I have had Capri by August Uncommon once before. The tea, made with turkish apple, rosehip shells, peppermint, thai pineapple, melon pieces, pear pieces, and flavoring, seemed like the perfect tea to be iced. However, I found myself disappointed by the iced tea. It was vaguely sweet and mostly mint. So today I decided to try it hot.
The mint acts more as a foundation in the hot tea. It is definitely there but mostly as a cooling freshness at the base of the tea. There is a melon flavor on top of the mint but it is so subtle. You really have to look for it. It’s just the faintest bit of sweet atop the mint. Unfortunately I am still disappointed. I want more melon, less mint, and really anything else. Pineapple would be nice or some pear.
Honeydew is a subtle flavor naturally so a honeydew flavor in tea is hard to capture. For me, this was a bit of a miss. It’s a nice mint tisane but it just fell short of what the ingredients might suggest you’re getting.
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Leaf Type: Tisane
Where to Buy: August Uncommon
Description
Have you had the pleasure of drinking fruit tea? Throughout Europe, teas made of dried fruit are well loved yet have been missing from American tea culture until now. Capri is a flavorful, cooling blend of fruits and peppermint, with a rich honeydew melon flavor. When it’s iced, it’s the perfect beverage for a hot day. Hot, it’s excellent after dinner or to wind down the day.
INGREDIENTS: turkish apple, rosehip shells, peppermint, thai pineapple, melon pieces, pear pieces, flavoring
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
The Settlement/August Uncommon. . . .
It’s been a while since my last yellow tea so I was super excited to try this one!
The ‘one’ I’m referring to is The Settlement from August Uncommon Tea. Not only am I excited to sip on a yellow tea but I’m exciting about a tea from this company because I haven’t tried many of their teas thus far.
The aroma of the leaves is a combo of sweet, wet wood and brunt molasses. Once the leaves have been infused it smells even more like brunt molasses and paired with a roasted peanut aroma as well.
While I was sipping on this tea the first thing I thought of was roasted peanuts and burnt molasses, too. This offers a really unique aroma, flavor, and tea sipping experience. Even tho it’s been a couple of month since my last new-to-me-yellow-tea I have to say this one stands out for several reasons. It doesn’t taste anything like the others I have had and I say that with full excitement and respect because I am always looking for something different.
At the time I wrote this review I noticed that the company not only slashed their prices – they are offering free shipping in the US, too! So if you haven’t checked out this tea offering or this tea company I would HIGHLY suggest it. The Settlement from August Uncommon Tea. It’s yellow tea from Anhui province grown at 1,000 meters above sea level and pretty darn special!
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Leaf Type: Yellow
Where to Buy: August Uncommon
Description.
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Breathless – August Uncommon Tea
I need to stop looking at Facebook at 2 in the morning. It causes me to make sleepy purchases. One recent middle of the night purchase I made was from August Uncommon tea. I kept seeing adds on Facebook for August Uncommon and had been very interested in their unique blends. I saw that they were offering free shipping and many of their teas are available in sample sizes so I decided to order a few at 2 am. I am so glad that I did! The samples arrived very quickly and included an information card on the company. Their premise is that August is “like no tea you’ve ever tasted before. Our tea is wild, intense, and radically different.” I don’t know if I would say that the tea blends are “radically different” as I have seen a lot of unique blends in my tea journey. I will say though that the blends are interesting, fun and very flavorful.
One of the teas that I purchased is called Breathless. The description of the tea is “boozy black tea, white chocolate and prune.” This is an interesting combo for sure. The package indicates that the tea is gluten free and non gmo. I appreciate that August also includes tasting notes to let the consumer know what we should be tasting. In the case of Breathless it should taste like armagnac, prune, dark cherry and whipped cream. Interesting. I had to look up what armagnac is as I am not up on my liquors. It appears it is a brandy.
I will say that one aspect I appreciate on their packaging is that in the ingredient panel August actually tells us what type of black tea is being used in the blend. Often companies just simply put black tea down in a blend. August goes one step further and indicates it is an Indian Assam black tea. Other ingredients include hazelnut brittle (yum), sweet blackberry leaf, white chocolate, dried plum and flavoring. The package does not make any distinction if the flavoring is natural or artificial.
The first sip of the tea is nice, I get the initial hit of a pretty malty black tea base then the fruity plum develops followed by an ever so slight creaminess in the back end of the taste. I can certainly see where why they say that the this tea tastes like dark cherry because the plum notes coupled with the malty black tea gives a dark cherry flavor.
I really like this tea. It is very complex, dark and enjoyable when drinking straight. When I added a splash of soy milk the creamy notes developed more and gave a very dessert-like quality to this tea.
Overall I am very impressed with all of the samples that I purchased from August Uncommon. I think that they are doing a fantastic job of reinventing what the basic perception of tea is. They have left the safe confines of a traditional earl grey or english breakfast and are branching out to offer unique and interesting flavor combinations. I think they are certainly worth checking out!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: August Uncommon
Description
This tea has a boozy aroma with soft tannins, and a touch of fruit and leather. It is inspired by our favorite ice cream flavor in the world: Agenaise. This is a luscious ice cream laced with armagnac-soaked prunes made by the incomparable Parisian brand Berthillon. White chocolate gives it a super silky mouthfeel and a creamy finish reminiscent of ice cream melting over hot pie. This tea practically begs for milk to turn up the richness of its flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Psychocandy from August Uncommon. . . .
I made this Psychocandy tea by August Uncommon a while ago with the intention of writing a SororiTea Sisters blog review about it. At the time, I had high hopes for this tea because it smelled so decadently of caramel that I couldn’t help but be excited. Unfortunately life got in the way and not only was I unable to review the tea but I didn’t even get a chance to drink it until it cooled right down. By the time I could take a sip it had gotten so sickly sweet that it didn’t even taste like anything and most of my mug got dumped down the drain.
At that time I noted that perhaps hot, it would be better. I am happy to report that my suspicions were spot on. Though this is still very sweet, you can actually make out flavors here that give this more depth and keeps things interesting. Caramel is certainly present and harkens back to the caramel syrup, made by Smuckers, which somehow just appeared in the family cupboard and was used to make DIY sundaes at home. That caramel syrup that was just a little sweeter than it should have been but you were a child and thus didn’t care. Yet there is more than just caramel. There is vanilla here too. One that might get lost among the other, stronger flavors but every so often pops through with some creaminess. Pumpkin is adding yet another layer of sweetness here which is true to actual pumpkin flavor, a welcome alternative to the more typical pumpkin spice found in pumpkin teas. Plus, with just a bit of focus, apple can also be tasted floating about.
This tea was very well received by many of my tea friends and honestly I can see why. First of all, it is a pumpkin tea that has ACTUAL pumpkin, something that is much rarer than you’d expect. Plus it actually highlights that pumpkin by focusing on its naturally sweet flavor as opposed to hiding it under spice. Second, it is a unique tea in that it combines ingredients in such a way that they are familiar and comforting and yet the combination is still new and fresh. Third, the ever-hated rooibos base is nicely hidden underneath all the sweet, only slightly contributing to the overall flavor but in a way that helps to ground everything. And finally, the mouth-watering scent of caramel is just so good and it lingers in the air as if someone was creating tasty confections in your kitchen all day.
With that all said, this does have sweet on top of sweet on top of sweet which frankly for some people could be too…well…sweet. Personally, I would remove the sweet blackberry leaf if I could just to remove one element of sweet. Also, this is not a tea I would recommend cold by any means. Like I said before, it cooled down and basically just became a cloying jumble of yuck which ended up getting dumped down the drain. So though I recommend trying this one, I recommend with that warning. Drink it hot and drink it fast and know that you’re basically drinking candy in a glass. At least calories won’t be a concern so this could be a nice way to satisfy even the most insatiable of sweet tooths. And the fact that it is caffeine free means it can be the perfect substitute for a late-night dessert.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: August Uncommon
Description
Psychocandy is all pumpkin, no spice. We married the creamy sweet depth of real pumpkin flakes with earthy rooibos. Even before you taste it, the heady aroma will intoxicate you. Each sip has a long lingering caramel finish that remains long after the cup is empty. Adding milk turns the creamy sweetness up to 11. Makes a knockout tea latte.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Big Easy from August Uncommon Tea. . . .
Big Easy by August Uncommon is a sweet sencha green tea with lemongrass, pineapple and barley. It is said to taste like pineapple cake, caramel beignets, and dried lemon peel. Well…here goes nothing…
I cold brewed this for almost 24 hours and since I had some left, I also steeped about 1.5 teaspoons in 12 oz of 175F water for 4 minutes.
Sipping on the hot tea, the first thing I notice is the sweetness. Yes, the pineapple is sweet but there is more to it than just pineapple. I was surprised that there is a caramel-like sweetness akin to what I remember a Werther’s Originals tasting like. Upon further investigation, it would seem there is caramel in the ingredient list so that caramel is meant to be there and not my mind playing tricks on me. Anyways, the two sweet elements combined manage to not be overwhelming while also capturing pineapple cake. I think it is the lemongrass that reigns in the sweetness and perhaps the tiny bit of rosehips. In addition to the gentle herb-citrus quality of the lemongrass, there is a brighter orange note that underlines the sip. All the while, I think the barley gives this body and helps capture a breadiness/cereal note that provides a solid foundation for the other flavors.
The cold brew is a little less complex than the hot tea. The pineapple really takes over with a sprinkling of citrus throughout. The caramel is more just sweet than distinctly caramel and the barley is gone entirely. It is not bad but can border on cloying and mostly just feels familiar and done before. As a hot tea, it feels more unique.
All in all, I enjoy this tea, though my preferred method of brewing it would be hot. It is an interesting tea but given it has a fairly distinct flavor, at least as a hot tea, it is one I can see enjoying for a while but growing tired of it overtime. That is the problem with something that is so different flavorwise…it is fun for a while but easy to grow bored of. Still worth trying and enjoying at least for a little while.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: August Uncommon Tea
Description
This tea is not available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!