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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 Oolong Tea Reviews

Bruu The Gourmet Tea Club Subscription Box Review

21st June 2017

My obsession with tea subscription boxes has grown a lot over the last few months so I was excited when I found Bruu The Gourmet Tea Club.

I asked if they’d send me a box to review for you guys and they were happy to!

The Bruu subscription boxes are shipped for free and flat enough to slip straight through your letterbox which is super convenient. There’s three different teas included each month, expertly selected from over 1000 blends. Each month is £10 with discounts available if you sign up for multiple months at once and you’ll get up to 40 cups from each box. You can cancel or pause your membership at any time which makes it especially convenient.

I particularly like the transparent Bruu logos on each pack with the tea showing through, adds a nice dash of colour and a peek at the tea inside!

Review Time

Orangey Green

I love the name of this blend and I love green tea so I knew this would be the blend I’d try first! This blend has a classic green tea flavour with a “orangey” twist but I like that the orange isn’t overpowering. Often citrus blends are too citrusy and green tea based teas that are flavoured or blended sometimes lose the green tea flavour.I was pleased to find that Orangey Green doesn’t suffer from this at all, the flavour is predominantly green tea but the orange vibe is definitely there as well.

I’ve enjoyed drinking this in the warm summer evenings recently. It’s perfect to drink once the temperature cools in the evenings, the orange provides refreshment when you need it most! 😀


 

The Ministers Earl Grey

Earl Grey is one of my least favourite teas, which people are always surprised about because everyone else seems to love it! I’m still always intrigued by Earl Grey’s when I receive them because I always wonder if I’ll find one I love.

The first thing I noticed about The Ministers Earl Grey is how amazingly blue the cornflowers are, they really pop against the black Assam and Ceylon leaves. I couldn’t wait to take my photos and pair them with another vivid colour, I was pleased that the colour comes across well in the photos 🙂

As far as Earl Grey goes this is one of the better ones I’ve tried, I like that the bergamot flavour is a bit more subdued than others, so I could still enjoy the Assam and Ceylon in all their glory. Overall not my favourite kind of tea but it’s super pretty and if you love Earl Grey I’m sure you’ll love this!


 

Earthy Oolong

I’m a huge oolong fan, it’s one of my all time favourites so I was excited to see an oolong included in my subscription box from Bruu!😃 It’s always a treat to watch the oolong leaves unfurl in beautiful glass teaware, I especially love the golden liquor this tea produces.

The flavour is quite a dry earthy oolong but with an addictive subtly sweet aftertaste that I’ve enjoyed over and over. Oolong lends itself well to multiple infusions, meaning it’s a very economical cuppa. I love how cozy this oolong is, it’s perfect to fill your teapot with and enjoy during a Netflix session!


Final Thoughts

I’ve really enjoyed this subscription box from Bruu, the variation of the three teas was amazing and it’s definitely one of the cheaper tea subscription boxes out there so it’s good value as well. A massive thanks goes to Bruu for sending me this box to review!

If you’d like to try a Bruu subscription box for yourself you can find out more on their website.

Thanks for reading my review, if you’d like more from Russtea’s you can find me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram!

Bye for now! xXx

Black Tea Chai Fruit Tea Green Tea Herbal Tea Rooibos Tea Reviews

TeaTourist March Subscription Box Review

19th April 2017

I’ve been lucky enough to receive the March tea subscription box from the amazing people over at TeaTourist to try out and I obv had to share the experience with you guys! 😀

If you’d like to try exciting new tea each month then a tea subscription box is a good place to start and a TeaTourist tea subscription box is the BEST place to start! Each month you’ll receive a super exciting and varied selection of 6 teas with generous portions of each.

I especially love the TeaTourist service because I can find out about a new handful of tea companies each month without having to hunt them down myself, super convenient for tea bloggers!

Be sure to read on to find a voucher to get 30% off your first box!

Review Time!

Rose & Strawberry Red Bush – Spice Kitchen

First up is Rose Strawberry Red Bush, an exciting and unique rooibos based blend. The smell of this tea really blew me away, it literally smells like strawberry laces that I had as a kid, I knew straight away that this tea would be special.

It’s always nice to see flavours blended together that are a bit different, the rose and strawberry flavours in this tea are a fine example of this. The sweetness of the strawberry is immensely addictive and I really enjoyed the rose notes too. One of the best of this month’s box 😀

 

Mulled Apple – Nothing But Tea

I was immediately drawn to this tea by it’s candy apple fragrance and the warming spicy element. It’s always nice to see good quality, nicely sized apple pieces and the pretty yellow flowers are mighty inviting.

The apple flavours are most noticeable but the slight spicyness makes this tea perfect to cuddle up with on a cool Spring evening and dream of the warmer weather of the summer ahead. Another fantastic find!

 

Chocolate Orange – Nelson & Norfolk Tea Co.

I was ecstatic to see this blend in this months box, who doesn’t love a chocolate-orange combo!?

I’ve found in the past that chocolate teas can be a bit of a let down, the promise of chocolate heaven often doesn’t carry across well. Thanks to the overload of chocolate goodness added to this blend it doesn’t at all suffer from a lack of chocolate flavour.

The ingredients include cacao beans, cocoa nibs, cocoa shells AND chocolate chips, it couldn’t get any more chocolatey if it tried! The addition of the orange flavour alongside the chocolate is superb, an all round delight 🙂

 

Wilderness Honeybush – Leopard Friendly

I looked forward to trying this blend as it’s pretty unique, as can be expected from nearly all of TeaTourist’s picks. I hadn’t had honeybush tea before so I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was pretty awesome! It didn’t have the standout flavours of some of the other teas in this months box but I still thoroughly enjoyed it, it reminded me of rooibos but a little less nutty and more earthy.

A good choice if you’re looking for something you haven’t tried before and tend to not be a fan of crazily flavoured tea, preferring more wholesome and natural blends instead.

 

Tumeric Chai – Chai Kai Tea Co.

I’m a big chai fan, I adore chai lattes either from Starbucks or made at home with A LOT less sugar! 😉 I’ve been enjoying turmeric matcha the last few months which I love so I was excited to see what this tea had to offer.

I was a bit hesitant when first smelling this tea but the flavour was awesome! It has a really nice chai spiced flavour to it with a sweet turmeric and coconut combo that had me coming back for more time after time 😀

The turmeric twist ensures this is a tea that’s always at the front of your tea cupboard!

Turmeric is also being hailed as a cure-all at the moment (it’s like matcha a year ago :p) so the health benefits are an added bonus!

 

Honey Lemon – Teagime

Honey and lemon is a road well travelled in the tea world but that doesn’t mean it can’t be awesome! This tea smells almost medicinal before it’s steeped but it’s watered down (literally :p) when you brew it, causing a beautiful honey lemon fragrance to waft through the kitchen.

The flavour is smooth with a rich honey taste blended with just the right amount of lemon, without it being too citrusy. I feel like this tea would be perfect to cuddle up with and soothe a cold but that doesn’t mean you can’t cuddle up with it if you don’t have a cold! Overall a really good blend that I’ve definitely found myself drinking a lot of.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for taking the time to read my review of this months TeaTourist subscription box. A massive thanks to the guys and girls at TeaTourist for sending me this box to review.

If you’d like to read more posts from my blog you can join my mailing list below and be sure to follow me on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook. I’ve got some amazing competitions coming up that you won’t want to miss! 😉

To get 30% off your first TeaTourist subscription box and go on a tea adventure yourself use code Russteas30 on the TeaTourist website.

Bye for now! xXx