Hello!
I'm Valerie, a qualified Tea Sommelier, and Team Tea is essentially me. I taste, choose and write about every tea before it goes on the site. I started Team Tea to bridge the gap between everyday teabags and the speciality tea world, good tea, explained in plain English, with none of the gatekeeping.
The year's first flush Darjeeling has arrived
The earliest, most delicate picking of the Darjeeling year, from Singell, a heritage garden dating to 1871. Brisk yet smooth, with delicate florals and a honeyed, apricot finish. First flush is fleeting, and 2026 was a genuinely hard year for Darjeeling; when this year's is gone, it's gone until next spring.
Buy Women Built
European Speciality Tea Association
Independent Oxford
Let customers speak for us
I've taken on board how tomake Green Tea (thank you) and it is so much more enjoyable. Slide to is packed to the rafters with this tea. The flavour is subtle, but it's a very refreshing brew, especially in the heat we are currently experiencing. A refreshing summer brew.
delicate, but not too delicate
Great way to start the day - not bitter and lovely umami notes. Thank you Tea Tea. Wonderful as always.
This is an absolute gem of delicate and fresh flavours. Light and fragrant and very refreshing, especially in the recent hot weather,
Since I switched to decaffeinated everything, this is my regular tea. I still want the taste of a good strong tea but without the caffeine and this is perfect. I love proper loose tea - and this is it.
A good white that’s very neutral.
What I mean by that is it doesn’t have the sweetness of the very best (and very expensive!) white teas I’ve tried, but on the plus side , there’s zero hint of any bitterness that I’ve had to suffer from the lesser white teas I’ve tried.
In summary a great value white tea that I’ll be buying again.
I also found that I can steep it a good 3/4 times without any problem.
Cute tins and lovely selection of tea - I like the personal touch of this independent business - my partner was delighted too, and we can’t wait to see what we get next month
I grew up in Beijing and have a visceral memory of everybody walking around with a thermos full of jasmine tea that they topped up with hot water throughout the day. So this was a nostalgic tea; but what was most fun was adding a tablespoon of honey to a large cold brew bottle of the stuff and leaving it to steep in the fridge. The result was a surprisingly authentic “bubble tea” experience — all the flavour with none of the tannins. Outstanding.
This is a delightful and fragrantly comforting tea. I've bought it now regularly and it is my favourite cuppa
Buy it without disappointment.
This is fast becoming one of my favourites. A lovely, rounded flavour, with a hint of smokiness. I add a dash of milk out of habit, but it's not necessary.
Ashmolean × Team Tea
As an Oxfordshire brand, partnering with one of the world's great museums has been a genuine honour. Since 2021, I've created two exclusive teas and a gift set for the Ashmolean, each drawing on objects from the collection. The gift set goes further still: six teas, each paired with an object and the story behind it. Because just as a museum piece comes alive when you hear its story, tea becomes more than a drink once you understand its context. The Ashmolean range is made to inspire a little curiosity, one cup at a time, and every purchase supports the Museum.
Team Tea's Club
Each month, I hand-pick three loose-leaf teas for you to brew and enjoy. Some will be familiar classics done properly; others will be single-estate teas you might never have thought to try. All chosen to suit the season, and to take you somewhere new without leaving the kitchen. Each one comes in a sustainable slide tin that keeps the leaf fresh, and fits rather neatly in a handbag.
Treading lightly
I try to run Team Tea gently: tea sourced ethically, leftover leaf on the compost, and behind the scenes, solar, ground-source heat, and a fair bit more I won't bore you with here. Here's the honest version, including the bits still on my to-do list.
A gift for the tea lover in your life?
The right teapot or strainer or the job
While a dash of milk in a cuppa remains a firm British habit, trying some teas black can be a revelation. You’ll discover subtle notes of fruit, flowers, spice or chocolate that would otherwise be hidden. These ten teas demonstrate just how rewarding it can be to enjoy black tea black – pure, nuanced and full of character.