what is tea

The history of tea is the stuff of legends, from the tea clippers of old battling monster seas to trade their wares in the far-flung corners of the globe to the story of Buddha’s
Tears.

Tea is the world’s most consumed drink after water and the ritual associated with it is woven into the very fabric of society. Intertwined with religion, medicine, community and art, tea has an undoubted significance in our world. The tea revolution that is being steeped today is one more incarnation in a long history.

Storm in a Teacup presents a collection of artisan loose-leaf teas that have been carefully selected to represent many of the major and some of the lesser known tea growing regions and styles of the world.

50% of our teas are sourced direct from producers in their country of origin. 40% are from small scale companies who hunt down tribal and micro-lot teas from remote regions throughout Asia. The remaining 10% come from brokers in Australia and abroad. No matter how we sourced the tea we make sure above all else, we support artisan farmers who look after their workers and their land.

This brings you some of the best tasting most unique teas available.

a quick guide

All tea comes from one plant, the camellia sinensis, it is the manner of processing that determines the style of tea.

white tea

simply dried

green tea

steamed or pan fired, shaped and dried

oolong

wilted, bruised, partially oxidised, shaped and dried

black tea

wilted, rolled or crushed, fully oxidised, shaped and dried

post-fermented tea

green tea that has been pressed and aged or composted

tisane

peppermint, rooibos, lemongrass etc are tisanes or herbal infisions. however much we love them, they’re not offically tea.