"I ordered a tea pot and a water boiling kettle about 2 weeks before Christmas. I was looking around online for cool tea stuff and every other place I looked had just boring things that everyone has. When I found UmiTeaSets.com I knew they had just what I was looking for and the best part was the price was good too!

A customer service rep contacted me and said if I made my purchase now there would be a 15% discount to apply. This is just great. I take it, place the order, wish the rep Merry Christmas and Feel confident because shipping was standard at 7 - 14 days so if it shipped tomorrow, at the latest I will get it the day after Christmas.

Then the problems started. 6 days later it hasn't shipped. I send a scathing email saying I either want it shipped the next day expedited shipping or my money back.... Package is shipped next morning, a Sunday, so I feel pretty confident they got my message, but there is no response from customer service to explain the situation or when I can expect my package. I have a tracking number for a janky Chinese package tracking site that has one word in English "query". The tracking data is in Chinese for the most part so it's pretty much useless. I don't get my package until about 4 days after Christmas.

The packing was good for protection but not the smartest at all and it was messy. Lots of pieces of Styrofoam were used to package it and it got crumbles of Styrofoam everywhere. The glass water heater pitcher was not in a box and had no instructions and no labels or anything. My wife was concerned that the plastic on it was not BPA free. I hadn't considered this, so I had no idea. She says she found online that it is. They should have included material to document it though.

The plug for the wall is Chinese style and I had to buy an adapter for. It takes way too long to heat up because I need a converter too, which is pricey. It should have come with an American style outlet plug. Because of this, we guess that some of this might not have been quite legally shipped. It does add to the authenticity factor, however.

All that said, the things that I bought were not very expensive but are of high quality and very authentic. I would recommend this site to anyone who is looking for something different than what you can find at your local Tea Source.

If I place an order again, I'll do it a month in advance of when I need it. If it hadn't been for the shipping problems this would have been a great experience. Shipping was important, though, as this was a Christmas gift. I think my rating is a bit generous, but if they work on improving these errors I think they could have a very successful business."

""Nice tea set, but the packaging is not beautiful. I bought this set at the preferential price, and I feel I got no less than what I paid for. We were hoping to be able to hold the boxes for reuse, but we're just going to be throwing them out. Also, there is a lot of wasted space in the box, so there will be a lot of padding material to throw away.
As for the contents, we tried the dragon lily last night, and it is a very pleasant tea for a quiet evening after dinner with no harsh flavors.
As for the pot, it's a small, thin glass thing with nothing special about it. However, it is quite the right size and shape for watching these teas unfurl.
All in all, I'm happy with what I got. I just wish the packaging could have been nicer."
"

"When I first heard about flowering tea, I wonder what the tea looks like. I was so curious that I searched the appropriate tea set on the website. After the compare, I chosen this tea set, I already know which ones are my favorites. It's a great starter kit and I select 9 different kinds of tea--all of which are beautiful to watch and delicious to drink.
I made my first pot of flowering tea when I was having a very bad day. The simple act of brewing this flowering tea, the whole room with the aroma and admiring the beautiful shapes and colors made me feel so much better. It sort of turns a normal pot of tea into an event!
I plan to buy this tea set again to give as a gift. So wonderful!"

"I bought this tea set just for fun. I have been drinking blooming tea for a while now. It is pretty to watch the flower unfold, and because it is nice portion of tea already portioned out for a small pot. I would purchase this one because it has some tea shapes I haven't tried. They provided samples of Dragon Lily Bulb Tea to me. I like this style of tea, because there have a lovely subtle taste instead of overpowering flavors. Tea sets' heft and solidness are fine. I didn't find any imperfections on it. The pot also has a built-in strainer, although I'd likely use a cup strainer or tea infuser. Packaged it all up in lovely printed cardboard "gift boxes" which can be used to store the set. And I'd say it's perfect for that. "

"I bought this as a gift to my friend who has been wanting a tea set but is too practical to splurge on such frivolous things for herself. Although up close the flowers look a bit pixelated, I still think they are very cute. The teapot is sturdy without being too heavy, and the mesh tea leaf holder will be fine enough to keep the leaves out of tea water. I am afraid that the teapot does not retain much heat. And I purchased the cast iron warmer, so she can have hot tea by her reading chair or bedside. It's just 7" in diameter and 4" high with the handle stowed, so quite easy to store if needed. The box they came in is not suitable to present them in. I put it in a large basket of raffia & it looks just fabulous!"

"My girls love having pretend tea parties. More than once they asked me to buy them a tea set. So I decide to buy them a tea set as their birthday present instead of buying flowers that will wilt in a few days. I looked around on many sites, and Umiteasets was by far, the most reasonably priced set out there. My girls like the tea set with floral patterns. So they chose one of it.
As far as I am concerned, it's not really my style, way too flowery, but my girls think it's very attractive, and that's all that matters.
In a word, they feel satisfied with the tea set, and they like it very much."

"When I saw these blooming tea at the first time, I totally fall in love with it. I deliberately chose a small and dainty teapot, and the clear tempered glass allows you to safely brew and observe your blooming tea ball. This set is appropriate to anyone wanting to try blooming teas for the first time, or as a gift to the tea drinker. A focus point people always have when purchasing online, "is the goods as well as its online photo projects it to be". As it relates to this product I can truly say I was very satisfied instead of disappointed. My personal favorite is the Rose Flavor which is truly rich in flavor and aroma. This is absolutely a relaxing tea experience."

""I have several tea drinkers in my family. Sometimes we were get together to hold a family tea party. I would like to choose some tea set as a gift. They have not told me what they liked or didn't like about the set, but from the previous reviews the website's tea set looked fabulous. So I selected some kind of tea set on the website.

The tea set come in a great brown paper box with foam surrounding the fragile stuff which makes the tea set away from damage. Inside it everything is snug and it presents nice.

All tea set look as adorable as the picture shows on website. The color, shape and quality of the tea set exceeded my expectations. These are lovely little gift set for my tea-loving family. Maybe I should think about purchase one more to myself."
"

"The gift was appreciated, it is an unbelievably great value and super great gift for any tea addict. I got it for my sister for christmas and she loved it so much. She only stated that she thought the glass tea pot would've been a little larger. It's very beautiful! The sample flower tea actually tastes delicious. And the other thing she mentioned was the flowers aren't labeled so you really don't know what you're getting until it "blossoms". But we had a lot of fun watching the flower tea bloom. The packaging is really cute too, and it's fun and the box is a nice keepsake. The tea pot is really delicate but it came in perfect condition. I definitely would recommend this to any tea lover, I am planning to purchase one for myself."

"I am completely satisfied with this tea set. It's make of glass and people can see tea leaves or flowering teas. I put the flowering tea bud in it, then I can see the bud starts opening. After a few minutes, I pull out the infuser, and enjoy my tea for the next several hours. Because this tea set come with a teapot warmers. The tea light keeps my tea the perfect temperature the entire time!! I can add more water and my infuser back into the teapot to steep for another pot.
I like to sip on my tea throughout the day, then the tea is becoming lukewarm instead of hot. I don't mind just pouring myself another little cupful to sip on. If the cups were bigger, the tea would be cold by the time. The infuser is awesome, but does let a small amount of particles through it.The website staff suggested me to order a Tea Strainer, that I can place it over my cup as I pour tea. Problem solved. That’s great!"

"The tea set is nice and very good quality and it was worth waiting for. The tea pot has a built in strainer that will in most of the loose tea leaves floating in the pot.
The tea pot keeps the water or tea hot, retains its heat well enough. It makes excellent tea within minutes. The cups and saucers are a perfect size for an intimate cup of tea at home. My only reason for not giving 5 stars is the pattern on the cup. While it is a nice pattern, colorful and delicate, there are places where it applied slightly wonky, meaning it doesn't completely follow the flow of the lines of the tea cup or saucer edge. Although it's not super noticeable.
Having said that, it's a lovely set for everyday use or special occasions. Personally it looks elegantly. "

""The tea set arrived undamaged. Each piece separately wrapped and packed in fittingly sized boxes, snuggled in a nice white outer box instead of those ugly brown boxes which made it perfect for wrapping in gift paper. Because I purchased this set for my granddaughter, I was worried that I'd have to find a beautiful box but that was completely unnecessary.
This set is perfect. The design is lovely with it's creamy-white background, slenderly fluted edges, sprinkle of marguerites and soft green details. It's delicate looking yet massive enough that you don't feel nervous about handling it. This set has a bit of muscle hidden beneath its delicate appearance. I you're looking for a fully functional yet feminine tea set that won't empty your wallet, this Gracie Tea Set fits that bill. I haven't given it to my granddaughter yet and I hope she loves it.""

"I love this tea set very much. It's completely glass and people can see their beautiful tea leaves or flowering teas. I ordered one of these for my friend for her birthday and one for myself. The glass teapot was in excellent shape, it holds over a cup of boiling water. It seeps the tea well. I need to boil the water in other container, the teapot is for seeping the tea only. This tea set is adorable but I was a little disappointed that the way it was shipped to me. It came in regular cardboard box without any original box that should have had picture. There were no instructions or pictures for people who are using this for the first time. I wanted to give this as a gift but now I have to come up with a way to wrap this set up to look more presentable than this cardboard box."

"This is an absolutely charming tea set at this price. The cups are bigger than I expected, as are all the other pieces. I usually like to use a bigger cup, which is nice for entertaining others. Perfectly sized cups.
The background is white-colored which doesn't show well in the picture. Since the tea sets are heavier than I expected, I will feel at ease using this set regularly without fear of damaging it. The only flaw I can find is that the design feels a little rough to the touch in several places. For this price however, I do not feel that this detracts from the joyful charm of the set. What a pretty tea set.
The flowering tea is a little bitter, and some of the blossom don't go well with honey. But I being bitter doesn't bother me, and I don't put sugar in my tea."

"I would not recommend this item if you're a tea crazy aficionado.
However not sure why so many people were complaining about bamboo. Yes the box is flimsy but it's made out of bamboo and held together by bamboo so you can't expect that it's going to be some high quality, durable box.
Inside the box everything is snug. I was a little surprised at the size of the pot, I was thinking it was going to be a little bigger. But that isn't Umi's fault, and I didn't read the entire description.
But whatever, the price could be a bit lower but other than that it made a good gift. The lid has a vent hole, so when you pour there is no vacuum. I would recommend it to someone who likes to dabble so I'm giving it favourable comment."