When you buy tea online, you get a selection from around the world, including top-producing regions like India, China, Sri Lanka and Japan. Grocery stores depend on high turnaround, which means they only stock popular flavors like English Breakfast or Earl Grey. Mail order companies have large inventories, and they offer premium-grade loose leaves for a fresher taste and more intense flavor.


If you buy tea online, you can try several different varieties, including white, green, black and herbal. You can buy a high-caffeine variety like Lapsang Souchong for a morning burst of energy or jasmine-infused green brew to wind down with at the end of a long day. Online retailers usually offer small portions, starting at just two ounces of loose leaves, so you can explore your preference in caffeine levels and taste.

pu erh tea Pu-erh tea (also commonly known as 'puer,' 'pu'er,' 'po lei' and 'bolay' tea, and known as 'dark tea' or 'black tea' in China) is a semi-rare type of tea that is made in Yunnan, China. In the West, pu-erh tea is known for its health benefits, but there are many misconceptions about pu-erh's flavor, processing and other attributes. Read on to learn more about this mysterious and oft misunderstood tea. Pu-erh Tea's Health Benefits In traditional Chinese herbalism, pu-erh tea is considered to open the meridians, 'warm the middle burner' (the spleen and stomach) and be beneficial to 'blood cleansing' and digestion. For these reasons, it is often consumed after heavy meals or drunk as a hangover cure / preventative. Some studies have shown that pu-erh may lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure and increase metabolism. Pu-erh is occasionally touted as a 'diet tea,' but like all teas, I don't recommend consuming it as a magical weight loss tool, but rather as an enjoyable part of a healthy diet.

oolong tea

One of the most popular types of tea in China, oolong tea may offer certain health benefits when sipped regularly. The tea undergoes only a small degree of fermentation during its processing, which gives oolong a flavor somewhat similar to black tea but more akin to green tea. Health claims for oolong tea's benefits include reduction of cholesterol levels, preservation of heart health, treatment of digestive disorders, strengthening of the immune system, and formation of strong bones. The production of oolong requires that the leaves be processed directly after picking. First the leaves are wilted in the sun for a short period of time. They are placed into baskets and shaken, which bruises the leaves. The juices in the leaves are now exposed to the air, which begins the process of oxidation. The leaves are then spread out to dry. After a period of time--less than 2 hours for Chinese oolongs, longer for Taiwanese oolongs, the tea is fired, which stops the fermentation process.

Black, green and oolong teas come from the plant Camellia sinensis. Before being roasted and dried, oolong tea leaves are bruised and left to oxidize, or turn brown from air exposure. They oxidize longer than green but shorter than black tea leaves.