, I totally think you’d be all over this if you liked green tea but for me it was just so insanely buttery with these really thick, robust creamed spinach and seaweed notes that I just could NOT get into.

Not for me.

This is a queued tasting note.

- Undertones of hazelnut throughout
- Top note is really distinctly nectarine/peach
- Body is more of this weird buttery, artichoke/asparagus combo w. hay and straw
- A little grassy, but leans more on the vegetal side of things
- Finish is a bit more generic nutty: hazelnut/almond
- Really creamy mouthfeel
- I think this is definitely a very nuanced and unique green tea
- I can see it GREATLY appealing to fans of green tea
- Personally I appreciate everything going on, but didn’t love the flavour combo

Had this last week and really enjoyed it! Sweet, bright green apple with pleasant undertones of fennel, that ever so slight hint of savory from the caraway, and almost a burnt sugar type of top note. Definitely still one of my all time favourite AU blends!

Geek Steep S2E23 – Shel Silverstein

This is the tea I chose to drink during my read through of the three stories we covered! It was a pretty easy choice for me – not just because I love the green apple and fennel notes in this tea but also because I was able to connect those flavours to The Giving Tree and because the name of the tea also felt appropriate for the simple shapes used in The Missing Piece. Kind of just worked all around, except for Lafcadio – though I covered that with my tea selection from recording.

I didn’t mention this on the podcast, but in addition to my tea I was also snacking on a rainbow bagel with a caramel mascarpone spread and some diced up green apple. So really pulling out all the stops to make this tea moment as fun and colourful as the many childhood memories I associate with Shel’s works.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CaNiPyoOe57/

If you listened to the podcast episode, you will appreciate the irony of the tea table that I happened to be using here…

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2TK5u50LXs

Having another “episode” where I simply just CANNOT focus enough on one task to accomplish it; in this case it’s writing tasting notes. I just keep getting distracted by other small things…

Anyway; this was a nice mug – I had intended to sip it over the course of catching up on notes but I finished it by the time I’d written just one note. Not my finest hour, but a delicious tea. Sweet and crisp green apple dominate, complimented by warming clove and fennel. So unique, smooth, and coating in the mouth with a rich and full bodied flavour I’ve not seen anywhere else. Always a favourite!

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CB0uXl2gn_M/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DT-C-ZThlE

I just really like the line “I feel like I’m down to be a weirdo and a loser…”

Finally dipped into the larger bag of this that I purchased with my last AU order. It’s probably in my top three favourite blends from AU; not my favourite overall but my overall favourite isn’t carried by them anymore, so the best of what they’ve got…

I’m happy to report that this new batch tastes as amazing as I remember my first one tasting. Arguably better, even? It’s so bright, sweet and refreshingly green apple tasting without that tartness that I hate in actual green apples, boosted with the delightful combination of licorice-y fennel and just a hint of black tea. It’s exactly what I wanted today, and I didn’t even know how much I wanted it!

Sipdown (603)!

Another sipdown that definitely hurts. However, if AU releases a new collection of teas any time soon and this is still up on their site I’ll definitely order a tin worth of it for myself since I greatly enjoyed this one – and haven’t seen anything comparable from any other company.

This cup was more cooked/baked green apples with a touch of cinnamon/malt from the tea base to strengthen that comparison. Then plenty of fennel/anise deliciousness! Man, I freaking love this tea. It was so tempting to just hoard the last cup of it for forever…

Oversteeped mug of this.

Surprisingly didn’t go bitter on me, maybe a touch astringent? Mostly what happened was that the intensity of the apple notes increased tenfold to the point where I felt like I was biting into a bright, shiny cartoon level of green apple. The fennel provided sweetness, but in a non-distinctly fennel way.

It was actually still very good.

Breakfast tea! ^^

I ordered another sample packet of this one with my last August Uncommon order. At the time, I couldn’t financially commit to a large size of this one, but I definitely wanted to have more of it in my stash because it was just so good/unique. So, sample size it was!

I’m just really obsessed with the combination of crisp, tart green apple notes and sweet fennel! It’s pretty simple, and there’s actually not much else going on here flavour wise besides those two key flavours, except maybe some equally yummy clove undertones, but it’s WICKED GOOD – and just a stroke of brilliancy in terms of even coming up with the flavour pairing. Bright, sweet, fruity, lively, spicy, warm, whimsical, balanced, tart, crisp – take your pick of adjectives.

Sipdown (338)!

Wow, my cupboard has just exploded…

With how much my cupboard has expanded, I knew it was time to get in some sipdowns and while I’m personally quite sad to see this tea go, this was a very enjoyable sipdown flavour wise. I just need to have some self control now, and not go out and buy more of it.

But yes! Deliciously strong fennel/anise notes contrasted by a super vibrant pop of candied green apple flavour! I think this tea is so unique, and distinct tasting and I absolutely love the flavour combination. At times I think it can tread a little too much into that overlap of astringent/bitter but the sweetness of the ingredients used generally saves it. It’s also one of those teas that I badly want to share with other people, but also that I feel the need to completely hoard for myself.

It’s a good thing that my boyfriend can’t drink it anyway; the apple in this would kill him. That makes me feel a lot less guilty for not sharing…

This was a really interesting, refreshing iced tea!

I mean, not much to right about because the way the flavours came across and interacted with each other was pretty well the same as when I first tried this one hot – just maybe with the slightest bit more astringency? Not unreasonably so, though.

Now, do I like the hot or iced version better? MAYBE the hot, just slightly. That doesn’t take away from it still being a really unique and great option for an iced tea though – especially for a black tea, something that I find is a little more fickle when it comes to making iced drinks.

Definitely still tempted to get a lot more of this one…

So, I ordered the summer collection from AU almost faster than I actually read all of the tea descriptions – but I saw this one right off the bat and instantly I knew I needed to try it! Something about the flavour combo REALLY jumped out to me. Maybe because it’s an apple tea that’s purposefully apple with an actual tea base? You know, NOT a herbal with just lots of apple as a filler…

- Dry leaf smells AWESOME! Lots of sweet, candied green apple notes and hints of licorice
- Reminds me a lot of the green apple Jelly Belly candies

I steeped it up in a large mug, which I drank early in the morning sitting outside on the porch before work – it was a very tranquil and pleasant experience.

- Tastes very smooth, with a really beautiful and CLEARLY defined green apple note
- It’s got the natural, realistic sweetness of apple but finishes in a near candy-like way
- Likely from the extra boost of sweetness from the fennel
- The black base is very faintly malty, and a touch floral with hints of spice
- Some of that spice may also be from the clove, though I didn’t find it that defined?
- That floral characteristic only adds to the nuance/realistic nature of the green apple
- Arguably the best green apple tea I’ve had
- Partially because it’s green apple without being sour
- The faintest bit astringent on the top of the sip
- But in a pleasant way that mimics apple skins

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a19ZNSGwko4

Anyway, I deeply loved this one right off the bat! I’m gonna rate somewhat conservatively because I think part of that might just be new tea excitement but I could see this one definitely being something I’d want to purchase in a larger quantity.

Well, this tea originates from Chiang Rai, Thailand, another tea-growing place I visited some years ago— well before I began obsessing over and drinking mountains of tea. What a damn shame. I am certain that I drank a good bit of tea when I was there, but probably opted for the strong punch slow drip Thai coffee with condensed milk given the opportunity to choose one or the other. No regrets as the coffee was good. Really good. But it is sad that I squandered the opportunity to drink tea such as this, and have a bit of a clue as to what exactly I was drinking, so close to its origin, if that was indeed even possible. So many countries in the developing world which produce or grow fine things, sadly, only export them and they are not available for purchase in their country of origin. I don’t know about whether that is the case in Thailand, and more specifically, in the case of this fine oolong. I’m just tripping here.

Quite enjoy this buttery floral oolong. It is aging now, but I haven’t noticed much flavour deterioration. Sweet custard moving further towards vegetal notes with subtle tartness in later steeps.

Like others have mentioned, I am not certain how I feel about straight tea being packaged in and rhapsodized over to create a high end product on top of being a fine tea. And the price for that up boosting. I suppose this kind of approach, which DTs is also guilty of, allows people who favour such glossy packaging to be exposed to tea in general and that is a good thing, I suppose, but still…

Just peeked out the window and the ground is covered in snow. Wow.

Steeped: 6

Buttery, custard-like, and a wee bit tart. Vegetal with the slightest whiff of coconut in the second steep, or am I dreaming that up?
My tastebuds may be clouded with vanilla chocolate.

Subsequent steeps ensured that no, I was not dreaming up the coconut. It’s there with the butter and the vegetal nature of the tea. Six or seven steeps later, it’s all still there. Gently, gently, but there.

This may be my first experience with tea from Chiang Rai, Thailand. I do so wish that I had had enthusiasm for tea exploration when I was there. Yeah, nope. No recollection of tea drinking adventures there. At all.