Teapro Subscription Box: ‘Tea Magic’ May 2020
When I started my Teapro journey I was kicking myself for starting a month after Teapro launched because it meant I missed the excitement of the Magic box. But it’s actually turned out to be great doing it this way – now I get to go out with a bang!
Teapro ‘Tea Magic’ subscription box is an exciting collection of teas to show off the versatility and amazement that tea drinking can be. If you think being a tea connoisseur is about tiny teacups and polite conversation, you’re wrong.
As you’re about to find out, there’s so much to discover.
Quick Summary
This is an exciting box – fireworks should go off when you open it! It’s the perfect introduction to Teapro as it combines some high quality and flavourful teas that tea experts will appreciate, plus some really exciting teas that are easy to brew and pack a “wow factor” that beginners will love.
I’d recommend it for: beginners who want to try new teas, and experts who want a little fun!
Pros – fun and exciting for everyone!
- Awesome selection of teas to excite/introduce
- Very easy to brew all of them
Cons – traditional teas aren’t great.
- Good flavours are compromised for the “magic”
- Only 3 flowering teas included
What’s in the Box?
As this is my twelfth Teapro box (meaning I’ve tried them all for a whole year) I can say without a doubt that Teapro always arrives in time. Even through a global pandemic and the busy Christmas season, the tea boxes still arrive in the same week of each month. This box arrived in a different flat size to the usual square box, which Royal Mail took some insult to apparently… it arrived quite battered.
In this month’s box:
- 3 Flowering Teas
- 15g Iron Goddess Oolong Tea
- 12g Butterfly Pea Flower Tea
- 15g Genmaicha Tea
- 1x sticker for May subscription
- Tea Magic booklet with details about the 4 specific teas included
If this is your first Teapro box, you’ll also receive a tasting wheel, sticker booklet and 3-piece glass infuser included. Read my review for those in the June 2019 Teapro subscription review.
Tea Magic Booklet
The Teapro booklet is quite informative and clearly aimed at beginners. It offers visual learning opportunities, like a pH scale to explain how the butterfly pea flower tea colour change works. But it’s missing other information, like brewing tips. There are actually no instructions included for brewing the flowering tea in the booklet or on the packaging.
It’s certainly interesting to read, but I won’t be keeping it. For a beginner, it’s valuable. For a more experienced tea drinker, the draw to this box is the excitement, not the opportunity to learn.
One last note – this was the first tea box Teapro ever released, so naturally it came with the 3-piece glass infuser for everyone that bought it. That extra gift which was missing in mine really made the box feel like it was lacking something.
Teapro Tea Magic Box Reviews
Looking at the amount of tea you get in grams can be a bit misleading. Knowing that a flowering tea ball can brew up an entire teapot makes it seem like there’s a lot there. And the meagre 12g of butterfly pea flower sounds like a scant amount in the tea pouch.
But don’t be deceived. Although you can brew multiple cups from that one flowering tea ball, it can only be used for 1 tea session. With the lightweight nature of butterfly pea flower, it actually stuffs the pouch full.
Overall, I felt that the proportions were wrong. We need less of the one-dimensional butterfly pea flower and more of the nuanced teas – the iron goddess oolong and Genmaicha.
Flowering Tea
Izzy's Rating
4.1/5
- Amount: 3 individual flowering teas
- Flavour notes: Smooth, mellow, marigold, rose, complex floral, green tea
- Brewing instructions: None included
- Quality: Excellent
The best flowering tea I’ve tried to date is the Whittard blooming one they released for Valentines a year or so ago. It’s pretty good, but it gets quite samey after a while. One tea ball brews an entire tea pot, and then you can resteep it 2 or 3 times to get a few more pots out of it. It’s not like you can use the flowering tea then let it dry and use it again. So, 2 to 3 pots of tea is a lot to drink in one sitting, even if you’re sharing it with friends.
Nonetheless, it is a very pleasant tea. The marigold notes dominate the cup with that mellow, hay-like flavour, but there’s some depth hidden here too. Rose, perhaps? And the green tea creates a refreshing yet subtle base.
Altogether, it creates a wonderful experience that’s magical to watch unfurl. There just isn’t enough included in the box.
Iron Goddess Oolong Tea
Izzy's Rating
4.6/5
- Amount: 15g
- Flavour notes: Floral jasmine, lingering melon, perfumed, refreshing
- Brewing instructions: 1 tsp, 90°C water, 2 minutes
- Quality: Excellent
When I saw the name of this tea, I felt disappointed. I’m not a big fan of that metallic or mineral flavour in teas, like many Wuyi rock teas and dark oxidised oolongs. But wow. This is the opposite of that. Iron is a misleading name. Sweet grassy scents mixed with jasmine blooms floating in on a gentle breeze arise from the cup. So good!
The flavour matches the aroma, but with more depth. It’s just an excellent tea that’s not quite as delicate as a green tea but nothing like the usual black tea you reach for in the mornings. This one will certainly be an eye-opened for tea beginners who’ve never strayed from their breakfast tea before.
Butterfly Pea Tea
Izzy's Rating
3.3/5
- Amount: 12g
- Flavour notes: Thick concentrated flowers, musky, almost fishy
- Brewing instructions: 1tsp, 100°C water, 3 minutes
- Quality: Excellent
This is the one that you’ll see hundreds of pictures on Instagram about. Many of Teapro’s reviews mention the butterfly pea flower tea as well because the colour is just so shocking. My white teacup doesn’t do it justice – try brewing it in the glass Teapro infuser (mine was accidentally smashed) and adding a drop of lemon juice to watch the colour change from blue to purple.
But I was disappointed for two reasons. The first is that odd film that emerged on the surface of the tea. No matter how I clean my cup of how I brew this specific tea, that film always arises. And also, the flavour is just not that good! It’s one dimensional and a little… fishy?
As a one-off tea, it’s magical and intriguing… but Teapro has sent me an entire pouch of it and I really don’t know how I will stomach drinking it regularly.
Genmaicha
Izzy's Rating
4.3/5
- Amount: 15g
- Flavour notes: Toasty, savoury, sweet and salty popcorn, umami, green tea, burnt notes
- Brewing instructions: 1tsp, 85°C water, 2 minutes
- Quality: Excellent
I was so excited for this one! Genmaicha is a Japanese green tea with popped rice in it (yes, like popcorn). The toasty, slightly savoury and salty flavour of the rice goes well with the green tea, but it does take a cup or two to get accustomed to it (at least, for me it did).
So, I worry that this tea will be a bit too much for the beginner. That “wow” factor is essential in a tea subscription box you label as magic… but you don’t want the flavours to be so powerful that you put people off.
If you have a story about trying genmaicha tea for the first time, share it in the comments below!
Is This Teapro Box Worth the Cost?
Yes, I do believe this Teapro box was worth the cost. With previous boxes, I’ve always relied on the gift and tea quality/volumes to judge whether it’s good value for money. But with the Teapro Magic Box, you also need to consider the experience. This box creates a memorable experience that you won’t forget – especially if it’s your first time delving into the world of tea!
This is one of the boxes that doesn’t come with a tea gift, so I’d recommend making this your first ever box, so you get the 3-piece glass infuser with it. It just makes appreciating the aesthetics of these teas as they brew that much more special.
Final Verdict
Go for it! I mean, to buy these teas separately and learn how to brew them kind of takes the magic away. But by subscribing to Teapro, you have the joy of waiting for the parcel, the excitement of opening it, and the wonder of learning about your teas for the first time when they’re right in front of you.
Check out this box on Teapro or search for flowering tea, genmaicha, oolong, and butterfly pea flower teas on Amazon to find these teas yourself.