Reviewed by
Evelyn
I drink a lot of tea and love trying out different types and flavours, so I was excited to try out the Tea Box, a monthly subscription box for tea lovers! Everything about the Tea Box is focused on themed boxes of high-quality, premium blends that use the finest ingredients. Needless to say, they specialise in loose tea, so you won’t find any unappealing dusty tea bags in your boxes.
Tea Box offers a range of subscription plans depending on your budget and preferences, but there’s no joining fee and you only pay for the plan that you choose. You also benefit from free worldwide shipping and can purchase additional teas and tea-related products with a 30% subscriber discount.
I was kindly sent January’s The Taster’s Box to try out which contains five generously sized 50g pouches of loose leaf tea blends (each pouch makes around 20 cups), and is themed around getting to really appreciate and taste your tea in a different way. Interesting!
Inside the box, I found a whole stash of Expert Notes, Tasting Notes and detailed information about all of the teas included. I enjoyed reading these as it gave me a whole new perspective about how to taste tea and detect the different flavours in each blend.
Himalayan Sunrise Tea
Named after its brilliant colour, Himalayan Sunrise is a low-caffeine Darjeeling Oolong. It has a lovely smooth and silky texture and has a combination of vegetal and floral flavours. There’s a little sweetness and a hint of spice too from the Star Anise, which makes it quite interesting! I liked how refreshing it was, and despite it being low-caffeine, it still tasted pretty strong.
Darjeeling Classic Spring Clonal Black Tea
Described as the ‘beginner’s Darjeeling’, this one is very well balanced flavour-wise and has a much more subtle and delicate strength, however, it’s still quite robust. The flavour is a combination of woods, spicy notes and hints of floral, all blended together into one delicious tea that’s perfect for the afternoon.
Harmutty Summer Black Tea
This tea comes from Harmutty, a garden planted in 1870 by Major Gibb which is one of the oldest estates in the region. It’s a fine orthodox Assam black tea that has a dark amber colour and a wonderfully sweet and herby aroma. Taste-wise, this woodiness and sweetness comes through with strong hints of Honey and Malt. Superb!
Pascoe’s Woodlands Special Winter Frost Green Tea
It was nice to come across a more Wintery tea in this box as I felt like the ones above were more suited for the upcoming Spring months, so I particularly enjoyed warming up with a cup of Pascoe’s. This green tea is similar to the Japanese Hojicha, but has a more vegetal taste. It’s a pleasant medium-bodied tea that will appeal to those who prefer their greens to be more subtle and lighter like I do.
Assam Masala Chai Tea
My favourite tea from the Taster’s Box is definitely this one as I adore Chai Tea. This special chai blend is made with premium Assam CTC black tea mixed with exotic dry spices that include cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves and black peppercorns. It’s absolutely delicious and really warms you up! Packed full of flavour, if you love Chai, you’ll love this one.
