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Whittard of Chelsea Tea Club Tea Subscription Box Review

25th November 2017
Whittard of Chelsea Tea Club Tea Subscription Box Review

I’ve really been loving tea subscription boxes recently, I love the convenience of awesome tea being delivered without me having to make any effort!

When I started my blog I never imagined that I’d get the opportunity to review Whittard of Chelsea tea, so I was crazily excited when they contacted me to see if I’d like to review their new Tea Club subscription boxes!

First Impressions

The first thing I noticed is how phenomenally their subscription boxes are presented! It’s really nice to see how much effort has gone into the look and feel of the subscription boxes. You receive a Whittard branded ‘tea chest’ with really cute brightly coloured envelopes, one with loose leaf tea bags if you prefer teabags and another with your tasting cards which include pictures of the tea, with information and how to brew it.

The tea sachets themselves are packaged in resealable bags with a printed tea card on the front and wrapped in patterned tissue paper.

Another really nice touch is a Whittard of Chelsea branded stainless steel tea measuring scoop, which is included with your first box so you always know you’re getting the perfect strength tea.

Overall this is one of the best presented tea deliveries I’ve ever received.

The Tea

Strawberry Mint

The first tea I tried was strawberry mint, a herbal infusion that is fantastic hot or cold. The smell of this tea is absolutely magical with a sweet succulent fresh strawberry aroma, and a refreshing mint vibe. The tea is made up mainly of Spearmint but with big chunks of freeze-dried strawberries.

When you add water the fragrance only become stronger and I was pleased to find that the flavour didn’t disappoint. The strawberries smell is so enticing but with a mint twist that isn’t overpowering and adds a really refreshing feel to the tea. Possibly my favourite strawberry tea ever!

Robert Fortune Blend

This is a black tea blend with a nice subtle fruitiness, alongside a traditional black tea flavour. I really enjoy the rich earthy tones of this tea and the fruitiness is great alongside this. I often find more traditional tasting tea a bit boring but this tea is far from boring! It’s a great tea when you want more of it traditional flavour but you want a little bit of excitement too!

Summer Pudding

Summer Pudding is another black tea based blend with a helping of fruitiness. The rich fruity smell bursts from the pack and really does have a pudding-like smell, I couldn’t wait to brew this tea and find out if the taste lived up to the fragrance. I was ecstatic to find out that this tea really tastes as good as it smells, I love to watch the whole berries flow around in the water as the tea steeps. The flavour is like a traditional black tea but with a vibrant Ribena twist, a really fantastic black tea!

Final Thoughts

I was really pleased to find that the Whittard Tea subscription box was amazing through and through! I loved the packaging, the presentation and the amazing teas.

If you’d like to try a Whittard of Chelsea tea subscription box you can find them on their website or you can also buy Summer Pudding, Robert Fortune Blend or Strawberry Mint individually.

A huge thank you to Whittard of Chelsea for sending me their first ’Tea Chest’, it’s been a fantastic experience and I can’t wait to see which teas come next!

If you’d like more from Russtea’s you can find me on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook!

Bye for now! xXx

Black Tea Green Tea Herbal Tea Matcha Rooibos Tea Reviews

TeaTourist Subscription Box Review

3rd March 2017

I’m extremely excited to share another awesome TeaTourist subscription box with you!

If you’re new to tea subscriptions TeaTourist is a great one to start with. You get 6 teas instead of the 4 that you usually get from other tea subscriptions. The packaging is beautiful and a joy to receive through the post, it also slips straight through your letterbox which is super convenient.

All 6 teas come with a brewing card which gives you some information about the tea and the company it comes from, as well as water temperature and brewing times. If you’re getting more immersed in the joys of tea I’d highly recommend a multi-temperature kettle to guarantee you enjoy your tea at its best.

Review Time!

Reggae Refresh – Born Wild Tea

This tea is a really interesting combo of different fruits, including banana chips! It has an exciting zingy mango aroma to it with a hint of banana, giving it a wonderful tropical feel.

The smell only gets more intense once you begin steeping it. It creates a beautiful yellow brew with a deeply satisfying lemongrass flavour, alongside a nice sweet fruitiness. I really enjoy the variation of tea that the TeaTourist subscription boxes offer and this tea is another fine example.

 

 


Pure Ceylon – Exclusivitea

I’m really addicted to flavoured tea, I find it most exciting and I’m always hunting for something new and unique. Every so often I’ll receive some unflavoured tea that blows me away and this is certainly an example of this.

I love the deep rich malty smell of this tea, it’s a tea you just want to cuddle up with a big mug of and enjoy the fragrance. It has a complex flavour, combining a deep maltyness with subtle earthy tones and a sweet aftertaste.

The tea leaf in Pure Ceylon is really fine so I found it slipped through some of my less fine holed infusers but that’s easily resolved 🙂

 

 


Recover Tea – Blendology

This was my least favourite tea in this months box, I’m really not a fan of herbal, floral or minty flavours and this combines them all. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a great tea, the ingredients are high quality and you get a generous amount, it’s just ‘not my cup of tea’😛

I did find that the second mug from each teabag is actually a lot more enjoyable and offers more refined floral flavours and also that this tea is better at lower temperatures. Overall it’s definitely an exciting and different tea which is all part of being a TeaTourist! 🙂

 

 


Rooibos Earl Grey – Tea Leaf London

This is the second rooibos earl grey infusion I’ve tried and it’s a flavour I always enjoy. I love rooibos and drink it a lot at night, I struggle to sleep a lot so rooibos is a perfect caffeine free fix.

The smell of this tea is incredible, it has a gorgeous citrusy fragrance that I could smell all day. I always find rooibos goes a long way and this is certainly the case with this tea. The amber colouring of steeped rooibos is always enjoyable to watch and looks fantastic in my glass teapot.

The citrusy flavour from the bergamot comes through nicely without being overpowering. I like that you can still definitely taste and enjoy the nutty rooibos alongside the citrus tones.

 

 


Gunpowder – Morgan’s Brew Tea Company

I LOVE green tea, it may even be my favourite kind of tea! I love the vegetal flavour, the slight zing and the crispness of gunpowder tea and this tea definitely embodies these qualities. The portion of this tea is particularly generous given how much flavour erupts from a small amount.

The leaf is really nice quality with a deep green colour, it’s a joy to watch the leaves unfurl as the water turns a stunning golden colour. The tea has an addictive crisp vegetal flavour and a nice zing after every mouthful. This is definitely one of my favourites from this box!

 

 


Matcha – Teaologists

I was absolutely thrilled to find matcha in this box. Matcha is one of my favourite things in the world, I drink it every morning with my breakfast and often have another bowl with lunch. The inclusion of matcha in a tea subscription box is definitely something I haven’t seen before and a really unique idea from TeaTourist.

The matcha is packaged in a little tin and knowing how expensive matcha often is I was pleasantly surprised by how generous the sample was.

I love to see the vivid bright green colour of good quality matcha like this matcha from Teaologists. It froths up nicely and blends well for a smooth and easy to prepare treat. This matcha has the enjoyable vegetal, slightly savoury tones as well as the sweeter umami flavours that are only found in higher ceremonial grade matcha. This is an excellent inclusion by TeaTourist 😀

 

Final Thoughts

I loved the this box, it’s probably my favourite so far! The inclusion of the matcha leaves me excited to see the other unique blends TeaTourist include in future boxes. I’ll have a review of the next TeaTourist box up on my blog soon, I’m a little behind as I’ve been crazily busy at work and with uni but it’ll be up ASAP 🙂

If you haven’t tried a tea subscription box yet I’d highly recommend choosing TeaTourist as your first tea subscription, take a look at their website for more info. TeaTourist have even been awesome enough to provide a discount code for my readers to get 30% off their first box, simply use RUSSTEAS30 at checkout!

A big thank you to TeaTourist for sending me this box to review, I’ve really enjoyed it 😀

Thanks for taking the time to read my review. If you’d like to talk tea or get regular updates from my blog you can find me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook and sign up to my mailing list below.

Bye for now! xXx

Black Tea Chai Fruit Tea Green Tea Oolong Rooibos Tea Reviews White Tea

Teatourist Tea Subscription Boxes Reviewed

3rd January 2017

I’ve been interested in signing up for a tea subscription box for a while and have tried one or two in the past. I’m always on the look out for new tea so it really makes sense for me to have a selection delivered each month, plus it’s incredibly exciting!

Teatourist were lovely enough to send me a couple of their boxes for November & December so I thought I’d do a review of my experience and a run down of the 6 teas in each box. Read on to find out how I got on! I also have a discount code to get 30% off your first box which you can find further down the review 🙂 

 Review Time!

When the box arrived I was so excited, it fit straight through my door and was waiting for me when I woke up! The packaging is really classy with a box inside a slipcover and the inside of the lid has a stunning hot air balloon photo, it’s a lovely image to see when I dive in for my next tea to try!

I was pleasantly surprised to find 6 teas inside, in the past I’ve only found 3 or 4 teas in subscription boxes so 6 is definitely appreciated. Each tea comes sealed with a card attached with a little bit about the company the blend is from and instructions for steeping, the instructions are really clear so this would be a great introduction to the world of tea for any newcomer.

The selection each month is extremely varied, with herbal blends, black tea, oolong, white tea and rooibos all making an appearance.

 

November Box

Orange Blossom Oolong – Easy Teasy

The first tea I knew I had to try from the November box was Orange Blossom Oolong. I’m a huge Oolong fan, it’s always refreshing and pairs well with a lot of flavours, there’s not much Oolong I don’t like and there’s also not much Oolong I like as much as Orange Blossom Oolong!

The orangey smell was inviting the second I opened the packet, I knew this was gonna be good! The orange flavour is a sweet orange rather than a citrusy orange which lends itself perfectly to an Oolong blend. It almost has a chocolatey hint to it as well, I couldn’t help thinking of Terry’s Chocolate Orange when I was drinking it, there’s also an enjoyable earl grey vibe to it.

 

Malawi Peony – Baraka Teas

This was another blend I was really excited about, I adore white peony and was particularly intrigued by the large leaves! Other white peony I’ve tried has had smaller leaves so it was nice to see it in a more natural form, you could imagine this tea being freshly picked for this blend.

Malawi Peony has a nice fresh aroma to it, while steeping it I was entranced by the large leaves swirling around. I enjoyed the crisp delicate flavour of this tea immensely, it was one of the first from the November box to run out!

 

Tummy Rub – Tea Box

This tea is a herbal blend containing fennel, chamomile, liquorice and mint. These are ingredients known to calm you down and ease an upset stomach.

I found that the flavour of this tea wasn’t amazing for me personally, I have a bit of a dislike of liquorice flavoured tea but I really enjoyed the chamomile element. Despite not being a huge fan of the flavour I did find it calming and especially good before bedtime and I had fun trying something different so overall a positive experience 🙂

 

Yoga Tea – T-Tox

The stand out flavours of this tea are the white tea and a candy sweet rose flavouring. The delicate flavour of the white tea has been blended with the rose petals perfectly, I was glad the rose didn’t overpower the white tea at all.

There’s also a hint of ginger and lemongrass that add a subtle but enjoyable flavour and nettle, known for it’s antiseptic properties. I found this tea was really economical and as it’s quite fine there really was a lot of cups of tea in the sachet.

 

Peppermint – Cheshire Tea

This tea blend comes all the way from the USA! I’m not the biggest fan of mint tea usually, I always feel that they’re overly minty and a bit harsh tasting. This mint tea is different! The sweeter peppermint flavours really come through, creating an enjoyably fresh experience.

Mint tea is known to be beneficial for digestion, it’s great for easing tummy cramps, giving this tea a medicinal purpose too. I really appreciate that this tea is so pure, it’s literally one ingredient: peppermint!

 

Japanese Kukicha – Shibui Tea

This tea comes from Shibui, a tea company I’ve previously reviewed not too long ago. I loved their tea the first time round, their caramel oolong and maple walnut are two of the most memorable teas I’ve ever had! You can find my shibui tea haul review here.

I must admit that I’m quite new to kukicha, having only had it one other time from Adagio. A huge difference I noticed straight away with this kukicha is its black, despite being a green tea. Kukicha is made up of the left over stems and twiggy parts of the tea plant that aren’t used, the last kukicha I had was a hay like pale green. This kukicha from Shibui has a slightly roasted flavour which is enjoyably unique and warming, making it perfect for cold winter nights!

 

December Box

Gingerbread Chai – Tugboat Brew

First up in this box is Gingerbread Chai! I’ve had another Rooibos based Gingerbread Chai from one of my favourite ever tea companies, my regular readers will know who! 😉

This tea is fairly similar but has a sweeter, less spicy flavour which makes it more of a naughty dessert-like tea. As soon as you steep this tea the smell erupts in to the room, filling it with a cakey gingerbread flavour. It’s a really economical tea, with a little tea turning your water to a beautiful amber.

 


Winter Spice – Chash The Fine Tea Company

This blend was one I wasn’t crazy about, it had quite a medicinal smell to it with strong aniseed and fennel aromas. Upon steeping I found that it was a very unique blend with a sweet aftertaste from the liquorice, I was also happy to find that the mint wasn’t overpowering.

I’m not really a fan of herbal teas but I’d recommend this tea if you like more herbal flavours or are looking for something new to broaden your horizons!

 


Shiraore Green – Momo Cha Fine Teas

I loved this blend! It smells so fresh and natural while instantly turning the water a vibrant green colour. The flavour is so pure and really refreshing, it has a really delicate vibe to it with an exciting zing.

Shiaore Green is one of those blends that I’d really describe as being creamy, before being obsessed with tea I would never of understood someone referring to tea with no milk as creamy but it really is! I’d highly recommend this tea and am excited to explore the range of tea this brand has to offer!

 


Marzipan Rooibos – Hoogly Tea

I just don’t know where to begin with this beautiful blend! As soon as I opened the December box and saw marzipan I couldn’t wait to try it. I’m a big drinker of rooibos, I love drinking it at night instead of fruit tea all the time. I’ve found some really exciting flavours out there, this is definitely a contender for the best rooibos I’ve tried!

It smells just like battenburg cake, with a sweet cakey almond aroma, as the water hits the tea you can smell this tea throughout the house! I love the marzipan taste with the nutty rooibos, this is an epic find by Tea Tourist 😃

 


Citrus Ginger

I’m not a big fan of ginger tea when it’s more herbal, spicy ginger and not a sweet dessert blend. I was quite sceptical about this tea as I have a soft spot for sweet tea blends so this isn’t a tea I would usually go for.

I decided to go for it and see if this tea would surprise me! It’s definitely a blend that will wake you up in the morning, with a real zing from the citrus and instant alertness from the ginger. It was one of my least favourite teas but it was made up of good quality ingredients and definitely something different to add some extra excitement to the December box! 😊

 

Scotch Acorns – Nothing But Tea

The smell of this tea is heavenly, with sweet chocolate notes and high quality black tea combined beautifully. The flavour is another awesome combo, the black tea flavour is perfect with a small chocolate hint, making this tea fantastic as a guilt free treat.

It’s also a tea that is very economical when used in a tea bottle, it doesn’t over infuse too much if you leave it in and doesn’t take much tea at all to make a bottle full. I’ve recently been enjoying a new tea bottle, it’s really good quality and the neoprene handle is convenient for hot drinks 🙂

 

Final Thoughts

I’ve loved my experience with the TeaTourist subscription! It’s super convenient, straight through your door and with a large selection of very different teas.

You also get 6 teas each month which is really good value at this price and the amount of tea in each sachet is very generous. To make these TeaTourist teas go even further you could consider a tea bottle of some kind, I’ve written a Top 10 Tea Bottles post that’s a great place to start if you’re looking for a tea bottle.

The subscription service is perfect for tea bloggers as you’ll be served with 6 new teas to review each month and 6 new tea companies to check out 😀

Teatourist have given me an extremely generous discount code for my readers to get 30% off their first subscription box! simply use the code RUSSTEAS30 and you’ll receive the discount off your first box!

A huge thanks to TeaTourist for sending me these month’s subscriptions!

Bye for now! xXx

 

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Black Tea Green Tea

Tea Time Tea Subscription Reviewed!

16th November 2015

Recently Tea Time sent one of their monthly subscription boxes for me to review. Tea Time is a tea subscription service that delivers you amazing health-focused tea each month. The tea was received in a slim white box which fit through my letterbox perfectly. A nice touch is the inclusion of some empty teabags you can fill if required, which offers the best of both worlds.

Inside there were three pots of tea – Lemune Superboost, Jasmin Pearl Zen and Tummy Tonic, for only £4.95!
Also included was a flowering tea, which is a small ball that you drop in to a teapot, the ball then opens up and grows in to a flower and infuses the water at the same time!

 

Lemune Superboost
Lemon
 This smelt divine! As soon as the water hit the dry tea you could smell the lemongrass. It brings back fond memories of a local Thai restaurant, that I visit a lot with my partner. The leaf was nice and fresh with no powder or small bits and it goes a really long way using an infuser so it’s very economical. I really liked the inclusion of whole goji berries which added a really refreshing zing but without sharpness, as well as notable superfood health benefits. The smell the entire time you drink is incredible and you become immersed in a magical lemony mist with every sip.

 

Jasmin Pearl Zen
 Jasmin
This tea was definitely my favourite out of the three teas I received. This also had nice sized leaf which opened up impressively once infused and it’s really nice to see such good quality jasmin. It has a strong healthy Jasmine scent with a flavour to match, this tea is perfect for leisurely sipping, as the jasmin flavour dances around on your tongue. The flavour overall is refined but clearly has the Jasmine tones, without being overpowering and I loved to watch the dragon pearls unfurl in the mug at the end of a busy day 🙂

 

Tummy Tonic
 Tummy Tonic
I think out of the three teas I received tummy tonic was probably my least favourite, it wasn’t really bad but just not my ‘my cup of tea’. I’ve never really been a fan of mint tea I find it is not sweet enough and it always reminds me of toothpaste. When you open the poy there’s still good quality leaf, with a definite mintyness which is the dominant flavour when you drink it. If you like mint tea this would definitely be a wise choice for you.
One thing I did notice about this tea is one day I had indigestion and a slightly upset stomach so I decided to drink this and test out it’s health benefits. I did find it really helped and quickly settled my stomach. I think despite the flavour not being totally perfect for me, I ‘ll keep a stash of this and ration it to use when I next have an upset stomach, which thankfully is very rare 😛

 

The packaging was really good and clearly labelled, I love the addition of the symbology guide inside the lid of the box, it shows you what the symbols on the lid of each pot of tea mean. Such as whether the blend is decaffeinated, how many servings per pot and also if it can be reinfused. The only info I felt was missing from the packaging is the temperature at which each tea has to be a infused, this is especially important with any teas that contain green or white tea.

Overall I really enjoyed the service and the variation of tea in the subscription box. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants new and unique tea without having to hunt it down yourself. You really can’t go wrong for the price as well, £4.50 per box, which is far less than rival tea subscriptions!

The flowering tea is a really nice addition to the box. I love flowering tea as it’s a really good centre piece for any occasion and always impresses guests!

Be sure to check out Tea Time’s website! 🙂

If you have any questions please contact me either via the comments below, email or Twitter. I’d like to say a big thank you to Tea Time for sending me their subscription box and I hope that my feedback is helpful.

Bye for now! xXx
Black Tea Fruit Tea Iced Tea Rooibos

My First Tea Sparrow Tea Subscription Reviewed and Taste Tested!

29th August 2015

Tea Sparrow were kind enough to send me a monthly subscription box this month which I’m thrilled to be able to review for you all today. You can find out more about Tea Sparrow on their website.

I’m happy to share my pictures with you as I cover these four fantastic teas, read on to find out why a tea subscription service could be perfect for you!

All of the teas included by Tea Sparrow over the summer months are teas that are also great iced, this is a really nice idea to keep the subscription service exciting over the summer months.

The parcel arrived and it fitted straight through my letter box in a nice smart brown box. Inside were 4 very different teas, this months selection is Earl Grey Vanilla Rooibos, Pineapple Coconut Oolong, Citrus Sunburst and Mandarin Rose Tea. I also received a nice note explaining how to get the best out of the Oolong tea included in this months subscription, which is a really nice touch 🙂 All four teas are from different sources so the variety is great and they aren’t in any way similar, I’ll cover them in more detail below!

 

Earl Grey Vanilla Rooibos

Earl Grey Vanilla Rooibos

This tea is from Aromatica Fine Teas and is really special! When I first began relentless tea drinking I wasn’t really a fan of Rooibos, I found it a bit sickly but I’ve had some truly great rooibos since then and this is one of them!

It smells fantastic, like sweets or dessert and the smell fills the room as soon as the water hits the fiery red leaf. The Earl Grey flavour is very definitely there and works amazingly as the vanilla sweetness swirls around with the bergamot. This tea is a beautiful colour and would be perfect to share with friends in glass teaware.

Earl Grey Vanilla Rooibos is also very economical and the amount provided by Tea Sparrow will be enough to enjoy this tea many times, I’m on about mug 10 and still have a lot left!

 

Mandarin Rose Loose

Mandarin Rose

Mandarin Rose

Mandarin Rose is sourced from Mighty Leaf Tea. I was a little skeptical about this tea as I’m really not a fan of floral tasting tea but it actually is pretty amazing. Upon opening the packet I was greeted with a burst of a sweet rose smell just like Turkish Delight which I love! The rose petals are a nice size and a beautiful pink colour, paired with high quality black tea leaf. This tea kinda tastes just like a liquid Turkish Delight, and I think because it has a black tea base the rose element isn’t too overpowering.

I also tried this tea iced on one of the few sunny hours this summer and it was AMAZING, the smell becomes sugary sweet when it’s iced and provides the perfect refreshment on a hot day. I took the opportunity to get my Kilner mug set out and drink through a stripy straw, I’ve gotta say it tastes even better through a straw! :p

 

Close up Iced

Citrus Sunburst

This fruit blend is from Tiesta Tea and is another great choice by Tea Sparrow. The smell is mainly citrus but with beautiful berry notes in the background, it smells amazing loose.

When I first added the water it turned a luxurious deep red colour. It smells literally intoxicating when it’s steeping, I found my self hovering over the mug breathing it in as it brewed. It has a multi-layered flavour that’s expertly created using a combination of the sweet berry element with the citrus tone.

Next I decided to take this tea for a spin iced and I’m so glad I did! I used two teaspoons which was enough to fill my bottle and I was also able to refill it from half full to get even more use out of it. It’s so refreshing as the pomegranate and apple flavours bubble to the surface while the citrus seems to take a slightly more refined approach than when hot.

 

Pineapple Coconut Oolong Loose

Front

Top Down

Pineapple Coconut Oolong

I’ve saved the best until last! This tea has been created by Samovar Tea and I can honestly say it is one of the best teas I’ve ever tasted, Tea Sparrow really flexed their curating muscles with this one! 😀

I opened the packet and there was an outburst of a birthday cake like smell, I’m not really sure why as pineapple and coconut aren’t traditionally birthday cakey, either way this is a smell you need in your life! I decided to go all out and invite my favourite ‘special occasion’  teapot to the party. The prepared tea is a nice pale liquid that I still feel smells of vanillary cake, it’s also massively economical as you can brew the leaves 3 to 4 times and experience the full range of flavours this oolong offers.

I LOVE this tea, often tropical flavoured teas have way too much pineapple in them and the other flavours don’t get a look-in but this is different, the pineapple and coconut waltz across your tongue in perfect harmony. I urge you to try this fantastic creation, you won’t be disappointed!

 

Final Thoughts

I’ve been looking at tea subscription boxes for a while now and always felt that I’d need to find somewhere that I could trust to only send me good, enjoyable teas. Tea Sparrow are that company, all four of these teas are beautiful and the presentation and variation of this subscription box really shows that this service will provide you with expertly curated teas, from sources you probably wouldn’t ever find on your own. The amount of each tea provided is very generous and really will go a long way, Tea Sparrow’s service is actually really great value based on the quantity and quality of the tea you will receive.

Ask yourself, what could be better than a box bursting with character-filled teas arriving once a month, without you having to hunt for them yourself?

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review, I had so much fun with these teas and loved writing this review. I also had so much fun taking the pictures, these teas were deserving of my favourite teaphernalia 🙂

Thanks for reading! xXx

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