August Uncommon Tea

Seriously thinking that tea and cookies will be dinner tonight. Just can’t seem to make descisions right now, the tin of this was sitting on the counter so Jet Black it is. It was sitting on the counter because I was drinking (well making then not drinking) it the other night. Got distracted, Jets won 8-2 switched channels and well that other event happened, tea did not get drank or appreciated. Trying again tonight….
I’m finding that with the bold AU teas I’m enjoying them more if steeped with less leaf, cooler water, longer steep time than my normal flavored black parameters. I feel that way about this one too. It’s just less weird when it’s milder.
I love coffee flavored teas. This one has a bit too much mate for me. The coffee is good, the base is fine. Not my favorite coffee tea but it’s good. Deep dark roasted smooth not bitter….with a little AU unidentified strangeness. (Might need to find some booze to dump in here…..)

fnished this off this afternoon – present from dexter and honestly one of 2? flavoured greens that i am a fan of. this one is gone now, but i’m considering picking up more…

NOMS. dexter sent this one my way along with a number of other samples i’m excited todive in to even if i’m really close to 100 again. My weight is still under what i was hoping for the end of year so i’m laughing. :)

I really like this one. It’s, as dex mentioned, not as out there as other AU blends i’ve had but i love this a lot more than i thought i would. probably because it doesn’t come across as a green tea lol this is really much more pineapple, caramel donut….not as light as like an angel food cake with pineapple..but it’s very dessert like. am a fan!

Count: 95

As you all know, I’m a HUGE moonlight fan. So of course I had to pick this up with my last August Uncommon order.
This is a good one. Light on the hay, some apricot, some honey, nice mild, no bitter. I am drinking this gongfu tonight and I feel like I under leafed it a little, maybe not quite as deep as I would like. I used boiling water with flash steeps and it’s just a little flat, I think a little more leaf will fix that.
This is not my favorite moonlight, and it’s pretty expensive. Happy with it but not sure I would buy more at this price.

My throat hurts tonight. Not sure if I’m getting sick or if I was just talking too much at work (training a student).

I love this tea, I really love this tea. It was on sale during Black Friday so I bought 2 tins. What I really like is that it’s different every time I have it. The first cup tonight was really lime. The second cup was more peach. Either way it’s just amazing. The base in most fruity oolong is normally pretty green. This is a darker oolong and that makes me really happy. I’m not really getting much that I would call pistachio but I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t there I would feel something was missing. Dunno – I just love it.
The instructions say to steep it for 5 minutes, I think it does better with a shorter steep. 3.5-4 minutes seems to work best for me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcbBVeDBnSW/?taken-by=dex3657

Mmmmmm this is good. I’m getting more lime than peach, and not anything floral – but that is just fine with me. Most fruity oolong thst I’ve had have been with a green oolong base, this one is a darker oolong – and they chose a good one. The darker base isn’t woody, isn’t smoky or roasty, it’s pretty neutral but definitely oolong. It’s a little creamy, a little fruity (mostly lime), with some oolong notes. I drank this hot but I’m pretty sure it would be good as an iced tea.

This is not quite what I was expecting. I really thought that the barley would add a genmaicha quality to this.
This is mostly pineapple with just a hint of caramel. Not getting much of the green base – which is ok by me. I like it, not as unusual as the other August Uncommon blends, but it’s tasty enough.

I got my August Uncommon order today. So excited. Their packaging is so beautiful – the tins are sealed with pop off lids. I got a free scoop and a little brewing guide book, there was also a handwritten note – I love personal touches like that.
IMHO all August Uncommon blends are a little unusual and this one is no exception. I can’t quite put my finger on what this is like. It’s a little smokey. It’s a little cherry. There is some bitter – kind of like dark chocolate but not quite. There are other notes in here that I can’t quite decide what they are. Odd but in an interesting sort of way. This is complex and balanced but still confusing somehow. I’m on the fence a little on if I “like” it. I feel it grow on me and it certainly is interesting enough to keep me coming back for another taste. Will resteep it to see how it changes.

LET IT BE KNOWN that I’m just here to post a note and then I’ll likely disappear again. Hello! Goodbye!

This tea. I’m blaming Dexter for this. But it was a free sample, so I suppose that’s ok.

It smells like cacao shells and pineapple when I sniff it dry. Really chocolatey and fruity. So nice. The most interesting notes are tobacco. So, for example, when you have a really nice pipe tobacco and it smells earthy and rich and fruity. Like that. Not like smoke. Tobacco as a perfume fragrance is never smoke. This is what it evokes. Vanilla and warm woods. Sweet fruits. Cacao shell (similar to chocolate, but not the same).

So good.

Steeped, and sipping it, the pepper comes out. It’s a really nice flavour. Still the vanilla and warm woods and juicy fruit, some cacao shells (but not enough for me right now… I find cacao shells smell more than they tend to taste), delicious black tea.

I’m having it with some milk, which might take down the pepper somewhat.

I really like this tea. I might be considering an order. Which is weird. Because I think I’ve spent $30 on tea in the last 8 months.

It’s like drinking brownie essence. Many thanks to hawkband1 for giving me a generous amount in her swap.

Sipdown (139)!

Finishing this one off with some added eggnog, just to do something different with it. It’s nice with the eggnog; everything is silkier and creamy and the rich chocolate notes which were borderline cloying to me before are a lot more muted now. I appreciate the subtlety of the cocoa alongside the warming nutmeg. The most interesting part is that the pineapple still comes though, and that IS sort of weird with the eggnog. But that sweet fruity pineapple note at the end of the sip? As weird as it is, I’m definitely digging it too.

In the end I decided not to order more of this when I placed my August Uncommon order for the Winter Collection sampler. Actually, I didn’t get more of any of the teas from this collection though I did HEAVILY debate Ventura Highway. Still, I had a really fun time exploring this tea and trying it three different ways. I feel like I got something new from it each time and that was exciting.

Cold Brew…

Copy & Paste is my friend right now ’cause I am HELLA sleepy.

- Strong tropical pineapple notes: almost candy like?
- Rich, smooth cocoa notes
- The pairing is nicer this time around since I’m expecting it
- Black pepper is light but present; tail of the sip

This is a queued tasting note.

Ok, so this is 100% the tea I was most excited for in this collection. I mean, it’s essentially supposed to be a softly smoked pineapple blend, right? Holy shit am I on board for that. I actually LOVE using Lapsang Souchong in cooking with foods that incorporate pineapple because that smoky sweet cross with the flavours is the BEST fucking thing ever. It works the exact same way that ham & pineapple does.

So colour me surprised by my first few sips of this…

I have to wonder if I’m evening drinking the same tea that’s been reviewed by others because I found the smoke/tobacco elements of this tea REALLY underwhelming. I barely got smoke notes at all! What was really impactful was the sweet, rich and smooth cocoa notes from the cocoa shells in the blend. I knew that they would be a part of the blend, but based on the marketing I fully underestimated just how prevalent those notes would be. I mean, they were fucking delicious but in a small way I felt a bit like they stole the thunder of the other elements in the blend.

Moving on to the pineapple; even though I thought the chocolate was VERY strong and the smoke not strong enough I felt like the amount of pineapple flavour I got in each sip was perfect. I’d have loved to see the sweet, semi acidic pineapple juice notes contrasted alongside a different flavour than chocolate but this worked alright. It actually wasn’t long ago I reviewed Tea Taxi’s Recipe For Happiness blend and pointed out how I don’t view chocolate and pineapple as a natural pairing but this marginally changes my mind. In my opinion, the pineapple didn’t come off as floral like described by AU, though this works for me because I don’t think the combo of floral/pineapple/chocolate OR floral/pineapple/smoke would have worked. Something about that I think would have felt unbalanced or oddly contrasted. Finally, this one finishes off with a subtle black pepper tickle. It’s really the only “spice” element I got from the blend – but it was a nice touch.

Overall I DID enjoy the mug, but it wasn’t what I’d expected from it. I think I’ve found that a lot with this particular August Uncommon collection. It’ll be interesting trying this one again now that I have an understanding of how the flavour profile presents – I think that’ll make for a more pleasant experience/less perplexing impression.

Also, I’ve now tried all of the teas from this collection! Here’s how I personally score them…

1. Ventura Highway
2. Silencio
3. Dark Iris
4. Skylark
5. Days of Heaven

Right now the only one I see myself wanting more of is Ventura Highway. And, it appears that August Uncommon is gearing up to release another new collection so maybe I’ll grab some when I inevitably get samples of the new collection…

Cold Brew Sipdown (143)!

I mean not bad; a nice trio of lemon, orange and strawberry notes overall. I definitely enjoyed it a lot more hot and found it smoother and fruitier that way. As a cold brew it comes off a bit more bland/boring, and the green base is grassier.

Not one I’ll miss too much overall.

Still not crazy about this one, but I just finished a hot teacup worth of it and it was definitely an improvement. For starters, the strawberry and bright, juicy orange notes just seemed a lot fresher tasting overall – and I think the grassy green base was a bit more mellowed out. A good combination between delicate flavours and bright fruit notes, overall.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ66D7TcEWU&index=2&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ

Drank this one cold brewed yesterday.

I don’t know how I feel about this one? The flavour profile was actually really nice but I feel like the flavour pairings are kind of played out/not unique and I’ve really come to expect excellence in execution and unique bends from August Uncommon so it’s a little weird not having those expectations quite met.

The grassy and slight marine tasting sencha notes created a solid enough base to stack the other fruity flavour notes on top of, and the strawberry was definitely a star in this blend. It tasted so sweet, fresh and natural – I could almost see myself eating one straight from the garden or, at the very least, stealing one from a carton in the produce aisle of a grocery store. Really realistic, and by far the best part of the blend for sure. The other fruit notes actually felt underwhelming in comparison. For starters the orange/tangerine was pretty light and to my palate, at least, it read a lot more like lemon than what it was supposed to. Now, lemon is a great pairing with strawberry and actually with sencha as well – it’s just not what AU was going for or what I was wanting.

So I think I have to conclude that despite some really good notes and some much more disappointing notes this was pretty average overall. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the rest of my sample, but this is one AU blend I can thankfully not worry and wanting to restock in a larger portion.

Sipdown (162)!

Finished this one off a few days ago, actually. It’s weird; now that I’m not drinking a daily advent calendar tea I’ve fallen a little out of the habit of daily tea note writing. At least on the days I’m working both jobs, that is.

I feel like I’m finishing this one off on a sort of fickle note – I neither liked nor disliked the mug and that makes it a little challenging to form a solid opinion because I was already sitting right on the fence prior to this last infusion. The liquor was very cloudy, and the overall profile smooth enough if not a wee bit artificial/chemical.

Quite fruity overall: a due of peach and lime flavours in particular, although more candy like than realistic fruit. A little more tart than sweet, as well. For the first time, I felt like I was really getting strong notes of the rose as well. It’s come off as floral before; but this was just very distinct/fragranced and perfumey. Also, a touch toasy/roasty from the base. Again, like I’ve said in previous tasting notes, it’s just a weird mash up of flavours overall and a lot going on/to take in.

Not my favourite or least favourite offering.

Goodbye, vagina tea.

So, I definitely oversteeped this one when I was cooking for the DAVIDsTEA staff meeting/potluck yesterday. This lucky tea got well over ten minutes of solid brew time. It didn’t get bitter or astringent though; instead it just got quite roasty and really intensely lime flavoured. Not bad; and a nice contrast to the peach I’ve gotten from this thus far.

Also; I think I’ve finally shaken the vagina tea thing! Hooray for that!

Just got home from supper out with my old roommate Shauna and her boyfriend; they actually picked the pub we went to and it was really, really nice there.

I ended up drinking a lot so I’m just a little drunk at the moment – but SO worth it. One of the pub specials for cocktails is called a Lemon Meringue Pie and HOLY SHIT it’s good. But almost kind of evil in how smooth and easy it goes down – I was like four in before I realized the alcohol was hitting me really quickly. I almost ordered their version of Blueberry Tea as well ‘cause I saw it was on their specialty menu and I wanted to compare to the Blueberry Tea I had yesterday, but they were actually out of Orange Pekoe so they couldn’t make it. That just means I have to go back there another time, though…

This is probably gonna be my final tea of the night; I made myself a very small teacup of it when I got home just ‘cause I set it aside before I went out in the afternoon not realizing I’d be back so late and if I don’t make it today I’ll be sad ’cause I really wanted to see how it holds up hot.

I have to say that overall I think it’s better hot than it is cold brewed but I still find it really weird too. The peach is so strong though that it almost negates the other odd flavour pairings and what the peach really reminds me of is when, as a kid, you’d finish off a bag of fuzzy peach candies and then “drink” the little sour sugar crystals from the bottom of the bag. I can’t be the only one who did that, right? But it’s the same intensity with that same really bright and almost sort of shocking vibrancy of sweet and tangy.

The rest of the flavour notes are sweet and borderline creamy pistachio and a touch of a soft roasted note/feel. I don’t think this is nearly as floral hot. That, or I just didn’t get a lot of rose petals in the leaf I used. I can’t really remember what the ratio of stuff I measured out looked like, to be honest.

Marginally bumping my rating up – but in a cautious way. A part of me wonders if the improvement in tonight’s teacup has anything to do with the light buzz I’ve got going on as well.

This is a queued tasting note.

“Feels like Georgia O’Keeffe Flowers…”

So, I read that an knowing what I know about Georgia O’Keeffe’s artwork the only thing I could think about the entire time I drank this cold brew was vaginas. Now, there’s nothing wrong with vaginas – I have one myself that I’m pretty content with. However, that’s just not something I want to constantly be thinking of while I drink my tea.

Vagina tea… Vagina tea… Vagina tea…

But I mean, that aside – it was also just a weird blend in general. Mostly, it was very very peachy in a way that was both pretty natural tasting but also sweet like peach candies; namely Fuzzy Peaches. Apart from that very ‘loud’ top note, this was supported with sweet, nutty pistachio notes and a bit of a perfumed tasting rose note. It didn’t taste bad, but the flavours just clashed a little bit. I think maybe the peach and rose would have been ok, or just the peach and pistachio but all together the juxtaposition was mostly just confusing. I feel like it might be smoother prepared hot, though.

But even if it flowered together better as a hot tea there’s that one big mental hurdle to get over first… Vagina tea.

Sipdown (156)!

It took some added honey to make the amount of chamomile in this blend tolerable for me, but this is finally a sipdown. I’m so sad that I actually sort of started to dislike this one even more each time I had it – but that rhubarb just kept slipping even farther away from my grasp/tastebuds each time!

At leas the chamomile is doing it’s thing though and making me super drowsy! I can tell already that I’m going to sleep so soundly tonight! And on that note…

Off to bed I go!

Too. Much. Chamomile.

Evidently, also not a good tea for early in the morning because that dreaded chamomile will make you sleepy all over again…