Fair trade is a tricky thing. I’ve written before about why I believe fair trade is important, but there’s a flipside: too often, fair trade tea is of lower quality to similarly-priced, non-fair trade tea. Which leaves a tea lover to decide between sacrificing quality or sacrificing an ethical stance.

Over the past year I have bought primarily non-fair trade tea, for one big reason: there are very few fair trade tea options around here in Melbourne, and the ones that I can find tend to be in teabag form. But one goal I’ve set for myself over the next few months is to explore some of the fair trade tea options available online. Here are four online tea stores that sell fair trade tea.

1. The Tea Spot

The Tea Spot have four fair trade organic teas:

• Organic Blue Mountain Nilgiri ? Single-estate black tea from India’s Nilgiri tea region.
• Organic Green Twisted Spears ? Hand-twisted spears from Sri Lanka.
• Organic Monkey-Picked White ? A buttery white tea from Fujian Province, China.
• Organic New Moon Darjeeling ? Autumnal Darjeeling tea. It’s single-estate, but they don’t specify which estate.

You can also get The Tea Spot’s Black Label Organic Teas set, which includes all four of the teas above and ends up saving you about 20%.

2. Numi Organic Tea

Numi Organic Tea have quite an extensive range of fair trade teas, most of which are organic as well:

• White Rose – Velvet Garden ? A white tea combined with rose petals. Also available as tea bags.
• White Nectar – Osmanthus Spring ? Organic white tea with Osmanthus flower. Also available as tea bags.
• White Orange Spice – Moonlight Spice ? White tea mixed with orange, berries, lime and spices. Also available as tea bags.
• Ginger Sun – Lemon Decaf Green ? Himalayan grown green tea combined with lemongrass and ginger. Also available as tea bags
• Jasmine Green Tea – Monkey King ? Jasmine tea from Jiangxi Province in China. Also available as tea bags
• Mate Lemon Green Tea – Rainforest Green ? Yerba Maté blended with lemon myrtle and chun mee green tea. Also available as tea bags
• Decaf Black Vanilla – Indian Night ? Organic black tea blended with vanilla. Also available as tea bags
• Breakfast Blend – Morning Rise ? A breakfast tea blended from Ceylon, Assam, Keemun and Darjeeling teas. Also available as tea bags
• Aged Earl Grey – Bergamot Black ? Full-leaf Assam tea blended with natural Italian Bergamot, not oils or flavorings. Also available as tea bags
• Berry Black – Raspberry Darjeeling Black Tea ? North American forest fruits blended with Darjeeling tea. Also available as tea bags
• Golden Chai – Spiced Assam Black Tea ? Numi’s chai tea. Also available as tea bags
• Lapsang Souchong – Smoky Tarry ? From the Wuyi Mountains in China comes Numi’s Lapsang Souchong.
• Chamomile Lemon – Sweet Meadows ? Egyptian chamomile tea blended with Australian lemon myrtle.
• Ruby Chai – Spiced Rooibos is a rooibos chai blend. Also available as ]tea bags.

Also check out Numi’s Velvet Tea Caddy, which has four of their fair trade teas and could make a great gift idea. (Click here for more tea gifts).

3. Art of Tea

Art of Tea have a small selection of fair trade teas, all three of which can be bought together in their Fair Trade Tea Gift Set, which includes:

• Biodynamic Darjeeling ? Black tea from the Makaibari Estate.
• Egyptian Chamomile ? Chamomile tea from Egypt.
• Gunpowder ? Gunpowder green tea from Zhejiang Province, in northern China.

4. Rishi Tea

Rishi Tea have made a name for themselves with quite a huge range of fair trade teas. You can see all their fair trade teas listed here. Also be sure to check out their store on Amazon , which has some great discounts.

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | 4 Places to Buy Fair-Trade Tea Online | 5 comments |
Post categories: Black tea, Fair Trade tea, Green tea, Oolong tea, Organic tea, Pu-erh tea, Tisanes, White tea
Post tags: Art of Tea, buying tea online, Numi Organic Tea, Rishi Tea, The Tea Spot

• Mighty Leaf Tea are giving a 25% discount off selected black teas. This offer runs out on September 25, so you have to act quick. If you’re looking for a good place to start, try their Organic Breakfast Tea.
• Numi Organic Tea is offering a 25% discount on their flavoured pu-erh teas. Get 2 boxes of their pu-erh tea for $14.95 when you quote Coupon Code NMP99. This offer runs out after September 30.
• The Tea Spot are donating 10% of all their sales in September to prostate cancer survivors.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Special Deals for September | No comment |
Post categories: Black tea, Organic tea, Pu-erh tea, Specials
Post tags: breakfast tea, Mighty Leaf Tea, Numi Organic Tea, The Tea Spot

Organic breakfast tea by Mighty Leaf Tea

The nature of a breakfast tea is to be robust. It is there to awaken. And it needs to be able to handle a drop of milk.

As a result, many lower grade breakfast teas tend to be brutish. You feel awake after drinking them, but your lips are puckered, your mouth is dry and you had to choke down those last few sips. Inevitably, the tea used for this is the scraps ? the dust or fanning that remains after factories have pushed out the higher end teas. Because the tea is so small, it infuses quickly; but it also lacks the character you will find in teas made with larger bits of leaf.

This morning I started the day with Mighty Leaf’s Organic Breakfast tea, a blend of teas from Assam, Ceylon and Darjeeling. It’s a fine example of how using better quality tea leaves demonstrably improves a tea’s character.

I don’t tend to drink many blended teas, preferring instead single-estate teas, but I did enjoy trying to pick out the presence of the three teas used. I found the Ceylon first, given away by the smell of berries in the dry leaf aroma. Those berries were a little more subdued in the flavour, where the Assam leaf dominated the mix. I tried but failed to pick out the Darjeeling. Against the rather robust and in-your-face characteristics of Ceylon and Assam teas, the Darjeeling’s subtler notes fade into the background.

I see teas like this as being a great point of introduction for people who are accustomed to lower-grade tea and want to try something with a bit more finesse. It’s instantly familiar, but that elevation of quality translates into a smoother cup of tea with more points of interest. Granted, I found this tea to fall a little flat after the initial release of flavours; but as a breakfast tea, it does the job.

Organic Breakfast is available from Mighty Leaf Tea.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Organic Breakfast Tea by Mighty Leaf Tea (review) | One comment |
Post categories: Black tea, Organic tea, Tea reviews
Post tags: breakfast tea, English Breakfast, Mighty Leaf Tea

The tea is grown in volcanic soil and is shaded by koa trees

At the right time, the pekoe leaves are plucked…

and the leaves destined for green tea are fired

‘A’a is a fully oxidized, hand-rolled black tea made from Hawaiian tea leaves. It is not fired

Kilinoe is the garden’s limited edition green tea

It is mild and refreshing, with a hint of citrus and leafy green vegetables

Thank you to Eliah Halpenny of Big Island Tea, who allowed me to use her photos. You can learn more about Big Island Tea on their website.

Read more

• Review of Kilinoe green tea
• Interview with Eliah Halpenny, Hawaiian tea farmer
• Buy Kilinoe green tea from Narien Teas

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Tea: A Photographic Journey from the Garden to the Cup | 2 comments |
Post categories: Miscellaneous, Organic tea
Post tags: growing tea, Hawaii tea, Hawaiian tea, Kilinoe Green Tea, tea production

Brewed: Darjeeling Puttabong Clonal Exclusive 1st Flush 2007.

One of the most valuable pieces of advice I’ve picked up about brewing Darjeelings is this: let them steep about 3 minutes, then check them every 30 seconds until they’re ready. Darjeelings have a nasty habit of turning very bitter, very quickly.

But you can also go too far in the opposite direction, as I discovered with this sample of Puttabong Clonal Exclusive 2007 1st flush, graciously sent my way by Jo from Ya-ya Teahouse. Tea needs enough steeping time to develop complexity and body.

This is quite a complex tea – in terms of flavour and in terms of brewing method. Earlier, I had botched the tea by brewing it with freshly boiled water, forgetting Jo’s advice that this tea needs lower temperatures to really come alive. He’s absolutely right. Using water that is too hot nips this tea in the bud (pardon the pun).

With every tea Jo sent me, he recommended using quite a bit more dry leaf than I would generally use. Here, his suggestion was to use 3.5 teaspoons of tea for half a litre of water. I opted for 3 teaspoons with slightly less water.

The composition of this tea is attractive: small and earthy with a nice percentage of white tips. I struggled to identify the aroma – it’s unique and complex, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it reminded me of.

The Dry Leaf: Darjeeling Puttabong Clonal Exclusive 1st Flush 2007.

Using water at around 75° C – I followed Jo’s suggestion more closely this time – I poured the tea at two points: one small cup after 2 minutes and 45 seconds; and another at the recommended 3 and a half minutes.

This was an eye-opener. The first cup was watery, under-developed and lacking. The extra 45 seconds allowed the tea to develop into a full-bodied, complex tea. Lesson learned: allow tea enough time to steep.

Much as I struggled to break down the dry aroma, I had a hard time picking its flavour. It’s a savoury tea, to be sure, though a subtle fruity note becomes more apparent as the tea cools. I also noted tannins, a hint of pepper and a grassy, earthy quality. There was bitterness astringency, but it wasn’t overpowering – yet. I would not let this tea steep for any longer than 3 and a half minutes.

This is a tea that requires quite a bit of brewing finesse. I’m not convinced I perfected it, but I think I got pretty close. Close enough to discover a tea that is rich, complex and unique.

This tea can be purchased through Ya-ya Teahouse for $32.60 NZD.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Puttabong Clonal Exclusive: Darjeeling 1st Flush 2007 | 2 comments |
Post categories: Black tea, Organic tea, Tea reviews
Post tags: Darjeeling, Indian teas, Puttabong Estate, Ya-ya Teahouse

A passage from Peter Singer’s and Jim Mason’s The Ethics of What We Eat has been resounding with me lately. The passage comes after a detailed exploration of the ecological and ethical costs of intensive chicken farming, especially by Tyson Foods.

Tyson produces chicken cheaply because it passes many costs on to others. Some of the cost is paid by people who can’t enjoy being outside in their yard because of the lies and have to keep their windows shut because of the stench. Some is paid by kids who can’t swim in the local streams. Some is paid by those who have to buy bottled water because their drinking water is polluted. Some is paid by people who want to be able to enjoy a natural environment with all its beauty and rich biological diversity. These costs are, in the terms used by economists, ‘externalities’ because the people who pay them are external to the transaction between the producer and the purchaser.

Consumers may choose to buy Tyson chicken, but those who bear the other, external costs of intensive chicken production do not choose to incur them. Short of moving house – which has its own substantial cost – there is often little they can do about it. Economists – even those who are loudest in extolling the virtues of the free market – agree that the existence of such externalities is a sign of market failure. In theory, to eliminate this market failure, Tyson should compensate everyone adversely affected by its pollution. Then its chicken would no longer be so cheap.

What does any of this have to do with tea? This ain’t Chicken Finely Brewed after all.

Singer and Mason focus primarily on the meat industry in their book, but I believe that this passage has resonance for us as tea drinkers. When we purchase cheap supermarket tea bags, we save money; but who is paying the price?

The majority of tea produced worldwide is sprayed with a plethora of pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals, all for the simple purpose of increasing crop yields. The people who work these plantations, picking two leaves and a bud morning to night, year-round, pay for our cheap tea with their health. They pay for our cheap tea as they come into contact with hazardous chemicals. They pay for our cheap tea as their water supply grows contaminated. They pay for our cheap tea as the skies grow silent, birds forced to move on because of the chemicals.

And you know how much they get paid? On average, workers are paid between 60 cents and $1.50 per day. That is, if they pluck their daily quota. If they’re sick and unable to work, or if there just isn’t any work to do, they are paid less or not paid at all.

We save. They lose. We are shielded from the true cost of our tea by artificially low prices. And when a new tea label appears on our supermarket shelves selling fair trade, organic tea, but for a dollar extra, too often we shrug and keep buying the cheaper labels because we can’t “afford” the other label.

The Case for Fair Trade Organic Tea

I choose to buy fair trade organic tea as much as possible because I believe it goes part of the way to restoring balance to the tea trade. If me paying an extra dollar for my tea means that a tea worker’s conditions are improved, it’s worth it. The equation is stacked so heavily in our favour in the first place, that paying more for tea that ensures a better deal for the workers is a way of narrowing the gap.

Let’s not get caught in naivety here. There are flaws to the fair trade system, as there are flaws to the organic system. Workers don’t always see their lives improve as much as the fair trade label promises. As organic tea becomes a mainstream phenomena, big business latches on and may lower the standards of what it means to be organic.

The fair trade and organic movements are imperfect, but they’re a step in the right direction. Ultimately, deeper systemic changes need to be made to give tea workers a fair wage, good living conditions and the freedom to live their lives as they’d like to.

For now though, I’m happy to invest the extra dollars into buying fair trade, organic tea.

Learn more

If you’re interested in learning more about fair trade, organic, or the plight of tea workers, I recommend checking out Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West by Beatrice Hohenegger. I just finished reading this and the final chapters, provide a great overview of these issues. Suffice it to say that reading her book was part of the inspiration for putting this post together.

One website which I strongly recommend – and which I want to explore more myself – is Raisa Rasheeka’s blog, which is about tea plantation workers in Bangladesh. Seriously, for a first-hand perspective of life on a tea plantation, Raisa’s blog is amazing.

And, lastly, The Ethics of What We Eat by Peter Singer and Jim Mason is an eye-opening exploration of the modern meat industry. I didn’t agree with every conclusion they came to, but it was easily the most influential book I read last year.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Fair Trade Organic Tea and the Ethics of What We Drink | 8 comments |
Post categories: Fair Trade tea, Organic tea
Post tags: ethical tea, tea plantations, tea workers, the ethics of what we eat