General Product Features

Regular tea is made from an Asian Evergreen called Camellia Sinensis.  This southern Asian conifer yields four distinct teas; oolong, green, black, and white.  If an organic tea is made to the highest quality standards possible, oily fragrances will not be necessary. 

It is actually quite hard for all of the countries involved in growing tea to enforce strict organic standards.  Many of the countries where teas are grown are second and third world countries where governments hold little sway.  The best thing to do is to look for the Fair Trade symbol, because you then know that the importer has a relationship with the plantation that allows them to look into and approve their management practices, rather than just going for the lowest bidder on the market. 

How does it help the environment

Tea can easily uptake pesticides and chemicals.  Growing organic tea not only ensures that pesticides and chemicals are not used on that particular patch of land, but of course ensures the health of the drinker.  It is ironic that tea is being marketed for its health benefits, and yet may very well contain low levels of pesticides and fertilizers along with the antioxidants that it is renowned for. 

If tea importers make a commitment to biodegradable bags, that is one less thing that can end up in a landfill.

Product Details

The main hallmark of organic tea is its quality.  Grown without harmful chemicals, the taste actually improves dramatically with organic tea. 

All different varieties of tea are available in an organic form.  Yerba Mate, chrysanthemum and bancha are just a few tea varieties that you will also find organic counterparts for.

What to look for when buying

Oxygen/Un-Bleached Bags

Unbleached, or oxygen bleached bags rather than chlorine bleached bags. 

Biodegradable Bags

Most all teas have this, but be careful when buying the “pyramid bag” teas; to obtain the shape they must use synthetic fibres.

Full Leaf Tea

When tea is harvested the leaves are separated by meshes.  The larger leaves stay on top of the meshes, and the “dust” or “sweepings” fall to the bottom.  Full leaf tea has more flavour and releases tannins less quickly than the sweepings. 

Eco-Conscious Packaging

Look for a lack of cellophane and other plastics in the packaging.  Some companies take this further and only use vegetable-based inks on the box. 

Fair Trade Tea

This is perhaps the most important thing to look for, above even the organic label.  Dealing with largely unsupervised conditions, it is easy for any tea producer to simply slap the label “organic” on it and put it out to market.  However, a fair trade tea will have some direct involvement between the company marketing the tea and the producer, making it far more likely that it actually is an organic tea.  Moreover, the producer is being paid fairly for their product rather than the usual below subsistence wages a standard tea farmer sees.