I’m all for supporting British businesses, so when I came across a British tea subscription from a brand-new company, I was definitely intrigued. With a 20% off code and the promise of tea-ware in my first delivery, I eagerly signed up.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit worried though. The teapro website is lacking an FAQ page and key details. Exactly how much white tea is provided in each sample? When does the package ship? Is it a signed for delivery service? What exactly is included in the box? It was all a little bit vague.
When the tea box arrived, I breathed a little sigh of relief. Here’s what was in it.
Quick Summary
This was a great first experience with this tea subscription. Teapro have a few little teething issues but on the whole, I would highly recommend subscribing. The tea is high quality and delicious, which is what really counts!
I’d recommend it for: tea enthusiasts who are at the beginning of their tea journey, wanting to try the classic white teas and develop their tasting skills.
Pros – great tea in good quantities.
- The white tea really does taste amazing.
- Packaging was excellent, no damage in transport and arrived super quick.
- Educational info provided is genuinely useful.
Cons – just nit-picking things.
- The website is vague, lacking details on what exactly was included with the subscription.
- A couple typos on the tasting wheel provided (sorry, it bugs me).
- Can’t rebuy the tea from teapro if you enjoyed it.
What's in the Box?
The box arrived the day after I received the email notification that it had been sent, which is awesome. I can’t say I often have that experience when I’ve paid £0 shipping. It was sent second class small parcel, weighing just under 500g altogether.
In the box:
- 20g Supreme Silver Needle
- 17g Orchid White Peony
- 17g Shou Mei
- 20g Jasmine Phoenix Eye Dragon Pearls
- Sticker booklet and 1x sticker for June subscription
- White tea booklet with details about the 4 specific teas included
- Tea tasting wheel and instructions to help you taste tea like a pro
- 3-piece glass infuser (included in your first month only)
More detailed tea reviews below.
3-Piece Glass Infuser Review
Teapro are selling this separately for £12 at the moment. I’d say that was a fair price for this tea infuser set. It’s very nice and comparing it to the price of glass tea-ware I buy from the likes of Whittard, it’s priced just right.
You have a double walled glass (no handle), with a glass infuser inner jar that sits inside, and a glass lid that sits on top.
The glass jar feels very nice to hold, but it does get quite hot. For white tea at 80°C it’s not bad, but I haven’t tried it with freshly boiled water. It’s easy to grip.
The inner infuser is entirely glass with these tiny slits in the base for the tea to infuse through. Ideal for whole leaf, but not great for chopped loose leaf or very dusty tea that needs a fine mesh filter.
The lid is perfect, it captures the aroma of the brewing tea perfectly and it fits on the jar snugly.
My biggest issue with it is the thickness of the glass edge. It’s chunkier than a mug and that does impact the taste. Compared to when you sip the same white tea from a thin-lipped glass (like the pictures below) it’s really notable how much duller it is. I will continue to use the 3-piece infuser but not for tasting.
Guides, Sticker Books and Leaflets
I wasn’t expecting these – they aren’t listed on the website at all. A pleasant surprise! Everything is printed on thick white card… I suppose that’s not important but it adds to the quality feeling.
The sticker guide gives you the title of each subscription box for 12 months. I’ve missed out on May’s box so that gap will always be empty. That bothers me a bit.
I love the tasting wheel, it’s definitely the most helpful diagram in the box. I struggle with floral aromas a lot so I’ll be using it for sure.
The white tea leaflet gives you the flavour, liquor colour, origin, caffeine level and alternate name of each white tea, plus a little description. A nice touch, but not really essential. You could find all of this info with a quick Google search. I’m a hoarder so I’ll be keeping the leaflet but I imagine most people will simply throw it away once they’ve finished their white tea.
Teapro White Tea Reviews
4 teas were included which teapro state gives you 40 infuses per tea, making 160 cups in total. I think that’s very optimistic. Really, you shouldn’t re-infuse tea leaves that have been left overnight (not only does mould start to grow but the flavour isn’t great either) so to get your 160 cups you’d need to infuse 1 – 2 teaspoons of tea 4 times in one day, making at least a litre of tea. For me, that’s too much. I can drink a litre of different teas across a whole day, but one tea is too much and I’d get sick of it. And steep 3 or 4 of the same tea leaves is quite often not worth it, as the flavour has really gone by then (unless you’re planning on doing an Eastern gongfu session).
I estimate I’ll get between 20 and 30 cups from each tea.
Silver Needle
- Amount: 20g
- Brewing Instructions: 1tbsp, 80°C, 3 minutes
- Quality: Excellent
This is the highest quality white tea in the subscription. It’s pretty amazing. The buds are all whole, I can’t see any that have broken in transit. They’re fluffy and soft and they smell so fresh and sweet.
I used 2 teaspoons for 3 minutes to get a very pale tea liquor that has an even fresher aroma. It’s sweet like an unripe melon, still too green and firm inside to eat but still very aromatic. The flavour instantly refreshes your mouth with honey and melon notes hitting the back of my tongue. It’s really delicious just to sip and very thirst-satisfying.
I managed to get 3.5 cups out of those tea leaves and fell into a very deep and restful sleep at the end of the day. This tea really gives you a peaceful, relaxed sensation. It is high in caffeine yet worked better than chamomile as a sleepy tea.
If this was available to buy separately, I would stock up on it.
Orchid White Peony
- Amount: 17g
- Brewing Instructions: 1tbsp, 85°C, 3 minutes
- Quality: Great
The second tea is still fresh and sweet but also rich and intense. The leaves are very green compared to the white tips but this is definitely not a green tea. Dry – the leaves have a woodsy aroma – the guide suggests oak flavour notes but I couldn’t be that specific. It’s just slightly damp wood. Wet – the leaves have a strong orchid and stone fruit aroma and flavour. I’d not smelt orchids before but I can tell you now that I’m not a huge fan. The stone fruit aroma is very specific – it’s the exact aroma of the stone at the centre of the fruit, which has a different smell to the fruit flesh and pulp. It’s not plum, but perhaps close to peach or apricot.
It has a thicker mouthfeel too. With stone fruits on my mind, it reminded me of the slightly furry skin of a peach. Soft, silky and thick.
I only had 2 steeps of this tea, followed by a horrendous migraine (unrelated to the tea as far as I can tell) so my experience wasn’t great.
Overall, it’s very good but it’s not as delightful as the Silver Needle.
Shou Mei White Tea
- Amount: 17g
- Brewing Instructions: 1tbsp, 80°C, 3 minutes
- Quality: Great
I drank the Shou Mei third, 2 days after the White Peony when my migraine had faded. I’d recommend you do the same, as having the 3 in order has really allowed me to feel the transformation as you move down the tea plant picking the different leaves. This tea smelt almost earthy and has this nutty sweetness, like how soymilk or almond milk is naturally sweet.
Wet, the aroma is like toasted pinenuts and white tea sweetness. This time I can taste wet oak specifically with nutty overtones and that gentle sweetness that runs through all the white teas included.
I preferred this to the White Peony even though it had little effect on my mood. The nuttiness is smoother and more palatable than the orchids, in my opinion.
Jasmine Phoenix Eye Dragon Pearls
- Amount: 20g
- Brewing Instructions: 2-3 pearls, 80°C, 3 minutes
- Quality: Excellent
I am a huge lover of jasmine teas but this was my first ever jasmine white tea. It’s so fresh! Smelling the pearls (they’re much smaller than I expected, no more than 1cm each) I’m struck by how fragrant it is – it makes my previous jasmine tea reviews so stale in comparison.
The flavour is pure jasmine perfume with a hint of nuttiness and sweetness that follows up afterwards – this replaces the slightly grassy, steamed notes that usually accompany jasmine green tea. Although the flavours are present, I can’t taste much of the white tea. It doesn’t compete well with the jasmine. I brewed for 3 minutes as directed but the pearls were barely open and I could have happily let them sit for another minute to get a darker and more flavourful liquor.
I will be drinking the rest of these pearls as my evening cuppa. With the amount in the packet and getting at least 2 steeps from each pearl (fingers crossed) it should easily last me until next month’s subscription.
I will just note that once unfurled, the white tea leaves are not in good shape. Some are brown or yellow around the edges and some are torn up quite a bit. This doesn’t make it taste bad… but it does make me wonder if maybe it could taste even better with higher grade leaves!
Is This White Tea Subscription Worth the Cost?
Let’s do a quick breakdown of the £24 subscription.
The teaware is being sold for £12, so that means you’re getting 4x sample size tea pouches, a sticker book, leaflets plus shipping costs for £12 too.
That is worth the cost. In comparison, a 25g sample of Yunnan Silver Needle from What-Cha costs £4.55 (current price June 2019). So 4 samples, plus shipping and you’re just reaching £20 cost total if you decided to source white tea yourself.
Now, if this was your second subscription box and you didn’t get the glass tea-ware again, it’s not such great value. It’s also not great value if you are more experienced with tea and don’t need the leaflets provided. In both these circumstances, it’s more affordable to buy the white tea elsewhere.
Head to teapro for the White Tea Box. If you’re a tad too late for this month, search for White Tea on Amazon instead!
Final Verdict
For someone who needs tea-ware, needs the extra info provided, and didn’t have the time/knowledge to pick out a selection of quality white teas themselves, this is definitely worth the price.
I’ve had a peak at what’s included in July’s subscription box and I can also see what’s coming up over the next few months in the sticker book provided – this is enough to keep me interested and I’m unlikely to cancel my subscription.
I know the website can be a bit vague on details, but I’m now feeling reassured that this is a high-quality tea subscription and I’m really looking forward to July’s box.