I gave up on conventional builders tea many many years ago and as such I’m always on the lookout for interesting herbal blends. Clipper are hands down my favorite brand for alternative teas and I particularly love their range of greens teas. I was delighted when they asked me to become a Clipper Sipper Tea Taster and review their newest tea offerings every month. Anyone can sign up to be a Clipper Sipper so click here if this is something you'd be interested in.
So on to the teas...
First things first, how gorgeous are those boxes? They are far too pretty to store away in a kitchen cupboard! A big thank you to Clipper for letting me use their lovely image.
Rise & Shine
As the name suggests, this tea is designed to be your first cuppa of the day. It contains yerba maté which is a plant most commonly found in South America and for the caffeine dependents amongst you, yerba maté naturally contains caffeine. Other key ingredients are lemongrass and lemon verbena.
I would describe this tea as tangy and vibrant with a deeper and spicer smell compared to other lemon flavoured teas. Ideal for first thing in the morning.Snore & Peace
Again, no prizes for guessing when this tea is designed to be consumed! I love a good pun (Snore & Peace, War and Peace - very long book, get it?) so I already loved this tea before I opened the box!
The key ingredients here are camomile, lavender and lemon balm. I’m sure you’ve all seen lavender used in many night-time and relaxation based products such as bubble bath and body oils so it isn’t surprising to find it in a night time tea. That lavender smell seems to instantly triggers the brain to unwind.
The smell of this tea is very subtle. It’s mostly a faint fennel smell which worried me at first as I don’t like the aniseed/licorice taste you get from fennel. The taste however is warm, smooth, soft and lemon-y. It’s much more subtle than the Rise & Shine tea and perfect for bedtime. After Dinner Mints
I’ve been drinking pure peppermint tea after dinner for years as it’s supposed to help aid digestion, however I can’t say that I love the taste. It verges very close to tasting too weed-like for me!
This infusion from Clippers contains peppermint, spearmint, fennel seeds and ginger root. There’s no strong smell like there is from pure peppermint tea and the addition of spearmint gives an extra layer of menthol like freshness. Overall, this infusion is softer, gentler and milder than pure peppermint tea yet manages to be more refreshing. Love Me Truly
I have to admit that this was the tea I was least looking forward too. The ingredients troubled me...ginger, fennel, cardamom and cloves, it sounded like I was going to drink a cup of watered down curry sauce.
The smell of this tea reminds me of old traditional sweets I used to eat as a child. I think they were called Clove Rocks? The color was much lighter than I was expecting and has a cloudy appearance. 
As I’ve mentioned with the other infusions, I was bowled over by how subtle the taste was. It was warm and spicy, mild and comforting. I was definitely pleasantly surprised by this one!Zen Again
Zen Again’s main ingredients include lemongrass, nettle, eucalyptus and ginko. I occasionally drink pure nettle tea as it has many health benefits (I won’t list them all here but a quick google search will tell you all you need to know) but as with pure peppermint tea it can taste a bit too plant-like.
This tea has a strong eucalyptus smell which is a bit weed-like an off putting but it doesn’t taste anywhere near as strong as it smells. This turned out to be my least favorite of the new Clippers infusions range but it’s still pleasant and I’ll definitely finish the box. Cloud Nine
I was really looking forward to trying this tea as one of the main ingredients is elderflower and I love a good elderflower cordial! This tea also contains lemongrass and apple, yum!
It smells light and fresh and is very subtle and easy to drink. The potential bitterness of lemongrass is nicely balanced with the elderflower. I think this is my favorite tea from the range.
What do you think of infusion teas? Do you stick to your milk and two sugars builders tea or branch out and try something a bit different?
Clipper are currently offering 20% off all the teas I've reviewed here!
*These teas were given to me ℅ Clippers however anyone can sign up to be a Clipper Sipper whether you have a blog or not. All opinions are my own and are genuine. It would take more than a free box of tea to convince me to give a false positive review!*
