product information

Tea is an annual crop. As such, the Japanese teas on sale now were harvested last summer. We plan to be extra vigilant in selecting teas from the 2011 crop, but are reassured by the 300 miles distance between Shizuoka, the origin of our Japanese teas, and the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Our ingenuiTEA teapot comes in two sizes: 16oz that is well suited for hot tea and 32oz that is ideal for iced tea. Size is the only difference between the two versions. To infuse, simply add tea leaves and hot water. When tea is ready, place atop any cup. The valve at the bottom will open, allowing tea to flow down while a filter retails all the leaves.

The filter is removable and may be replaced due to discoloration. Replacement filters may be found on the same page as the ingenuiTEA teapot. Prior to inserting, we recommend soaking the replacement filter in boiling water so as to soften it. Upon cooling, the plastic will expand, offering a firm fit that will prevent the filter from slipping out unintentionally.

The lid of the teapot may also be removed for easy placement in the dishwasher. To replace, simply return the lid to its original position and snap in place with a gentle push.

Tannins in tea may impart color to the teapot over time. To remove discoloration, we recommend filling with hot water, adding a tablespoon of bleach, and leaving to soak overnight.

Tea leaves or other debris may get caught in the opening at the bottom, causing the teapot to leak. A strong burst of air is all that's required to dislodging any debris. Simply turn the teapot up-side-down and blow vigorously into the opening at the center. If a stronger burst of air is required, we recommend using a hair drier.

To reduce chance to shattering, the teapot is made of polycarbonate, a strong plastic that will stay clear even after frequent dishwasher use. Polycarbonates have been in the news of late due to the concern of them leaching BPA. General Electric is the source of our polycarbonate. It had been certified to be BPA-free by SGS, a Swiss-based laboratory.

Our tea maker was designed to combine the heating of water and steeping of leaves in one easy-to-use device. To begin, remove the top lid and fill the heating chamber with water. Once done, please close the lid tightly, otherwise the unit will fail to work. Next, slide out the plastic infuser at the center of the unit, placing tea leaves in the perforated basket contained within. Return the infuser to its original position, and ensure that the glass carafe below is in place. The tea maker has many built-in safety features. These will prevent the unit from operating if the top lid is not properly closed, or if the plastic steeping chamber or the glass carafe are not in place. If you find the tea maker beeping repeatedly or water not moving from one chamber to the next, this is an indication that a safety check had failed. We recommend checking the lid and the components and trying again.

The tea maker works with all tea varieties and may be adjusted to produce an ideal temperature and steeping duration for each. The temperature switch has two settings. I produces a temperature of 180F, and is ideal for preparing green teas. II results in boiling water, well suited for preparing black as well as herbal teas. You may also adjust the strength of the infusion, by setting the time dial anywhere between 2 and 7 minutes.

Water boils at 212F at sea level, but does so at lower temperatures in high altitude areas (such as Denver). As such, water may boil, but never reach the temperature of 212F that is required for it to transfer from the heating to steeping chambers under the black tea (II) setting. As such, the unit is not recommended for anyone residing 2,000 feet or more above sea level.

Turning the unit on will produce a single beep. If the unit is beeping constantly, it means that one of its components is misaligned. Please turn the unit off, adjust and try again. With all the components in place, the tea maker will proceed to heat water to the desired temperature. Upon reaching this temperature, the unit will beep once more and release the hot water into the middle steeping chamber. It is normal for some of the water to remain in the heating chamber. To minimize this, we suggest ensuring that the surface on which the unit rests is absolutely level.

The temperature dial controls the duration of time that water remains in the steeping chamber. Once this time elapses, the tea maker will beep again, and begin filtering tea into the glass carafe below. Upon completion of this task, it will emit three beeps to signify that tea is ready. The warmer below the carafe will then keep it warm until the unit is turned off.

The plastic infuser and glass carafe may be removed for easy cleaning by hand or in the dishwasher. To remove discoloration caused by tea tannins, we recommend running the unit with water containing a few tablespoons of bleach.

Our UtiliTEA kettle was created to produce an ideal water temperature for all tea varieties. While having a range of 135 to 212 degrees, it makes heating water easy by offering two color ranges. The green band produces water that is ideally suited for the preparation of green and white teas. The orange bank produces water that is ideal for the preparation of black and herbal teas. The kettle will automatically turn off upon reaching the desired temperature.

The kettle spout contains a filter designed to remove any debris that may have fallen inside. Should it dislodge, replacing it is an easy task. Please ensure that the curvature of the filter is facing away from the spout. Place the bottom of the triangular filter into the lower part of the opening. Then press the upper portion of the filter against the kettle and push gently until it pops into place.

Tea is 99% water, making its quality of paramout importance. The best of teas will taste worse than ordinary if prepared with unfiltered tap water. As such, we recommend steeping all our teas with spring or filtered water.

The advantages of GraviTEA are economy and speed. It costs a fraction of the cost of bottled water and filters liquids at twice the rate of comparable systems.

At its center is a replaceable filter cartridge. To prepare for use, we recommend soaking in water, moving it briskly from side to side as illustrated on its packaging. Once complete, insert the filter at the bottom of the inner compartment and fill the cavity with water. The first batch may contain charcoal remnants. Simply pour out and repeat. Your filter is now ready to yield crystal-clear water.

The inner compartment has an end that is round and one that is more linear. Please ensure that the linear one is facing the front. Otherwise, you may find the lid difficult to snap in place. Rotating the compartment 180 degrees will yield better results.

Please remember to change the cartridges every 60 days. The electronic display is a handy reminder of this. Please depress the reset button for three seconds to signal the placement of a new cartridge. Pressing the button afterwards will illuminate its remaining life. The graph will flash hollow upon the cartridge reaching the end of its 60-days life, signaling that it needs a replacement.

Tea is an easy product to store, provided you observe a few simple precautions. The first is keep it dry. The second is keep it closed, as tea will easily absorb neighboring scents and flavors. Lastly, keep it out of direct sunlight, and its damaging UV rays. The storage containers we offer are specially coated to block UV rays, which speed up tea's aging.

Please ensure to close the zippers atop the pouches in which our teas are packaged to ensure that that last cup is as fresh as the first. Should you prefer others means of storage, we recommend either metal canisters or glass jars. Both offer an air-tight seal to keep tea dry and insulated from external scents. Both also offer protection from UV rays, allowing you to display tea in the open, without worrying about damage from the sun.

Most teas do not require refrigeration, although connoisseurs of green teas from Japan often store them in this fashion. However, freezing teas would produce the opposite effect, introducing moisture that is damaging to tea leaves. For this reason, we recommend keeping all tea leaves out of the freezer.

All of our teas come with temperature and steeping time written on the label. For leaf quantity, the general recommendation is one teaspoon of loose leaf tea per cup of hot water. We recommend doubling this for most white teas, as these tend to be lighter and more voluminous.

We unfortunately do not offer free samples of our products. However, we make discovering our teas very easy and inexpensive with our $9 package of gourmet tea bags and a $19 package that may introduce you to loose teas. Please consider both.

Our tea is sugar free, gluten free, and in most cases contains zero calories (as long as you don't add milk and sugar). It's quite good for you too! See our health benefits page for details.

Few people realize how inconsequential is the Fair Trade program. For example, Fair Trade coffee growers receive only 5 cents more per pound of coffee than is the market price. This trivial amount is meaningless when it comes to gourmet tea, where a pound of product costs five to fifty times more. In lieu of forcing our suppliers to join the Fair Trade program, we've devised our own means of supporting the people who grow our teas, called the Roots Campaign. Please visit to learn more.

Please visit our health benefits page for the latest summary of tea's amazing health benefits.

Want some info about Iced tea? We have a whole page dedicated to that! Check out our Tea Info: Iced Tea page.

The tea bags sold in your local market typically contain low-quality tea grades called fanings or dust. These yield dark color, but very little flavor. In contrast, our gourmet bags contain the same quality of full-leaf teas as do our loose tea offerings. All varieties of our loose teas presently come in bagged form to ensure you have access to quality tea when preparing loose varieties may not be convenient.

Good news! Any unflavored tea is naturally Kosher, and all our flavored teas are made with Kosher ingredients. We kindly ask that you take our word for this as the cost of certifying our large collection of teas is prohibitively high.

While some of our teas are organic, many are not. While being proponents of organic farming, we believe that offering our customers a flavorful product is more important. Unfortunately, most organic teas score poorly on this scale, having been cultivated from tea bushes that are too young to produce a quality product. Once these mature and the quality improves, we'll be happy to expand our selection. For the time being, our organic selection is restricted to Rooibos, Honeybush and Darjeeling teas.

Tea doesn't go bad if stored in a moisture-free environment. However, over time it will diminish in flavor. We generally recommend consuming tea within one year of purchase. However, the specifics will vary according to variety. The Japanese green teas are most delicate, and may begin to show age after only six months. Black and oolong varieties will stay fresh much longer, and may continue to delight for years to come.

If you're looking to replicate the taste of a tea you've enjoyed in a Chinese restaurant, the possible options are two: oolong or jasmine. We hope you may enjoy our versions of these teas as much, and hopefully much better.

We all want to lose a couple pounds, and drinking tea can really help. However, there's no such thing as a weigh-lose variety because all teas come from the same plant and are therefore very similar in their powers to help you burn calories. The trick is finding a variety you'll enjoy drinking as doctors recommend consuming 3-4 cups of tea per day in order to gain its full health benefits. For more info on these, please visit our health benefits page.