Tea Runners Subscription Box review: Discover the world of tea

Tea Runners is a subscription box for tea lovers or people who are looking to get more into tea. Each month brings four new loose leaf teas to try, all centered around a monthly theme. If you're tired of the same old boxed teas from the grocery store, check out what Tea Runners has to offer.

Introduction to the world of tea

Tea Runners Subscription Box: Features

Whether you're a new tea drinker, or you wish to expand your tea palette, Tea Runners is a great way to explore. Each month, you get four one-ounce packets of loose leaf tea that follow a monthly theme. Along with the tea, you get detailed information about the tea's origins, tasting notes, and brewing instructions right on the pouch.

When you set up your subscription, you can choose which type of box you want: All Black Tea, Herbal Tea, Pure Tea, or Orginal. The All Black Tea Box contains all black teas, of course. They may be blended, flavored, or pure teas. The Herbal Tea Box contains a variety of caffeine-free herbal tisanes. (Technically, if it's herbal, it contains no tea. Rather, it's a tisane.) The Pure Tea Box can contain black, white, green, oolongs, and pu-erhs but no blended, herbal, or flavored teas. The Original Box is a mix of all the above teas and tisanes.

Because it is loose leaf tea, not tea bags, you will need some basic brewing equipment. A tea infuser or strainer is a must. I use the Yoassi Tea Strainer; it's a great size and does the job. You'll need hot water, which of course you can boil any which way, but a tea kettle with a thermometer offers more precision. Different teas are ideally brewed at different temperatures. I have the Primica Gooseneck Kettle for bringing the water to just the right temperature.

Surprise yourself or a loved one with a fresh variety of teas each month.

I received an All Black Tea Box, and the month's theme was India. My favorite was the Masala Chai, with its fragrant blend of cardamom, ginger, cloves, and other spices. The other three teas were Assam, Darjeeling, and Nilgiri. The enclosed brochure described the history and the tasting notes in detail, though to my palette, black tea tastes like black tea. I did notice the absence of the bitterness that black teas often have.

Each of the four packets in the box contains one ounce of tea, which should produce anywhere from eight cups of tea to twice that, depending on how strongly you brew your tea. I wasn't scientific about measuring and counting, but that sounds about right. You should be able to get anywhere from 30-50 cups of tea from the entire box.

It's easy to start your subscription right on Amazon. If you're not sure which one to choose, I'd recommend starting with the Original Box so you'll get a variety of all the different types of teas. You can always change to a specific box if you develop a preference. You can cancel your subscription anytime, and start a new, different one on Amazon as well. If you wish to make other changes to your, such as changing from monthly to a bi-monthly or tri-monthly subscription, you'll want to go directly to Tea Runners' website.

Fun experimenting

Tea Runners Subscription Box: What I like

I have recently decided that my favorite kind of tea is "variety." No matter how wonderful a tea or a tisane tastes, I always tire of it and like to change it up. This is such a fun way to try different teas all of the time.

Premium price tag

Tea Runners Subscription Box: What I don't like

This isn't a bargain tea service no matter how you slice it. I really don't have anything else negative to point out about this subscription box.

Spoil yourself or a loved one

Tea Runners Subscription Box: Bottom line

Let's face it: we don't sign up for subscription boxes because they're a bargain. We sign up because it's a heck of a lot of fun to receive packages with goodies inside on the regular, especially if we don't know exactly what it's going to be. Tea Runners Subscription Box is a great way to treat yourself or the tea lover in your life.

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