Tea Sparrow June 2014 Review + Coupon!

Tea Sparrow is a Canadian, family owned tea subscription service that sends superior tea blends right to your door every month.  It comes in a funny flat box!

The Cost: $20/month.  Shipping is included. (Get your first month for $8 with this link!!  The password is: teas).

What You Get: Each Tea Box comes with 4 different teas and approximately 1oz of each tea. Every month is different, so you’ll always have new teas to discover and enjoy.

I know summertime isn't really the prime time to be testing out tea subscriptions but I couldn't resist.  I love tea so much and I was so happy to have discovered Tea Sparrow!  It fits in my $20 budget that I mentally affixed for tea.
Included in the box is a glossy information card welcoming you to the Tea Sparrow family and providing tips on how best to brew tea.  In the packet this month, there was also a sheet of  paper describing how to make Iced Tea from the teas provided for the month!  What a good idea!  It *is* summer after all!

Each month you will receive four different tea blends.  This is a fun facet of tea.  Blends.  This is not straight tea, this is adventurous and exciting tea!  One thing I immediately noticed, which was lacking with Steepster, was that these are resealable bags.  I hope Steepster decides to do this because it's pretty invaluable.
Another thing to note is that these are teas you can find and buy.  No special websites or out-of-the-country purchases.  These are by known tea-makers like Tiesta Teas, Mighty Leaf and Tea Desire.  I like knowing I will be able to find these elsewhere if I decide to purchase them.

Aromatica Fine Teas Thai Chai Rooibos- Organic rooibos spiced with whole ingredients to make a sweet spicy cuppa.  Ingredients: Rooibos, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, red peppercorn, vanilla bits, cornflower blossoms.
Since it's late at night I'm trying the herbal blends first.  This is spicy and delicious!  What a glorious flavor!  I love it!  It's just barely sweet and is totally drinkable all on its own.

Tea Desire Buddah Bamboo- An herbal tea with the taste of currants, strawberries and vanilla.  Ingredients:  Bamboo leaves, pineapple bits, lemongrass, black currant leaves, flavour, marigold blossoms, mallow blossoms, red currants and strawberry slices.
I've never had anything with bamboo leaves before so this is an experiment.  This is extremely flavorful!  Green with a hint of sweet, fruitiness.  I like it a lot!

Tiesta Tea Flap Jack Oolong-  This is an Oolong green tea with walnut pieces and maple syrup.  If that doesn't sound interesting, I don't know what does.  I'll try this in the morning for sure!  I really like Tiesta Teas.  They have an Earl Grey that is to die for.

Mighty Leaf Mandarin Rose Tea-  A black tea with longan fruit and rose petals.  I don't know what longan fruit is but I'll find out if I like the taste.

VERDICT:  I'm really impressed with the selections for this month.  I thought perhaps this would be competition with Steepster but it seems like they actually have completely different services.  You can see my Steepster review here.  While Steepster is about the pure, unadulterated tea, Tea Sparrow is about sending unique, interesting blends.  I think I may prefer the blends!  I love the sort of "exotic" side of these tea blends.  I would never pick these out myself but having the tastiest blends sent to my door is a win.

Tea Sparrow is also within my stated budget of $20 or under, I like the resealable tea pouches and I'm looking forward to the next set of blends!  Each tea pouch is about 1oz so there's around 50 cups of tea to savor while I wait!  You can also pause your account when you need to.  I did pause mine because I have both Tea Sparrow and Steepster to work through. 

If you would like to sign up for Tea Sparrow, use this link to get your first box for only $8!! The password is: teas.   For $8, you should TOTALLY do this!  It's so worth it.