Loose-Leaf tea on the go?

OSN reviews BloomiTea

Ordering hot tea on the go has always been kind of a gamble. You never know if you’re gonna get a stale bag that they just dusted off or some lovingly repaired loose-leaf tea.

Hi, I’m Ben with the Omtimes Shopping Network, and in this video, we’re going to be discussing and reviewing  BloomiTea’s smart tea cuppa.

About the company

The company’s founders, Yulia and Maxim started BloomiTea with the intention of living a more healthy and mindful lifestyle. Based on the information on their website, there’s a real emphasis on the health benefits of their tea blends, which include super flowers and antioxidants, as well as organic loose-leaf tea.

About the product

The BloomiTea smart tea cuppa is a loose-leaf, portable, and completely compostable tea experience. The loose-leaf blend is kept at the bottom of the cup, and there’s a spin and plant-based membrane that acts as a filter when you’re making tea.

Packaging

The packaging we received it in was made of cardboard, but it was covered in plastic wrap. And they say that every part of the cup and the packaging is fully compostable. So that includes a lid as well as the paper cup with the membrane of loose-leaf tea at the bottom.

The cups are 9.5 ounces. And to do the brew, you fill it to there’s a little internal line on the inside you fill it, and then you swish it around a couple of times and then you can filled at the top with the remaining hot water.

How long is the loose-leaf tea still viable?

I do have some questions regarding the three-time refill. There is no specified timeframe. I think on the safe side, you probably wouldn’t want to refill it after a couple of hours. But there’s nothing explicitly saying that you couldn’t after brewing it, brew it again a couple hours later. But just in terms of food safety, I think that would be nice to have some clarification on how long the loose leaf tea is still viable. We were given two flavors to try the green butterfly pea flower and the black is Mantis orange.

Taste testing

In our taste test, we tested the taste, and then we also tested how well the brew stood up to the suggested three reuses and how well the cup and the lid itself set up to extended use.

Bia: Okay, so this is our second cup footage of the first taste. I recorded slo-mo with no sound. So you’re just gonna have to take our word for it.

Ben: This is the second steep

Bia:  So, the second use of the same cups. I prefer this black osmanthus orange. I prefer black tea in general. So this has been my favorite one so far.

Ben: Yeah, I share the preference for the black osmanthus orange. I’m more of a green tea person in general. But there’s a nice floral Enos and fruitiness to that black tea.

Bia: It’s a very tasty tea. 

Ben: But the cups we’re still feeling sturdy on the second steep. Lids are still feels sturdy. Everything’s holding together. Yeah, and the flavor is still there. I think on the second steep doesn’t seem like weaker than it did before, and it’s, yeah, nice strong tea. Flavors are still there. So sticking with your black?

Bia: I think the black is still my favorite, but yeah, this is, I don’t know what a butterfly pea flower tastes like. But it’s really giving green tea. So I’m not sure what the pea is giving us.

Ben: The main flavors that when greens it’s a gorgeous color of green tea, though. I think it’s like kind of bluish-green.

Ben: Like a teal, if you will

swirl

Bia: okay, this is the third round. I think it has lost a little bit of like the punch. Yeah, but it’s still flavorful.

Ben: It still tastes. It doesn’t seem like mostly water. There’s still a good color on both of them. So yeah, I think there’s still like potency. And I think three is their suggested amount of times, right? 

Bia: I mean, if you like weak tea, I would even try a fourth time, to be honest.

Ben: But yeah, like the three is, I’m still feeling like, oh, yeah, this is satisfying, this is healthy. Yeah.

Yeah, I think use your Bloomi’s and use them a couple of times, and

Bia: Three times,

Ben: Three times?

Bia: Three times is worth it. And I think this is the winner out of the two flavors that we have.

Ben: For us, I think the black tea is the victor. You want to try the green tea. The third one is less green-tea-ish; you might like it a little bit weaker. But its still..

Bia: Yeah, it’s still green tea….

Now for the OM ratings

Sustainability and ethics

In terms of sustainability and ethics. The packaging, aside from the plastic wrap, is all biodegradable and compostable. The tea itself is certified USDA organic, so they get some points for that, having a third-party certification. They’re a newer company, and we’d love to see them get some other third-party certifications.

Accessibility

So it is tea it’s made with hot water. I would suggest being careful with the hot water. It doesn’t come with any kind of cozy or anything to hold the cup. And while the lid does feel sturdy, you definitely wanna make sure that it’s secured before you take it on the go with you.

And it’s also worth considering that right now the product is only available through Amazon, which is pretty ubiquitous but may not be everybody’s preferred vendor to go through.

Affordability

So a pack of BloomiTea costs $12.99. So that includes 10 cups, which are good for three refills, so that can equate out to about 30 cups of tea. So breaking this down in terms of cost per cup. That would be about $1.30 per cup if you use it once or down to 43 cents per cup if you use it for the recommended three times.

So while it is a little bit more expensive than just buying a small bag of, say, green tea, you are getting a higher quality product in terms of tea. This is loose leaf, and you can see the tea inside of it that these are actually full leaves; these are not like dust.

Functionality

The cup and the lid are both pretty sturdy. The paper cup feels like it can stand up the significant use, and the compostable lid does not feel super flimsy. And it also didn’t like disintegrate or anything, so it seems to be starting well-made stuff.

Flavor

The flavor did diminish a little bit over the three steeps, which you would kind of expect from tea. But it still was strong, flavorful tea throughout and I would definitely be interested in trying other flavors like the Rose Matcha. Our favorite wound up being the black osmanthus tea which had nice fruity notes in addition to having black tea flavor without being too bitter.

Aesthetics

The design is cute. I do like the kind of floral design and the general plant leaf theme. And I do also like that every flavor has its own color so you can easily recognize which flavors which blooming tea

Who is it for?

I think is a great solution for people who enjoy loose-leaf tea enjoy high-quality tea but are on the go and don’t necessarily have the time to you know set out a whole little tea ceremony.

Overall it is a good quality tea. I like that the packaging is reusable to a certain extent and that it is made to be on the go. I could see a great use case for those being something he’d take to the office with you and have at your desk or something like that as well.

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Thank you so much for watching, and I’ll see you next time.

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