Frequently Asked Questions
Tea storage:
Store teas out of light, heat, and air. To maximize freshness, store your teas in an air-tight container in a cool, dry place. If you are storing in a glass jar (with a sealed lid) make sure to store in a dark cupboard. Do not store teas in canisters that previously held something aromatic (i.e. coffee or spices) as the tea will absorb the smell.
Product freshness:
All of our products are guaranteed for freshness. We import teas 6 times per year so the stock is always rotating. Flavored and blended teas are mostly made to order to ensure freshness (we only make up blends and flavored teas that we will sell in a 2 week period i.e. Earl Grey, Chai, Lemon…). Our large stock of quality herbs and spices are rotated every 6-8 weeks. And our aromatic coffees are brought in fresh roasted every week.
Specialty Blends:
We are asked quite a lot to make specialty tea, coffee and herb blends. Custom blends are only available using in-stock teas, herbs and flavors. In most cases a custom blend requires a 5lb minimum. If you are interested in having us formulate a blend for you please contact us via email or phone with the specific taste profile you are seeking.
Allergens:
Our facility is not a certified allergen-free or gluten-free facility.
Tree Nuts:
We inventory in our warehouse allergens (coconuts and almonds) that are used in a few of our blends. We take every precaution to prevent cross-contamination by using separate, dedicated scales, scoops and mixing bins for each allergen.
Gluten:
Teas: All our teas are gluten free.
Flavors: All our flavors are gluten free.
The coconut & almonds we stock are gluten free.
Herbs: We make every effort to source gluten free herbs. Some of our herbal suppliers, using an over-abundance of caution, will not make any gluten free claims. That makes us unable to state with 100% certainty that all items in the building are gluten free.
GMO's:
Our teas do not contain ingredients that have been genetically modified.
Flavor information:
The actual ingredients for the flavorings we use are proprietary secrets of the flavoring companies and are not common knowledge. The companies do, however, file the ingredient list with the FDA but are not required to release the list to the public.
We can always query the flavoring companies for information on the flavors if there is something specific you would like to know. They are always helpful answering our questions about gluten, carbs, etc. that are contained in their flavors.
We don’t purchase any flavorings with major allergens in them.
Nutritional Information:
Since our sales are below the FDA threshold for requiring this information, we have not conducted the (expensive) lab analysis for nutritional information on our line of teas.
- All the unflavored teas contain no calories, sugars, etc.
- For flavored teas: any blends with Mango or Papaya pieces (which are sugared) would have a small amount of sugar in the cup.
- The flavorings for the most part do not contain sugar, carbs or calories. There are a few exceptions, however, the sugar in the flavoring (for instance some chocolate flavors) is such a small amount of sugar that the resulting calories in the cup would be minor.
How to Brew the perfect Cup of Tea:
- Fill a kettle with fresh, cold water. Have enough for the amount being made as well as some extra to allow for evaporation and to warm the teapot. You may also want to warm the teacups.
- Wait until the water is near boiling, then pour a little into the teapot and swirl it around. This warms the pot so that it is at an optimum temperature for holding the tea. Empty the pot (& cups).
- For each cup of tea, place 1 rounded teaspoon of leaves into the warmed pot or in a teapot strainer/infuser.
- Allow the water in the kettle to reach a brisk, rolling boil (for black teas). For green teas, heat the water to 175-185º . (Do not allow the water to boil, as this will produce a more bitter or astringent taste. The higher the grade of green tea the cooler the water temperature should be for steeping.)
- Pour the water from the teakettle onto the leaves in the teapot.
- Let the tea steep for 3-5 minutes for a black tea and 1 ½ to 3 minutes for a green tea (individual steeping times can be found on each tea’s product description page).
- Strain the tea into cups. To keep the tea warm, cover with a cozy.
- Green teas lend themselves to a second steeping, which is about 1/3 the normal time, since the tea leaves have already absorbed a certain amount of water.
Loyaltea Points Program:
To earn points:
As long as you're logged into your account, you will earn points every time you order. You earn 5 loyaltea points for every $1 spent.
To redeem points:
When you're placing your order, log in and then click on the green rewards icon on the bottom right of the website and hit the redeem option. That will generate a discount code to apply in the cart. 100 loyaltea points = $1 towards a future order.
How to make Iced Tea:
For our 1oz “TEXAS STYLE” Teabag:
- Put teabag in a gallon container. Pour boiling water over teabag to cover. Let steep 5 minutes then remove teabag and add cold water to fill the container.
- Stir. Refrigerate or leave out.
- Serve over ice with lemon wedges.
For Loose tea:
Iced tea in the refrigerator may turn cloudy. Upon removal from the refrigerator, place a little boiling water in the container and stir. This should disperse the cloudiness.
