How To Buy Premium Tea

A lot of changes in the premium tea market have occurred over the last decade. The most obvious is the influx and expansion of premium tea into many new products, main stream grocery stores and specially dedicated tea shops. With this growth comes a flood of new vendors, wholesalers, importers, packers, blenders, etc. from which the choices of tea are expanding in many new and exciting directions.

The challenge for buyers (with all these new choices) is making sure that they are buying the right product for their needs at an appropriate price. Like anything, tea can be bought knowledgeably or blindly and general rules like “you get what you pay for” are helpful but you can just as easily pay a high price for an inferior, old or even false tea. As many know, there is only about 10 million kilos of Darjeeling produced every year but more than 30 million kilos sold annually. With the disbandment of the US Tea Board 1995 and the disintegration of the government controlled quality rating system in China (to name just a few examples of loss of independent quality control bodies), it is more critical than ever for the tea buyer to be armed and knowledgeable about the intricacies of evaluating, choosing and buying tea.

Obviously, working with only established and very reputable vendors of premium tea can make the job infinitely easier. We at The G.S. Haly Co. have put well over a century into creating a reputation for quality, integrity and trust that is proven and saluted in the premium tea industry.

Consequently, we would like to offer some general guidelines, information and tools that will help you grow your capabilities, skills and experience for selecting and evaluating premium specialty tea so you can buy with greater confidence. Don’t just take our word; tea is an adventure that changes with each new season and flushing.

What is Premium Tea?
Firstly anything that is not from the Camellia sinensis sinensis or Camellia sinensis assamica plant is not “Tea”. If is not from the tea plant then it is an herbal, tisane, etc. Secondly, premium teas tend to be loose leaf, but not exclusively. Thirdly, all premium teas have various and clear attributes (see below) that are more origin specific with little to no blending. Finally please note that we use the term “premium” and not “specialty”. As the breadth and scope of teas on the shelves that have “specialty” on their packaging is vast and basically up to the seller’s discretion solely to determine, we use the term “premium” to refer to high or highest quality teas.

How are Premium Teas Differentiated?
All Premium Teas are differentiated by the following:

1. Country, region and estate of origin
2. Different ages of the leaf and seasons of plucking
3. Differences in size of leaf and ratio of leaf to stem (typically premium teas have very little stem)
4. Different elevations at which the teas are grown
5. Varying climatic conditions
6. Differences in soil
7. Different methods of manufacture, whereby the leaves are processed into green, black, oolong, white or brick types
8. Sorting by sifting and final preparation for sale either unmixed or, as is a more general practice, in a blended mixture of various sizes and qualities of made tea.
9. Grading or sorting of leaf sizes
10. Documentation of Special Processes, Origin or Certifications (Kosher, Organic, Fair Trade, etc.)
11. Single Origin/Estate Unblended or Blended (note: estates can and sometimes make blends)
12. Human sensory evaluation

Authenticity
Buying what the label says is a question of accuracy at every level that starts with the grower to processor/producer, exporter, importer, wholesaler and finally the retailer. Anywhere from the beginning to any step along the way inaccuracies (intended or not) can and do occur. Take for instance what is most easily visible: the information on the packaged consumer product. The name of origin is allowed only if 51% of the tea contained in it is in fact from district or country named. However not all producers are as consistent in their labeling to this standard from the US Food, Drug & Cosmetics Act. Some quality tea is “stretched” with less expensive or inferior teas.

Quality
The use of the term “specialty” has now become almost ubiquitous with any company selling tea. Much of the problem is based on two points: the knowledge of consumers is still low enough and common agreed upon industry standards are still vague enough for the marketing of this term to work.

A tea lover’s single biggest problem is finding a tea and making sure that it isn’t stale. No matter what a vendor or brand might or might not say, teas do have a limited life-span. Whites and most Greens are no more than 6 to 9 months, Pouchongs and Oolongs up to 6 to 10 months year and Black teas rang from 12 to 16, especially so if vacuum sealed. This time frame is for loose leaf tea which holds longer than bagged broken leaf tea. Also teas with a very tight roll like Gun Powder or some Oolongs hold better and a bit longer. Only Pu-erh teas are designed to age and improve over time if stored properly. Do know that top-most quality teas can “fall off” the quickest (since they usually have very fine and nuanced attributes those can fade quickly and thus make the tea less distinct).

Price vs. Quality
The American Tea Buyer should clear a few preconceived notions or myths on specialty tea first to better create a good foundation for judging price/quality.

1. MYTH: Premium Tea Should Be Imported through London - London is no longer the center of the tea buying/selling world. A few years ago, the last London tea auction was held and it was largely ceremonial for it was the end of what had been a more than 300 year tradition. The non-US serious international tea players in quality tea buying, as far as countries go, are Germany (which actually has a tea culture that is older than England’s) and Japan. They typically dominate and pre-buy many regional and estate teas around the world of historically proven quality so the tea never actually comes to open market. And then there are the individual players who through long relationships and decades or more time in the business have developed access to growers, producers and auctions around the world. The lesson here is that “imported from England” is not better, just an extra cost. You may be best served to work with importers in the US who source direct when possible as it could mean potentially less hands the tea had to move through so the tea is likely fresher and potential cheaper.
   
   
2. MYTH: Tea in Tea Bags is Best - When even fine tea is put into bags it can pick up the smell and taste of the filter packaging, it will go stale quicker and will possibly have already extinguished a good portion of its life from the additional time spent in process going from garden to sitting on the shelf. The lesson here is look for or request flushing dates for your teas if you purchase them pre-bagged.
   
   
3. MYTH: Premium Tea is Too Expensive - Tea is the best luxury value on the market. A $100 a pound tea works out to be only $.50 a cup. You can’t even think of going to the vending machine for that little amount of money. The lesson here is frame your conversation and educate you customers accordingly. In food service tea is one of the highest profit margin items. Even if you ask a customer to double or triple their budget for tea, it still comes out to $.05 - $.20 a serving. For example, if they serve gourmet premium teas, they can put in on the menu as such and charge not only a higher price but move the drink away from the “free refills” commodity it was.
   
   
4. MYTH: High Price = High Quality - Don’t be deceived as this is not always true. By developing your palate, increasing general knowledge from comparison shopping and implementing a consistent evaluation process, you can better understand how to know when high price does indeed equal high quality.

 

Buying Process Steps:

1. Understand and evaluate the tea vendor (ask for references, years in business, area of business served, etc.) and look at several vendors to compare. The more product categories or areas a vendor is involved with that is not specifically tea, the less deep their concentration for just specialty or premium tea may be.
   
   
2. Choose the teas you are interesting in by talking with your vendor (if they are able to consult with you versus just taking orders) to get advice and recommendations on teas to consider based on your needs and goals. There are often a range of prices for a particular type of tea (e.g. China Keemun) so be prepared to have some price point minimums and maximums to give your vendor. If you are trying to match a tea, send samples to your vendors so they can select what teas they offer that are most comparable.
   
   
3. Request samples of the tea for a particular invoice/chop/lot/case and more detail and documentation on the teas (See How are Specialty Teas Differentiated?).
   
   
4. Cup all tea samples for a given purchase (if you are trying to find the right self-drinking single estate Assam then cup the samples from all the vendors you are looking at the same time to best compare) and make notations (See Evaluation Method). Repeat this process the following day to ensure accuracy.
   
   
5. Save all samples (even the ones you won’t use) to compare against the tea that you ordered on sample is indeed the tea that arrives.
   
   
6. Purchase your teas. And then upon arrival, immediately sample and cup teas while re-cupping original samples to compare.

Vendors as Advisors
Talk to your vendors. Some may not be able to offer much information or time to you, which may mean they may not be the right vendor for you or for the particular tea you are trying to buy. For vendors that can take time with you and have information, don’t hesitate to ask questions of all types and ask if they have any additional information on their teas (certifications, cupping recommendations, resell information, marketing materials that come from the estates, etc.).

Looking Around (learn from what others are doing)
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so look at those who are doing something you admire or aspire to do and see what you can learn first and foremost. This does not mean copy, it simply means learn and be inspired. Your own voice will shine through once having given yourself a foundation from which to reach out.

Steeping & Evaluation Method - How to steep and taste teas for comparison or purchase.