Guide
Best Loose Leaf Tea Brands: The 8 Checks That Matter
Nobody who sells tea can rank tea brands honestly, so here are the eight checks that let you judge any seller yourself, including where BornTea passes and where it does not.
Tea Gift Sets: A Tea Seller's Honest Gift Guide
An honest tea gift guide from someone who sells tea, organised by recipient rather than by product, including the times when tea is the wrong gift entirely.
Loose Leaf Tea Infuser: Most of Them Ruin Your Tea
Most tea infusers make worse tea than no infuser at all. Every type ranked on leaf room and cleaning, why the tea ball is the worst of them, and how to brew with nothing.
Chinese Tea Set: What You Actually Need (and What to Skip)
A working Chinese tea set is a gaiwan, a fairness pitcher and two small cups. Here is every piece in a full set, what each one does, and which ones you can skip.
Osmanthus Tea: What It Tastes Like and How to Brew
Apricot, honey and Chinese autumn. What osmanthus tea is, the forms you will find it in, whether it has caffeine, and how to brew it without making perfume.
Matcha vs Green Tea: Same Plant, Different Drink
Same plant, different drink. How matcha and loose leaf green tea differ in growing, processing, caffeine and ritual, and why whisked powdered tea was Chinese first.
Silver Needle vs. Moonlight White: Two White Teas
Silver Needle is a Fujian white tea of unopened buds; Moonlight White is a Yunnan white tea of buds and leaves. Two very different teas on the same shelf, and which one to buy first.
Does Oolong Tea Have Caffeine? (Yes — Here's How Much)
Oolong has caffeine, roughly 30 to 60 mg per 8 oz cup. Here is how that compares to green tea, black tea and coffee, and why the way you brew matters more than the leaf you picked.
Jasmine Green Tea: How It's Made (and How to Not Ruin It)
Jasmine green tea is scented with fresh blossoms overnight, not flavoured with oil. How the scenting works, why good jasmine has no petals in it, and how to brew it so it never turns bitter.
Da Hong Pao: The Rock Oolong Worth the Hype (Mostly)
Twenty grams from the six mother trees reportedly sold for the price of a car. The tea you can actually buy is a roasted Wuyi oolong, and it is very good. Here is how to find a real one.
Moonlight White: Yunnan's Strange, Beautiful White Tea
A Yunnan white tea whose leaves come out half black and half silver, and whose famous moonlight-withering story is only half true. Here is what is actually in the cup.
What Does Jasmine Tea Taste Like? (Why Some Taste Soapy)
Good jasmine tea tastes softly floral and naturally sweet, never soapy. Here is the full flavor profile, the quality tells to look for, and how to brew it so it stays sweet.
Tea-to-Water Ratio: The Cheat Sheet (Grams and Spoons)
One gram of leaf per 100ml of water covers almost every tea you own. Here is the full cheat sheet in grams and teaspoons, by tea type, plus the gongfu ratios.
Biluochun: The Green Tea That Smells Like Fruit and Flowers
The tea I reach for when someone thinks green tea is boring. Biluochun is a curly, downy green tea that actually smells of fruit and flowers, and here is why.