August Uncommon Teas

August Uncommon Tea is the work of Gina Zupsich and Aaron Shinn, a California couple who launched the company in 2013 after travels convinced them tea could be far more adventurous than what American shelves offered. Zupsich, a former French literature professor with a fascination for perfume, designs every blend around flavor and mood. Each one arrives with tasting notes and mood notes, and the small seasonal batches read like a well-curated playlist.

Gina Zupsich and Aaron Shinn, founders of August Uncommon Tea
Gina Zupsich and Aaron Shinn, founders of August Uncommon Tea

Meet the maker

The story behind August Uncommon Teas

August Uncommon Tea started with two people who were not tea professionals. Gina Zupsich was a French professor and Aaron Shinn a product designer, and they met in a Chicago bar. The early-2000s California culinary boom inspired their dinner and cocktail parties, which drew on chefs such as Ferran Adrià, Thomas Keller and Heston Blumenthal. Travel in Asia and Europe then introduced them to tea, from classics like Bai Mu Dan and Big Red Robe to the French tradition of blending for creativity and luxury.

  • Est. 2013
  • California
  • Small seasonal batches
  • Featured in The New York Times
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They wanted to free tea from the confines of health and tradition and make it a sensory, artistic experience in its own right. The result is blends built from unexpected combinations of fruit, smoke, spice, perfume and confections, each one designed around flavor. The first five teas launched in 2014, and Low Country, one of them, is still the company's bestseller. Since then August has collaborated with chefs and bartenders, including Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis of Bestia and Bavel, the Death & Co team and Salt & Straw, and has been covered by The New York Times, Bon Appétit and Food Network.

“Tea is a poetic experience full of story and emotion.”

August Uncommon Tea

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