Teatourist Subscription Review + Coupon – March 2018

Teatourist is a UK-based tea subscription. Receive samples of six artisanal loose leaf teas each month with enough tea in each portion to brew 3-4 cups.

The outer box was shipped in a plastic envelope and there was an inner box, as well. So the teas were well-protected on their journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

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.)

About Tea Tourist

The Subscription Box: Teatourist

The Cost: £15 a month + £5 US shipping. At the current exchange rate, that’s about $27.68 USD a month. Save with longer subscriptions. Pause or cancel at any time.

ACTIVE DEAL: Save 20% on your first box!
CODE: Tea20

The Products: Six artisanal tea samples selected according to a monthly theme

Ships to: US and Worldwide for £5, the UK for free, and Europe for £3

Teatourist March 2018 Review

This was my second box from Tea Tourist and I was looking forward to some more new brands:

And there was a rather large information card with coupon codes for the individual tea brands included this month.

Bright Afternoon by Brighteas, 10g – Buy 50g for £7 (about $9.85)

This is a mixture of Chinese style black teas. Keemun, Mao Feng, and Yunnan. I *think* I’ve had Keemun and I know I’ve had Yunnan, and I have fond recollections of both. This is a bit smoky but not really bitter and is a good introduction to Asian-style black teas. It is suggested to drink this in the afternoon but I think it would work any time you want black tea.

Ceylon Tea Pekoe Fannings by Cheeky Chai, 15g – Buy 50g for £3.50 about $4.92 (found here for £2.95 or $4.15)

This is a really fine product (I’m talking particle size) and some of it escaped my infuser. I’d suggest using disposable filter bags or something similar when brewing it. Ceylon tea is going to be more familiar, as a black tea, to the Western palate than some of the Asian styles. I tend to gravitate towards plain black teas so this one was a win for me. This one is grown in Sri Lanka, as you might expect from the name.

Earl Grey 1833 by Chash Fine Tea Co., 10g – Buy 100g for £6.50 about $9.14

I am now a fan of Earl Grey (just don’t buy it in a box at the supermarket). I especially like these ones with flower petals; I just think they’re so pretty. The bergamot here is just at the right level, not overpowering at all. I brought this into the office to drink in the morning and I expect this one will disappear soon.

Green Tea with Jasmine by Pure Leaf, 10g – Buy a pack of 6, 25 count bags for $54.52

I was actually already familiar with this brand because it has shown up in other subscription boxes, plus they sell it at Target. Anyway, I am a fan of jasmine green tea, especially for the afternoon. This green tea is more of the style that will be familiar to the Western palate (it’s not very bitter) and the jasmine is very light and pleasant.

Morgan’s Brew Tea by Morgan’s Brew Tea Company, 18g – Buy 250g for £4.90 about $6.89

This is a blend of East African black teas. I’m a fan of finely ground Kenyan black tea based on a few past experiences from subscription boxes, so this was a welcome inclusion. It was recommended to use a slightly larger amount to brew this one, but I actually find that you get a really strong cup of tea with smaller particle sized products (greater surface area to volume ratio, I guess), so I actually got pretty good results with a smaller amount, and that means this will make more cups of tea for me, too.

Safari Oolong by Nothing but Tea, 12g – Buy 100g for £6.80 about $9.56

This is the one and only oolong for the month. This one is also from Kenya and is a fair trade product that puts money back into the community where this product is grown. You can think of oolong as midway between green tea (unoxidized) and black tea (fully oxidized). Oolong is another one where it really pays to look to specialty providers instead of buying the box at the supermarket, and I found this quite enjoyable. I would try this at different times of day and see what works for you, but do note that is caffeinated so probably late at night is not best…

Verdict: I didn’t attempt to calculate a value here, what with prices being in a mix of dollars and pounds and the sampled amounts not generally being available for individual purchase. If you drink a lot of tea (I definitely do) and are looking to find some new brands, this is a really fun subscription. You see a lot of UK-based brands here that don’t show up in American tea subscriptions, and from a US-based perspective, trying a few samples this way is a lot less risky than ordering large packages from overseas and paying individually for shipping. I was impressed with the variety, as well – I didn’t feel any of the samples were repetitive (i.e., even though there were several black teas, they were all a little different).

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? This box is available for individual purchase here as of the time I am writing this review. From Teatourist:

We ship our boxes during the 1st week (around the 7th) each month. Expect UK delivery within 2-3 working days, European delivery within 5-7 working days and US, Canada & Rest of the World delivery within 7-10 working days.

Coupon - Use code Tea20 to save 20% off your first box!

Value Breakdown: This box costs about $28.13 at the current exchange rate. You get six teas, which means you are paying about $4.69 per tea.

Check out lots of great tea subscriptions in the Drinks Subscription Box List!

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What did you think of Teatourist? Do you get any tea subscriptions?