Review: February Tea Sparrow

Here she is!

So, my Tea Sparrow package arrived a few days ago. They're apparently all shipped out on the 17th every month, but it took about three days to reach me, two hours' drive away. Got to love the Canadian postal system!

Anyway, for my very first Tea Sparrow review, I'll go over the packaging. After this, unless I mention any changes, just assume it's the exact same.

The back of the box, with the cute logo.

There were two cards in the box: one (the green) with the introduction on the front, and Tea Sparrow Tea Tips on the back, and a coupon for $15 towards any purchase from pantybypost.com. I checked it out, and it's apparently a subscription service that "delivers premium panties for about $15 a month... right to your door." On the actual website, I did find underwear for men, but they were quite boring. Additionally, after I'd been on the site for 5 minutes, it all inexplicably turned to Russian. Same site, only... Russian. I hadn't done anything to request this change so I suppose it's something they do to keep things exciting, or maybe it's a glitch. Anyway, I decided that pantybypost is not for me at this time. Still, it's a nice thought, I suppose. Discounts and freebies are always appreciated.

From left to right: Organic White Rose by Numi; Lavender Earl Grey by Rishi; Strawberry Champagne by Tea Desire, and Organic Chai Rooibos by Gathering Place.

The tea packets were nicely and economically wrapped in brown tissue, and arrived in perfect condition. I didn't smell anything upon opening the box, but sniffing the tops of the envelopes, I caught some scent, particularly of the Strawberry Champagne, which smelled absolutely amazing. Of course, that was the tea I chose to try first.

Note: Both my partner and I tried all the teas except for the Lavender Earl Grey, as my partner, who normally has pretty good taste, for whatever reason does not like Earl Grey. Well, more for me. Anyway, we tried them over several days, so that each one was tried fairly. The results are our compiled notes (well, mainly mine; my partner mostly said, "Mmm, nice.")

Strawberry Champagne by Tea Desire:

Look at this. Gorgeous!

Ingredients: Sencha green tea, carrot pieces, pineapple pieces (pineapple, sugar), strawberries, cornflowers, sunflowers, natural flavour.

The scent of this tea is mouth-watering. It's an effervescent, sweet, floral strawberry. And the taste, fortunately, reflects that. 

From the scent, I thought it would be 'Summery' for me, but it's a slightly darker taste than that. There is definitely a champagne flavour that comes through more while drinking - a slightly boozy sweetness. It's not fizzy but it tastes like it could be. A very well done strawberry champagne. My partner in particular likes it. 

9/10.

This tea can be purchased at teadesire.com at $6 per 50g.

Organic White Rose by Numi Organic Tea:

Smells just like a memory.

Ingredients: Fair trade certified organic white tea and organic rose.

Both my partner and I had the same reaction to smelling this: a strange and happy reminiscent feeling. For me, I'm reminded of my grandparents' cabin by the lake, where big untamed rose bushes bloomed every summer, smelling exactly like this tea. For my partner, it's the memory of walking down the country trails in the forest by the house, and the scent of the wild roses that grew there. This smells of true rose, a light and green, nostalgic floral. It's not perfume-y, more like standing in a rose garden on a summer day. And no wonder, with the generous amount of rose petals in the mix. 

It tastes as it smells - delicately floral. It's not heavy at all, and tastes lovely with a bit of honey.

9/10.

This tea can be purchased at numitea.com at $29 for 4 oz. If you want to try it before committing, a 16 count box of the tea bag version is only $6.99.

Organic Chai Rooibos by Gathering Place:

Warning: complete tease.

Ingredients: Rooibos tea, ginger, cinnamon, fennel, cardamom, cloves and black pepper.

Oh, Organic Chai Rooibos, you tricked me good. When I opened your envelope, you smelled absolutely amazing: spicy, warm, fragrant in a wonderful warm way reminiscent of ornate brass tea pots and silks in gold and red. I suppose that's a lot to live up to. But where did all that promise go?

It tastes like chai, yes, but it was very... faint, especially considering the strong scent. Perhaps I shouldn't have added cream to my tea, but that's how I've always drunk chai, and I haven't found it to dull spices much in the past. In fact, a few years ago, my very favourite chai was another herbal version, which stood up admirably to my additions of cream and honey. After tasting this one the first time, I thought that maybe it needed more steeping. I must have left it for a good fifteen minutes all together. The package does say that it takes 10 minutes to steep. Maybe, if I'd used more than the generous tablespoon I did, and left it for twenty minutes, it would have lived up to its promise. But by then, my tea would be cold. Is this meant to be an iced tea? Possibly, but I'm not an iced tea drinker, and there was no indication of that on the package.

I think that in the future, I'll make it the old-fashioned way: simmered in milk on the stovetop for at least half an hour. I suspect that it will be excellent this way. However, used as directed, it was a bit of a let-down.

7/10 - but if it does turn out to be great the old-fashioned way, I'll be sure to edit this.

This tea can be purchased at gatheringplacetrading.com at $8.05 for 100 g.

Lavender Earl Grey by Rishi Tea

The lavender buds weren't very, well, lavender, but they sure packed a punch.

Ingredients: Organic Fair Trade Certified black tea, organic lavender flowers, natural essential oils of bergamot and lavender.

The interesting thing about lavender, for me, is that it always has had the faintest hint of citrus to it. It's not surprising, then, that the scents of the lavender and bergamot blended completely to my nose. In fact, it smelled mostly lavender. Not that I minded, it was very nice indeed.

During drinking, the bergamot came out slightly more, but the taste was still that of lavender with a trace of citrus. However, the overall impression was still somehow that of an Earl Grey, making me wonder if I noticed more of the bergamot subconsciously, or if lavender was simply very Earl Grey in nature anyway. I've had the Tazo Tea version of Earl Grey with lavender, but I must say that this one beats it by far. Yes, this tea was delightful. It's a fragrant, floral, elegant Earl Grey, but just a little bit fun. It makes one feel like the type of person who reads a rollicking adventurous travel tale while sipping their tea from a china cup in their garden on a quiet, warm summer afternoon. Or, in other words, it makes a very good cup of tea.

9/10.

This tea can be purchased at rishi-tea.com at $4 per oz, or $13 per the quarter-pound.

Overall, I'm very impressed, and have found several teas that might become staples in my tea cupboard. I hope next month goes as well!

Note: Obviously I loved a lot of these teas, so why only 9/10? Well, I'm reserving that for something that is well and truly the best thing ever - something I can't live without, something irreplaceable. However, 9/10 is still considered pretty damn good. Any of them might be that 10/10 for you - give them a try!

Tea Sparrow costs $20 a month, with free shipping to Canada and the continental US.