So, last month I decided I was going to do something a little different tea wise and try a subscription service: I’ve been gifted a few three month long ones in the past but personally I’ve never signed up for one.
The one I chose was the “Sipsby Box” – which you can check out here: www.sipsby.com
What interested me was the fact that they curate a custom box for you based on a quiz you fill out; and the quiz is actually pretty in depth too. It goes through how you make your tea (teabags, loose, iced, latte, Western, Gong Fu, matcha), how much tea you consume, caffeine preferences, flavour/ingredient preferences, do you like straight or flavoured teas, etc.
Like, there’s A LOT of questions.
Then, based on all the information you in put they send you a box every month of four different teas hand chosen from a mix of the approx. 30 different tea companies they’re partnered with. This month, I received teas from The Tea Spot, Camellia Teas, West China Tea Company, and Nepal Tea. Some of the other companies they work with though include (but are not limited to): Harney & Sons, White2Tea, Terroir Tea Merchant, Teapigs, Rishi, Yunomi, and others.
I have to say for my first box, I’m pretty impressed! The thing I was looking for the most in my custom box was to see if they included any of the things I specifically said I wasn’t interested in, since the list of stuff I was open to was pretty general/large. The only things I said I specifically WASN’T interested in were: green teas, Chai/heavily spiced teas, and bagged teas. I also have Sheng pu’erh listed as low interest, but not opposed to. Other than that, I really didn’t care. Like sure, I indicated some of the flavours that I prefer but I didn’t rule anything else out. I was also open to all different caffeine types, straight or flavoured teas, Western or Gong Fu brewing, hot or iced/cold brewed teas, and things for latteing. So, there was a lot for them to work with.
I actually did not get anything I had ruled out though; so that’s great! What I did end up with was two straight teas; a Shou Pu’erh specifically recommended for Gong Fu style brewing, and a Nepalese Oolong – and two flavoured teas; this one (which they recommended as a latte) and a caffeine free rooibos blend with coconut and lavender. So, it’s a pretty diverse mix of teas as well! Three out of four were also from tea companies I’ve never tried/ordered from before as well. This tea is the one exception, as I’ve actually had it before in the past. That said, I actually liked it a lot when I did have it so it’s a good choice! I’m really excited to dig in the other three though, and see what I think.
Finally, once you receive your box there’s a section on the website that displays the teas you received for the month and allows you to rank each tea you received on a 1/5 scales, as well as give feedback for the overall box and adjust any of your flavour preferences as you see fit. From there, the subscription company learns more about your preferences so that it can improve the selection they give you next month!
I think I’m probably going to do at least three months worth of teas; I feel like that’s going to be enough to give me a sense of the range of teas offered/available as well as see if the company can consistently keep things I’ve indicated no interest in out of my subscription boxes. Plus, it gives them a while to learn about me and my preferences, as well. So, two more months to go! Lets see what happens.
As for this mug of tea? Well, I made it with a splash of milk and it was pretty damn delicious! Like I said, I’ve definitely had it before so I did know what I was getting into flavour wise. It’s a very, very rich/intense dark chocolate fudge/truffle sort of flavour with some great earthy undertones from the pu’erh that’s blended into it.
Anyone who’s been following my reviews for a while knows that I’m not normally a chocolate tea person, especially when it’s just chocolate without any other flavours to contrast against it but this is one of those very rare exceptions. It’s just so well balanced, and it’s chocolatey without being overly sweet or bitter and most importantly it DOESN’T use chocolate chips! Chocolate chips are the biggest deal breaker for me in terms of chocolate teas; they melt down and create an AWFUL mouthfeel that’s just oily and gross. This is thick, and velvety! Really, really pleasant.
It’s definitely been a long while since I last had this one, but I’m excited to have it back in my cupboard again!
That sounds like a really interesting service!