13 Feb How to Choose Quality Tea When Buying Online
The last few years have seen the sales of everything online skyrocket, including tea. Pre-2020, online shopping was convenient, if not a bit of a luxury. Since then, however, it’s become an absolute necessity. You can now buy tea (and just about everything else) at a vast number of e-commerce stores.
But as every teapro will tell you, not every tea is equal, and some are better quality than others. How then do you tell the quali-tea from the not-so-desirable?
We’re here to tell you how to find quality tea by doing the following:
Start With Sample Sizes Or Boxes
When you’re shopping for tea online, you don’t have the luxury of physically sampling something before you buy it. That means you have to be a little more prudent about what you put in your cart.
If you see a tea flavor or blend that you like, start off by purchasing a smaller-sized box. That way, you have more control over the outcome of your purchase, and if it’s not for you, the process won’t cost you much. After all, if you like it, you can always return for more!
Check the Product Photos
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Product photographs can tell you a lot about what to expect from a purchase, and every bit of information you can get is important for making an informed decision. Some things to look out for in tea product photographs include:
🌱 Clear, high resolution pictures
🌱 Multiple angles and shots (loose leaf, brewed, packaging etc.)
🌱 Visual consistency across different tea flavors and products
🌱 Attention to detail
You can also tell a lot about a tea product by the information it provides. For example, if key flavour notes or profiles are listed, it can give you a better idea of what to expect from your brew.
Understand the Ingredients List
If you want to get the most out of your online tea purchasing experience, a sound knowledge of the ingredients listed will be a huge advantage. If you are only familiar with a few types of teas, it may be difficult to purchase a blend that you will really fall in love with.
If a product is listed with lesser-known ingredients such as damania, chokeberry, hibiscus, or butterfly pea flower, knowing how those tea flavours taste can help you gain a deeper understanding of what to expect from the flavour profile.
But if you are still on your journey of exploring different tea flavours, don’t panic. You can always research ingredients you aren’t sure about to make sure you buy the right combination for you.
Learn About Tea Types And What They Taste Like
This brings us to an important aspect of tea culture: learning and trying new things. Expanding your knowledge and familiarity with various teas from around the world is not only a fun and rewarding experience, but it will also assist you with making future tea purchase decisions.
There are over 3,000 different tea varieties (that we know of!) on the planet, and all of them are likely worth exploring. Even if you don’t get through all of them in your lifetime, trying might be fun!
Discover Your Favourites
One of the best ways to up your online tea-buying game is to know what you like—and what you don’t like. Although there are many ways to categorise tea, there are nine main groups to be aware of:
black
Also known as Red tea in China, Black tea is fully oxidised, which gives it a strong and rich flavour. It accounts for 90% of all tea sold in the West.
Read more: How to brew loose leaf tea properly.
green
For Green tea, once plucked and withered, the tea leaves are then quickly pan fired or steamed to stop the oxidation process.
Want to learn more about loose leaf tea? Sign up to our free 5 day email course.
oolong
Oolong is a semi-oxidised tea, which sits between green and black tea types, depending on the duration of the oxidation process.
Learn more about the oolong tea type, its legends and the famous oolong varieties here.
white
White tea is the least processed and the most delicate tea type, harvested while the leaves are still young buds covered with fine white hairs.
Read more: Everything You Need to Know About White Tea
pu erh
Often sold in compressed bricks, Pu erh goes through a microbial fermentation process, causing the leaves to gain a unique flavour, which improves with age.
blooming tea
You could also give blooming teas their own category, as they’re so unique in their look and require a lot of craftsmanship (although technically it should be considered a blend).
herbal
This is by far the biggest category as it includes any herbs you can steep and consume as tea. Most herbal tisane don’t contain caffeine. Herbal teas can be made out of dried flowers, roots, stems or leaves and majority of them have medicinal properties. We’ve counted over 200 well known and commonly steeped varieties, so just imagine how many possible variations of herbal blends there are!
For a complete list of different tea types and varieties check out our article: Your Complete Guide Through the Remarkable World of Tea
Of course, you may like one or two types of tea from each of these categories and find the rest… well, not your cup of tea.
But that’s okay!
You can just keep trying different kinds until you have a personalised flavor profile that’s uniquely rounded and tailored to your tastes.
At the end of the day, knowledge is power. The more you know, the easier it will be to purchase teas online that suit your flavor and quality preferences perfectly.
Get To Know The Experts And Read Reviews
Another effective way to choose quality tea online is to heed the available input from experts and other buyers. If a tea connoisseur on your timeline touts a new kind of tea, read what they have to say and take it seriously. You never know what you might learn.
Customer reviewers are also great for gaining insight into a product of any kind. If you have the option to access customer rankings or reviews, take the time to read through them and see what they think.
Apart from website reviews, you can check out independent review websites such as Trustpilot.
Look For Sustainability Signs
Unfortunately, many luxury tea brands contain microplastics and other non-environmentally friendly additions to their products. This makes them cheaper to produce, but weakens the quality of the tea and harms the planet simultaneously.
But what signs can you look out for that denote sustainability?
Loose leaf varieties – Loose leaf tea is much more sustainable than using tea bags. This is because you get a 100% natural product free of any microplastics.
Compostable pouches – Teapro has recently switched all its tea bags to compostable pouches that are safe for natural biodegradation. That means you can pop them in your compost bin or garden without any guilt, knowing they will organically break down.
You can also look for brands that promote sustainable tea brewing and products that are as close to their natural, raw form as possible. This typically indicates a much higher tea quality, too.
Tea For Two?
Sometimes, shopping online can feel like a minefield. But when you know how to look and what to look for, it suddenly becomes a lot easier and more enjoyable. Before you know it, you’ll enjoy a decadent tea-tasting experience with every cup.
With these tips for how to choose quality tea when buying online, we hope you find everything you need and more. Happy sipping!
Teapro co-founder. Favourite tea - Long Jing Dragon Well Green Tea. Obsessed with film, photography and travelling.
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