Everybody keeps a robust black tea or a trusty chamomile tea in their cabinet for when they feel a sore throat coming on or need to wind down with a soothing cup of tea before bed. But if you’ve already dipped your toes in the world of tea and feel ready to go off the beaten track, it’s time to try a few delicious, but often overlooked, tea flavors.

Some of these underrated teas are newcomers, some are hard to find, and others you might simply forget about, but that doesn’t mean that any of them aren’t worth sipping on. Keep reading to see how many of these delicious and unique teas you’ve already tried or if any spark your curiosi-tea!

Sips by is a personalized tea discovery subscription. Each month, we match tea drinkers across the U.S. with delicious teas from over 150 global tea brands that we’re sure they’ll love. Members receive 4 teas chosen just for them in every box. Learn more about our tea subscription service.

BEST FLAVORED TEA

Discover the best flavored teas as rated by Sips by's 700,000 tea-loving Members. Across all tea types from black to green to herbal and more, these are the best flavored teas from different tea brands around the world. Find your favorite flavored tea,from fruity to spicy to vegetal, both caffeinated and caffeine-free. Sips by has flavored tea options you'll love.

SHOP BEST FLAVORED TEA

BEST UNDERRATED TEA FLAVORS

Here’s a roundup of the best underrated tea flavors you need to try at least once in your life. You never know, one might become your favorite new brew!

BUTTERFLY PEA FLOWER TEA

We’re spilling the tea on this best-kept secret - butterfly pea flower! It’s a caffeine-free herbal tisane known for its seemingly magical color-changing properties and plenty of health benefits like EGCG and powerful antioxidants. With a squeeze of lemon, its naturally blue hue changes from dark purple to green in an instant! Made with the bright purple butterfly pea flowers common in Southeast Asia, it contains properties that change color when the pH balance is altered.

On its own, butterfly pea flower tea tastes woodsy with subtly sweet notes. It resembles an earthy green tea in flavor, and blends well in other flavored herbal teas. Get out your favorite tea filter and try this enchanting Pink Citrus Magik tea by Tea Kitten, or experience Chariteas’ unique Olive & Dingo's Color-Changing Tea. For the ultimate sleepy time tea, try this Beauty Sleep herbal tea blend with chamomile and butterfly tea flowers that will lift your mood while washing away the stress of the day.

MORINGA TEA

Moringa tea is made from the leaves of the Moringa oleifera tree, nicknamed “the miracle tree.” It’s granted this lofty moniker because of its health properties - it is considered the most nutrient dense superfood in the world! Native to India and widespread throughout Southeast Asia, moringa is still underappreciated in other parts of the world despite its incredible health benefits.

Moringa tea tastes slightly earthy with hay notes and a wisp of herbal spiciness. Moringa tea is often blended with other herbal ingredients to enhance its taste, such as this tropical Organic Moringa Herbal Tea with Mango blend or this naturally sweet and soft Organic Moringa Herbal Tea with Honey & Vanilla flavor. Moringa is naturally caffeine-free and steeps a light yellow to golden brown color.

Try more Moringa teas for health & wellness with your own Sips by Box.

PURPLE TEA

Developed just over 25 years ago, purple tea is the newest type of tea in our cuppas! Cultivated in Kenya, purple tea is a true tea - meaning it’s a varietal made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. The most intriguing characteristic of purple tea is the leaves, as they naturally grow a striking dark purple rather than the usual vibrant green. Plus, it’s the only type of tea containing the same powerhouse antioxidant anthocyanin found in superfruits like blueberries, açai, eggplants, and pomegranates.

Similar to oolong or white tea, purple tea’s flavor balances in between green and black tea. Purple tea can taste light to medium-bodied without being grassy or vegetal. At the same time, it’s not in danger of turning astringent like some black teas, tasting pleasantly sweet and slightly woodsy instead. Purple tea has low levels of caffeine, so it can still be drunk after lunch to brighten up your afternoon.

CHRYSANTHEMUM TEA

Chrysanthemum is an herbal tea made with white or yellow chrysanthemum flower blossoms. High quality blossoms can be steeped by themselves or blended with other herbal ingredients to create a healthful tisane. Used in traditional Chinese medicine as a preventative treatment, chrysanthemum tea is primarily known for its many health benefits. It is a great source of potassium, iron, vitamins C and A, and lowers blood pressure, cholesterol, and is an anti-inflammatory. Plus, it’s great wellness tea for your skin! We recommend steeping chrysanthemum tea in a glass teapot or mug to watch the buds unfurl and bloom (trust us, it’s worth it!).

Even though it’s a flower-based tisane, chrysanthemum has a pleasant aroma but lacks an overly floral taste. Chrysanthemum tea tastes subtly sweet like honey, with herbal and buttery notes. Renowned for its health properties over taste, chrysanthemum is often enhanced with other herbal ingredients. Chrysanthemum teas are often used in visually stunning blooming teas or in herbal blends like Flowery Fields by Cultivate Taste.

Discover more Chrysanthemum and blooming teas in the Sips by Tea Shop.

YELLOW TEA

Yellow tea is the most overlooked out of the six main “true tea” types - meaning it’s made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, like classic black tea or green tea. Yellow tea is considered to be a rare tea because it is processed with a few special steps. Only the best quality leaves are picked for a process called “sealed yellowing” which involves frying, wrapping, and steaming the leaves. These steps are repeated for up to three days until the tea leaves are perfectly dried. Yellow tea has 3x more antioxidants than green tea and brews a beautiful and distinct golden color.

Yellow tea tastes extremely smooth and delicate with a malty aroma. The result from “sealed yellowing” is similar to green tea, but with a mellower, lighter flavor and zero grassiness due to more oxidation.

PU-ERH TEA

Highly prized by tea collectors and tea connoisseurs, pu-erh is a fermented tea produced in Yunnan province, China from a big leaf variety of the Camellia sinensis. There are two main types of pu-erh resulting from different production methods – raw and ripe. Raw pu-erh has been produced for thousands of years and is allowed to age naturally, while ripe pu-erh was developed in the 1970s using a special "wet piling" fermentation process that creates a dark, earthy flavor profile within only a few months, as opposed to several years.

Pu-erh encompasses a wide range of flavor profiles, depending on how it’s processed, the terroir, and age. Fresh raw pu-erh tastes more vegetal and smoky with a gentle bitterness and pungency. Some pu-erh is delicious to drink when young, but it can be too bitter and need years of age to mature into aged raw pu-erh with smoother, sweeter, and richer flavors. Ripe pu-erh characteristically tastes dark and woodsy to sweet and nutty. Pu-erh also balances well in flavored blends, especially in dessert tea and chocolate tea blends. We recommend this Croquembouche au Chocolat by the Chez Lulu.

YAUPON TEA

Yaupon is the ultimate herbal tea underdog. It's not just the only American-grown type of tea, it’s also the only naturally caffeinated American plant. Yaupon tea comes from a holly tree that mainly grows on the Southeast coast. It was discovered by Native Americans and valued for its energizing properties and health benefits, eventually being exported to Europe with early tea traders. Then, mysteriously and inexplicably, yaupon tea practically disappeared for centuries even though the hardy plant continued to thrive.

Depending on how the leaves are dried, yaupon tea can taste light, grassy, and earthy to dark, sweet, and toasted. Yaupon can also be blended with other herbal ingredients like dried flowers, spices, or natural flavoring. Plus, it never gets bitter! It’s similar to rooibos in that it can be steeped forever and the absence of tannins ensures that it will always taste smooth. We recommend YAYAYA Yaupon’s Illumination that blends yaupon and organic rose petals for a bright and lively blend, or CatSpring Yaupon’s mild Lost Maples Medium Roast with caramel notes.

Try more yaupon teas with your own Sips by Box.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

FRUITY TEA SHOP

Get the respite you need from the hot summer with these refreshing and hydrating fruity teas. Substitute your sugary iced teas with these naturally flavored teas brewed with ice and experience the different fruit flavors in your cool drink. Ranging from apple, apricot, and vanilla, to mango, peach, and mixed berries, we have a fruit-flavored tea for everyone.

FRUITY TEA SHOP

Interested in trying these teas and others? Subscribers receive 4 teas chosen just for them in every box. Learn more about our tea subscription service.

About Sips by: We’re a female-founded and led startup that makes discovering tea fun, personalized, and affordable. The Sips by Box is the only multi-brand, personalized tea subscription box. Each month, we match tea drinkers across the U.S. with delicious teas from over 150 global tea brands that we’re sure they’ll love. Based out of Austin, Texas, we are adept at savoring a hot mug even when it’s seasonally inappropriate.