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Sips by Tea Subscription Review + Coupon – March 2017

Ragan Buckley
ByRagan BuckleyFeb 18, 2020 | 18 comments

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Sips by
4.5 overall rating
4 Ratings | 3 Reviews

Sips by is a new personalized tea subscription. Before subscribing, you fill out an extensive profile about your tastes and preferences (caffeinated versus herbal, flavored versus unflavored, how you brew your tea, and related questions) and then you’re matched with teas for the month. Try your teas, give feedback in your Sips by account, and improve your matches for future months. 

Reviewed by popular demand!

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This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

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The Subscription Box: Sips by

The Cost: $15 a month + free shipping

ACTIVE DEAL: Save 50% off your first box!
CODE: SUBSCRIPTIONADDICTION

The Products: Four tea samples from different brands, matched to your profile.  You will get enough tea to make 15 fresh cups each month!

Ships to: U.S.

Check out lots of great tea subscriptions in the Drinks Subscription Box Directory and make sure to add Sips by to your subscription list or wishlist!

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Included was this card that has more information on the teas from this box. Note: what you get each month may not match what I get, if we filled out our profile surveys differently.

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1 Reusable Loose Leaf Tea Bag – Value $1?

10 Disposable Loose Leaf Tea Bags – Value $0.50?

Every Sips by box will have some disposable loose leaf tea bags packaged inside a machine washable reusable loose leaf tea bag. I think these are both great inclusions since loose leaf teas are often provided in this subscription. Some loose leaf teas are pretty fine and pieces might come out through other strainers – these bags prevent that. (No idea what brand these are, so I’ve used the value of similar items for a cost estimate.)

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Raspberry Pecan Rooibos from Zhi Tea0.2 oz. – Value $1.58 (buy a 0.5 oz. sample for $3.95, 2 oz. pouch for $10.95, 4.6 oz. tin for $23.95, and a 1 lb. pouch for $51.95 on )

This was absolutely my favorite tea this month. Loved it. The rooibos flavor was definitely present but it worked super well with the pecan, which added a nice nutty touch. The raspberry was milder but worked with the overall blend.

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Chai Latte Black Tea from Pinky Up0.3 oz – Value $1 (buy a 3 oz. tin for $9.99 on Pinky Up Tea)

This is a pretty good chai. (Mine wasn’t “latte” because I didn’t put milk in it. It works as a spiced black tea, as well.) The fun thing about this one was how easy it was to identify whole spices (cloves, cardamom pods) in the tea. The actual black tea was mild and overtaken a bit by the spices, but I found I could control that to a degree with steeping time.

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Licorice and Mint Tea from Teapigs2 temples – Value $2.50 (buy 15 tea temples for $9.99 or 50 tea temples for $24.99 on Teapigs)

I am familiar with this brand from back in the days when I still had Birchbox and they still sent tea. Although I think the brand is lovely, I am just not a fan of licorice in tea. The licorice flavor was overwhelming here, so this was not my favorite. But, I can totally see why this would turn up in my box based on how I filled out the profile, and I gave feedback, so I’m sure next month will be better.

sips-by-march-2017-harney

Earl Grey Imperial from Harney & Sons5 sachets – Value $4 (buy a tin of 30 sachets for $ 10.95 on Harney & Sons)

Seeing Harney & Sons takes me back to when my boyfriend (now he is my husband) and I would spend Friday nights at Barnes and Noble (this was the brand they had in their coffee shop). (We stopped going to B&N when they decided to be a toy store and decrease the size of the science fiction and fantasy section to about one shelf.) Anyway, I found this to be a nice Earl Grey. I actually liked the bergamot (Earl Grey and I don’t have the best history) and the caffeine level was pretty good, as well.

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Here are the two non-caffeinated teas. The Teapigs Liquorice and Mint is on the left and the raspberry pecan rooibos is on the right.

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And here are the two caffeinated teas. On the left is the Earl Grey and on the right is the chai latte.

Verdict: I calculated a value of $10.58 for the March Sips by. I have a couple of thoughts on the matter. Of course, I would like to see a value at least equal to the cost of the box, and this is about 30% under. However, I also recognize there is always going to be some variation in value for this subscription because different people will have different preferences and fill out their profiles in different ways.

You are promised 15 cups of tea from this box, so the price of the subscription equals $1 per cup of tea. For a discovery service with some curation based on personal taste involved, I am OK with $1 per cup of tea (with the understanding that I can then go somewhere and buy more of teas I like). I am also definitely curious to see how my tea selections improve as I give feedback.

As for the teas themselves, I think this was a pretty good first box. Sure, there was one I didn’t care for, but there was also one I am definitely going to buy again because I loved it so much.

What did you think of Sips by? Do you get any tea subscriptions?

Starting at $16.00
Active Deal
Save 50% off your first box!
Use Coupon Code SUBSCRIPTIONADDICTION
Subscribe Now
Sips by is run by a small group of tea lovers who want discovering tea to be fun, personalized, and affordable. When you subscribe to Sips by's tea discovery box — the only personalized, multi-brand tea subscription! — we learn your tastes and send you 4 delicious teas to try each month, chosen from... read more.
Ragan Buckley
Ragan Buckley
Ragan stumbled across My Subscription Addiction in late 2013 and immediately subscribed to way too many beauty boxes. She's now focused on boxes for her cats and dog, vegan/vegetarian food boxes, and craft subscriptions (and she didn't give up beauty boxes entirely).

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18 comments

Lori

Do not buy from this company. My first box never came and I contacted them via email. They Said they would look into it and never contacted me again. So many other small businesses that deserve your hard earned money.

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Alaina

I freaking adore my tea subscription! Sipsby is really great about catering to your likes. I had my doctor tell me to lay off caffeine for a bit. I relayed that to sipsby through the comment box and my very next box had all no caffeine or super low caffeine teas. I have found so many great tea company’s through them as well which I buy from regularly now too. 10/10 Would Reccomend

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Anne

eek, I just signed up earlier. But the half off-code from here worked, and I used one of their links to get 20% off and free shipping ordering a box of Vadham chai on another site, so even if my first/only month sucks, it (hopefully) won’t be that bad? Bummer about the service, since I was really liking their mood tea sets, and wanted to gift them to a couple friends.

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ivan biss

I would not recommend. Bought it as a gift card/certificate. My wife was never able to activate the code. Customer service was lousy. Said they would give refund, never did.

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Jen

For Christmas my daughter bought me a three month subscription for teas. When I tried to redeem the code it would not accept it and when it finally did accept it it said it was processing and might take a moment. It never finish processing. I tried this for three days. I’ve been in touch with the company and they have been absolutely no help whatsoever I feel like my daughter has been conned out of her money. Questionable business practice.

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ivan biss

I had exact same experience. Bought for my wife. They said they would refund my money but never did. Of course they have no phone number and do not return emails. Won’t be long and they will be out of business.

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Aubrey

I absolutely LOVE my subscription. I’ve had zero problems when ordering and each month has awesome new teas to try! I definitely recommend trying this if you’re working on what you like. You take a quiz to see what teas best fit your tastes!

Jennifer Rupert

I just got my first box October and it was perfect for me. It had tea from my favorite brand, David’s Tea! I adore that it had disposable bags in the box too.

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Austin

Great service. Fantastic tea. Customer service / personalization has been awesome. Rapidly growing business and I am happy to be a part of it. Thanks Sips by.

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Jackie Piroutek

Literally received nothing in my box but 10 tea bags. Cancelled immediately and do NOT recommend.

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Ra

I’ve received 2 boxes fo far and just ordered my third. I love Sips by!

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Annette Thompson

This company is impossible to get in touch with. I have emailed them, but have had no response. No customer service number is provide. My son gave me a three month subscription as a gift, but they required a credit card. When I entered the card, they charged me for the subscription even though they accepted the three month gift certificate. I am suspicious of their business practices as they will not respond to me. This would have been a lovely thing to try if I didn’t feel like Ive been swindled.

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Wilamenia Graves

I agree this company is very hard to reach and what I received was not worth $15.00 I so upset because they took money out of my account that was for my life insurance 😭😭☹️☹️

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janine

Odd that there’s no number…I thought the same thing. I’ve been seeing that with many companies today, sadly. I was concerned about the rate of response as well so I’m contemplating this first box and how it works out.

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Torri Chronister

Got my first box and love it! Good quality tea, and I like the variety of tea as well as the mix of loose tea with disposable bags and the regular teabags.

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Kate

I love the idea of a profile and review process. Reminds me of the tea version of ipsy! But im a bit wary of how low the retail value is. I think I’ll wait one more month for your next review!

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Ragan

They stopped sending me boxes so unfortunately, there won’t be another review.

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Starla

I think I’m going to give this one a try. I like that they take our preferences into account when matching us up with teas. Cool idea. I’ve never heard of this box til now. Thanks for the review!

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