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No matter if you are buying tea online or in a local tea shop, you probably feel tempted to stock up on as many types as possible. And you are not alone. How can a passionate tea drinker resist all those mesmerizing scents and pretty leaves? Unless your goal really is to try every single tea in the world (kudos to that!), you can make a better buying decision by asking yourself a few simple questions before binge buying tea.  

1.      How much tea do you usually drink?

To make a perfect cup of tea, always use fresh tea leaves. Every tea will have a different shelf life, but with a proper storage, most will be fresh for at least 1 year. If you drink one cup of tea a day, a 2 oz pouch is likely to last up to a month. Of course, you can make a stronger tea using more tea leaves – sometimes even up to 6-8 grams per 5 oz of water. If you want to enjoy fresh tea all the time, buy only the quantity you will drink within next 3-6 months. Or a little more. Nothing will make you resent tea more than a cup of old stale tea.

Not sure how to brew tea properly? Check out our Step by Step Guide to Making the Best Cup of Tea.

2.      Which flavors do you prefer?

We can divide tea flavors into a few categories. The most common flavors are vegetal, nutty, floral, earthy, chocolaty, spicy and fruity. These categories can be divided further. If you enjoy vegetal and fresh flavors, choose green teas or green herbal blends. If you prefer chocolaty, earthy, or spicy notes, black and dark teas can offer all that and more. But wait. What about green teas flavored with chocolate drops, or black teas with mint?

Here’s the catch – the most prominent flavor in a tea blend will always be the flavor of the base tea – no matter how strongly flavored it is. This means that even a chocolate flavored green tea will still have vegetal/green notes typical for green tea and, possibly, some astringency. And a rose blended black tea will probably be strong and malty, despite strong rose note. Blends containing hibiscus will always be slightly sour, and those with red rooibos slightly earthy and never bitter.

3.      What do you want to use it for?

Of course, the main purpose of tea leaves is to brew them and enjoy in a liquid form. However, you can use many teas for baking, preparing other hot drinks and making skincare. The best teas for baking are usually powdered teas – for example, matcha, or teas with strong flavors – such as smoked lapsang souchong or Earl Grey. Avoid delicate, gentle types. Dragon Well is one of the best teas in the world, but it won’t do anything for your chocolate chip cookies. If you love drinking lattes, choose strong teas and those with broken leaves – Chai, red rooibos or gunpowder green tea. 

4.      Do you have any allergies?

While EGCG is one of the most beneficial compounds in green tea, in rare cases, it may also cause an allergic reaction [1]. No matter how rare these are, be careful when including a new tea into your life, especially if you already have allergies to certain foods. Pay extra attention to herbal blends, especially with herbs from Asteraceae [2] botanical family, such as chamomile or dandelion. Some teas may contain bee pollen, which could cause side effects for people with allergies too.

5.      How much time do you want to spend on making a perfect cup?

Some teas are easier to brew than others. Want to enjoy your tea as soon as the kettle boils? Choose teas you can prepare using boiling water – ripe pu’erh, unflavored black teas except Darjeeling, and flavored black teas with no citrus fruits. If you prefer caffeine-free teas, rooibos may offer as many benefits as Camellia sinensis teas, but it will never turn bitter. And, it gets even better – you can brew green rooibos with boiling water and enjoy flavor and benefits similar to those of a green tea.

There’s certainly is a perfect tea for everyone. No matter how tempting it may be to buy as much tea as possible, understanding how to brew certain types and which flavors you can expect will help you buy better teas you will truly enjoy. If you are a complete beginner, start with samples and try each type of tea first – white, green, yellow, oolong, black and dark, and start exploring the category you enjoyed the most.

Sources

[1] http://www.jiaci.org/revistas/vol28issue5_11.pdf

[2] https://www.annallergy.org/article/S1081-1206(17)30333-2/fulltext