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I bought the Cookie Box from Sips by because I was ordering a cute Halloween mug and the flavors sounded appealing. It has four cookie-flavored teas, this being the first.

Sadly, not a fan. This mostly just tastes like boozy chocolate flavoring to me, with a touch of buttery creaminess on the side. Though as someone who doesn’t enjoy chocolate flavoring, I didn’t really expect to love it anyway.

Another one from Sips by for September.

This was a nice mint tea, very mentholated and refreshing. I liked the balance of the sharper, brighter peppermint with the sweeter spearmint – often spearmint reminds me too much of chewing gum on its own. The finish reminded me of fresh mint leaves in a mojito (yum) or picked from the garden.

However, I could not tell one bit that there’s green tea involved here. That being said, it made for a very refreshing mint tisane ha ha.

From my September Sips by.

I’m honestly not a Darjeeling lover, so this was just okay. It was very smooth and subtly grassy with some bready and woody notes, and a touch of honey peeking through at the end of the sip. Pleasant enough tea, just not my personal favorite style. If I want a smooth black tea, I’m more likely to reach for Chinese or Taiwanese varieties.

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Another free sample. Not in love with this one – it’s okay, definitely drinkable, just not my favorite. There is a strawberry-esque flavor, but mostly it’s just from the hibiscus, since there are only a few small pieces of dried strawberry here. And then there’s quite a lot of coconut, I guess trying to emulate creaminess.

But really, it tastes like hibiscus with a bit of coconut and some sweetness. Pleasant, but I wouldn’t call it strawberry oat milk…

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This was one of the free samples Deb included with my order. Ignoring the fact that this sounds like the most ridiculous dessert imaginable ha ha, this tea is actually quite good.

The caramel is very creamy, so it ends up having a sort of white chocolate peppermint bark vibe, but with a bit more of a caramelized flavor to it. It’s somewhat sweet from the maple, but not over the top. I don’t taste a lot of actual tea, but it does give a nice body that keeps this from tasting thin and watery. The mint is bright and refreshing, no herbaceous notes in sight.

Would perhaps consider ordering some, but I think it’s a bit too close to my favorite Peppermint Cream from B&B, and I don’t really need two creamy mint teas in my cupboard. Definitely recommend it though!

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Recently received a Dessert by Deb order (from her Boba Wonderland release) and it included a couple of older teas that I wanted to try again, this being one of them.

This one is just okay. I do get cinnamon and orange, but the coconut makes it taste nothing like cinnamon rolls to me. Also, all the flavors are on the light side, which makes sense given this one has no flavoring (it’s from back when she didn’t use flavoring).

I think I would like it better without the coconut, but still probably not enough to want it in my cupboard.

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To me, this one doesn’t really taste like pumpkin spice. Mostly I get strong candy cinnamon paired with clove, and the combination reminds me of the way Hobby Lobby stores smell in the fall and winter LOL.

It’s certainly not bad, but I don’t see how there’s anything pumpkin spice about it. It’s more of a hot cinnamon spice sort of tea IMO.

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This one sounded more interesting than it is. There are a lot of savory herbs and things, but mostly I end up tasting a bit of mint, a bit of tulsi, and a bit of hibiscus. I feel like the hibiscus is covering up a lot of the more subtle flavors, which is a shame.

Another new tea! I figured I’ll try one tea from my Old Barrel order each day, as honestly I’ve been sucking at sipdowns lately so I don’t want to make it even worse by drinking all new teas ha ha… ^^’

I love Old Barrel’s puerh blends, and I love apple, so this was a no-brainer. Plus, perfect for fall! But honestly I had a bit of trepidation when steeping it up, partially because there is a lot of lemongrass here, which obviously dilutes the amount of actual tea, and partially because the puerh smelled much earthier than some of their other blends.

But I needn’t have worried. I did end up using extra leaf because of the lemongrass, just to ensure I had enough puerh and maté flavor in my mug. This is quite different from the other puerh blends I have from them, which tend to be more on the sweet/desserty side of things. This is smooth and mellow, yet refreshing. The puerh and maté are somewhat equal in strength, though perhaps the maté pulls ahead just a touch. An unusual combination, but a nice balance of grassy and herbaceous with deep and earthy. And then there’s that crisp Granny Smith-esque apple adding sweetness and refreshment.

Just a really nice, mellow, natural-tasting apple tea. Another winner from Old Barrel in my book!

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Pleasant enough minty tisane with a nice balance of sweet spearmint with other mellow herby flavors. Particularly liking the oatstraw, but I could do without the licorice root. Luckily it’s quite subdued, but I can still taste a touch of that mouth-coating sweetness.

Also, I don’t understand the butterfly pea flower craze. I guess maybe it makes sense for iced drinks, but why would I want to drink something that looks like mouthwash? XD