Dejoo lies in the upper Brahmaputra valley, where the leaf is left whole and long rather than broken — the older, slower style of Assam manufacture. The result is a far gentler cup than the region is known for: the scent of stewed apples rises off the pot, and the sweetness arrives without any help. The estate has spent decades protecting the forest and waterways inside its own gardens and investing in housing, schooling and medical care for the families who work them.

Stewed apple · Honey · Soft malt

Ingredients Black Tea

Jalinga is the only tea estate in the world certified carbon neutral — its gardens absorb more than its factory releases. The leaf is cut, torn and curled rather than rolled, a method that ruptures the cell walls so the tea gives everything up at once. What follows is a dark, vigorous cup ready in under three minutes, heavy enough to carry milk and sugar without thinning. The tea to make when the morning is already underway.

Dark cocoa · Malt · Warm spice

Ingredients Black Tea

Kenilworth sits high in Sri Lanka's Dimbula district, and picks after the first monsoon has passed — the leaf is made through the cool months, when everything happens slowly. Orange Pekoe describes the grade: long, unbroken leaf plucked from the tip. The cup is exceptionally smooth, carrying the soft creamy top note this garden alone is known for, with none of the grip that turns people away from black tea. Take it without milk.

Cream · Citrus peel · Light honey

Ingredients Black Tea

Korakundah grows at two thousand metres in the Nilgiri Hills, among the highest commercial tea gardens in the world. At that altitude the bush grows slowly and concentrates what it makes. The cup is markedly lighter than an Assam and more refined — fresh flowers and citrus on the nose, a brisk clean finish, sweet fruit sitting underneath. The black tea to keep for late afternoon, when a stronger cup would be an imposition.

Orange blossom · Sweet fruit · Brisk finish

Ingredients Black Tea

The first pluck after the Himalayan winter, taken by hand over a few short weeks when the bush wakes. First flush Darjeeling is barely oxidised by the standards of black tea, which is why the dry leaf still shows green and the liquor pours pale lemon rather than amber. Crisp and faintly vegetal, with a mild astringency that reads as freshness rather than bite. Brew it gently and briefly; it will not forgive boiling water.

Green apple · Wild flowers · Pale citrus

Ingredients Black Tea

Balasun picks again at the close of the season, when the leaf has taken on more weight and the nights have turned cold. Autumn flush is the fuller, rounder Darjeeling — grown at lower altitude and left longer to oxidise, so the champagne-coloured liquor carries real body. Stone fruit on the nose, and the muscatel note the district is prized for. Finishes dry and clean, closer to a glass of wine than a cup of tea.

Muscat grape · Apricot · Dry finish

Ingredients Black Tea

Keemun was first made in Anhui in 1875 and reached England soon after, where it became the backbone of the classic English breakfast blend. This is its most exacting form: spring leaf rolled by hand into tight dark spirals flecked with gold, a shape that takes a skilled maker a long time to achieve. The liquor is velvet in the mouth and unusually layered — cocoa and caramel first, then dried apricot, then a trace of spice. Low enough in tannin to sit with for an hour.

Cocoa · Caramel · Dried apricot

Ingredients Black Tea

Golden-tipped leaf shaped by hand into small curled paws, a form devised during the Song Dynasty when the tea was made as an Imperial tribute and could not be bought at any price. It still takes a practised hand to make and grows at around seventeen hundred metres. The liquor pours pure gold and drinks like liquid cocoa: deep, rounded and remarkably low in tannin, so it will not turn bitter however long it stands.

Cocoa · Golden syrup · Soft mineral

Ingredients Black Tea

Lapsang takes its name from the fourth and fifth leaves of the bush — larger, tougher and better suited to what happens next. Ours is smoked twice over pinewood in the Fujian mountains, slowly, until the resin settles into the leaf rather than sitting on it. The cup is dark and savoury, more timber and sweet spice than bonfire, finishing somewhere close to a peated whisky. Serve it small and unsweetened, after a meal, or beside sharp cheese and dark chocolate.

Pine resin · Sweet spice · Smoke

Ingredients Black Tea

Picked from wild trees standing in the high mountains of northern Vietnam and made entirely by hand by the minority communities who tend them. Wild-grown leaf is inconsistent by nature, which is precisely what gives this tea its character. The liquor runs coppery red, with roasted malt and honey rising off it and maple sugar filling the mouth. The finish is long and sweet without any sugar in it. Organic, unblended and genuinely scarce.

Maple · Roasted malt · Wild honey

Ingredients Black Tea

Bukitsari sits on the volcanic slopes of West Java, and this is the estate's highest grade — the leaf they keep back. Velvety in texture and unusually complex for an Indonesian black: figs, raisins and liquorice at the front, a savoury depth beneath, and a rose note that arrives on the finish. It will take three or four infusions from the same leaf, opening further each time rather than fading.

Fig · Liquorice · Rose

Ingredients Black Tea

Satemwa stands in the Thyolo highlands of southern Malawi, where the Kay family has made tea for close to a century — one of very few African estates producing at this level rather than for the commodity market. The cup is brisk and full in the mouth, with grain, maple and vanilla running through it and a comforting weight on the finish. Built for milk, and better for it.

Grain · Maple · Vanilla

Ingredients Black Tea

Kenya sits astride the equator at high altitude, which gives its tea a brightness other black teas have to work for. Nandi Gold is full-bodied and malty, then lifted late by a clean lemon note that clears the palate rather than souring it. The sweetness belongs to the leaf; nothing has been added and nothing needs to be. A considered step up from an everyday cup.

Malt · Lemon · Clean sweetness

Ingredients Black Tea

A true purple cultivar, bred in Kenya over decades of patient selection. The colour is the leaf's own anthocyanin — the pigment that darkens blueberries and red grapes — raised further by cold nights and strong equatorial sun on the slopes around Mount Kenya. It pours a soft violet-grey and turns rose pink the moment lemon touches it, the pigment answering the acid in front of you. Naturally sweet and lightly vegetal, with none of the grip of a green tea. Extraordinary over ice.

Violet · Sweet grass · Light wood

Ingredients Black Tea

English Breakfast is not a place but a proportion, and ours is built from two estates doing two different jobs. Assam from Dejoo carries the malt and the body, so the cup holds its shape beneath milk; Ceylon from Kenilworth, grown high and cool, returns the brightness with a clean citrus edge. Both were chosen as much for how they operate as how they taste. Full, brisk and deep amber. Certified organic, and made up in tea bags for mornings that will not wait.

Malt · Citrus · Rich amber

Ingredients Assam Black Tea, Ceylon Black Tea

Ireland drinks more tea per head than almost any nation on earth, and drinks it strong and very milky — a habit that shaped the blend rather than the other way around. A delicate leaf disappears under that much milk, so Irish houses went to Assam and stayed there. Ours is single-origin Assam graded Broken Orange Pekoe, the leaf deliberately broken before firing so more surface meets the water and the cup arrives dark and fully extracted in three minutes. Deep russet, bracing, and built to hold its shape under a generous pour.

Malt · Dark treacle · Brisk tannin

Ingredients Assam Black Tea

Bergamot oil and cold-pressed rind, not fragrance — which is why this smells of the fruit rather than the perfume counter. The bergamot is a small bitter citrus grown along the Calabrian coast, and using the peel alongside the oil gives the blend a roundness that oil alone cannot. Blue cornflowers are scattered through the leaf. Elegant and unhurried, and the Earl Grey to bring out when the occasion asks for one.

Bergamot · Lemon peel · Soft floral

Ingredients Sri Lankan Kenilworth Orange Pekoe, Bergamot, Cornflower Petals, Lemon Peel, Orange Peel

Bergamot, as tradition requires, and then two things tradition does not: pink grapefruit for a sweeter, rounder citrus, and wild bee balm, a North American flowering herb with a scent between mint and oregano. The result is familiar and quietly unusual at once, with more lift than a classic Earl Grey and none of the sharpness. Awarded Silver in the Earl Grey category at the Golden Leaf Awards. Take it with or without milk.

Pink grapefruit · Bergamot · Wild herb

Ingredients Sri Lankan Kenilworth Orange Pekoe, Natural Bergamot, Rose Petals, Safflower Petals, Chen Pi, Bee Balm Flowers

The café original, built properly rather than approximated. Bergamot and vanilla over a full black base, with lavender threaded through and honey closing it out. The vanilla softens the citrus edge; the lavender stops the whole thing turning sweet. Steam milk into it for the version you know, or take it plain in the afternoon and hear the lavender properly.

Bergamot · Vanilla · Lavender

Ingredients Black Tea, Bergamot, Lavender Flowers, Honey

Named for the Semillon that made the valley, and constructed along the same lines — crisp and citrus-led at the front, then vanilla and honey filling in behind to give it weight. More depth than a breakfast tea usually carries, and enough structure to take milk without losing the citrus.

Lemon · Vanilla · Honey

Ingredients Black Tea, Vanilla Bean, Currants

A blend drawn from the old caravan routes, where tea travelled overland for months and arrived carrying the smoke of every fire it had been carried past. Pinewood-smoked Lapsang from the Wuyi Mountains supplies the depth; malty Keemun from Anhui brings cocoa and dried fruit; red rose petals soften the smoke without sweetening it. Dark, aromatic and quietly dramatic. Best taken black, in a heavy cup.

Pine smoke · Cocoa · Rose

Ingredients Black Tea, Rose Petals

A velvet black base beneath apple, rose, calendula and cornflower, the florals set to lift the tea rather than perfume it. The cup pours a deep golden amber and finishes smooth and clean, with the apple giving a faint sweetness that reads as roundness. Made for a slow afternoon and the good china.

Rose · Orchard apple · Golden amber

Ingredients Black Tea, Apple Pieces, Rose Petals, Calendula Petals, Cornflower Petals

Strawberry and vanilla over black tea, with rose petals folded through for scent. Soft, creamy and unashamedly pretty, held just short of sweetness by the tea beneath. Very good hot; better still brewed double strength, cooled and poured over ice on a warm afternoon.

Strawberry · Cream · Rose

Ingredients Black Tea, Strawberry Pieces, Vanilla Bean, Rose Petals

Rose petals and vanilla bean over the finest Sri Lankan Orange Pekoe, drawn from the Turkish custom in which a woman offered rose tea to say what convention would not let her say aloud. Floral, warm and rounded, with the vanilla settling the rose so it never turns soapy. The blend most often chosen here as a gift.

Rose · Vanilla · Warm amber

Ingredients Sri Lankan Kenilworth Orange Pekoe, Rose Petals, Vanilla Bean, Natural Vanilla

Apricot and vanilla bean against a bright Ceylon base, with safflower and calendula through the leaf for colour. Soft, mellow and succulent, with just enough astringency left in the tea to keep the fruit honest. The name is a French endearment and the cup lives up to it. Also made up in tea bags.

Ripe apricot · Vanilla · Peach

Ingredients Sri Lankan Kenilworth Orange Pekoe, Safflower Petals, Orange Peel, Calendula Petals, Vanilla Bean, Diced Apricots, Natural Peach

Real vanilla folded through a smooth Kenilworth Orange Pekoe until the cup turns almost to caramel. Rich and rounded, and sweet enough without sugar that adding any is a mistake. Take it after dinner with a little milk, in the place a dessert would otherwise occupy.

Vanilla · Caramel · Cream

Ingredients Black Tea, Vanilla Bean

Toasted coconut and cold-pressed coconut oil over Sri Lankan Orange Pekoe. The toasting is what matters — raw coconut reads as sweet, toasted coconut reads as deep — and it gives the blend a warmth that lasts through the cup. Simple, elegant and unmistakable. Exceptional made on coconut milk.

Toasted coconut · Cream · Malt

Ingredients Sri Lankan Orange Pekoe, Toasted Coconut, Natural Coconut Oils

Orange and lemon peel over a balanced black base, with safflower and calendula scattered through the leaf. The citrus is bright and clean rather than sharp, and the tea underneath is generous enough to carry it. A traditional afternoon tea given a lift, and very good alongside anything buttery.

Orange · Lemon · Bright tannin

Ingredients Black Tea, Orange Peel, Lemon Peel, Safflower Petals, Calendula Petals

Orange peel and cinnamon chips over a strong black leaf, in the Moroccan manner — the spice arrives warm rather than hot, and the citrus keeps the cup moving rather than letting it settle. Made for the cooler months, when a plain black tea feels insufficient. Good with milk, better without.

Sweet orange · Cinnamon · Warm spice

Ingredients Black Tea, Orange Peel, Cinnamon Bark

Mango arrives first and sweet; the chilli follows a moment later and settles, warming the whole palate rather than striking it. Amaranth, calendula and cranberry sit between the two and keep the balance. The heat is real but measured, and it builds across the cup rather than at the first sip. For anyone who genuinely enjoys a little fire.

Ripe mango · Chilli warmth · Cranberry

Ingredients Sri Lankan Kenilworth Orange Pekoe, Amaranth, Mango Pieces, Calendula, Cranberries, Chilli Flakes

Cacao shells and real chocolate pieces through a full black base — the shells give the aroma, the chocolate gives the body. Deep and velvety, and properly rich without being sugary. Brewed on milk it becomes something close to a drinking chocolate.

Dark cocoa · Chocolate · Malt

Ingredients Black Tea, Cacao Shells, Chocolate Melts

Chocolate, marshmallow and coconut over black tea, with cranberry cutting through to keep the sweetness in check. Creamy and generous, and considerably better balanced than the name suggests. Serve it iced, or to anyone who says they do not care for tea.

Chocolate · Coconut · Tart berry

Ingredients Black Tea, Coconut Flakes, Cranberry Pieces, Chocolate Melts, Mini Marshmallows

Apple, rose, calendula and cornflower through a brisk black leaf, with real popped corn scattered in among them. The raspberry is jammy, the corn buttery and faintly saline, and the tea beneath holds the whole thing back from becoming a dessert. The dry leaf is one of the most striking in the shop. Excellent over ice.

Raspberry · Buttered corn · Apple

Ingredients Black Tea, Apple Pieces, Calendula Petals, Cornflower Petals, Rose Petals, Popcorn Pieces

Roasted chicory and dandelion root with real coffee beans, smoked whisky notes and an oolong beneath to keep it from turning heavy. Dark, warming and slow, with a creaminess that rounds every edge. An evening tea, taken in a good chair.

Whisky · Roast coffee · Cream

Ingredients Black Tea, Oolong Tea, Rooibos Leaf, Chicory Root, Dandelion Root, Barley Grain, Puffed Amaranth, Coffee Beans

A robust black base carrying nine whole spices: cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, clove, nutmeg, mace and a full measure of black pepper among them. Left whole rather than ground, they release slowly, which is why this rewards a long simmer where a fine chai would turn bitter. Ten minutes in milk, sweetened only at the end.

Cardamom · Clove · Black pepper

Ingredients Black Tea, Cinnamon Bark, Ginger Root, Cardamom Pods, Star Anise, Clove Buds, Nutmeg, Mace, Black Peppercorns

The spices here are ground fine rather than left whole, which is the difference between a chai you brew and a chai a café makes. Ground spice gives everything to the milk immediately, so the tea beneath never over-steeps waiting for it. Thick, gingerbread-sweet and properly strong. Brew it directly in milk; water will not do it justice.

Gingerbread · Star anise · Liquorice

Ingredients Black Tea, Cinnamon Bark, Ginger Root, Fennel Seed, Licorice Root, Clove Buds, Star Anise, Coriander Seed, Bay Leaf, Cardamom Pods, Black Peppercorns

Luxury Sri Lankan black tea with rose petals set in among the spices — softer and more floral than a street chai, with the same warmth arriving underneath. The rose is not decorative; it changes the shape of the cup. Take it with milk for comfort, or with water if you want to hear the flowers.

Rose · Cardamom · Sweet cinnamon

Ingredients Black Tea, Cinnamon Bark, Ginger Root, Cardamom Pods, Coriander Seed, Clove Buds, Black Peppercorns, Rose Petals

Cardamom and vanilla lead, and rose petals and almond flakes follow with a nutty sweetness that sets this apart from a spice-forward masala. The aroma of the dry leaf alone is worth opening the jar for. Gentler than most chai and entirely comfortable without milk. Contains almond.

Cardamom · Almond · Rose

Ingredients Black Tea, Almond Flakes, Lemon Peel, Cardamom Pods, Vanilla Bean, Rose Petals

Whole spice with honey blended through, which melts into the cup as it heats and carries the pepper and ginger rather than masking them. Bold at the front, sweet and long at the close. Simmer it slowly and add nothing.

Honey · Ginger · Star anise

Ingredients Black Tea, Star Anise, Cinnamon Bark, Cardamom Pods, Fennel Seed, Ginger Root, Bay Leaf, Nutmeg, Clove Buds, Black Peppercorns, Allspice Berries, Honey

Shaved coconut and real chocolate over a smooth Ceylon base, with a full spice rack standing behind them — cardamom, star anise, nutmeg, allspice and more. Rich and dessert-like without ever becoming sugary. Made for after dinner, with milk, and a square of something dark.

Chocolate · Coconut · Warm spice

Ingredients Black Tea, Coconut Flakes, Chocolate Melts, Cacao Shells, Cinnamon Bark, Cardamom Pods, Ginger Root, Star Anise, Clove Buds, Nutmeg, Allspice Berries, Bay Leaf, Fennel Seed, Black Peppercorns

Daintree black tea with wattleseed, aniseed myrtle, cinnamon myrtle and Tasmanian pepperberry. Familiar warmth, entirely local character — pepperberry gives a slow, blooming heat quite unlike a peppercorn, and the myrtles carry a sweetness no imported spice matches. Simmer in milk.

Pepperberry · Wattleseed · Aniseed

Ingredients Black Tea, Wattleseed, Cinnamon Bark, Aniseed Myrtle Leaf, Clove Buds, Tasmanian Pepperberry, Ginger Root, Cinnamon Myrtle Leaf

Roasted dandelion and chicory root stand in for the tea leaf, giving a deep, coffee-like base beneath nine spices. Everything a chai offers, and nothing at all to keep you awake. Take it after dinner, or in the place an evening coffee would otherwise take.

Roasted root · Cardamom · Allspice

Ingredients Dandelion Root, Chicory Root, Cinnamon Bark, Star Anise, Cardamom Pods, Cumin Seed, Coriander Seed, Clove Buds, Allspice Berries

Sencha is what Japan actually drinks — not the ceremonial powder, but whole leaf, poured and taken without ceremony. Ours is the top grade, grown a hundred and twenty metres from the sea, close enough that a faint salinity carries into the cup. Where Chinese greens are pan-fired, sencha is steamed within hours of picking; the steaming halts oxidation outright and fixes the colour, which is why the liquor pours vivid green rather than pale yellow. Brew at 70°C for one minute. Hotter, and it turns against you.

Cut grass · Sea air · Sweet finish

Ingredients Green Tea

Gyokuro means jade dew, and it is the most demanding tea Japan makes. For up to four weeks before harvest the bushes are shaded beneath bamboo mats, starving them of light. The plant answers by raising its chlorophyll and its amino acids while dropping the compounds that cause astringency — a deliberate stress that produces sweetness. Hand-picked from the Saemidori cultivar in Kagoshima's volcanic soil. Thick, savoury and sweet. Brew it cooler still, around 60°C.

Sweet corn · Umami · Fresh spinach

Ingredients Green Tea

Genmaicha began as thrift — roasted rice bulked out a costly leaf and made it stretch — and became one of the most loved teas in Japan on its own merits. Grassy freshness meets a warm, nutty toastiness, and the rice softens the tea enough that it is very hard to over-brew. The liquor is light gold and quietly comforting. Almost always the green tea people take to first.

Toasted rice · Fresh grass · Nut

Ingredients Green Tea, Roasted Rice

Long Jing has been made around West Lake in Hangzhou for more than a thousand years, and was named an Imperial tribute tea under the Qing. The leaf is picked in early spring and pressed flat by hand against the wall of a hot wok — the pan-firing is what produces its roasted chestnut aroma, and why no steamed tea tastes like it. Gently sweet and smooth, with the faintest bitterness holding the whole cup in shape.

Roasted chestnut · Sweet pea · Clean finish

Ingredients Green Tea

Second-flush leaf from Jeju Island, taken after the monsoon when the bush has recovered and thickened. Korean makers both steam and roast their green tea, a combination almost no other country uses, and the double treatment is audible in the cup: roasted nuts and cut grass on the nose, then a bright lemon-yellow liquor with real savoury depth beneath. Rarely seen outside Korea.

Roasted nut · Sea vegetable · Lemon

Ingredients Green Tea

Boseong is Korea's most celebrated growing region, its terraces cut into hillsides that hold sea mist most of the year. Joonjak refers to the pluck — young spring leaf, taken early. The result is silky in texture and unusually clean: tender greens, sweet cucumber and spring vegetables, with a gentle savoury weight and a finish that invites the next sip immediately. Elegant, and worth brewing carefully.

Cucumber · Spring greens · Silk texture

Ingredients Green Tea

Each leaf is rolled into a tight pellet, which protects it from air and keeps it fresh far longer than an open leaf — the reason gunpowder tea travelled so well and spread so far. In hot water the pellets unfurl slowly and the liquor stays pale green, with the clean, dry finish these teas are kept for. Our everyday green, and the most reliable base for brewing kombucha at home.

Dry smoke · Green plum · Clean finish

Ingredients Green Tea

Fresh jasmine blossoms are laid among the leaf at night, when they open and release their scent, then removed and replaced — as many as twenty times over. No oil is used at any point; the tea takes the flower on its own. Only then is it rolled by hand into pearls, each one unfolding slowly in the water. Sweet, rounded and floral without a trace of perfume. Brew it in glass and watch.

Jasmine · Honeysuckle · Soft sweetness

Ingredients Green Tea, Jasmine Flowers

Whole blueberries and blue cornflower through a sencha base. The fruit rounds the leaf and makes the tea considerably harder to over-brew, which is why this converts people who have been burned by green tea before. Bright, clean and gently sweet, with the character of the sencha still audible underneath. Also made up in tea bags.

Blueberry · Fresh grass · Light sweetness

Ingredients Sencha Green Tea, Blueberries, Blue Cornflower, Natural Blueberry

Sweet cherry and real strawberry pieces over green tea, with cornflower petals for colour and a grassy freshness running beneath. Light and fruity with a delicate floral edge, and no sharpness anywhere in it. Very good hot; better still brewed strong, cooled and poured over ice.

Cherry · Strawberry · Spring blossom

Ingredients Green Tea, Strawberry Pieces, Cornflower Petals, Natural Cherry

Yuzu and lime peel over a soft green base. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus more floral and more aromatic than a lemon, and the lime keeps the cup clean where the yuzu could turn heady. Sharp enough to wake the palate, smooth enough to keep drinking. The most-asked-for iced tea here through summer.

Yuzu · Lime · Green tea

Ingredients Green Tea, Lime Peel, Yuzu Peel

Organic green tea with olive leaf, ashwagandha, ginkgo and spearmint, blended with wild marine collagen peptides — a formulation built to work from the inside rather than the surface. Clean and lightly minty, with the green tea kept deliberately soft so it can be taken daily. Give it a month before judging it. Contains marine collagen.

Spearmint · Green tea · Olive leaf

Ingredients Green Tea, Olive Leaf, Ashwagandha Root, Spearmint Leaf, Marine Collagen, Ginkgo Leaf, Rose Petals, Calendula Petals

Silver Needle is made from unopened buds alone, taken over a few days in early spring and still wearing the fine silver down that gives the tea its name. Nothing is done to them but withering and drying — no rolling, no pan, no oxidation to speak of, which makes this the least handled tea we sell and the lowest in caffeine. The liquor is pale ivory, tasting of honeysuckle and soft sugar, and it lingers far longer than its weight suggests.

Honeysuckle · Melon · Soft sugar

Ingredients White Tea

Leaf taken from old tea trees in Jinggu, Yunnan, and picked and processed through the night under the full moon — a practice the makers hold to and the tea is named for. It carries more weight in the mouth than most white teas, with a delicate floral aroma and a clear note of ripe peach behind it. Unusual, and worth giving proper attention.

White peach · Orchid · Light honey

Ingredients White Tea

Grown high in the Himalayas, where thin air and cold nights slow the bush and force it to concentrate. Delicate green tips produce a surprisingly full-bodied cup for a white tea, fruited with soft apricot and closing clean and cleansing. Forgiving to brew, and a very good place to begin with white tea.

Apricot · Hay · Clean finish

Ingredients White Tea

Pai Mu Dan white leaf — bud and first two leaves, withered and dried — with lychee and passionfruit and safflower petals through it. The fruit does nothing more than lift the tea, which is the point: a white this delicate can only carry so much. Take it hot in the morning, or chilled over ice by afternoon.

Lychee · Passionfruit · Soft white tea

Ingredients White Tea, Safflower Petals, Natural Passionfruit, Natural Lychee

Tie Guan Yin means Iron Goddess of Mercy, after the legend of a farmer who restored her neglected temple and was shown a single bush growing behind it. Semi-oxidised and rolled tight, the leaf opens over successive pours rather than all at once. Floral on the nose, with berries, cocoa and roasted chestnut beneath — softer and sweeter than either a green or a black. Brew the same leaves up to eight times; the third is often the best.

Orchid · Roasted chestnut · Cocoa

Ingredients Oolong Tea

Da Hong Pao grows on the cliffs of the Wuyi Mountains, where the rock itself lends the leaf a minerality tea people call yan yun — rock rhyme. Four original bushes still stand there and have not been picked in decades. Ours is deeply roasted, with caramel and dark chocolate at the front and a long, stony finish that arrives after the cup is down. Bold, and never harsh.

Dark caramel · Wet stone · Roast

Ingredients Oolong Tea

This tea exists because of an insect. Through the Taiwanese summer, tiny green leafhoppers feed on the young leaves, and the plant's chemical response to being bitten is precisely what creates the honeyed, muscatel character in the cup. No spraying is possible, and only bitten tips are worth picking — which makes it slow, painstaking work. Heavily oxidised, closer to a black tea in body, and free of bitterness at any steeping time.

Ripe peach · Muscat · Honey

Ingredients Oolong Tea

From the high gardens of Ali Shan in Taiwan, where the leaf develops a creamy aroma entirely of its own — Nai Xiang, milk fragrance. Nothing is added to a tea of this grade; the character comes from altitude and cultivar. Smooth, milky and rounded, with a soft sweetness that stays after the cup is empty.

Cream · Butter · Sweet orchid

Ingredients Oolong Tea

After picking, the leaf is sealed into chambers filled with nitrogen rather than air and left to rest — a method developed in Japan in the 1980s that rewrites the chemistry of the leaf and, with it, everything about how it tastes. The result is unlike any other oolong: thick and almost syrupy, deep amber, with ripe stone fruit, honey and a warm nuttiness beneath. Four or five infusions, each rounder than the last.

Apricot · Honey · Toasted nut

Ingredients Oolong Tea

Organic leaf grown in the volcanic soil of Hallasan, the mountain at the centre of Jeju Island. The half-moon shape of the dry leaf is a Korean signature. Deeply roasted, with chestnut and dark chocolate at the front, orchid florals behind, and a creamy, mineral finish that speaks of where it grew. Bold and refined at once.

Chestnut · Dark chocolate · Mineral

Ingredients Oolong Tea

A smooth oolong base with papaya, orange peel and rose, finished with cinnamon and vanilla. Tropical and floral, held in balance by the roast underneath so it never reads as sweet. Awarded a Gold Medal in 2024. Take it without milk, and slightly cooler than boiling.

Papaya · Rose · Vanilla

Ingredients Oolong Tea, Papaya Pieces, Orange Peel, Rose Petals, Cinnamon Bark, Calendula Petals, Vanilla Bean

The oolong is roasted until its own sugars caramelise and the leaf darkens, then maple and walnut are set against it — one resinous and sweet, the other buttery with a faint bitterness at the edge. Together they read as something baked rather than brewed. Toasty, warming and long. A tea for the cold end of the year. Contains walnut.

Maple · Walnut · Caramelised roast

Ingredients Oolong Tea, Walnut, Maple

Roasted oolong for toasty sweetness, alfalfa and nettle for a clean green note, dandelion root for depth, fennel seed for a soft anise that carries right through the cup, and hawthorn berry for a quiet tartness. Guarana seed adds lift on top of the tea's own caffeine, which makes this a morning cup rather than an evening one.

Fennel · Roasted oolong · Green herb

Ingredients Oolong Tea, Alfalfa Leaf, Nettle Leaf, Dandelion Root, Fennel Seed, Hawthorn Berry, Guarana Seed

A settling blend for the hour before bed. Chamomile and lemon balm soften a busy mind and have been taken for that purpose for centuries; valerian root does the heavier work, and rooibos and cinnamon round out the bitterness it would otherwise leave. Warm, faintly sweet and entirely caffeine free. Take a cup an hour before sleep, unsweetened, and give it a few nights.

Chamomile · Warm cinnamon · Soft citrus

Ingredients Chamomile Flowers, Lemon Peel, Rooibos Leaf, Cinnamon Bark, Valerian Root, Lemon Balm Leaf

Everything a chai offers and nothing to keep you awake. Cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, clove and hawthorn berry, whole rather than ground, with no tea leaf beneath them at all. The spices carry the cup on their own, which makes it warmer and rounder than a chai and considerably gentler. Made for the quiet hour after the mat, and suited to the evening.

Cardamom · Ginger · Sweet clove

Ingredients Cinnamon Bark, Ginger Root, Hawthorn Berry, Cardamom Pods, Clove Buds, Black Peppercorns

Pure peppermint leaf and nothing else, which leaves the quality nowhere to hide — you will know it the moment the jar opens. Bright, cooling and clean, with real menthol lift rather than the flat sweetness of a lesser leaf. Long taken after a heavy meal, and the first thing we reach for when someone says they feel uncomfortably full.

Cool menthol · Green mint · Clean finish

Ingredients Peppermint Leaf

Echinacea root and Siberian ginseng, both long taken through the colder months, set against ginger for warmth, lemongrass for lift and hibiscus for a tart brightness that keeps the cup from tasting medicinal. Keep a jar in the cupboard from May onward. Stir in a spoon of manuka honey and take it as hot as you can stand.

Hibiscus · Ginger · Lemongrass

Ingredients Lemongrass Leaf, Hibiscus Flowers, Echinacea Root, Ginseng Root, Spearmint Leaf, Ginger Root, Rosehip Shells

Ginger root and lemongrass, and very little else — restraint is the whole design. Ginger has been used for centuries to settle an unsettled stomach, and the lemongrass keeps the cup bright rather than medicinal. Naturally rich in vitamin C and magnesium, and gentle enough to drink all day, hot or over ice.

Fresh ginger · Lemongrass · Clean heat

Ingredients Lemongrass Leaf, Ginger Root

Ginger, turmeric, chilli and cracked black pepper. The pepper is not there for heat but for absorption — its piperine is what allows the body to take up curcumin at all, and without it turmeric largely passes through. Fiery, warming and direct, with the chilli blooming late. For the first cold morning of the year, or the first sign of a sniffle.

Turmeric · Chilli · Black pepper

Ingredients Organic Ginger Root, Turmeric Root, Chilli Flakes, Black Peppercorns

Nettle, dandelion and fennel, traditionally taken to support the liver and kidneys, with spearmint and lemongrass keeping the cup pleasant enough to return to. A considered reset after a rich few weeks rather than a daily habit. Contains senna; take it as a short course.

Fennel · Spearmint · Green herb

Ingredients Nettle Leaf, Licorice Root, Blackberry Leaf, Lemongrass Leaf, Fennel Seed, Spearmint Leaf, Senna Leaf, Juniper Berry, Calendula Petals, Rose Petals

A fully certified organic blend of red clover, black cohosh, dong quai and ashwagandha — botanicals long used across several traditions to ease the discomforts of PMS and menopause — softened with peppermint, lemon verbena and rose so it drinks like a pleasure rather than a remedy. For the weeks when the body asks to be looked after.

Rose · Mint · Liquorice root

Ingredients Peppermint Leaf, Spearmint Leaf, Lemon Verbena Leaf, Lavender Flowers, Rose Petals, Red Clover Flowers, Black Cohosh Root, Dong Quai Root, Ashwagandha Root, Licorice Root, St John's Wort Flowers

Marshmallow root and slippery elm are both mucilaginous — they thicken in water and coat the throat, which is why singers have used them for generations. Liquorice brings a deep natural sweetness, and elderberry closes the cup. Made for performers, teachers and anyone who speaks for a living. Take it warm rather than hot.

Liquorice · Orange peel · Fennel

Ingredients Licorice Root, Cinnamon Bark, Orange Peel, Marshmallow Root, Fennel Seed, Moringa Leaf, Slippery Elm Bark, Elderberry

Jasmine, rose and raspberry with apple and lemongrass beneath, lifted by pink peppercorn and a little ginger — the peppercorn is the surprise, adding a bright warmth rather than heat. Sweet, floral and faintly tart at once. Caffeine free, and suited to any hour you like.

Jasmine · Raspberry · Pink peppercorn

Ingredients Lemongrass Leaf, Apple Pieces, Jasmine Flowers, Rose Petals, Pink Peppercorn, Cinnamon Bark, Coriander Seed, Ginger Root, Raspberry Pieces

Lavender, lemon verbena and lemon balm layered over peppermint and spearmint. The citrus herbs are what make it work — without them lavender turns soapy, and with them it stays floral and clean. Cooling and calming in the same cup. Take it in the evening, or over plenty of ice in the heat.

Lavender · Lemon verbena · Cool mint

Ingredients Lemongrass Leaf, Peppermint Leaf, Lavender Flowers, Spearmint Leaf, Lemon Verbena Leaf, Lemon Balm Leaf

Cacao shells and real chocolate with peppermint and spearmint, and no tea leaf underneath. The cacao reads as rich rather than sweet, and the mint arrives cool and clean behind it. An after-dinner mint in cup form, without the caffeine or the sugar.

Dark cacao · Peppermint · Cream

Ingredients Peppermint Leaf, Spearmint Leaf, Cacao Shells, Chocolate Melts

Strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and apple with hibiscus running tart beneath them — the hibiscus supplies both the colour and the backbone, without which fruit tisanes turn flat. Deeply coloured and naturally sweet, with no caffeine at all. Brew it double strength and pour it over ice; it is one of the finest iced teas here.

Summer berry · Hibiscus · Ripe apple

Ingredients Apple Pieces, Strawberry Pieces, Raspberry Pieces, Blueberry Pieces, Lemongrass Leaf, Hibiscus Flowers

Apple, rosehip and rhubarb with elderflower and rose set behind rather than on top. Crisp and lightly tart, with the florals arriving only on the finish. Refreshing hot, and made for a long jug in the fridge through the warmer months.

Rhubarb · Elderflower · Rosehip

Ingredients Apple Pieces, Rose Petals, Rosehip Shells, Rhubarb Pieces, Elderflower, Elderberry

Ginger and apple over a rooibos base, finished with maple. Warm and rounded, sweet enough without sugar that adding any would flatten it, and entirely caffeine free. For long evenings and the short days on either side of them.

Maple · Baked apple · Ginger

Ingredients Ginger Root, Apple Pieces, Lemon Leaf, Rooibos Leaf, Maple

Rhubarb and lemon over pineapple, apple and goji berry, with hibiscus lending both the tartness and the colour. Sharp, fruity and thoroughly clean, with none of the cloying edge stewed rhubarb can carry. Serve it over ice with a slice of lemon.

Rhubarb · Lemon · Pineapple

Ingredients Hibiscus Flowers, Pineapple Pieces, Apple Pieces, Goji Berry, Lemon Peel

One ingredient: certified organic hibiscus calyces, naturally dried so they hold their colour. Hibiscus is naturally high in vitamin C and anthocyanins, the same pigments that make it this arresting shade of red. Tart in the manner of cranberry, with a soft floral edge behind the acidity. Remarkable over ice, and worth a little honey if you take it hot.

Cranberry · Citrus zest · Wild berry

Ingredients Organic Hibiscus

Butterfly pea flower brews a deep, saturated blue, and turns violet the instant acid touches it — a squeeze of lemon is all it takes, and the change happens in front of you. The colour comes from anthocyanins that respond to pH. Mild and lightly earthy to drink, with lemongrass adding lift. Caffeine free.

Earthy · Lemongrass · Soft floral

Ingredients Butterfly Pea Flowers, Lemongrass Leaf

Rooibos grows only in one place on earth — the Cederberg mountains north of Cape Town — and contains neither caffeine nor tannin, which is why it will not turn bitter however long it stands. Here elderberry, rose and calendula soften its earthiness into something gently floral. Take it plain, or with a little milk.

Elderberry · Rose · Sweet earth

Ingredients Rooibos Leaf, Elderberry, Rose Petals, Calendula Petals

Apricot over smooth South African rooibos, finished light and creamy with cornflower through the leaf. Comforting and naturally sweet enough to need nothing added. The blend we suggest most often to anyone giving up an evening cup of tea but unwilling to give up the ritual.

Apricot · Cream · Rooibos

Ingredients Rooibos Leaf, Apricot Pieces, Cornflower Petals

Fig and caramel over earthy rooibos — the most indulgent caffeine-free tea we make, and among the simplest. The fig brings a jammy depth and the rooibos a natural sweetness, so the result reads as dessert with nothing added to make it so. Exceptional brewed on oat milk.

Fig · Caramel · Sweet earth

Ingredients Rooibos Leaf, Fig Pieces

Mango and orange peel for brightness, and ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and black pepper for warmth and lift — a spice profile that stimulates without a milligram of caffeine in the cup. Rooibos carries all of it without strain. Made for three o'clock in the afternoon.

Mango · Warm spice · Orange

Ingredients Rooibos Leaf, Mango Pieces, Orange Peel, Cinnamon Bark, Ginger Root, Black Peppercorns, Cardamom Pods

A full-bodied black base lifted with lemon myrtle and wattleseed. Lemon myrtle carries more citral — the compound that makes a lemon smell of lemon — than the lemon itself, which is why a small amount changes the whole cup. Strong enough for milk, bright enough to wake you properly. The blend most often posted overseas from this counter.

Lemon myrtle · Malt · Wattleseed

Ingredients Black Tea, Wattleseed, Lemon Myrtle Leaf, Peppermint Leaf

Jilungin is a desert vine from the Kimberley, used by the Nyul Nyul people and traditionally taken as a night-time tea before sleep. Here it works alongside passionflower, chamomile and lavender, with aniseed and cinnamon myrtle rounding the base. Deep, faintly smoky and quite unlike any European sleep tea. Take it half an hour before bed.

Jilungin · Chamomile · Soft anise

Ingredients Passionflower Herb, Chamomile Flowers, Jilungin Leaf, Aniseed Myrtle Leaf, Lemon Myrtle Leaf, Lavender Flowers, Cinnamon Myrtle Leaf

Aniseed myrtle and cinnamon myrtle with Davidson plum and a little cacao. Davidson plum is one of the most acidic fruits in the country and among the highest in antioxidants — here it supplies a quiet tartness that keeps the cup from turning soft. Mellow, gently sweet and entirely caffeine free. For the hour between finishing work and going to bed.

Davidson plum · Cacao · Aniseed

Ingredients Aniseed Myrtle Leaf, Davidson Plum, Cacao Shells, Strawberry Gum Leaf, Cinnamon Myrtle Leaf

Manuka leaf, quandong and rosehip with lemongrass and hibiscus. Quandong is a desert peach long eaten and used medicinally across Central Australia, and it gives this blend a tart, apricot-like centre. Nourishing and bright rather than medicinal, and caffeine free. A daily tonic drawn entirely from Australian country.

Quandong · Rosehip · Lemongrass

Ingredients Lemongrass Leaf, Hibiscus Flowers, Manuka Leaf, Quandong Fruit, Rosehip Shells

Named for the morning mist that settles over the tea fields, and made for every day rather than for occasions. A smooth, forgiving blend of Uji and Mie leaf, with gentle umami, natural sweetness and no harsh edges anywhere in it. Whisk it with hot water until it foams, the way ceremonial matcha is meant to be taken. Naturally rich in caffeine for a clean, lasting lift, and equally at home in a latte.

Gentle umami · Sweet grass · Smooth finish

Ingredients Green Tea

Akatsuki means daybreak, and the tea earns the name. A bright, vivid first-harvest Shizuoka matcha with fresh green character and a clean, crisp finish — less weight than an Uji, more clarity. Best whisked traditionally with hot water to reveal its full depth, though it holds beautifully in a morning latte. Naturally high in caffeine: the clean, focused start the day deserves.

Fresh green · Crisp finish · Bright umami

Ingredients Green Tea

One hundred per cent single-cultivar Saemidori, a varietal prized for how little bitterness it carries. Grown in the mineral-rich volcanic soil of Kagoshima, shade-grown to intensify its chlorophyll and amino acids, then stone-milled to a velvety emerald powder. Certified organic by JAS — no pesticides, no conventional fertilisers. First flush, and among the most elegant matcha made anywhere.

Buttered edamame · Sweet grass · Silky umami

Ingredients Green Tea

Hanami is the Japanese practice of pausing beneath the cherry blossom, and this is that moment in a bowl. First-harvest Uji leaf from Japan's most storied growing region, with a lush, creamy body, deep umami and a sweet edamame note that lingers well past the last sip. Whisk it simply with hot water and take it as it is meant to be taken — slowly. A generous natural caffeine lift beneath the calm.

Sweet edamame · Deep umami · Cream

Ingredients Green Tea

Grown high in the mountains of Tenryu from one hundred per cent single-cultivar Tsuyuhikari — a rare varietal, and a deliberate departure from the usual. The altitude shows in the cup as clarity and layered complexity rather than weight, finishing with an almost ethereal lightness. Shade-grown, stone-milled, and certified organic by JAS. The most unusual matcha we carry.

Green asparagus · Toasted pine nut · Violet

Ingredients Green Tea

Not a matcha, and proudly so — this is Kyoto green tea roasted rather than shaded, which is what turns it amber instead of emerald. The roast strips out most of the caffeine and leaves toasted nuts and caramel in its place. Where the ceremonial matchas bring the morning, this brings the evening. Beautiful whisked, steeped, or steamed into a honeyed latte.

Toasted nut · Caramel · Roasted grain

Ingredients Roasted Green Tea

First-flush, shade-grown leaf from the coastal fields of South Korea, raised in volcanic soil and stone-ground fine. Korean matcha is brighter and more savoury than its Japanese counterpart, and noticeably cleaner on the finish. Certified organic under the Korean Organic Certification Programme, grown without synthetic inputs. Made for daily drinking, and equally at home in lattes, smoothies and baking.

Fresh spinach · Toasted sesame · Wild herb

Ingredients Green Tea

Real Assam tea with twelve spices and a pinch of pink Australian salt. The salt never registers on its own; it simply lifts everything around it, the way a pinch does in a caramel. Cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, star anise, clove, black pepper, nutmeg and vanilla bean sit behind the tea rather than over it. Warm, layered and lightly sweet, with the pepper arriving last. One spoon, hot milk, whisk.

Masala spice · Vanilla · Black pepper

Ingredients Black Tea, Coconut Milk Powder, Coconut Blossom, Cinnamon Bark, Cardamom Pods, Ginger Root, Star Anise, Clove Buds, Black Peppercorns, Nutmeg, Vanilla Bean, Pink Australian Salt

Four ingredients, and one of them is very good matcha — there is nowhere to hide in a list this short. Grade A matcha, coconut milk powder, real vanilla bean and coconut blossom sugar, which is lower on the glycaemic index than cane and carries a faint caramel of its own. Smooth, grassy and quietly sweet. Exceptional shaken hard over ice.

Green tea · Coconut · Vanilla

Ingredients Matcha, Coconut Milk Powder, Vanilla Bean, Coconut Blossom

Turmeric with cinnamon and cardamom for warmth, ginger for lift, vanilla to round the edges, and black pepper — the ingredient every good golden latte quietly depends on, since without it the body cannot take up the curcumin at all. Golden, gently sweet and warming rather than hot. Caffeine free, and well suited to the evening.

Turmeric · Cinnamon · Warm ginger

Ingredients Turmeric Root, Cinnamon Bark, Coconut Milk Powder, Coconut Blossom, Ginger Root, Cardamom Pods, Vanilla Bean, Black Peppercorns

Each leaf is picked just below the bud and spun by hand into a wild rose that opens as it steeps — work measured in minutes per flower, done in the valley of Lumbini. Honey and malt, lightly sweet, revealing another layer with each infusion rather than fading. Produced in tiny quantities, with royalties paid to the artisans who shape them.

Honey · Malt · Fresh flower

Ingredients Black Tea

Handpicked leaves spun into flowers that unfold slowly in the water, made by the same Sri Lankan artisans and in the same tradition. The liquor is delicate and clear — honey, malt and a distinct floral lift — and holds across several infusions. Produced in vanishingly small quantities.

Honey · Soft malt · Floral

Ingredients Black Tea

Leaf shaped by hand into fine green rings, no two batches quite alike. A pale lemon liquor with honeydew melon at the front and crisp green apple behind, light in body and clean at the close. Exceptionally rare, and a pleasure to watch open in a glass pot.

Honeydew · Green apple · Clean finish

Ingredients Green Tea

Rolled by hand, one pearl at a time, in the gardens of Zomba in southern Malawi — one of very few places in Africa producing white tea at this level. Each pearl unfurls across several infusions, giving a pale golden cup with a champagne-like sweetness and a soft floral lift. Made sustainably, and sold in strictly limited quantity.

Champagne · White grape · Soft floral

Ingredients White Tea

Wild leaf from trees more than a hundred and thirty years old, wrapped by hand around a core of vanilla bean and rolled into a rod. The form is not decorative — the tight wrap slows the infusion, so the rod releases gradually across a long steep. A pale amber cup of earthy tea and soft vanilla, medium in body and clean at the finish. Made for drinking, not smoking.

Wild wood · Vanilla · Pale amber

Ingredients White Tea, Vanilla Bean

Chamomile and lavender to quiet the mind, sandalwood to ground it, and a trace of bergamot so the whole thing does not turn heavy too soon. The salts settle the water to a still, mirrored blue. Run it an hour before bed and stay in for twenty minutes.

Lavender · Sandalwood · Bergamot

Ingredients Luxury Bath Salts, Chamomile Flowers, Lavender Flowers, Sandalwood, Bergamot

Coconut milk and cacao with warm spiced essential oils — the room changes within seconds of the water meeting them. Velvety, enveloping and deeply warming, with the cacao giving an earthiness beneath the sweetness. The soak for a cold evening when you need wrapping up.

Cacao · Coconut · Warm spice

Ingredients Luxury Bath Salts, Coconut Milk, Cacao, Spiced Essential Oils

Cedarwood, buddha wood, sweet orange, sage and gotu kola: the scent of a forest floor after rain. Grounding rather than sedating, which makes it as suited to a Sunday afternoon as to the end of a long day.

Cedarwood · Wild sage · Sweet orange

Ingredients Luxury Bath Salts, Cedarwood, Buddha Wood, Sweet Orange, Sage, Gotu Kola

Built around Australian white clay, used for centuries to draw impurities from the skin. It works quietly while you do nothing at all — clearing the pores, lifting excess oil and leaving the skin noticeably brighter — with essential oils turning a treatment into a pleasure. Twenty minutes is enough.

White clay · Mineral · Soft botanical

Ingredients Luxury Bath Salts, Australian White Clay, Essential Oils

A gentle blend made for pregnancy, for nursing, and for the first bath after a baby arrives. Every botanical in it was chosen to be safe and soft at a time when almost nothing else is. Quiet, warm and entirely unhurried.

Soft floral · Warm milk · Calm

Ingredients Luxury Bath Salts, Gentle Botanical Blend