Portraits by Dustin Edward Arnold
Why we left our careers to make tea
Drinking is what brought us together in a dimly-lit Chicago bar. It was the beginning of our quest for extraordinary flavor.
The culinary innovation boom of early 2000s California inspired us. People were beginning to take eating and drinking seriously, and did so with great sophistication and creative energy. Our dinner and cocktail parties took inspiration from traditional cuisine and the outlandish creations of Ferrán Adria, Thomas Keller and Heston Blumenthal. With neighbors like Blue Bottle Coffee and Bourbon and Branch, we dreamed of making a mark on this exciting new culinary map.
Our travels in Asia and Europe introduced us to an unexpected frontier of flavor: tea. We came to appreciate the elegance of traditional teas like Bai Mu Dan, Big Red Robe, Gyokuro, and Margaret’s Hope. We discovered a vast range of unique flavors in tea created by terroir and finishing techniques. French tea, with its focus on creativity and luxury, had a great influence on our blending philosophy.
Compared most American tea brands, our approach was totally avant-garde. We wanted to liberate tea from the confines of health and tradition in order to become a sensorial, artistic experience in its own right.
What we envisioned seemed preposterous. After all, we were a French professor and product designer, not chefs or tea masters. And yet, we were confident that our ideas about tea could lead to a flavor revolution. Such an outsider perspective on flavor and aesthetics made it possible to create a tea brand unlike the others: tea with unbound creativity in flavor and packaging, tea with poetry, story, and pleasure.
August Uncommon Tea is 100% focused on flavor, scientific brewing and artistic expression. Our tea blends are unexpected combinations of fruit, smoke, spice, perfume and confections you will not encounter anywhere else.
In 2014, we launched August’s first 5 teas. Low Country was one of those 5 and it remains our runaway bestseller. Soon after came press features in the New York Times, Bon Appétit, and the Food Network. We’ve collaborated with incredible chefs and bartenders like chef Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis of Bestia and Bavel, the Death and Co team, cult ice cream brand Salt & Straw, and Michelin-starred chef April Bloomfield at Hearth and Hound, Funke, Reverie.
Our philosophy
-
Flavor is everything
-
Tea unites our senses with beautiful leaves, elegant brewing, thrilling aroma and flavor
-
Breaking tradition creates an opportunity for new delight
-
Tea is a poetic experience full of story and emotion
-
August aims to inspire people in their own flavor adventure
