There is about 100 times more water in your tea than tea leaves, which tells you just how important it is to start with clean water. Fresh rain, spring, or filtered water will give you the purest tasting tea.

This is very much about personal preference, but GreenWitch Tea is particularly partial to glass, ceramic and clay.

• Glass is inert (i.e. it does not add any kind of taste to your tea). It also allows you to see and enjoy the colour of your tea.
• Ceramic is also inert, and holds the temperature of your tea well.
• Clay is earthy, traditional and ritualistic. And whilst a clay pot does tend to add a taste to your tea at first, if you keep drinking the same kind of tea from the pot, the pot will actually become infused with that fragrance and taste.

There have been many in depth, wonderful books written on tea, with whole chapters devoted to making the perfect cup. But in the end, the taste preference of an individual decides what a ‘perfect’ cup is.

GreenWitch Tea’s simple version of making a great cup of tea is: your favourite pot and cup… fresh, filtered water… beautiful quality tea… and a little love to bring the whole process together.

Our more detailed version is:

• Firstly boil your water.
• Warm the pot and cups with the boiled water (discard this water).
• Let the water come down from the boil for 1-2 minutes before pouring it on the tea, otherwise it will burn the delicate leaves resulting in a bitter taste to your tea. (Cooling for 1-2 minutes will bring the temperature down to 80-90°C / 175-194°F)
• As a starting guide, use 1 teaspoon of tea per cup, but do experiment. You will learn to be expert in what you enjoy, which is the whole idea of tea, it is all about you.
• Brew the first pot for no longer than 1 minute. Then pour straight away and allow the leaves to strain completely (this will allow for further brews to still taste perfect).
• Brewing time depends a lot on personal taste. We brew our first infusion for just under a minute, and then slightly longer with each subsequent infusion. If you over brew your tea, again, you will end up with bitter tasting tea.
• GreenWitch Teas can be brewed three or four times.
• GreenWitch Tea’s last tip for great tasting tea is passion. Life is short. Live in your moment. Enjoy it to the hilt. Play, cook, love, and drink tea with abandonment.

And for the very final word on tea making, from one of the most famous Japanese Tea Masters in history, Sen Rikyu, ‘Tea is nought but this: first you heat the water, then you make the tea. Then you drink it properly. That is all you need to know.’

All tea comes from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant.  The difference between green and black tea is in the processing of the tea leaves.

Green Tea leaves are steamed or pan fried, rolled, and then dried, shortly after picking. This maintains both colour and maximum nutrients. Black Tea is fermented and oxidised before processing. The oxidisation is what gives black tea its colour.

When Green Tea is sealed immediately after processing and stored airtight in a cool, dry, dark place, it will stay fresh for 12 months. Once it is exposed to oxygen, that time starts to drop and the colour changes. The quality of the tea also makes a difference. So air pollution, exposure to oxygen, poor quality, and lack of freshness, will all make Green Tea go brown.

Quality, purity, small batch, organic, Fair Trade, single estate, and mass produced or hand crafted by tea artisans, all play their part in the price of tea.

Organic teas are grown without synthetic pesticides, fungicides and herbicides, and have then been certified by a governing national body to reflect these practices.

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), who certifies GreenWitch Tea’s overseas teas, defines organic agriculture as ‘an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity… It is based on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.’

GreenWitch Tea is committed to sourcing and supporting tea gardens that grow their tea in a way that is sustainable for the planet, friendly to their tea crafters, and healthy for you the tea drinker.

Fair Trade certification means that all workers are paid a fair wage, their product is sold for a fair price, all terms of trade are fair and just, the workers are highly skilled in their craft so as to produce fine quality products that will sell well on the global market, and money goes back into the health and education of the workers and their families.

Single estate tea is grown, picked (usually by hand), dried, rolled, and vacuum sealed all at the same tea garden. These gardens unfortunately are becoming increasingly rare.

‘Flush’ means the growth of the tea. So the ‘First Flush’ is the first growth picked for the year. There are a further two or three flushes picked seasonally throughout the year.

Yes.  An average cup of green tea contains 20-40 mg of caffeine. A cup of black tea contains 40-70 mg, and a cup of brewed coffee contains 100-200 mg of caffeine.

Most research indicates that drinking around 4 cups per day yields the maximum health benefits.

We are sure you will love our teas. However if you are not satisfied with the tea you receive from GreenWitch Tea, please let us know within 14 days of receipt, and we will arrange an immediate refund or exchange for you.

We judge our success by your enjoyment of our tea.