For October, the mix of teas we've chosen to highlight have roots in China, India, Costa Rica, and Sri Lanka. Two are unique teas you most likely haven't tasted before - a rich pu-erh blend and an energizing, nutrient-rich tea made from coffee cherries - and two are classic teas that are stars in their respective categories - pumpkin spice and Earl Grey. Read below to learn more about what we're sipping on this month, and be sure you're logged in to your MY SIPS profile to link over to our product pages to learn more. Don't have a MY SIPS profile? Create a free profile here to access special offers if you'd like to enjoy one of these featured teas yourself!
BLACK WOLF Sips by THE JASMINE PEARL
This rich, naturally sweet pu-erh blend is so good it will make you howl! Handcrafted by The Jasmine Pearl Tea Co, Black Wolf combines ripe (shou) Chinese Pu-erh tea with carob, cacao, elderberry, rosehips, honeybush, peppercorns, and natural blackberry and vanilla flavors.
The base of this blend - ripe Pu-erh tea - is a dark, fermented tea that comes from Yunnan Province in China. It is believed to have many benefits, including the potential to lower bad cholesterol, help prevent diabetes, promote digestion, and help lose weight. On its own, it generally has a comforting earthy flavor, which can even become better with age! Pu-erh is commonly compressed into cakes or bricks, though you can also find it in loose leaf form or in tea blends such as Black Wolf. We love drinking Pu-erh tea after a heavy meal, and it’s a great option as the weather cools down because it helps your body warm up! You can learn more about Pu-erh here.
Black Wolf is perfect as an after-dinner tea or made into a creamy latte.
Since 2004, The Jasmine Pearl has been importing and handcrafting specialty loose-leaf tea in Portland, Oregon. Many of their teas are harvested and blended in small quantities, allowing them to share the freshest rare and seasonal teas. They have methodically tasted and studied thousands of different teas for over a decade in search of the most delicious and interesting examples available.
Click here to learn more about Black Wolf and access a special offer from The Jasmine Pearl! You also may have received Lavender Honey Spice in your October Sips by box.
ORGANIC PUMPKIN SPICE Sips by DAVIDSON'S ORGANIC TEAS
This classic seasonal chai is perfect for brisk fall mornings. The black tea base is sourced from family tea gardens in the Darjeeling and Assam regions of India, and is blended with organic ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and natural pumpkin essence.
The full-bodied brew has creamy, pumpkin undertones and spicy top notes - you can enjoy it by itself or combine with milk and sweetener. Make it into a Pumpkin Spice Latte or even a Turnt Pumpkin Tod-tea!
Based in Reno, Nevada for over 40 years, Davidson's Organic Teas is a third-generation, farm-to-cup tea company that prides itself on offering healthful, organic, high quality teas, herbs and spices. The family-owned company operates nearly a dozen bio-dynamic, organic tea gardens in Darjeeling, India. That means that Davidson's grows, imports, blends, and packages their own tea. They’ve worked tirelessly to develop tea blends that are true reflections of the flavor profiles for which each blend is named, and believe that organic farming works in harmony with nature. Davidson’s is committed to promoting the health and safety of their small farmers, in conjunction with preserving the rich environmental diversity in the regions where their tea is grown.
Click here to learn more about Organic Pumpkin Spice and access a special offer from Davidson's! You also may have received Rooibos Spiced Chai in your October Sips by box.
PERLA NEGRA CASCARA Sips by KASIRA
Did you know that coffee beans are actually the seeds of a fruit (a coffee cherry), and you can steep the dried cherries as a tisane? "Cascara" is the dried skins of coffee cherries, which are collected after the seeds (aka coffee beans) have been removed from the cherries.
The flavor of KASIRA's Costa Rican “Perla Negra” Cascara is light and sweet, with a pleasing full-bodied flavor and no lingering aftertaste. It energizes, hydrates, and protects with a unique combination of caffeine, electrolytes, and antioxidants not found in traditional Camellia Sinensis teas or other tisanes.
Based in Buena Park, California, KASIRA was created with the philosophy that there are many people in the world who need caffeine but don’t enjoy the flavor, caffeine, or dehydration that comes with traditional coffee and other energy drinks. As lifetime aficionados of high-quality teas, they always wondered why there wasn’t a fruit tea on the market that not only tasted great but was good for you. They wanted to inspire people to rethink how they consumed caffeine. To open their mind to the possibility of better options, and to genuinely help them be the best version of themselves through naturally healthier, more functional beverages.
KASIRA has spent years finding the perfect suppliers all across South America that not only grow award-winning coffees but who have traditionally always discarded the leftover coffee cherries (byproduct of coffee production) in favor of shipping only the coffee. They’ve partnered with these 3rd-world farmers to instead have them sun-dry the coffee fruit. This gives these farmers an additional way to make money on top of traditional coffee exports, while at the same time allowing Kasira to provide consumers with a uniquely refreshing alternative to the teas, coffees, and energy drinks currently on the market.
Click here to learn more about Perla Negra Cascara and access a special offer from KASIRA!
EARL GREY WITH CEYLON BLACK Sips by LUMBINI TEA VALLEY
If you’re an Earl Grey lover, we’ve got a special treat for you! The finest loose leaf Ceylon tea, freshly-picked at Lumbini Valley, serves as the base for this unique, refreshing flavored tea that is harmonized with bergamot flavor.
Earl Grey is one of the most famous flavored teas in the world - but what is it, and how did it get its name? Earl Grey is tea that is flavored with oil of bergamot, a type of orange that is grown in Italy and is believed to be a hybrid of sweet lime and bitter orange. Earl Grey tea got its name from Charles Grey, British Prime Minister in the 1830s. According to one legend, he received a gift of citrus blossom-scented tea after saving the life of a Chinese nobleman. Others believe that Grey was gifted a high quality Chinese tea, and, when it had run out, he had tried to replicate it with the addition of bergamot oil.
This loose leaf Earl Grey with Ceylon black tea is brought to us by Lumbini Tea Valley. In 1975, along the Valley of Lumbini in Sri Lanka, Dayapala Jayawardana planted his first tea field. His vision was to create a great tasting tea that reflects the true character of the tea leaves and the land. Today. His son Chaminda Jayawardana and his DALU team live and breathe this vision by producing teas that showcase how each variety expresses itself when sharpened by the soil and sun of Ceylon. Lumbini Valley is located just below the World Heritage Site of the Sinharaja Forest Reserve in southern Sri Lanka.
Lumbini Tea Valley's unique geographic location is one reason why their artisanal tea is so special - the oxygen-rich rainforest winds flowing from the Sinharaja Forest, along with the sea breeze from the southern coast, create a miraculous combination of winds that induce a unique flavor and aroma to the tea. The tea leaves a natural sweetness in the mouth, commonly referred to as "rainforest floral honey flavor."
Click here to learn more about Earl Grey with Ceylon Black and access a special offer from Lumbini Tea Valley! You also may have received Sinharaja Wiry Tips, an award-winning pure Ceylon black tea, in your October Sips by box.
We hope you enjoy our featured October teas this month. For some fang-tastic halloween-themed tea-infused teat recipes, go check out your MY SIPS page!
About us: Sips by™ is an Austin-based startup founded by a small group of tea lovers who want discovering tea to be fun, personalized, and affordable. When you subscribe to Sips by's tea discovery box — the only personalized, multi-brand tea subscription! — we match you with a tea expert who learns your tastes and sends you 4 unique teas to try each month, chosen from over 100 global tea brands. You can choose loose leaf tea or teabags, caffeinated or herbal, or have a little taste of each — every box is truly unique to the subscriber's preferences! Not ready to subscribe? We've still got valuable benefits to offer you! Sign up for a free Sips by profile to access special brand offers, win free tea, refer friends for points, and learn about the best tea subscription box out there.