The Library (formerly Leatherbound)

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Assam Black Tea, Cocoa Bean Shells, Flavor
Flavors
Citrus, Cocoa, Dark Bittersweet, Dark Chocolate, Earth, Grain, Licorice, Malt, Nuts, Rye, Wood, Brandy, Cherry, Chocolate, Molasses, Alcohol, Cream, Spicy, Astringent, Bitter, Spices, Vanilla, Marzipan, Bread, Blueberry, Sour, Yogurt, Caramel
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Loose Leaf
Caffeine
High
Certification
Organic, Vegan
Edit tea info Last updated by Cameron B.
Average preparation
Boiling 3 min, 15 sec 7 g 12 oz / 355 ml

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41 Tasting Notes View all

From August Uncommon Tea

Rich organic black tea with organic dark cocoa and organic caraway

Intensify your breakfast tea. The bold tannins and rich, buttery aroma of this tea mimic the inviting yet austere atmosphere of an old library. Dark wooden walls shoulder the weight of endless rows of well-loved books. Hints of cocoa and sweet almond enliven the flavor like a contemporary novel among stately leatherbound classics. A splash of milk tips the flavor towards a dark creamy stout. Like sinking into a crackled leather club chair to ponder the pages between your hands.

INGREDIENTS: organic GFBOP assam tea, organic cacao shell, organic caraway, flavoring

TASTES LIKE: buttered pumpernickel, molasses, semisweet chocolate, guinness
FEELS LIKE: morning in an old library

ORGANICVEGANGLUTEN FREENON GMO

About August Uncommon Tea View company

Company description not available.

41 Tasting Notes

75
1557 tasting notes

This has been my morning brew for the past several days and it serves that purpose well in terms of what I look for — full flavor, decent body, dark, robust, high caffeine but not so much that I get the zoomies.

The aroma of the dry leaf is overpoweringly boozy, like a chocolate liqueur mixed with amaretto. It reminds me a lot of Silencio’s aroma. The leaf itself is very chopped. It’s uniform in size with the cocoa husks.

Steeped up, the boozy aroma is still strong and it transfers lightly into the mouth as a much more pleasant undercurrent of amaretto. The sip is thin but it really thickens up in the back of the mouth with an impression of creaminess from the Assam black tea base. I have a hard time figuring out if the cocoa husks and/or flavoring are the main culprits for the cocoa flavor or if it’s part of the base tea but it’s present mid-mouth along with dense maltiness and the citrusy and rye-reminiscent high note of the caraway seeds that weaves its way around.

I wouldn’t say the tea is sweet; if it is, I feel like the natural flavoring is responsible for the impression of liqueur-like sweetness that’s present in the aroma. The overall vibe is more malty-savory-brisk but creamy. There also seems to be a bit of spiciness but not in the heating way. Unlike other reviewers, I found this tea to possess no bitterness and only a little astringency.

Overall, I’m happy with Leatherbound as a morning brew but I still prefer teas without flavoring added and probably won’t purchase again. I think it would make a great gift, though!

[Western, 3.5g, 212F, 10oz, 4 and ? min both stacked in a 20oz thermos]

Flavors: Alcohol, Chocolate, Citrus, Cocoa, Cream, Malt, Rye, Spicy

gmathis

ZOOMIES. Perfect word for that overly buzzed buzz.

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79
1792 tasting notes

This was way better than expected! A delightful surprise. Caraway always rubbed me the wrong way. Those everything bagels? Seeing those little dried up wormy caraway seeds instantly spoiled the breakfast fun. But here it’s more mellowed out, and I’m not being slammed up against the wall with bitterness, plus it pairs beautifully with the dark chocolate notes. I’m tempted to order more but as you can tell, I have rarely been touching my tea stash. The sale email from these guys is the very reason I decided to fire up the kettle on this obnoxiously cold day.

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70
3986 tasting notes

Sipping down the remainder of my sample packet.

This one never really came together for me. This time, I didn’t really get any caraway, but that could be from age. The base tea is fine but not good, and it’s quite astringent. I don’t really get much cocoa either, just a somewhat light amaretto flavor.

I’m sure this has degraded with age, but I wasn’t really a fan when it was fresh either. There are some teas I like from August, but this doesn’t seem to be one of them.

Leaving the rating as it was since this is now past its prime.

Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Cherry, Marzipan

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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100
1403 tasting notes

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?

Dexter

But the Jets are winning…..

Dexter

I can only obsess about one thing at a time. Right now it’s hockey….

Evol Ving Ness

hahaha, I hope you are having tea with that. I look forward to hearing your reviews.

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77
6444 tasting notes

GCTTB

Is it weird if I say this tastes like rye bread with seeds? Because it does. I see people put blueberry and yogurt as some of the flavors they taste but I honestly can just taste rye bread with seeds. Now if only I could toast this up with some butter and cheese like I used to get when I was younger.

Thank you Sil for the share. This was certainly a unique experience and one that was also a bit nostalgic so thank you for that :)

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2291 tasting notes

Chocolate and something. The caraway (which honestly I usually detest) wasn’t extremely prevalent. But it was more of a savoury chocolate tea, and I much preferred the sweetness of Passage de Desir (or whatever).

Nice tea, but the flavours aren’t for me at all.

Thank you for sharing all the teas, Sil!

Sil

anytime!

OMGsrsly

:) I really really wish the other teas didn’t have poopy BARLEY in them! But I think I’ll be happy with Passage.

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1040 tasting notes

Drinking though a few of the August Uncommon teas that Sil sent to me.
Wow – this is really fun. A little unusual but really interesting. It’s just a really nice molasses, chocolate, bready black tea – and then there is this something in the background – if you don’t read the ingredient list it’s hard to put your finger on it. But then yep – that’s it – caraway – that’s why it’s a little pumpernickel bread ish. Awesome – in a strange kind of way.
I need more of this in my life – even though I don’t think it’s the kind of tea that I would drink everyday (that’s probably a good thing – it’s pretty expensive) – but on those days you need something special – this would totally fit the bill.
Thank you so much Sil for sharing.

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88
618 tasting notes

I am really eager to try this blend as I’ve never had a tea blend with caraway included. It sounds like such an interesting combination – assam tea, caraway, cacao.. so unique! Plus, I love the idea of this tea bringing to mind a library and old books.

Sipping… hm, the first thing that I taste is the smooth black tea base and the cacao. It reminds me of other chocolate and black tea blends I’ve had in the past. There is a tiny bit of astringency as well. A strange thing happens after I’ve sipped.. a bit of a buttery flavor blossoms on the tongue. It reminds me of caramel squares and buttered toast. I also pick up on hazelnuts and very lightly, cherries in syrup. The finish is very drying, but it’s still drinkable despite being slightly unpleasant. I can’t seem to pick up on the caraway flavor… but then again, I’ve never had caraway in a tea.. so I could be tasting it, but just not know it.

Overall, I enjoyed this tea and I appreciate that it had many different flavors to discover. I’m not sure that I really experienced the library comparison just by taste… perhaps the description is slightly far-fetched, but it was certainly interesting. I’m excited to see how my next cup will be when I add a bit of milk!

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35
326 tasting notes

Sipdown!

My previous lack of success with this tea prompted me to give it a much shorter steep time — 1.5 minutes compared to the recommended 5. It did make it much more tolerable — with prominent chocolate, caramel, and blueberry notes and a suggestion of rye bread — but it unfortunately had an overall note that reminded me enough of my previous failures that I couldn’t get fully into it. The drying effect was less harsh this go round, but still present. Overall I think this tea just isn’t for me. While this cup wasn’t bad enough to deserve a 35 (probably more like a 60-65), I think I’ll keep the rating the same as my previous experiences were just so off-putting.

Flavors: Blueberry, Caramel, Chocolate, Rye

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 30 sec

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90
694 tasting notes

This tea, wow! My first impressions is amazing. I would compare this tea to eating french chocolate covered pretzels or french fries dipped in icecream. Its the savory sweet combo. It has a good hearty base, with some cocoa flavor and then there is something in there that adds this “leather” feel to it. Something that brings it to the savory side. I steeped this twice this morning which is something I do not always do with flavored teas and both infusions were great. I am looking forward to seeing how my opinion holds up on this one with time. I may have to put in an order for a tin, yep that good.

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