FAQ

What is the best way to store tea?

We suggest storing tea in a cool, dry place.  The tea should be out of direct sunlight and away from other items with strong scents or odors.  For this reason we advise against storing tea alongside spices and herbs. If possible, it’s a good idea to store tea inside an air-tight container.

How should I steep my tea?

Our standard suggestion is to use 3 grams of dry leaf, a bit under one teaspoon, per 100ml of water. Green Oolong should use 90C / 194F water temperature, roasted oolong around 95C / 203F, and dark oolong can use up to 100C / 212F. All our teas packaging has the recommended steeping temperature labeled. Steep time should be under two minutes at first, with the later cups lengthening in steep time to taste. The brewing vessel has a very large impact on taste, so directions may vary depending on that.  We use gaiwan when steeping tea in the office.

Is there an expiration date on my tea?

We find that vacuum-sealed tea has a very long shelf-life.  For roasted and dark oolong, the taste often actually improves with age (assuming proper storage!)  We suggest that opened packages of tea be brewed as soon as possible; the change in flavor is noticeable at around six weeks.  Greener tea leaf flavor changes faster, while roasted and dark teas withstand flavor change a bit better.

How is the shipping cost calculated?

We aim to get the cost of shipping (through USPS) as close as possible to the actual cost we pay to the delivery service.  That way, we can keep the list price for our teas as close to the “true cost”, without other expenses added in. To save on the cost of shipping, we do offer free shipping for orders delivered within the US that total $76 or higher.

Which teas have more/less caffeine?

A difficult question to answer, but there are two general ways to estimate caffeine content in a tea.  First is the general size of the leaf: the buds and youngest leaves have higher caffeine content than the larger leaves.  Second, is the wholeness of the leaf: whole leaves will have less caffeine than broken-up pieces. Bagged black tea, made of finely chopped fannings, and matcha, which is ground into a fine powder, have nearly double the caffeine content per cup over tea made from the same whole leaf.

Do you offer samples for sale?

We created the two ounce option for most of our popular teas as the sample size.