Loose-Leaf Tea Starter Pack

New to the tea world? There’s a lot to consider! What kinds of tea will you gravitate toward? What’s the difference between the types of tea? What do you need to make it? Can you add sugar? Do you need to add sugar? How much tea do you use? Do you need a special mug or teapot? The questions are endless, and we know how overwhelming the process of switching to tea can seem, so we’re here to help!

The Basics of Tea Types

Our collection of loose-leaf tea features more than 250 flavors annually. From sweet summer favorites perfect for icing to warm winter blends with familiar flavors, there’s something for everyone. Finding your favorite tea is a journey of exploration through the many varieties, each with their own distinct flavor profile and personality. Here’s a quick guide to get you started on the many varieties of tea we feature:

Black Tea: What most Americans think of when they think of tea! Typically bold in flavor with a more astringent aftertaste, this variety of tea has the highest level of caffeine. It makes for a wonderful sweet tea base, a great classic latte, or a comforting cup on a cold winter day. You can learn more about Black Tea with our Basics of Black Tea!

Green Tea: A popular favorite for many, green tea is usually significantly lighter in flavor than its black tea counterparts. Often cited for its health benefits, like boosting your metabolism, green tea offers a wide variety of flavor options. From grassy brews like matcha to light and honey-sweet options like White Monkey King, there’s plenty of green to choose from.

Oolong Tea: Smooth, mellow, and lightly sweet, oolong teas are partially oxidized, putting them squarely between black and green teas. While often slightly more expensive, oolongs re-steep well, which means you can reuse your tea leaves a second (sometimes even a third or fourth) time without compromising the flavor!

White Tea: The delicate first buds of the tea plant offer a light, sweet, floral flavor with minimal caffeine. White tea is partially named for the light color of its brew, and since it is made from early-season plants, often grown in higher altitudes, it can be more expensive.

Chai: Traditionally, a blend of black tea and spices such as black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cardamom, and star anise. Chai brews are quickly becoming popular in the United States, especially in their latte form mixed with a bit of milk and sugar, and can actually be made with any tea base, including rooibos, Pu-erh, or white. Learn more about Chai with our Basics of Chai!

Herbals: Not made from the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) itself, herbal blends are any mix of leaves, fruits, bark, roots, flowers, or spices. That means that they’re often fruity, flavorful, and bold! Many of our wellness collection blends lean heavily into the herbal world, and you can learn more about these brews with The Basics of Herbals.

Rooibos: Technically a type of herbal tea, rooibos is a red bush grown only in South Africa. Usually much earthier in flavor than other types, rooibos provides a bold base with no caffeine! Also often highly regarded for its wealth of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, rooibos is a great addition for those looking for something a bit different!

Specialty Blends: The tea world doesn’t stop there! Specialty types like mate and Guayusa, which originate in South America, provide herbal flavor with plenty of caffeine. Like Yaupon, which is the only caffeinated plant native to North America, these types of tea originate with the holly plant, which provides an earthier essence to the brew.

Heating Your Water

Heating your water to the designated temperature can make or break your tea, so it’s incredibly important to have the right tools. Whether you’re heating your water with a traditional kettle, an electric kettle, or in a pot on the stove, there’s not really any wrong way to do it. Here are a few tips & tricks about heating water for your tea:

1. Check the temperature beforehand. Nothing is worse than heating your water to a rolling boil of 212 degrees and then realizing you needed it to be 180. Double-check the temperature your tea needs before heating, because every tea is different!
2. Make sure your temperature is evenly distributed. Kettles are designed to do this on their own, but if you’re heating in the microwave, make sure to give it a good stir before testing the temperature to verify that the heat is consistent.
3. If you don’t have a thermometer, use our handy guide to knowing your water temperature by sight! It’s your one-stop shop for learning how to gauge it without any extra tools. You can also check out our reference TikTok here!

Measuring Your Tea

Measuring your tea is easy! Regardless of what tea you’re brewing, we recommend 1 teaspoon for every 8-ounces of water. That’s 1tsp per cup. If you want a more flavorful brew, you can add additional leaves or “round” your teaspoon to include extra flavor. If it’s too strong, take a bit away! Every ounce of tea makes, on average, 6-8 cups of brewed tea, and our Teaser packages make about 24-ounces of brewed tea each. Still unsure of how much to use? Grab one of our Perfect Cup Scoops to make life extra easy!

Steeping Your Tea

Brewing your tea depends on your tea. Every blend has a different steep time, and while most black and green teas steep for 3 minutes and many herbals steep for 4 or 5, it really can depend on what’s included in the cup. Always double-check to verify how long you’re steeping your tea, and make sure to set a timer so you don’t let it sit too long!

As far as actual brewing methods go, you have a wealth of options. If you stop into one of our store locations, you’ll find a wealth of specialty mugs and teapots complete with an infuser to make the process easy, but you don’t necessarily need anything fancy to make a great cup. Tea filter bags, basket infusers, and charm infusers all work exceptionally well for making a classic cup, and many can easily fit in any mug you might have at home. If you’d like something a little more high-end, we also love out Magic Tea Infusers, which make the brewing process quick and easy!

Enhancing Your Tea

There are so many ways you can enhance your favorite cup of tea, from milks to sugars, and a wealth of other flavors. While here at Fava our favorite upgrade is the addition of a bit of Natural Rock Sugar, did you know that you can also boost any blend with a scoop of matcha? Just brew your tea and then add in a teaspoon of your favorite Matcha flavor for a whole new experience! Some of our favorite combinations include Blue Hawaiian Chiller with Raspberry Matcha, Roasted Almond Herbal with Vanilla Matcha, and Lemon Myrtle with Blueberry Matcha!

What about Icing?

Making an iced tea has never been easier, because all you really need to make the perfect cup is ice! When brewing, we recommend using the concentrate method for a bolder flavor. To brew, use two teaspoons of loose leaf tea and brew in 8-ounces of water for the designated time. Simply pour the concentrate over ice after, give it a good shake or stir, and enjoy! Any brew can be made hot or iced, so the options here are limitless, and you truthfully need no extra equipment to enjoy your favorite blends this way. For more information, check out our Basics of Iced Tea Guide!