200 Count Biodegradable Wheat straw, Plastic-free cold drink straws, Disposable Eco-Friendly Drinking Straw for Home, Restaurant, Parties, Smoothie, Coffee – 7.87 Inch & 100% Compostable

Avoid if you’re allergic to hay!
Um… I want to be environmentally friendly as much as anybody, and the biodegradability of these is certainly not in question but… this is literally a box of natural dried straw. Like the kind you would pull out of a hay bale. There has been no strengthening treatment, no processing of any kind beyond cutting to a uniform size, and the result is what you’d get if you had a hollow piece of straw. It splits incredibly easily even with very gentle handling. The durability did improve once they were used, as the moisture rehydrated the straw and gave it back some flexibility, but getting it to that point was tricky.The terms used in the product listing are incredibly confusing, calling it both sugarcane and wheat (which are from the same family, but different plants) Thankfully, I tested one by brushing it against my arm before using it as I’m prone to hay fever– my skin reacted poorly to it, so I hate to think of what would have happened if I had drunk out of it. I’ve never had issue with processed sugarcane or any form of wheat, but have bad reactions to hay, so that’s something to keep in mind if you have any kind of allergies.The straws themselves are very narrow and fairly short. They would work okay for cocktails but not any tall glasses, smoothies, or anything with seeds/chunks. They will definitely break down in compost (if they don’t break down in your kitchen drawer first). Due to the allergic reaction I had, I can’t say whether they affect the drink flavor in any way, but they didn’t smell strange at least.I don’t recommend anyone buy these, but if you’re looking for a straw you can safely throw away in a “leave no trace” area, I guess this works? Just make very sure you don’t have any sort of grass sensitivity before putting them in your mouth!

Brittle and small, basically useless
These are about the size of a plastic coffee stir, both diameter and length. But far worse, they’re extremely brittle. I broke two of them just picking them up. Totally useless.

These straws are pretty brittle.
I was really hoping this product would be a good everyday alternative to plastic, and I appreciate the effort towards biodegradability. The material itself is interesting, quite natural, but it comes with a downside: it’s incredibly brittle. I found myself breaking them just by picking them up, which makes their functionality questionable from the start. They’re also relatively narrow, more like a cocktail stirrer in diameter than a standard drinking straw, so anything with a bit of thickness, like a smoothie, just isn’t going to work well. At the same time, they didn’t disintegrate in my drink like paper straws tend to, getting them to a point where they weren’t actively threatening to snap required some careful handling. The value is definitely impacted by how easily they break, and the overall quality feels a bit lacking due to this fragility. I think the size is also a bit too short for taller glasses.