Simplicity Teas

Simplicity Teas sent me a one time subscription box in exchange for an honest review.  When I opened the box, which was definitely packaged with care, the picture to the left is what I saw.  On the back of the card was written a bit about the company and some tips on steeping.  The mission of Simplicity Teas is "to educate and get others excited about the wonderful healing properties of tea".

Simplicity Teas has two options for their  monthly health and wellness tea subscription boxes.  The mini version contains three or four .5 oz vials of tea, which will make 15-20 cups of tea and is $9.99 per month.  The deluxe version (which is what I received) contains larger vials and bags of tea, which will make 30-40 cups of tea, and comes with a "new surprise each month".  It is $14.99 per month.  Both mini and deluxe versions contain a reusable tea infuser in the first box.



When I picked up the card, I saw a bag of "Casablanca" tea and a super cute infuser that looked like a strawberry.  Under that there were three additional vials of tea- "Tuck Me In", "Irish Breakfast", and "Sweet Nothings", and a "Lemon Black Tea" dark chocolate bar from Trader Joes (the surprise of the month).  The ingredients were listed on the chocolate bar and on each of the teas.  It was printed right on the vials if the tea was caffeine free or contained caffeine.  The brewing instructions were there, but I would have liked them to be a little clearer.  For example, the instructions for the "Casablanca" tea were "1 tsp. 2 min @180".  My question was- how much water do I use?  Some people think of a cup of tea as 6 ounces of water and some as 8 ounces.  I went with the 8 ounces since I am quite literal.

The first thing I tried was brewing the "Casablanca" tea using the Strawberry Silicone Infuser.  The infuser opened easily and I added 1 teaspoon of "Casablanca" tea leaves to it.  I closed it up and put it in my cup.  The infuser had a long "stem" that hung easily over the cup.  The holes in the infuser did let some of the tea leaves through, but not too many.  When I was done with the infuser, I just rinsed it out, but the company's website does say it is dishwasher safe and also microwave safe.  It is BPA free and it did not affect my tea in any way- no strange taste at all.  I would have liked the information about the infuser to be included in the package itself, but at least it is on their website.

Now back to the tea!  The "Casablanca" tea was in a resealable bag.  The ingredients were darjeeling sungma summer tea and peppermint leaves.  There was a brief description of the tea and there was a clear panel in the back of the bag so that the leaves could be seen.  The leaves had the scent of mint and were browns and greens of all shapes and sizes.  I followed the brewing instructions pouring 8 ounces of water that had been boiled and cooled a bit over 1 teaspoon of leaves.  I let this brew for 2 minutes. The yellow liquid had a minty scent.  The taste was cool, smooth, and refreshing.  This was one of the best peppermint tea blends I've ever had!

The Trader Joe's Lemon Black Chocolate Tea bar,  contained dark chocolate (unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla extract), black tea, and lemon oil.  It was delicious!  I love almost any chocolate, especially dark chocolate.  It was only slightly sweet and was basically a dark chocolate bar with a lemon tea background taste.  A wonderful treat!

I spent the next couple of days sampling the vials of tea.  The Tuck Me In tea stated it was intended to help get quality sleep.  The ingredients were valerian root, honeybush tea, chamomile, spearmint, passion flowers, lemon balm, lavender, dried cherries, and cornflower.  It was a potpourri of flower parts of all different colors, shapes, and sizes and had the scent of mint and chamomile.  It was caffeine free.  After brewing, the yellowish liquid had the scent of mint, lemon, and something peppery.   It was a tasty, smooth, herbal blend.  I could taste chamomile, lemon, and mint if I really tried, but it was just blended so well that nothing really stood out.  It was a relaxing and calming tea, and I did get a good night's sleep.

The Irish Breakfast tea contained ceylon sonata tea and assam melody tea.  The long, thin, dark black leaves had a sweet, earthy scent.  The result from steeping was an orange brown liquid with a sweet, earthy scent.  The taste was not as bold as some English Breakfast teas, but I could definitely feel the caffeine pick me up.  This was a fantastic wake up tea and what I liked most about it was that sometimes when I want a pick me up I am not looking for extremely bold and robust.  I did not feel like I needed to add milk to tame this one down.  It was delicious with nothing added.

Finally, the Sweet Nothings tea contained white tea, marigold flowers, lavender flowers, peach flavor, and apricots.  It was caffeine free and high in antioxidants.  It was a very pretty tea consisting of green and brown leaves with yellow flower petals mixed in.  The leaves had a peach scent.  The liquid was a light yellow with a peach scent.  The taste was of sweet peaches, but not overpowering.  It was a light, refreshing tea that I though of as an enjoyable treat.

I loved this subscription box!  Everything in it was good quality, and I thought, a great value .  The teas were all organic.  Everything was packaged well.  I really liked the variety of tea and that the teas were geared toward different things- sleeping, a pick-me up, a treat high in anti-oxidants, and a refreshing, relaxing brew.  The only thing that surprised me was that there wasn't more detailed information about the health benefits of each tea since the company's mission statement is to educate people about this.  The brief mentions did make me happy I was drinking something good for me, though, and I guess if you got information over and over each month it would get monotonous.  I will be letting my husband know what a wonderful gift these subscription boxes would make for my next birthday.