Premium Quality Leaf Tea

We are proud of our range of loose leaf tea.  We aim to offer the UK's widest range of leaf teas and so we are constantly increasing our selection of loose leaf tea. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions amount specific teas i.e. green, oolong, black or white teas can be found in their specific section.

General Questions
What's better tea bags or loose leaf tea?
What's the best way to store my tea?
Is there caffeine in tea?
How can I remove caffeine from my tea?
Where does tea come from?
How is black, oolong, green and white tea made?
What is oxidisation?
Should I use filtered water?
How do I make iced tea?

What’s better tea bags or loose leaf tea?

Tea bags were invented for convenience and allow you to make a quick cuppa easily and mess free.  Space in a tea bag is limited and tea leaves cannot fully expand to give their best flavour, so teabags are usually filled with broken up bits of tea leaves known as fannings.  Fannings are essentially the next step up from "dust" (the leftovers found at the bottom of the bag).  Fannings are often stale, contain dust mites and are a low grade of tea.  This tea is usually machine processed, resulting in bitter, astringent tea (that’s why if you’ve tried green tea from a teabag before it might have tasted a little bitter).  Companies like PG Tips and Lipton make millions of teabags and their main aim is to get a consistent and quality flavour and when you are dealing in those sorts of numbers it’s very difficult and quality will be scarified along the way. 
In a nutshell loose leaf tea is generally a much higher quality and has a much wider range. A main reason for people not using it is because they think it’s messy, but now with the selection of infusers that are available there is really no excuse.

What's the best way to store my tea?

Tea can be damaged by five things: air, light, odour, heat, and moisture. When tea is excessively exposed to these any of these five elements, it will gradually lose flavour and become stale.  The best way to store tea is in double-lidded, airtight tin canisters.  Tea is available is so many different flavours, such as earl grey and vanilla, because it so easily absorbs the flavours of things around it; this can be tea’s downfall as well and so it should be stored away from pungent or aromatic spices and coffees.
If you are buying tea is bulk you can request that it is delivered in separate airtight, light proof and 50 gram packages with odour absorbers inside.   This will ensure that your tea is keep fresh for the longest possible time.  (This option is not available on all of our teas).

Is there any caffeine in tea?

Yes, as a general rule the darker the leaves the higher the caffeine content.
According to the Department of Nutritional Services in the U.S.A.:

• A cup of white tea contains between 6 and 25 mg of caffeine.
• A cup of green tea contains between 8-36 mg of caffeine.
• A cup of oolong contains between 12 and 55 mg of caffeine.
• A cup of black tea ranges from 23 to 110 mg of caffeine.
• A cup of coffee by comparison contains between 60-180 mg of caffeine.

How can i remove caffeine from my tea?

Different teas have different amounts of caffeine. Generally, the darker the tea the higher caffeine content.  The caffeine that is absorbed into a cup of tea is found on the surface of the leaves.  You can remove about 80% of the caffeine found in tea by following these simple steps.
1.    Put leaves into infuser pot.
2.    Pour the correct temperate water onto leaves.
3.    Leave for a few seconds.
4.    Drain off water (and majority of caffeine)
5.    Infuse the leaves as usual.
6.    All tea leaves can be decaffeinated in this manner.

Where Does Tea Come From?

Legend has it that the first tea leaves were discovered in Yunnan Province, now in the People’s Republic of China around 5,000 years ago.  Tea has since been introduced to other parts of the world.  The main tea growing areas are as follows:

The map below taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea shows tea production across the world in 2008

China- The birth place of tea, with tea production dating back to around 2,737 B.C.  China is a major producer of tea and produces somewhere in the region of a thousand different kinds.  China is the world’s largest tea grower although, like India, most of its stock is consumed domestically.  China grows mainly green, white and oolong tea, however some black teas are also produced such as Lapsang Souchong and Yunnan black teas.  China’s most well-known tea is Longjing (or Dragon Well); a tea that is often referred to as the national drink of China.

India- Grows the black teas that were are most familiar with in the UK and is the second largest tea producer in the world.  India has two major tea growing regions; Assam and Darjeeling. The Assam region produces tea with distinctive flecked brown and gold leavesand a robust malty flavour.   Darjeeling teas are commonly associated with a light and delicate flavour and aroma with muscatel undertones.  There is also tea production in the Nilgiri region of Southern India. However, these teas are most commonly used in blending.  India does also produce green, oolong and white tea in small quantities.

Sri Lanka- Until recently, the world’s largest exporter of tea.  Grows mainly black tea known as Ceylon tea (Ceylon is the old name for Sri Lanka).  Sri Lankan teas are plucked all year around, come from five distinct growing regions and offer a wider range of colours and flavours.

Japan- Mainly produces green teas.  These teas are steamed and taste grassier thanChinese teas.  The high price of land and production in Japan has lead to a large decrease in the production of Japanese tea and so Japanese tea production is now mainly for domestic consumption and only 0.6% is exported.  As a result, most Japanese style teas consumed outside of Japan are now grown and processed in China by Japanese and Chinese firms.

Turkey- Is one of the largest tea producers in the world.  Turkey mainly produces tea for its domestic market which is the second largest in the world fuelled largely by it’s high per capita consumption which is second only to India’s.

Taiwan- The island formly known as Formosa, a name which is style lends to some of its teas, is a grower of high quality oolongs.  Many of Chah’s oolongs are imported from Taiwan.

Keyna- Is one of Africa’s oldest tea producers and takes advantage of its equatorial location to produce tea all year round.  Kenya is a grower of lower quality ctc teas that are mainly used in tea bags.  Kenya recently became the world’s larger exporter of tea and can be found in many famous British tea bag brands. 

Tea is grown in many other areas such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and even the UK (Devon and Yorkshire) in smaller quantities.

How is black, oolong, green and white tea made?

The image below shows how different teas are made.

What is oxidisation?

Oxidisation in tea is similar to what happens to an apple if you bite it then leave it lying around for a while.  The section of the apple that has been exposed to oxygen will in time change from white to brown.  With tea, oxidation refers to how and when the oxidation occurs, and how and when the oxidation is stopped.

• White teas are picked then dried to prevent any oxidisation occurring.
• Green tea leaves are plucked then treated to prevent further oxidization.  Japanese greens are generally steamed resulting in a bright green infusion while Chinese greens are pan, or wok roasted to neutralize the natural enzymes, rolled, then dried which results in a pale green colour.
• Oolong teas are picked then bruised through rolling to encourage some oxidisation.  These teas are then treated like green teas.
• Black tea takes the oxidisation process to the furthest extreme.

The oxidisation process helps to preserve the tea and so black tea lasts much longer than green tea.  Back in the day green tea would not survive the long trip from China to the UK, so traders would import the longer lasting black tea and so black tea and no green tea became popular in the UK.

Should I use filtered water?

Given that green tea is 99% water, the quality of water that you use can be a big factor.  If you can use filtered water it is an easy way to massively increase the quality of your tea.  Many Chinese tea master recommend certain waters for certain tea.  Dragon well tea is said to taste best with water drawn from the ‘Dreaming of the Tiger Spring’ in Hangzhou , China, whilst you may not have time to  nip over to China to fill up your kettle using filtered water is a great way to improve your tea. 

How can I make ice tea?

There are two ways to make great iced tea.  The most common way is to infuse double the quantity of leaves you would normal use to compensate for the water that will be added when you put in the ice.  Then simply infuse the tea as if you were making hot tea.

Cold infusion- This is our method of choice a bit fiddly and require advanced planning but well worth it!  Use about 1.5 times the amount of teas you would usually use.  Place the tea in an air tight container with cold water.  Leave to infuse in the refrigerator for 6-6 hours or overnight.  Then simply strain the leaves and your iced tea is ready.  This works fantastically well with coffee too.

TIP
If your ice tea is cloudy, don’t worry it ‘s still fine to drink and the taste won’t be affected.  The cloudiness is caused by the tannins in the tea, you could always try adding a little bit of boiling water or lemon juice as this may reduce the cloudiness.