Sips by: April 2021 teas

I used to receive a lot of subscription boxes every month, but these days I stick to necessities. Sampling tea via the grocery store is impossible without buying a whole carton. I know. I’ve been there, hunting for the perfect peppermint tea. The perfect peppermint tea I’d found was in Brandless before they got bought, in a sampler of other teas I had no interest in. I bought several different kinds at grocery stores, but alas…it’s just mediocre.

This post contains affiliate links & I’ll be compensated for the referral. I do wholeheartedly recommend this box. Descriptions of teas are from the personalized card that arrived in my Sips by box.

☕ Camomile Honey & Vanilla Sips by Ahmad Tea

Caffeine-free. Ahmad Tea is a British family business with a long tradition — they supply tea for the Royal Collection, including Buckingham Palace! This blend is perfect for unwinding. @ahmadtea_usa

Chamomile tea is not usually my favorite, for there was an unmistakable bathwater flavor and stench to the ones I had in the past! So I was especially skeptical about Ahmad Tea’s camomile, even if it had honey and vanilla and ingredients like licorice, instead of just chamomile.

Ingredients: camomile, natural flavoring, licorice root, fennel, vanilla, honey pieces

“Honey pieces” are listed in the ingredients, and I’m not entirely sure how that works, but it made me curious. The closest thing I could find was dried honey, namely honey powder and granulated honey. Whatever the case, I liked how it didn’t bog my tea down; when I add honey to my own teas, the texture of the drink usually changes to a weird one — that didn’t happen here.

I feel strongly that the licorice root and fennel played a large part in toning down the chamomile flavor I’m used to associating with chamomile tea, for there was no hint of that. I didn’t have to hold my nose as I drank it — I enjoy it some hours before bedtime, or when I’m experiencing a lot of anxiety, physical pain and/or an upset stomach.

Chamomile, honey and vanilla make an amazing tea trio. I made an Instagram Reel and added my own music mix.

🫖 $6 ÷ full-sized box of 20 = 30¢ x 4 samples = $1.20

🍵 Tulsi Peppermint Sips by Organic India

Caffeine-free. Revered in India as “The Queen of Herbs”, Tulsi (Holy Basil) supports stress, mood, the immune system and detoxification. This blend is refreshing and restorative. @organicindiausa

I’m on a mission to find the best peppermint tea, and this one wasn’t it. I wasn’t into the basil. I like my peppermint tea as minty as menthol.

Ingredients: organic peppermint, organic krishna tulsi, organic rama tulsi, organic vana tulsi

Basil isn’t my favorite flavor, though, so I’m sure it played a part in my flavor opinions. There wasn’t much of a peppermint flavor to the tea, but I recently learned about certain teas needing certain temperatures — so I don’t know if this is the case of my experience, but I didn’t favor the other flavors.

This one also caused a lot of bloating? Basil usually does that to me. It also generally aggravated my IBS.

🫖 $4.98 ÷ full-sized box of 18 = 28¢ x 4 samples = $1.11

☕ Pink Citrus Magik Sips by Tea Kitten

Low caffeine. This fruity, citrusy green tea blend channels your inner sorceress with a magikal ingredient that turns this brew into a playful pink delight. Add a drop of lemon and watch it change colors! @theteakitten

IF YOUR TEA DOESN’T CHANGE COLORS, IS IT EVEN A BREW?? It’s a joke, of course. ‘Cause tea is a brew. And potions usually change colors. Get it? Magic…like a witch’s brew…?

Ingredients: green tea, apple, purple dragon fruit, lemongrass, blue butterfly pea blossoms, pomelo, lemon peel, watermelon, flavoring

I had a lot of fun with this tea! The price for 4oz is $16, so getting more will be a luxury or special treat — like a birthday gift for myself, or something like that. Tea Kitten is a Sips by brand, at least that’s what I gather upon visiting the website, because it leads straight back to the shop category on the subscription box site. I’m not usually a fan of things like that, because availability often resembles that of MLMs.

Still…I’m taking my chances.

🫖4oz. package is $16. Loose leaf tea maths is hard.

🍵 Peachy-Keen Oolong Sips by Still

Medium caffeine. Peachy-Keen Tea is a delicious blend whether it’s served hot or cold. Make a cup bright and early in the morning for a wonderfully fragrant and brisk start to your day! @thestillco

Peach isn’t my favorite flavor — or fruit. I love the puns, but the flavor is borderline nauseating.

Ingredients: oolong tea, marigold flowers, apples, peaches, natural peach flavor

However, I added one squeeze of lemon and the flavor changed into not so bad. I think it’d do better cold, if I had ice. My ice maker works not, and I’ve not yet gotten any ice cube trays because my freezer organization game is awful.

I’m not sure I’ll add lemon again, because the after feeling was an upset stomach — lemon and I don’t blend well. The acid upsets my gastrointestinal system…and my IBS.

🫖1.4oz. package is $12. Loose leaf tea maths gives me a migraine.

Overall

I’m so glad I subscribed! Of the other tea subscription boxes I’ve looked at, none contain a fair amount of tea, descriptions and information on each, and as much organization. Sips by bears a particular cutesy sophistication about it that I love as well.

Sharing a picture of your Sips by Box on Instagram gives you a chance to enter to win a free month.

Members receive 15 percent off select teas received in their boxes, should they decide to order more.

For the loose leaf teas, Sips by provides biodegradable tea bags!

Each box is personally curated for the receiver — in my case, me. There is an option to list your allergies, and even choose whether you receive bagged and/or loose leaf teas, caffeine level, and so on. It’s pretty legit.

This is the first box of my three-month Sips by subscription — I signed up for three months for $45 because I wanted to try some new teas, learn about teas, and potentially fall in love with tea for real — not just the southern USA love of tea that resembles dirt and is flavored with sugar.

Loose leaf tea maths is more than my brain can wrap around, so I gave up, but the gist is four teas, 16 cuppas, $16/mo. — about $1/cup. Use SIPS5 for $5 off your first Sips by Box.

I’m starting to understand what mindfulness is all about.