Assam tea is a black tea named after the region of its production, Assam, India. It is manufactured specifically from the plant Camellia sinensis var. Assamica. It is mostly grown at or near sea level and is known for its full body, briskness, malty flavour and strong, bright colour.  It can be consumed with milk and sugar.
Colour: deep, rich amber
Aroma: fruity, malty, bold
Taste: full-bodied, deep, satisfying mouthfeel
Pair with: Eggs Benedict or Black Forest cake
Brew temperature: 95-100 degrees
Brew time: 3-5min
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Darjeeling refers to the area in India in which the tea is grown at high elevation.  A 2nd flush refers to a growing season and harvest (usually in the early summer months to the beginning of monsoon).  The 2nd flush is characterised by a pronounced muscat flavour and is known as the “champagne of teas”.

Colour: light to darker gold depending on the estate and the harvest conditions of that particular season

Aroma: delicate tea-bush notes

Taste: fine, delicate with muscat flavours

Pair with:

Brew temp: 95-100 degrees
Brew time: 3-5min

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Earl Grey is a classic, quintessentially British tea!  A black tea (Camellia Senensis) flavoured with the rind of the bergamot orange, a citrus fruit. It can be consumed with milk and sugar (or honey) or neat with a slice of lemon, which perfectly complements the bergamot notes.

Colour:  clear, burnt orange, sienna, dark amber

Aroma: fragrant, spicy, citrus, malty

Taste: sweet, floral, fragrant, citrus, with a slight pleasant bitterness from the bergamot orange against an earthy and bold black tea.  Elegant, refreshing, rich, complex and sophisticated.  The unmistakable flavour of Earl Grey!

Pair with: absolutely delicious with scones or crumpets, cream (clotted if you can get !)  and jam.

Brew temp: 95-100 degrees
Brew time:: +-5min

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A smoked black tea from China.  Lapsang is smoke-dried over a pinewood fire, giving it a characteristic smokey flavour.  A larger tea leaf is usually used.

Colour:  green-yellow
Aroma: a delicious and distinct smokey nose
Taste: cigar-box, leather, peated whiskey, smoke

Pair with: salty and spicy food or appreciate on its own.

Brew temp: 95-100 degrees
Brew time: 3-5min

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A classic Indian tea made with a variety of spices including cardamom, clove, black pepper, cinnamon and ginger and black tea (Camellia Sinensis). Traditionally consumed with milk and sugar (or honey).

Colour: a beautiful deep amber
Aroma: malty and spicy with the different characteristics of the spices wafting on the nose.
Taste: complex, full-bodied and spicy !  All the volatile oils of each spice releasing their different characteristics into the tea and on the tongue.

Pair with: a delicious vanilla biscuit for an additional spice kick or a delicate butter cookie to keep the tea as the star.   Yummy with milk tart or a dense, moist madeira cake.

Brew temp: 100 degrees
Brew time: +-5min

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Black tea is fully fermented/oxidised and green tea leaves are not, hence the colour.  Oolong falls between the two and is, therefore, partially oxidised or semi-fermented, before twisting and curling. It falls, therefore, between a green and a black tea and can be crafted at the green tea end or the black tea end.  It’s a fascinating and complex tea, depending on style, skill and terroir, just like wine.
Some of the best oolong comes from Taiwan.  

Colour: olive oil, yellow-green
Aroma: roasted, nutty
Taste: toasted nuttiness

Pair with: Chinese, Taiwanese and Asian cuisine, dim sum.

Brew temp: 90 degrees
Brew time:  anything from 3min to 7 min + .  It varies greatly on the style in which it is made and terroir.  Usually though, oolong is a little shy and takes a while for its flavours to develop. You can enjoy multiple infusions.
Not recommended for tea balls, as the leaves need room to unfurl and become quite large.  Appreciate them in the cup or pot.

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The fresh green leaves are slowly dried, then blended with pure jasmine flowers to produce a delicately fragrant, floral and sweet drink.

Aroma: fragrant, floral,  sweet, perfumed *   茉莉花茶, 香片
Taste: soft, sweet, delicate, floral

Pair with: appreciate on its own or delicious with Chinese cuisine, like Peking duck and pancakes. Enjoy with seafood, salads, chicken or desserts.

Brew temp: 80 degrees
Brew time:  3min 茉莉花茶, 香片

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Bancha is a classic Japanese large-leaf green tea made from the lower shoots of the tea bush. It contains less caffeine than Sencha teas that are made from young shoots.  The Bancha leaves are roasted at high temperatures until they become reddish-brown.  The flavour that develops is aromatic, full-bodied, with roasted and nutty notes.  Can be enjoyed with a slice of lemon or orange.

Colour: reddish-brown with greenish tinge
Aroma: deep nutty roastedness, similar to soba-cha
Taste: deliciously full-bodied, roasted flavours and nutty

Pair with: very versatile - ginger biscuits, spicy nuts, milk tart, rice & noodle dishes

Brew temp: 80
Brew time:  3min

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Shade-grown top buds are hand-picked to dry, then stone ground to reveal the ultra-greenness of the tea.

Colour: deep green
Aroma: herbaceous
Taste:  bitter with sweet grassiness

Brew temp: 80 degrees
Brew time:  3min

Pair with: can be used in confectionery
Medicinal: packed with anti-oxidants !

(chasen not included)

Masala Chai Spice for tea or baking. Made with 100% REAL botanicals including cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, clove & black pepper. 

NO FILLERS, just PURE spice!

(how to say it...ROY-boss)
An excellent export-quality single origin rooibos (Aspalathus Linearis), from Tanqua Tea Estate in the Cederberg area.

Colour: amber
Aroma: typical and distinct fermented fynbos bush, musky, plant, woody notes
Taste: bush, plant, fynbos, fermentation, full, sweet, fruity.

Brew temp: 100 degrees
Brew time: 5-7+min

Pair with: koeksisters (twisted fried dough pastry), milktart, Cape Malay koesisters, rusks and many other cakes, biscuits and confectionery.

Medicinal uses:  rooibos has many documented health benefits and is very high in anti-oxidants, one being the polyphenol, aspalathin. These protective plant compounds may help protect against the free radical damage that leads to conditions like diabetes, heart disease and potentially cancer.

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Honeybush (Cyclopia) occurs naturally in South Africa and is part of the fynbos family.  Its terroir streches from Piketberg to Port Elizabeth and gets its name from the sweet scented yellow flowers that bloom in spring and the teas sweet taste. This is a single origin tea, grown in the Garden Route area from the subternata species.

Colour:  rose-gold, copper (the colour comes from fermentation process similar to rooibos)
Nose: musky, sweet, fynbos
Taste: sweet, fynbos, musky

Brew temp: 100 degrees
Brew time: 5-7+min

Pair with: a wide variety of cakes, biscuits and confectionery
Medicinal uses: Honeybush has many health benefits (very similar to Rooibos and more). It is very high in anti-oxidants (especially mangiferin) and contains natural plant (phyto) oestrogens which may help bone density and cardiovascular disease in women. Strengthens immune system, protects against inflammation, accelerates metabolism,  may help prevent and slow down cancer, protects the health of the respiratory tract,  stomach problems and provides whole body health support.

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Honeybush (Cyclopia) occurs naturally in South Africa and is part of the fynbos family.  Its terroir streches from Piketberg to Port Elizabeth and gets its name from the sweet scented yellow flowers that bloom in spring and the teas sweet taste. This is a single origin tea, grown in the Garden Route area from the subternata species.

Colour:  rose-gold, copper (the colour comes from fermentation process similar to rooibos)
Nose: musky, sweet, fynbos
Taste: sweet, fynbos, musky

Brew temp: 100 degrees
Brew time: 5-7+min

Pair with: a wide variety of cakes, biscuits and confectionery
Medicinal uses: Honeybush has many health benefits (very similar to Rooibos and more). It is very high in anti-oxidants (especially mangiferin) and contains natural plant (phyto) oestrogens which may help bone density and cardiovascular disease in women. Strengthens immune system, protects against inflammation, accelerates metabolism,  may help prevent and slow down cancer, protects the health of the respiratory tract,  stomach problems and provides whole body health support.

Honeybush (Cyclopia) occurs naturally in South Africa and is part of the fynbos family.  Its terroir streches from Piketberg to Port Elizabeth and gets its name from the sweet scented yellow flowers that bloom in spring and the teas sweet taste. This is a single origin tea, grown in the Garden Route area from the subternata species.

Colour:   green
Nose: herbaceous, green,  fynbos, musky, bush, plant, woody
Taste: herbaceous, green, sweet, fynbos, plant, bush, musky

Brew temp: 100 degrees
Brew time: 5-7+min

Pair with: a wide variety of cakes, biscuits and confectionery
Medicinal uses: Honeybush has many health benefits (very similar to Rooibos and more). It is very high in anti-oxidants (especially mangiferin) and contains natural plant (phyto) oestrogens which may help bone density and cardiovascular disease in women. Strengthens immune system, protects against inflammation, accelerates metabolism, may help prevent and slow down cancer, protects the health of the respiratory tract,  stomach problems and provides whole body health support.

The green version is very high in antioxidants, higher than green rooibos and matcha green tea.

An excellent export-quality single origin rooibos (Tanqua Tea Estate from the Cederberg area) is used as the base for this spicy Indian chai blend which includes cardamom, black pepper, clove, ginger and cinnamon.

Colour: deep amber, from the fermentation
Nose: typical fermented fynbos, rooibos notes with various spicy elements wafting on the nose, as the heat releases them.
Taste: fermented rooibos, fynbos, full and fruity, holding all the spices beautifully.

Pair with: traditional koeksisters (twisted fried dough pastry), milktart, Cape Malay koesisters, rusks or any cake, biscuit and confectionery.

Medicinal: very good for you !

Brew temp: 100 degrees
Brew time: 5-7+min

Loose-leaf

A fresh, bright, uplifting delicious lemon-like aroma and taste.

Colour: green-yellow
Aroma: citrus, lemon
Taste: bright citrus, lemon (similar to lemongrass)

Brew temp: 95 degrees
Brew time: 5-7min

Pair with: Madeira cake or enjoy on its own.
Medicinal uses: a great aid for sleeping. It also helps with digestion, is a mild sedative and calmative.

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A soothing and calming tisane from whole chamomile flowers.

Colour: beautiful light, bright and yellow
Aroma: delicate, floral and sweet
Taste: gentle, floral, herbaceous and sweet

Brew temp: 95 degrees
Brew time: 3-7min

Pair with: scones or something fruity.
Medicinal: caffeine-free, soothing, calming and helps promote sleep.  

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Tart and tangy with a bright ruby red colour.  Delicious hot or cold or with honey.

Colour: ruby red
Aroma: floral, tart and tangy
Taste: tart and tangy (similar to cranberry juice)

Brew temp: 100 degrees
Brew time: 7min

Pair with: lavender shortbread and other confectionery.
Medicinal properties: Hibiscus has many health benefits - helps prevent hypertension, lowers blood pressure, reduces blood sugar levels, keeps liver healthy,  helps with menstrual cramps, helps with depression, aids digestion and helps with weight management.   High in Vit C, contains flavonoids and antioxidants that may help fight cancer.

Loose-leaf

Blended with a selection of berries to create a cup of intense red, sweet and tangy fruit infusion. Delicious hot or as an iced tea.

Colour: raspberry red
Aroma: fruity, tart and sweet
Taste: fruity and tangy

Brew temp: 100 degrees
Brew time: 5-7min

Pair with: fresh fruit, fruit cake

Loose tea

Bright, fresh, refreshing, sweet, lingering and cool.

Colour: yellow-green
Aroma: fresh, sweet, bright, menthol
Taste: bright, fresh, sweet, lingering, cool  and refreshing.

Brew temp: 95 degrees
Brew time: 3-5min

Pair with: lemon meringue pie or chocolate
Medicinal uses: a fantastic aid for digestion.  Eases headaches. Good for nausea and flatulence. Soothes colds and can be used as a gargle.  Also great as a skin toner.

Loose-leaf

Herbaceous, rich, earthy and sweet. A herbal tea can made from the leaves of the stinging nettle plant.

Colour: clear, olive oil green-yellow
Aroma: slightly vegetal,  sweet
Taste: gentle, sweet, soothing, pleasant, slightly vegetal, full mouth-feel

Brew temp: 95 degrees
Brew time: 5-7min

Medicinal: Nettle has amazing health benefits. High in vitamins, minerals, fatty acids,  phytonutrients, amino acids, polyphenols and antioxidants.  It has many health benefits including respiratory, inflammation, blood pressure and blood sugar issues.  Fantastic as a detox tea.

Loose-leaf