Meet My sister Yvie... the ultimate tea connoisseur. I called in her expert help for this Bistrotea Tea Sticks review.
She leaves a constant trail of teacups wherever she goes... she's addicted. So much so that she has to switch between normal and decaf to make sure she can get a good night's sleep at the end of the day.
So when I received an email telling me about an innovative new way of making tea, I had to try it, and run it by Yvie of course.
What Are BistroTea Tea Sticks?
The tea sticks are designed to replace loose leaf tea and make the exact dosage for the perfect cup of tea every time. As they say on their website "Complicated portioning and handling loose tea and tea strainers are a thing of the past, each stick contains just the right amount of fine quality cut tea for one portion."
- They're a single use high-tech tea diffuser, with a unique filtration system.
- Tea Sticks made in Germany from triple laminate food-grade foil (that remains stable up to 121 degrees Celsius).
- They're packed at the point of origin using premium grade, organic tea leaves, harvested, selected, and processed in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) on Fairtrade estates.
- Twelve different blends are available, from black teas, red teas, green teas and herbal infusions.
How Much do BistroTea Tea Sticks Cost?
The Tea Sticks cost around €8.50 per pack and you can buy them from their website.
Perfect for People Who Have a Lactose Intolerance
I recently had a friend over for tea who has a lactose intolerance, so she either has soya milk or drinks her tea black. As we had a selection of Tea Sticks in the house, I pulled them out and offered her a selection of the flavoured teas. She went for the apple & cinnamon black tea - and loved it.
I've also tried this one, and even though I'm not usually a lover of flavoured teas (I tend to find they smell delicious but taste of nothing), the BistroTea apple & cinnamon is fabulous!
Win-win, I like it, plus I've impressed my friend who's come over for a cuppa & a chat.
BistroTea Tea Sticks Pros
So what did we think was the best bit about the BistroTea range?
The highest scoring point is that the BistroTea TeaPods look cool and have a big novelty factor. However, the teas also taste really good!
We're big breakfast tea drinkers in my house, and I would happily swap my usual tea for BistroTea breakfast TeaPod as it tastes really good - light and fragrant.
What else is good about the TeaPods?
- Its innovative design means it can be used as a stirrer- so need for a spoon.
- It doesn't drip, so there's no mess.
- It's packaged in an Italian-designed, moisture-proof, tear-resistant envelope- for recyclable disposal.
BistroTea Tea Sticks Cons
For us, there was only really one negative and that's price. They're quite a bit more expensive than the usual tea brands available in the UK. You definitely won't want to go serving them up to the builders along with your best biscuits!
BistroTea Tea Sticks Review Verdict
We liked the Tea Sticks.
They're handy because you don't need a spoon, so they would be useful in a weekend/travel bag or hotel room. They're compact so you can easily fit plenty in your tea jar or luggage bag. And they look good and feels high quality.
They do everything the press release said they should.
The only slight disagreement for me was I had to squeeze the breakfast TeaPod to get it a little stronger (while my water was still hot). This could be down to me being impatient, or simply the fact I like my tea HOT.
However, for the other teas I didn't have to do this - and it worked perfectly.
