Nov 25, 2011 11 min read

Special Report: 2011 Tea-Guy Holiday Tea Gift Set Buyer's Guide

This holiday season I’ve chosen to embark upon giving gifts to friends and family. Of course, those gifts are often of the tea variety. Partway through my research for this year I decided it might be nice to share my buying experience and put together a nice Tea Gift Set Buyer’s Guide

What you’ll find inside includes photographs, cost and contents listings as well as suggestions on who in your life each set might fit best.

Let me know in the comments what you think of this Buyer’s Guide and whether you’d like to see more.

This Buyer’s Guide May Take Time to Load!

For the sake of fairness I’ve ordered the gift sets alphabetically by brand. This way There’s no particular favoritism at hand based on which one I might have enjoyed more, or which brand provided their sets first.

I am legally required to note that these gift sets were donated by the brands named at my request. Not all brands sent requests obliged or replied in time for this article. If you have any questions related to the process undergone for this buyer’s guide, feel free to ask.

For your benefit the following two images will indicate whether I believe a set is a good value or a poor value:

Keep in mind the person you’re purchasing for may think otherwise.

Adagio Teas – Artisan Comfort

Adagio Tea’s Artisan Comfort set contains six teas. Each tea has five pyramid sachets included.

Each of these teas is considered ‘pure’ meaning it isn’t scented or blended with flavors, fruits or herbs. Though the Jasmine Pearls is produced with Jasmine petals, so there’s some argument there. This set is well matched and there’s nothing which is particularly out of place.

I found it a bit odd the sachets were tucked so nicely in envelopes but had no string or tag attached for easy removal from your cup after brewing the teas at their recommended settings. If this was not purposeful it’s merely an unfortunate oversight. If it was purposeful I’m not sure what they were thinking.

Regardless, the flavor and aroma profiles from all the included teas are as expected and should provide 30 delicious cups of tea.

Audience: This Artisan Comfort set is likely to be more popular with purists and enthusiasts than with casual tea drinkers. Mostly because I’ve found casual drinkers to prefer fruity, floral or flavored teas.

Value: This set costs $24 USD. Though the included teas are pure I felt the set was off a bit partially due to what I hope were oversights in the packaging process. In any case, I found this Artisan Comfort set from Adagio to be a good value.

Adagio Teas – Sweet Medley

Adagio Tea’s Sweet Medley set contains six teas. Each tea has five pyramid sachets included.

Each of these teas is either an herbal tea or a blended tea. Blended teas are made with real tea leaves, but blended with fruit, flavors herbs, flowers or some combination thereof.

Just like with Adagio’s Artisan Comfort set, I found it a bit odd the sachets were tucked so nicely in such beautiful envelopes but had no string or tag attached for easy removal after brewing the teas to their recommended settings. If this was an accident it’s merely an unfortunate oversight. If it wash’ t I’m still not sure what they were thinking.

Regardless, the flavor and aroma profiles from all the included teas are spectacular and should provide at least 30 delicious cups of tea.

Audience: This Sweet Medley set is likely to be very popular. The box contains such a broad array of flavors to complement most any mood. There’s some sweet, some tart, some fresh. It’s got everything a casual drinker would enjoy.

Value: This set costs $19 USD. Though the included teas aren’t pure I felt the set was pretty good. But compared to other sets it’s value is lacking for the price. In any case, I found this Artisan Comfort set from Adagio to be an average value.

DAVIDsTEA – Around the World

: DAVIDsTEA’s Around the World Set

DAVIDsTEA’s Around the World set contains twelve teas. Each tea is loose in a small tin with a see-through cap.

The packaging is impressively attractive, with the added bonus of a magnetic lip on the lid to help keep it shut. The patterned print on the box is well designed, but even the inside is attractive, containing a dual French/English manual of sorts.

The particular collection of teas in this box seems a bit miss-mashed, but there’s something for almost everyone in it. It really tries to take you on a trip Around the World with flavors from Africa to China to Europe to Japan. The quality impresses, and you’ll get more than two cups from each tiny tin.

The Manual for DAVIDsTEA's Around the World Set

Audience: This Around the World set is sure to be popular with almost any tea drinker. There’s not too much or too little of any one tea ‘type.’ On top of that there’s some pure, some blended and some tisane all in one box!

Value: This set costs $26.50 USD. The amount of tea included and the breadth of this collection has me flabbergasted at the value compared to other sets on the market. A good buy for sure!

DAVIDsTEA – Connoisseur

DAVIDsTEA’s Connoisseur set contains twelve teas. Like the Around the World set, each tea is loose in a small tin with a see-through cap.

The packaging is impressively attractive, with the added bonus of a magnetic lip on the lid to help keep it shut. You can tell love went into this set. The patterned print on the box is well designed, and even the inside is attractive, containing a dual French/English manual just like the Around the World set, but in green and with its own teas listed.

The tea’s in this set are decidedly for the enthusiast or expert. The selection is all pure, nothing flavored, with multiple kinds of white, green, oolong and black teas, and even a Pu’erh for good measure. This Connoisseur set even has teas from different growing regions for a nice spread of nuance throughout.

The Manual for DAVIDsTEA's Connoisseur Set

Audience: This Connoisseur set is sure to be popular with almost any tea purist. There’s not too much or too little of any one tea ‘type.’ On top of that, the small tins should allow for multiple infusions of each tea likely providing over 48 cups of enjoyment!

Value: This set costs $26.50 USD. The amount of tea included and the quality of this collection compared to other sets on the market makes this set a great buy for sure! For the price, this is a great set to introduce someone to different kinds of pure teas from different regions as well.

DAVIDsTEA – Sweet Indulgence

DAVIDsTEA’s Sweet Indulgence set contains twelve teas. Like the Around the World set, each tea is loose in a small tin with a see-through cap.

Like the other DAVIDsTEA sets the packaging is attractive, with the a magnetic lip on the lid. You can tell a great deal of care went into this set. The patterned print on the box is well designed, even the inside is attractive, containing a dual French/English manual just like the other sets, but in red and with its own teas listed.

The tea’s in this set are decidedly for the enthusiast or expert. The selection is all pure, nothing flavored, with multiple kinds of white, green, oolong and black teas, and even a Pu’erh for good measure.


Of the different DAVIDsTEA sets, this one would fit best for those with a sweet tooth or who are looking to avoid caffeine for any reason.

The Manual for DAVIDsTEA's Sweet Indulgence Set

Audience: This Sweet Indulgence set is sure to be popular with almost anyone with a sweet tooth. There’s plenty to enjoy here with a wild mix of flavor sets to keep anyone’s palate entertained. For those looking to kick or avoid caffeine this would be the closest to ideal, but it’s not 100% there. Ensure they stick to the Rooibos blends, and pure tisanes as described in the manual.

Value: This set costs $26.50 USD. The amount of tea included, the quality and the flavor spread of this collection compared to other sets on the market makes this set a great buy for sure! For the price, this is a great set to attract your sweet tooth friends to tea.

Republic of Tea – Tea Brewing Starter Set

Republic of Tea’s Tea Brewing Starter Kit set contains two teas and several accessories. Each tea has a few ounces of loose leaf material included.

Ginger Peach
Chamomile Lemon
Magnetic Electric Tea Timer
Republic of Tea Perfect Tea Scoop
Republic of Tea Mug with Infuser and Plate

Both teas contain roughly enough material for fifty to sixty cups of well brewed tasty tea (accounting for multi-brewing).

This set contains everything a new loose tea experimenter needs to get the most out of their tea, as well as that perfect flavor. The timer and scoop help with the time and leaf quantity. Somehow I feel the only thing missing is a nice temperature gauge, but both teas require near boiling water. Thus it wouldn’t serve much purpose with these two specific blends.

Both tea’s have strong aromas, one relaxing and one assertive providing a perfect couple for those wake-up or wind-down moods.

Audience: This set is perfect for the novice tea drinker looking to improve their skill and experience extracting the perfect flavor and aroma from each of their teas.

Value: This set costs $49.50 USD. With such great quantity of tea, plus a nearly perfect collection of easy to use accessories I think this set is well rounded and a pretty good value.

Taylors of Harrogate – Box Set

Taylor’s of Harrogate’s Gift Set contains eight teas, each with five pyramid sachets.

This gift set appears a bit heavy on the breakfast teas. While the flavor and aroma are good quality overall, I was unable to locate two of the teas from the company’s website by name from either their US or UK sites.

I would have liked to have seen some of their more nuanced teas in this set such as their Afternoon Darjeeling tea and their Lapsang Souchong in place of a couple of the breakfast teas. Both of which are relatively popular English favorites and come in the same pyramid sachets.

You’re likely to get at least 50 cups or so from the entire collection.

Audience: This set would be best for the more English oriented tea drinker. Nothing wrong with that. Heavy on the malty and assertive black teas it’s here to wake you up.

Value: I was unable to locate the cost for this set, since Taylors of Harrogate don’t seem to list sets on either their US or UK websites which was a bit frustrating. The over-reliance on breakfast teas to carry the weight in this set lead me to rate this set a rather poor value for the effort inherent in locating it for purchase.

Conclusion

These are just a few sample gift sets from loads of companies out there. Each with their own strengths and weaknesses. There’s clearly something for everyone, and if one of these sets doesn’t fit someone in your life perfectly, I might recommend seeking alternatives.

That being said I think there’s room for improvement in all of these sets. DAVIDsTEA could offer a unique caffeine free set. Adagio could add tags to their sachets so drinkers could easily remove them from their cups. Republic of Tea could add a nice thermometer to their set. And Taylors of Harrogate could add better variety to their set and ensure all included teas can be refilled easily from one of their websites.

Regardless, any of the sets included here have a great audience and provide some true value to tea drinkers of every ilk.

Remember to offer your opinion of this 2011 Tea-Guy Holiday Tea Buyer’s Guide in the comments so I know whether you’re interested in seeing more posts like this one.

You’re always welcome to drop me a line and seek help identifying a great tea gift for that special person in your life. I’d be most happy to help.

Adagio Teas – Artisan Comfort

Adagio Teas – Sweet Medley

DAVIDsTEA – Around the World

DAVIDsTEA – Connoisseur

DAVIDsTEA – Sweet Indulgence

Republic of Tea – Tea Brewing Starter Set

Taylors of Harrogate – Box Set

Conclusion

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