Buy Tea Online 

Buy tea online and read reviews on Dragon Well Tea, Fair Trade Tea, Irish Breakfast Tea, Loose Green Tea, Orange Pekoe Tea, Oolong Teabags and more.

When you buy tea at your local store, you are usually restricted to teabags and maybe a few types of loose leaf tea. With hundreds of different teas available, this is a pretty poor choice. If you live in a major metropolitan area like New York, you will have some speciality tea shops like Ito En, The Tea Spot and Ten Ren, so you will have plenty of choice. But for people who want quality tea and don't live near a speciality tea shop, the obvious option is to buy tea online.

When you buy tea online, you will be spoilt for choice, as there are 100s of sellers and 100s of different teas to try. Some favourites are Dragon Well Tea, Orange Pekoe Tea and Irish Breakfast Tea. You also have the opportunity to buy Fair Trade Tea.

So what should you look for when trying to decide where to buy tea online? Quality of tea should be your number one consideration. Shops such as Ito En, who also have an online store, refrigerate all their tea, so you can be sure that the tea you buy from them is fresh. Tea has a short shelf life, so you shouldn't buy from a store where the tea may have been sitting around for months on end.

The internet has plenty of store reviews, so check to see what other people are saying. If customers of a particular online store are very happy with the service and the quality of tea, then that's a good start.

As there are different types of tea, you also need to choose a store that stocks a range of the teas you enjoy, whether that is black, green, oolong, white or pu'erh tea.

For most people, the only tea they have ever taste is black or green tea. Oolong, white and ou'erh teas are either unknown or seen as specialist teas. So what is the difference between these types of tea?

Black Teas

Black teas are teas that have been fully oxidized. They generally contain 40-60 milligrams of caffeine per 8 oz cup and preparation requires water at boiling point (212°F).

Oolong Teas

Oolong teas are semi–oxidized, which places them mid–way between green and black teas. This gives them the body and complexity of a black tea, with the brightness and freshness of a green tea. Caffeine content is mid way between black and green teas. Preparation requires water at 190°F-205°F.

Green Teas

Green tea leaves plucked in the morning are ready to be brewed in a pot the same night. The bypass of oxidation allows green tea to retain most of its natural dark green color, tannins, vitamin C, chlorophyll and minerals. The taste of green tea is therefore more astringent and subtler than oolong or black tea. Caffeine content is around 30-35mg and preparation requires water at 160°-190°F.

White Teas

White teas are the least processed of all teas. They release the least amount of caffeine of all teas, generally ranging from 10-15 milligrams per 8 oz cup. White teas are mostly grown in Fujian Province, China. Preparation of white teas requires water at 150°–170°F.

Pu'erh Teas

Pu’erh teas are aged and fermented. These aged teas are revered throughout Asia for their medicinal benefits, which range from curing hangovers to reducing cholesterol. This is a naturally fermented tea; the older the tea, the better the flavor. Very black pu-erh teas contain about 60–70 milligrams of caffeine. Preparation requires water at boiling point (212°F).

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