The Cozy Mug Tea Subscription Review, January 2016

One nice thing about Valentine's Day is its effect on subscription boxes!  'Tis the season and the Valentine inspired loot is starting to roll in.  The Cozy Mug, with its mission of sending teas and related fun surprises, is well positioned to take advantage of the season of Love!

When I signed up, the price per month was $19.95.  It is now $20.95.  Apparently, I've been grandfathered in as I'm still being charged $19.95 per month. That's a good thing as the value of this month's box was disappointing. Read on and let me know what you think.

The Cozy Mug is shipped in a USPS Small Flat Rate box which costs $6.80.  I know a few things about shipping. This box weighed 8 ozs., which is well under the threshhold rate for Priority, meaning that it could have been shipped First Class.  For my zip code, that would have cost about $3.54. It's hard to understand why The Cozy Mug is using a shipping method that requires almost twice the necessary postage, especially when that extra money is desperately needed to augment the contents of the box.

Having said that, they do make an effort to acknowledge the season with festive packaging.  The items in my box were packed in pink and red tissue with red heart confetti sprinkled throughout.  (Reminiscent of the now defunct Eco Emi's beautiful packaging, for those who remember!)

A product card tells a little about each item but does not provide retail values.

There are four individual tea packets, two from Stash Tea (Lavender Herbal and Red, White & Blueberry) and two from Tulsi (Sweet Rose and Raspberry Peach).  I'm familiar with Stash Tea but Tulsi is new to me and those flavors are intriguing.

Next is a very small piece of chocolate from Righteously Raw which has a bit of rose flavor. I'm not a big fan of raw chocolate and this was just too sharp and bitter for me, however seasonally appropriate.

This cute tin from Harney & Sons holds five silk tea sachets containing Valentine's Blend, a mix of Ceylon tea, chocolate flavoring and pink rosebuds which "invites romance and warms the heart".  I already like this! 

Next is a single serve White Chocolate Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix from Bellagio.  Can't say I've ever tasted a drinkable white chocolate before but I bet this is good.

Last is a beautiful little greeting card with a stack of pastel colored macaroons (or macarons if you want to get technical) on the front.  Their centers are quite sparkly and they are tied with a pink ribbon.  The matching envelope is pink and it has a little macaroon on the outside. I know just who will get this.  Tres cute!

Wonderful concept here but the economic problem is obvious. Too much is being spent on postage with too little value in the box as a result. For The Cozy Mug to retain their customers, I think they will have to address this issue. Personally, I plan to stick it out for one more month. (For the record, this is a subscription I would be quite loyal to if the contents justified the price!)

You can make a one time purchase of The Cozy Mug for $24, but I don't recommend that. If you're interested, just sign up for the subscription at $20.95 per month, then cancel whenever you wish. The curation of this box is creative and fun but you'll have to decide whether it's worth the price.

Thanks for reading,

Cheryl

Disclosure:  Views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly my own.  Product discussed in this post was purchased by Lone Star Shopper. Post does not contain referral or affiliate links.