Cuppa Cool: Poetic Melodies

As an avid tea drinker, teatime has been a part of my lifestyle and started in my childhood. Having afternoon tea with my family and looking forward to going to tearooms to meet my nan was always a great experience. When I got older, I started to venture out into new tea flavours, to be honest, it invariably resulted back to classic favourites like Earl Grey, and English Breakfast. Correction: with the exception of French lavender-infused Earl Grey, which is absolutely amazing by the way.

In the past, my regular tea selections were pretty much traditional and constant. However, as you may know by now when it comes to fashion and food, I do tend to lean toward bold, luxe, and vibrant threads as well as unconventional flavours. So, when I came across August Uncommon Tea (AUT) I was very firstly intrigued by their tea selections.

From the initial aroma of the first package of tea opened, I knew it was going to be something quite unique. Tea for us is just as much about the experience as making the perfect espresso drink for guests, or sometimes even choosing the right table linens.

AUT offers special sets, including the Completist, and the Starter kit. We tried August’s Starter Kit over the holidays with a small group of friends for an evening of tea tasting. This kit included the current fall-winter collection: Leatherbound, Mood Indigo, Tropic of Capricorn, Nighthawks, and Veins of Gold.

Flavours: They really had me at the great tea titles, namely “Mood Indigo,” and “Veins of Gold.” With names like those, I had high hopes of the tea living up to its bold captions. Fortunately, the collection did not disappoint.

One of my favourites was definitely Mood Indigo. It’s the perfect unity of smouldering fruit, and charming notes of herbal liqueur. Savour it as you’re enjoying your favourite vintage vinyl record of soulful rhythms at night. After trying it out first, I almost did not want to share the rest. Yes, it’s that good. The flavour transports you to an urbane lounge, and taking a bite out of a sweet orange right on the barbie.

My least favourite was probably Nighthawks, the label says it’s “an organic Darjeeling style black tea from Nepal.” It was good in taste, but not as exciting for me, despite that it was favoured by others. The package says that it tastes like “dark oak, dried roses, and red bordeaux”— all things that I love but, I reckon the other tea flavours captivated my taste buds more.

For rooibos fans, Veins of Gold will strike a chord nicely with you. It’s caffeine free and embodies classic holiday flavours of chocolate, and a dash of nutmeg. We paired it with a Grand Marnier cake that I made. Obviously, it’s also perfect with your biscuit of preference.

The most surprisingly addicting flavour though goes to Tropic of Capricorn, a fragrant green tea enveloped in eucalyptus leaves, and dragonfruit. This tea comes in at number one alongside Mood Indigo for us, we tried both flavours hot and iced, and enjoyed it.

Leatherbound reminded me of baking flavours from my childhood. It’s smooth and satisfying tea that’s comforting by the sip. This bold black tea has organic dark cocoa, and organic caraway. It’s the tea that you’d drink whilst being engrossed in a great novel.

Based in Los Angeles, Calif., the brand’s mission is to provide fine tea options in a diverse range to contemporary tea enthusiasts without compromising quality. The loose teas are sourced and skilfully blended in Germany.

Packaging: Onyx box with Mint hued accents and branded label. Overall: a simple, polished, and luxe aesthetic. The Fall-Winter 2015 Starter Kit comes with a one-cup tea infuser, brewing guide, a scoop, and 4-serving resealable bags (five tea flavours) that make up 20 cups of tea.

For the collection jars of tea, they come individually in matte black 100g tins.

If you fancy quality flavoured tea or know someone who appreciates the unconventional, then I’d suggest the starter kit. The brand ships worldwide, so it’s a win-win! We also tried our hand at mixing some of the teas with spirits, which resulted in a few marvellous concoctions.

The goods: Starter Kit: Fall-Winter 2015 Collection-Courtesy of August Uncommon Tea. For more info. on how to brew visit Augus.la, Eco-friendly “Helga” table linens and Snösiska printed napkins-c/o Gudrun Sjoden. 

Have you tried flavoured tea? What do you think of August Uncommon Tea?