SipsBy Review by Litmosphere
The kids and I have been really excited about doing tea parties every day during the last few months. It's a great opportunity to sit down together, work on table manners, talk about our day, and have a snack. We've tried reading poetry or novels during this time, but honestly I just like interacting with the kids more casually. We usually sit down after the baby gets up from his nap. (Around 3:00 p.m.) My husband prefers bagged tea, so we started with that, but I kept seeing advertisements for SipsBy everywhere and decided to give it a try. I took advantage of a half-off the first box offer in October, and we were impressed enough to get a year's subscription after that!
For October, we got:
-Casimira (raspberry Earl grey) from Dryad Teas. I fell totally in LOVE with this tea (if asked, I think I might say this is my current favorite tea) and will definitely be ordering a full-sized bag very soon! I am impressed enough with Dryad now that I am hoping to try their subscription service too!
-Superberry Samba (berry-flavored green tea that has "more caffeine than coffee") from Zest Tea. These came in bags even though I prefer loose, which ended up working out since my husband was the one who tried this first. He liked it but said he didn't notice the higher caffeine levels. I haven't tried it yet but am pretty excited to since berry teas are my favorite.
-French Vanilla (black tea) from Churchill's Fine Teas. I haven't tried it but it smells super amazing.
-Cacao tea from MiCacao (non-caffeinated). I was thrilled to get this because I have been seeing so many things about cacao tea. This came in several single-serving package, and it went very quickly, as I loved it! It's not unreasonable to say it's like a watered-down hot chocolate, but I liked that. It's very rich and wonderful. I don't ever add sugar to my tea, and I enjoyed it very much without.
My review of the subscription service itself:
At a glance - *$15 per month, *1.5 oz. tea per month, (*$10/oz.), highly personalized, reasonably good rewards program, good presentation, slow shipping, overall good value.
Price per month: The price starts at $15 per month and goes down depending on how many months you pay in advance. A six-month subscription is $84 (save $6) and a twelve month subscription is $165 (save $15). Plus, you actually can use a coupon code when subscribing, and that can save you even more money!
Amount of tea per month: There are samples from four different companies in each box, and each sample size is slightly different depending on the company, so getting an exact number in ounces is a little difficult, and it also depends on whether you get loose-leaf tea or bagged tea. My best estimate is that each box contains an average of 1.5 oz. of tea, and they state that the boxes will make 15 cups of tea, not including re-steeping.
Price per oz.: For the once a month and three-month subscriptions, the cost per ounce (based on 1.5 oz.) is $10/oz. For the six month subscription, it comes out to $9.33. For the yearly subscription, it's $9.17.
Choices/personalization options: SipsBy has an AMAZING personalization/customization system. When you sign up, you take a very detailed quiz, which asks you if you prefer caffeinated/non-caffeinated, bagged/loose, or flavored/unflavored. You can choose yes/no/maybe to their various flavor options: berry, coconut, chocolate, hot spices, minty, floral, etc. They ask about your interest in the various types of tea such as green, black, white, oolong, etc., and they even include more exotic options such as guayusa and yaupon. They ask how you brew your tea and how often you drink it. They have a section at the end for dietary preferences (vegan/gluten free, etc.) and allow you to input any allergies! This is by far the most customizable tea subscription I have ever seen.
Payments and rewards program: The rewards program has you working toward earning $5 off a box or earning a free box. You can earn points by rating your box as a whole and rating the individual teas. You can also earn a lot of points by referring people to SipsBy with your personal referral link. They get $5 off and so do you.
Presentation: This box is swanky! It is pretty, and it's designed really well for opening up and taking a picture for social media and blogs. They send filters along with the loose-leaf tea and an insert with more information about each tea/company. This insert also has the coupon codes for the respective companies.
Shipping speed: I was surprised at how long it took for this to ship, but I'm not usually in any particular hurry, so it wasn't a big deal to me. They are transparent about the slow shipping speed, saying that since each box is individually curated, they can't pre-pack them. This process takes time. I set up my yearly subscription on the first of November, and I didn't get an email saying it was shipped until the 11th. It's scheduled to arrive on the 18th. I am not sure if that is the date it will be arriving every month, but I will update this when I have more experience. One thing that's a plus though is that they have an update as soon as you log in concerning what stage your box is in. (Personalization stage, packing stage, shipping stage, etc.) So you can track that each month! AND when your box ships, you can actually view a spoiler of what's in it if you want!
Overall value: Based on my research of other companies, SipsBy is actually one of the most expensive subscriptions. That being said, the "feel" of this company is fun, trendy, and exciting. Getting a box each month is a truly, uniquely great experience. The personalization is unbeatable, and the rewards program is pretty nice. The cost is definitely a factor, especially when compared to other boxes, but despite that, I would still rate this as an overall good value.
Other notes: SipsBy has really great advertising. They have been featured on a lot of blogs and are more well-known than other brands. They don't have an independent tea shop, but they do sell teas from other companies. One thing I like about this company is that they have a list of coupon codes on their website for all their brand partners, so it makes it really easy to save money if you find something you want to reorder. They do lots of giveaways on Instagram too!
Purchase your own box and get $5 off your first month! (My referral link!)
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