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

Green rooibos is similar to red rooibos, but with stronger tannins. It reminds me a little of nettle tea, though it isn’t quite as grassy as that. Rather, I note some vague citrus flavours and a light sweetness. The tea infuses to a milder colour than red rooibos.

Like red rooibos, this is a great tea to drink later in the evening. It’s caffeine free and quite soothing, though I don’t think it’s as smooth as red rooibos. Personally, I enjoy red rooibos a bit more; but Bec loves is currently obsessed with this green rooibos. If you like red rooibos, I think there’s a pretty good chance you’ll like green rooibos too.

Tick Tock’s Green Rooibos is available at Woolworth’s stores around the country.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Rooibos Green Tea by Tick Tock (review) | No comment |
Post categories: Tea reviews, Tisanes
Post tags: Dragonfly Teas, Green rooibos, Rooibos, Tick Tock

While browsing through Mighty Leaf’s website in preparation for the review I just posted, I noticed that they have a great offer on for people who haven’t tried their tea pouches before: Buy your first tea pouches from Mighty Leaf and get 25% off.

There are actually three separate offers – one for herbal tea, another for black tea and a third for green tea.

As I mentioned in my review of Mighty Leaf’s Organic Darjeeling, the tea pouches are perfect for those of you who want to try some seriously good tea without giving up the convenience of tea bags. Personally, I’d probably opt for the loose leaf tea for myself, but I have a few people I’m planning to buy a pack of tea pouches for.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | 25% off for new Mighty Leaf Tea customers | No comment |
Post categories: Black tea, Green tea, Specials, Tisanes
Post tags: Mighty Leaf Tea, tea pouches

It’s been icy cold here in Melbourne for the last week, and tonight Bec and I rediscovered one wintry favourite: ginger tea.

Ginger tea can be bought in ready-made tea bags, but it’s really simple to make it with fresh ginger. If you’ve got some ginger lying around, here’s an uberquick guide to making your own ginger tea:

• Step one: Peel a small block of ginger (I use about a tablespoon’s worth).
• Step two: Chop it into little blocks, or grate it.
• Step three: Steep it

Seriously, it’s that easy. The peeling can take a little while, but there’s something relaxing about putting this extra bit of effort into your cup of tea.

You can steep ginger as long as you please. Personally, I prefer steeping it for at least ten minutes before drinking. I don’t extract it then either; instead, I leave it in and let the tea get really spicy. On a cold winter evening, it doesn’t get much better than some hot ginger tea.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Make Your Own Ginger Tea | 2 comments |
Post categories: Tisanes
Post tags: ginger tea

First, a disclaimer: while I do have a little person in my life, this little person is only interested in breast milk. Thus, I have tested My Cup of Tea’s Little People’s Tea myself and I cannot verify whether this tea is ideal for kids. Given the tea’s natural sweetness, I suspect that My Cup of Tea got it pretty right.

Billed as a caffeine free alternative to the sweet drinks normally consumed by kids, Little People’s Tea is a strawberry cream fruit tea. I also think I can pick up a hint of rosehip, lending the tea its tartiness. It brews into a lusciously deep red with a perfect combination of sweet and sour: as the tea hits the taste buds, it rides a wave of tanginess, but this is quickly tempered by the drink’s sweeter flavours.

My Cup of Tea are a UK brand with a small range teas, all sold in bag form. The bags themselves are a cut above your average tea bag – as is the tea inside. But at £2.49 for a pack of twenty, the improvement in quality also translates to a bigger dint in your back pocket. For those based in the UK, shipping is free when you order over £20.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Little People's Tea by My Cup of Tea | No comment |
Post categories: Tea reviews, Tisanes
Post tags: my cup of tea, tea for kids

One of my New Year’s Resolutions this year was to drink a cup of dandelion tea every day. As is usually the case with such resolutions, I have already faltered – but I’m pleased to say that dandelion tea has become a regular part of my daily diet.

Dandelion tea is commonly recommended to people looking for a coffee substitute, because it tastes similar but doesn’t come with all the nasty side-effects. It has no caffeine, can aid weight loss and may even prevent cancer. It also purifies the blood, improves the liver, gallbladder, pancreas and spleen functions, and relieves indigestion. It can even clear the body of repressed emotions like anger or fear, which can be stored in the liver and kidneys.

Though I’m not a coffee drinker, I have my reasons for trying dandelion tea. A while ago, a naturopath friend of mine suggested that my regular migraines may be a consequence of liver problems. Dandelion tea, with its huge range of health benefits, seemed like a great way to try to fix up some of those issues.

I’d tried drinking dandelion tea once before and didn’t like it. Dandelion root tea is a bitter, dark brew that takes some getting used to. You can add milk, cream, honey or sugar to try to offset the bitterness, but of course those can all have implications for your health. I have it black, allowing the tea to steep for about two minutes. After sticking with it for a few weeks, I now actually quite enjoy it.

There are several different varieties of dandelion tea around. The most important distinction is whether it’s dandelion root or leaf. I’ve seen the root around most, and it’s the one that has the bitter, coffee-like flavour. Strangely enough, dandelion leaf tea, with its vegetal flavour, reminded me a little of white tea.

Buy Dandelion Tea Online

You can buy dandelion root and leaf tea through Dragonwater.com. It’s $4.25 for a 1/4 pound pack:

• Dandelion Root
• Dandelion Leaf

Credit: Some of the information about dandelion’s health benefits were found in Healing Herbal Teas: A Complete Guide to Making Delicious, Healthful Beverages by Brigitte Mars.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Dandelion Tea: The Herbal Tea for Recovering Coffee Addicts | No comment |
Post categories: Tisanes
Post tags: Dandelion tea, Herbal teas, Tisanes