Irish Breakfast is a hardy blend of Assam, Ceylon, and even Keemun (China) black teas. As strong as a morning English Breakfast teas can be... the Irish... teas are a little... lets just say, "rough or hardier" group of teas.

Produced in China and Formosa (Taiwan), Lapsang Souchong has a very "smoky" smell making it one of the most distinctive Black teas out there. This is also called the "man tea" of teas. Can also be used to bring hardcore coffee drinkers over to the light side... The flavor and aroma come from the drying of these leaves over the smoke of pine needles or pinewood.

Pu-erh (poo-yair) is a VERY hardy Black tea. Some may say... an acquired taste. It comes from the bold leaf tea which is from the providence of Yunnan in China. It's an "aged tea", which means as a result of it's oxidation process it actually gets smoother and "better" over time. Where most teas will lose taste and quality with time. It has a very EARTHY taste. In part because it's "composted" ( ...yes I said composted) during the finial phase of processing. Lower in tannins than other blacks it doesn't tend to become bitter when steeped. Actually the longer you steep it the STRONGER it becomes. This is the "wine" of teas... at least in concept.

Below are the Green teas we carry...ah, those tricky greens. Greens are filled with antioxidants, making them healthy as heck. But you have to treat them oh so gently; no boiling water, not a long bath (steep), some only 30 seconds! Taste can be a tad on the grassy side, so be prepared for that. They work VERY well with some herbs tossed in so you actually get a little extra herbal bonus and mask any grassy taste.

Sencha Fine- Japan's best. Japan is known for their production of greens, they export mostly green teas- so they obviously now what they are doing with the delicate harvesting process. We use this quality base for our flavored greens. Although a heavier and denser whole leaf, we think it holds many of our flavors best.

Chun Mee is our China Green Tea. In contrast to the Japanese Greens, it has a sweeter after taste. Also called the "Eyebrow Tea" because many of the leaves processed are hand rolled and thus can curl up. Most Chun Mee teas exported are processed in part by machines, so the true hand rolling of all Chun Mee teas may be a bit exaggerated, but they do have a curled and Dryer appearance in contrast to the Sencha (Japan)

Genmaicha - Is a green tea from Japan. During the fermentation process it's roasted over dried rice, giving it a unique toasted rice flavor. Because it has A VERY unique green tea/rice base- to pepper (add) in any herb, the desired herbal flavor will probably get lost.

Gunpowder Green Tea from China. This tea is growing in popularity, a little naturally on the bitter side. The leaves are rolled into small balls while wet, giving it a unique characteristic. These small balls resemble "gun pellets" which one might say "gunpowder tea" obtained it's name from...

CHINA WHITE - White Peony (Pai Mu Tan) - Bringing up the end of the GREEN tea pack. The leaves are only steamed and dried- the least of all processing. Even less than all greens-This process gives whites their long twisted leaf appearance as well as leaving behind the highest level of antioxidants. Most White teas are more expensive than other teas and considered the purest tea by some. Due in part to the delicate care that is needed with picking the tea buds, usually only in the Spring time.

Oolongs- These are the guys that are sort of like Black teas and sort of like Greens.... yes, they have "middle child" syndrome! They are the middle of the road teas as far as processing goes and usually come from FORMOSA (Taiwan) and China. Can be easily indentified by the longer courser looking leaf. Some can be very close to a Black while others are near a green. You may hear of Pouchongs (lighter) and Souchongs (smoky- China) both also have a courser leaf.