Buying Tea from Online Retailers

Vendors generally tend to fall into one of two categories.

There are generalists, like Adagio, DavidsTEA, etc. who try to stock as many different types of tea as possible and specialize in none. The benefit is that they usually are inexpensive and the tea is of absolutely acceptable quality levels for most things; however, if you want to get into something specific, like “I really could go for a cup of really roasted Dong Ding oolong!”, then you’re going to have some trouble.

Then there are specialized vendors, who mostly source and specialize in a specific variety of tea, or a select few varieties from a number of categories. Examples would be Yunnan Sourcing for pu erh, Eco-cha for Taiwanese Oolong, O-Cha or Den’s for Japanese Green, etc.

Here are some reputable online tea retailer.

Art of Tea [US, CA]

Art of Tea has reasonably priced and a good selection of teas. They also have sample sizes for all their teas, meaning you can try with little risk.

Their 99% Oxidized Purple Oolong is fantastic! It tastes like an aged and re-re-reroasted oolong.

Most of their teas are flavored blends. Their Starry Night is an interesting blend.

Butterscotch is pretty good too. It’s not overdone with artificial flavors. If you are a big fan of butterscotch candies and white tea, you will like it.

Summer Rain is great if you like cantaloupe, Liquid Jade is probably my favorite tea to drink iced (basically a really mild version of Earl Grey made with green and white teas), and I really liked their Dragonwell, which is less savory and more fruity than any of the others that I’ve tried.

Their website lets customers review and rate their products, and is very easy to use.

They’re also great people to deal with; always had excellent and personal customer service from them, and at trade shows they are as nice in person.

Teavivre  [International]

Teavivre and their European branch TheCalin only offer Chinese teas, but they have a large selection of those, including pu-erh.

Their non-pareil teas to be pretty good and I would snag a bunch of those - Anxi Qing Xiang TieGuanYin Oolong was awesome, ditto for the Tai Ping Hou Kui.

I’ve also really enjoyed their Black Dragon Pearls.

Their website lets customers rate and review the products, which is very helpful in choosing a new tea.

Their main strength is the sample sizes/samplers which is decently priced. Their tea ware is alright priced, you can get a bit cheaper hunting through aliexpress/ebay.

Shipping times are going to be long since it’s from China (depending where you are located) and no different from ordering from other sellers from there.  Teavivre has an excellent customer support, so you don’t have to worry too much about the shipping. Shipping is free for orders over $30.

Generation Tea [International]

Generation Tea specializes in Chinese tea. They have a lot of high quality and very rare teas, especially when it comes to pu-erh. If you are looking for a really unique and/or very old pu-erh, this is your shop.

The rare stuff is (obviously) is priced high. As high as $8000. You will also find regularly priced tea.

They offer sample sizes.

They ship worldwide using US Postal services and UPS Ground.

Mighty Leaf Tea [International*]

Mighty Leaf Tea is a good all-around vendor like Art of Tea or Adagio. I prefer those other two, but have used Mighty Leaf a few times when I couldn’t find what I wanted elsewhere.

Good teas, good prices and customer reviews. They offer free shipping on orders over $50 and they ship worldwide.

Peet’s bought out Mighty Leaf and dropped their loose leaf tea in favor of Mighty Leaf. All Peet’s teas have either been rebranded or dropped, and some do taste a bit different. My opinion on some changes:

• The green tea tropical, used for generic green iced tea in the pitchers, is an improvement. The jade mist over ice was too dry for an iced drink.
  
• The Dragonwell is nuttier and smoother to me.
  
• Many of the China and India black teas that are typically more expensive elsewhere are gone. No Ceylon, no Assam, no Lapsang.
  
• The British black teas have been grossly consolidated into an earl grey with barely any bergamot taste to distinguish it from the “meh” generic breakfast tea.
  
• The new herbal tea for “coolers/infusions” tastes like cough syrup.
  

*For detailed shipping information checkout their shipping page.

Upton Tea Imports [US, CA]

Upton Tea Imports has a massive catalog of tea from all over the world. They’ve been around since 1989 and sell a large number of single estate teas. Darjeelings, Assams, even Nepal/Himalayan teas.

I really like that Upton has high quality decaf black teas.

Robert Fortune Blend 41 (A blend of Darjeeling and Yunnan teas) is a really nice and inexpensive blend. Lung-Ching (Long-Jing) Green Superfine is a nice Dragonwell. Darjeeling FTGFOP1 Premium Blend from them is a nice, inexpensive Darjeeling. China Congou Wu-Yi Golden Monkey is my favorite black tea.

The prices are good and shipping is cheap, fast and reliable.

American Tea Room [US, CA]

American Tea Room has a great selection and cool blends. People in store are really into tea and well versed in the matter, highly enjoyable.

Their unique store (I think?) is in Beverly Hills. Their prices are spiked, but they have unique blends. Still, don’t buy regular Camelia there.

Yunnan Sourcing [US and International*]

Yunnan Sourcing (China) has a huge variety of teas and teaware at very decent prices. Yunnan Sourcing (US) has a smaller selection but shipping is super cheap compared to the China site.

My favorite non-pu-erh from YS is probably their Feng Qing Golden Needle (sweet, smokey, rich, complex).

To be honest though, their prices are so good (tea is lighter than tea ware, so shipping is more reasonable!) and their tea is so fresh that I usually buy a half-dozen random non-pu-erhs in 100g or 250g quantities with each order. I’m rarely disappointed in the results, and often blown away!

As for their pu-erhs, they have too many good ones to name. Even their cheap cakes can be really good. I recommend their own Yunnan Sourcing label teas for a good balance of cost and quality, particularly their mini cakes and their brick made from pu-erh pile nuggets. Also the mushroom-shaped tuocha’s from Xiaguan made for the Tibetan market – they start off very herby when young but age remarkably fast.

The owner of  Yunnan Sourcing has also launched Taiwan Sourcing. Very curious to see how their selection will expand - I’m hoping for more southern Taiwanese teas and perhaps some interesting black teas.

Shipping costs from China are high, but the total cost still tends to be far lower than local options, and you always get exactly what is advertised.

Check their shipping page for international shipping information.

Adagio [International]

Adagio are a very popular vendor and I’ve had good experiences with them, too.

IngenuiTea, Tardis blend, WHOvian, The White Peony and Yunnan Noir are seriously delicious. I really love their thai chai, masala chai, and the chocolate chai. Their herbals are really fresh and fragrant smelling and tasting. Chamomile and lemon grass are my favorites. I personally love the irish breakfast, but I think it can a little strong/ bitter if you’re picky.

Their website is wonderfully user-focussed, especially for those who are new to tea. They have a lot of reviews for their teas and even a forum where customers can ask questions.

Their teas are good quality and the prices are about what you’d expect. They offer free shipping on orders over $49.

There are a lot more good online shops selling tea:

White2tea, What-Cha, Floating Leaves, Mountain Tea, Tea Ave, Red Blossom, Hou De, Beautiful Taiwan Tea, Eco-Cha, Taiwan Tea Crafts, Tea From Taiwan, Teamasters, Origin Teas, Teahome, Cha Wang Shop, JK tea, Jing Tea, Wan Ling Tea, Teaspring, Tea Trekker, Naive Tea, Everlasting, T Oolong, T Shop, Fang Gourmet Tea, Dragon Tea House, Tea Urchin, Tea Hong, Best Tea House, Seven Cups, Essence of Tea, Bana Tea and Awazon to name a few.