August Uncommon Tea

First tea of the morning!

This is my first day off both jobs in… ages. Like, literally over two weeks.

So the plan for the day is basically just to enjoy as much tea as possible and relax. Sounds easy, right? Well – I’ve pretty well been confined to my room literally all morning because our new roommate hasn’t moved his stuff over yet, so he slept on the couch last night. Which is connected to the kitchen/main living space. I was trying to be polite and not wake him, but by noon I’d reached the point where I felt it was an appropriate enough time of day I could move about and not be an ass for doing it.

So I started by making myself, and him, a cup of tea and then making us each a bagel with maple chevre and some cubed pineapple. I was hoping the soft sounds of my making breakfast in the kitchen and the aroma of fresh food/tea would wake him up. No such luck; it’s now an hour later than when I’d initially made breakfast/tea and his food is still sitting on the kitchen counter untouched. Oh well, I tried.

The tea was actually pretty good though! When I first opened the sample packet like a week ago to smell it the aroma actually made me feel pretty uneasy/sick so I waited to try it and thankfully it sat well with me this morning/early afternoon.

I was SO excited for this one when I saw it announced for this AU collection; I’m not the world’s biggest bergamot/EG fan but I do have a soft spot for flavoured Earl Grey. I will say both the plum and clove, which are the extra flavours in this EG, come through quite strongly. However, do they go together is the more important question. The answer to that question is… kinda?

It’s just weird and slightly spiced but not really? Also, with the strong bergamot notes and the plum there was something sort of perfume like/chemical to the combination that seemed just a touch off to me. However, that said, whatever caused that seemed to calm down as the tea cooled, and the flavours came together a bit more smoothly overall as well. It wasn’t bad overall; just a little disjointed as a blend. I loved the clove flavour, though!

Cold Brew Sipdown (121)!

Brought this one in to work and shared with coworkers. We played a guessing game, of sorts, with the flavour notes and ingredients so see if they could blindly identify any of them. My assistant manager did the best and was able to name both the ginger and orange. No one got the sage, which is the other key player here. A few people guessed ginger pear…

I really enjoyed this one cold brewed though; I felt like the earthy/spiciness was still present but the brightness of the orange was more the focus point of the sip. If we weren’t going into spring, I might be tempted to order more of this. I don’t see it being something I’d reach for often Spring/Summer though.

One of my favourite things about Christmas is family board games…

Thankfully this Christmas has been filled with many! The first one was called Urban Myth; and this was the tea I made for while we played…

It was nice drinking this one in more of a conscious state; I feel like a got a better grasp on the flavour distribution. Mostly, I think this is warming, but spicy ginger notes primarily but it is softened by some sweet mandarin top notes which fade into a more mellow undertone throughout the body of the sip. The finish is quite licorice root-y. Which is alright, I guess…

Overall; I’m not mad at this blend – I think if I was a bigger fan of ginger I’d be all over it. As it stands, I think it’s a little bit too spicy for me to want to have it around in a larger quantity though. As an occasional tea? I can get on board with it.

As for the game…

It was pretty challenging overall and most of the questions/statements were not obvious. The deciding question/statement for the game win though? President Barrack Obama is a Muslim Radical. Like; of all the stupid things to be the deciding question/statement. I think it’s pretty obvious that this one is obviously a myth; and my mom would agree because she took the game since this was the most obvious of all the things we’d come across…

D’oh.

This is a queued tasting note.

Made this one hot during a lazy afternoon last week where I was just kind of lounging around the house before work. Sort of in and out of napping, sipping away at a mug of tea in between drowsy minutes lost…

I don’t remember a whole lot about this one because I was so out of it/tired – but from what I do remember I think the ginger was pretty strong, but balanced out by the sage and then with a lighter orange like flavour in the finish. Or something like that? I liked it well enough, but I’ll need to revisit it when I’m a bit more put together.

Sipdown (610)!

I actually liked this last cup, but I know it’s not representative of my experience with this tea as a whole. At least I know better than to revisit this blend again in the future as I’ve proven to myself over and over again now that it simply isn’t consistent in terms of flavour.

Once again, not the same buttery toffee pineapple taste I remember from the first batch I bought of this – this time it was a more sour/tangy pineapple with notes of tart apple/grassy green tea. I think that’s roughly what it tasted like last time I drank it too? So again, not sure why it’s changed SO MUCH from initial sample to the one that I reordered. Different lots/batches!?

Not bad – just not the familiar flavour I want.

Loved this one so much when I first had it that I bought another sample size of it.

It was very disappointing to me though, and didn’t taste anything like I remembered it tasting. Like, I 100% would have thought that it was a different tea than what I had bought the first time. I had added milk too, because I was expecting something like last time I had it – and milk ended up being such a bad choice with how it ended up tasting. It was just so bright and fruity with very distinct orange and lemon notes that were juicy, and tangy and… not what I wanted.

Where’s the soft, supple buttery toffee quality!? GAH! Not happy.

Crossing my fingers for better cups in the future.

Cold Brew Sipdown (232)!

So, this cold brew isn’t bad per say, but I definitely do kind of regret finishing my sample as a cold brew because it’s nowhere near as good as the hot version. I don’t know, it’s a little hard to explain because the flavour profile is essentially the same, only A LOT stronger – and in this case, stronger kind of equals a lot less good.

A touch too lemony, and a bit of a sickly sweet finish. Not quite cloying but totally verging on it…

Wasn’t planning on drinking this one tonight, but when I went to dig through my sample box on the shelf to find the tea I did plan on drinking I saw this in there and went “Fuck it, I can drink two teas at once!” so I grabbed both and brewed them both up…

It’s been a while since my first tasting of this one, and honestly I’ve put off trying it again not because I didn’t like it the first time but because I’ve been scared that the second cup wont come close to tasting anywhere as good as the first one did. I should have had faith though because this one was also gentle and delicate buttery pineapple with rich caramel sweetness! I mean, I look at the ingredients list and I feel like this shouldn’t taste the way it does at all but it’s so pastry like with that golden, complimentary pineapple note and I don’t know how AU is doing it!

This just reconfirmed that I’m in love with it though and that my first cup was not a fluke. Knowing that, I can seriously see this being something I’d want to order more of from AU in a larger quantity – and that’s a serious statement because I don’t know when I last said that about a green tea that wasn’t matcha.

Mmmm!

Another of the new ones from August Uncommon.

When I saw this one, I wanted to be excited for it so badly because Pineapple tea! But all I could think about what “What if it tastes like DAVIDsTEA’s Grilled Pineapple?” ’cause the ingredients are fairly similar, and Grilled Pineapple was SO BAD. So, I had a lot of hesitation brewing this one up…

However I didn’t need to because it’s REALLY GOOD. I was expected something a bit more bold and fruity in flavour, but it was actually quite light and buttery with a sort of lightly toffee like note, some soft roastiness from the barley, and then this sort of fruity pineapple undertone that was really soft/delicate and kind of reminded me of the sort of softer pineapple glaze/sweetness on cakes like Pineapple Upside Down Cake or even the brown ‘outer crust’ type part of Angel Food cake that’s sort of like a caramelized sugar type thing? I don’t know if that descriptor makes any sort of sense, or if anyone will know what part of Angel Food I’m talking about – but like that but a bit fruitier.

So good though! I feel like even my descriptors don’t really do it justice. It was such a pleasant surprise though – it made me really happy.

Sipdown (215)!

Finished this one off as a latte with a little bit of agave added in.

- Sweet cherry top notes; agave brought them out more
- Very smoky finish with a woody aftertaste
- Woody notes/smoke made this feel campfire-esque

Again, I continue to enjoy the contrast between heavy, thick and savory smoke note sand brighter cherry/fruit components. As a latte, the smoke was a LITTLE bit weird because it still had some bitterness to the flavour, but the mouthfeel was thick and creamy and somewhat disjointed. I still enjoyed it a lot overall though.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52Gg9CqhbP8&list=WL&index=6

This song is actually the one that was playing on the radio at work when I drank this – and it took me a VERY long time to find it because I wasn’t familiar with it prior. I had to reverse search for it using only some snippets of the chorus that I remembered. That said, I think it was well worth the hunt because the song is so good. Really moving, and emotional video too…

First tea of the morning.

I added some cashew milk into it this time because last time I thought it was a little harsh and I remembered wanting to mellow it out a little bit.

I think the cashew milk is doing wonders here; the tea is definitely still thick and very smoky with tobacco, ash, and leather notes but I don’t feel nearly as assaulted by it and it’s smoother/creamier . Previously, it had a level of astringency that sort of felt the way that nail on a chalkboard sounds. In addition to the wonderful Lapsang, the cherry also comes through very nicely. It’s dark and seductive, and tastes sweet without having the brightness that a bing or maraschino cherry would have. If this cherry note were a person, it’d be at the point in life where it’s a bit of a Silver Fox. You know, still very hot/attractive but with hair starting to grey and wrinkles in just the right places. Yes, this cherry is the Clooney of cherries…

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv_nBEgwCaw&index=1&list=WL

Ah, perfect mood music! Completely matches the tone of the tea and is submersive in every way. Plus, Iwan Rheon is just so nice to look at. Whether you see him as Simon from Misfits or Ramsey from GoT I think you’ve gotta agree the man can sing…

This is a queued tasting note.

It sort of feels like AU releases a new “smoky” tea with each collection, doesn’t it? The last one, Silencio, didn’t really deliver on the smoke notes in my opinion though so I definitely took the ‘smoke’ descriptor for this tea with a grain of salt. I was wrong to do so, though, because I think this is arguably the smokiest tea that AU has released to date.

Honestly, it was almost even a little to harsh for me. I like smoky teas; but I kind of borderline felt attacked by this one. However, I did enjoy it even if it was a bit jarring. Plus, the dark cherry/overripe cherry undertones that crept through underneath that thick top layer of smoke was really lovely. Very rich, and in a way sultry as well.

What it actually reminded me of was a more blunt and heavy handed version of Adagio’s The Woman – which is the fan blend for Sherlock’s Irene Adler. Personally, The Woman is by far my favourite Adagio blend to date. So, the fact this one made me think so vividly of that one is a good sign! It means with just the right bit of tweaking to just slightly mellow out that smokey edge, this could be a truly divine tea instead of just a quite good one.

I also really want to try it with milk, as well.

Sipdown (532)!

Firsr cup of the morning; wanted something strong and full bodied and I knew that I’d get both of those things from this tea on top of getting in a sipdown.

This is nice – it starts with a sweet note that’s giving me vibes of honey, dark rye, and some subtle fruity undertones. The body is more malty and savory, with notes that are a touch more herbaceous such as tulsi. There’s also a buckwheat sort of undertone and more generalized sweetness carrying throughout the sip; almost like a light, brighter sort of molasses quality. The finish is very lingering and a little bit brassy, with a sticky sweet date kind of taste. It’s very full bodied, without any astringency or bitterness. Just smooth, interesting layers of flavour.

This is one that I’ll miss, if nothing else, for its uniqueness.

Hot with milk.

I feel like I’ve been experimenting with this one a little more than I have with the other straight teas I’ve gotten from August Uncommon. It’s not that there’s anything I dislike about this one, I just feel like I’ve yet to find a way where it just tastes really good or stands out as ‘amazing’.

Milk was a little weird with the flavour profile of this one. It did give more overall body to the mouthfeel, which was pleasant but that extra creaminess over top that range of spice notes in the tea (cinnamon, cumin, basil, allspice) was kind of weird and didn’t work terribly well. It wasn’t bad either; just kind of average or ‘just there’. I did pick up some light cocoa notes though, and milk was complimentary in the case of those notes in particular…

I don’t know – I still feel kind of ‘meh’ about this tea overall/as a whole.

Just finished an iced cup of this with an added hit of chocolate agave.

It was alright; definitely had that sweet chocolaty taste form the agave but the tea itself wasn’t drowned out/lost or anything. It was a bit herbaceous; I can see the basil comparison that August Uncommon makes for sure. I also thought that there were still some woody notes, a bit of that sour sort of rye bread kind of flavour and some malty undertones.

According to August Uncommon this tea should have a chocolate taste to it anyway which is why I thought the agave would work well with it, but I didn’t taste chocolate last time and apart from the taste of the agave I didn’t really get much chocolate from this infusion either. In fact, the chocolate sort of felt out of place with the other flavour notes I observed. It was still good, and refreshing but maybe a bit disjointed?

I got this one a while ago from AU but honestly I’d kind of forgotten about it amidst all the other new goodies I’ve had incoming – I pulled the package out yesterday though and brought it with to my other job where I made a cup.

Overall, I found this to be a really interesting and enjoyable straight oolong (though it reminds me more of a black tea). Notes I picked up throughout were soft earth tones, wet wood, spices, raisin undertones, perhaps a whisp of malt, and smoke. It reminded me in a few ways of a Keemun? I enjoyed that overall it was very smooth without being robustly sweet, though. It’s nice having different smooth straight teas on hand with contrasting flavour profiles. When I want sweeter I can reach for some Foxtail from BLT or some Bang Dong Hong from W2T but I definitely see this as being good when I want something with flavour notes that fall a little more on the savory and ‘outdoorsy’ side of the spectrum.

Definitely worth a taste.

i can’t keep my life straight anymore. Working from home for the past 3 days because a) my husband is sick and has slept for 2.5 days straight and someone needed to take care of the puppy and b) because i’m sick and while i’m not resting, at least i’m not having to get dressed and make the trek in to work. Add to that some re-org changes that are giving me an opportunity to create my own job role (if i can do it in 2 days while sick) AND a massive delivery going in next weekend followed by supporting teams in chicago for a week after the deployment…oh and throw in our holiday party and other such seasonal festivities and you have yourself a crazy life! I’ve been drinking tea but just too busy to much but tread water. All that aside, i’m not complaining…just explaining. I love the challenges and honestly, life’s too short to complain. (though sometimes it’s hard not to!) haha overall things are good…just crazy busy! :)

this was my compromise for not going out to get coffee today as it was just too miserable outside for me to want to leave. thanks for the share dexter!

Another one from Dexter this one isn’t bad. I wish it was a littler richer – i find that mate tends to thin things out for me. I’m never a huge fan of mate. I do like the coffee flavour that this one has, but i’ve had other coffee/teas that i prefer. Really happy to try this one.

Finished this one today as well – just trying to get through some sipdowns so that i’m at least close to my goal. haha. This one just doesn’t seem to work for me as it’s intended. all i get are the smokey notes, not matter how much i play with the leaf and steeping times. It’s a REALLY nice smokey tea, with a little maple but the other flavours are absent for me, making this one a miss.

Thanks for sending this one my way for me to try Dexter The dry tea is incredibly smokey, but that translates in to a brew that is not quite AS smokey as the dry suggests. When this is first made, all i can taste is the smoke. Good for me that i enjoy the occasional smokey cup. As it cools though, the cherry starts to peek through and it becomes a cup with much more going on. Going to need to try this one again to decide where i stand on it :)

Final Count yesterday: 80

Uggg I’ve been dealing with condo board issues since I got off work. How did I get talked into doing this?

I don’t drink enough oolong and I really don’t drink enough aged oolong. This is a good one. This makes me happy. It’s really dark and roasted with out being smokey. It has some really nice woody notes, and it’s a little nutty.

This is a formosa oolong, I normally prefer wuyi yancha. I’ve steeped this tonight in one of my yixing clay pots – trying to get some of those mineral notes from the clay. Clay and dark oolong is a beautiful thing.

(the light caught my stone weird in this photo – looks strange…) https://www.instagram.com/p/BcTa0d-hwBE/?taken-by=dex3657

I’ve been drinking this tea this afternoon while eating Chinese takeout and watching the hockey game
Mmmmm nice, very nice.  Roasted without being overly smokey.  Bold without being bitter.  Nutty, woody, little charcoal and that old quality in good aged oolong.   This is just very comforting – the kind of tea you just want to hug your mug.  I’m happy with this one.
 https://www.instagram.com/p/BMw-Yk2AeB-/