Tea

Japanese green tea roasted over charcoal, which changes it completely — the grassy edge burns off and what's left is toasty, nutty, and almost caramel-sweet. The roasting also strips most of the caffeine, which is why it's the tea served with dinner and after.

Tastes like: roasted chestnut, caramel, toasted rice

Brew it: 1 tsp per 8 oz at 195°F, steep 30 to 60 seconds. Hojicha is forgiving — it won't turn bitter the way other green teas do if you leave it a little long.

Loose leaf, 3 oz. Naturally low in caffeine.

Green tea and spearmint, the way it's served across North Africa — poured from height into small glasses, usually sweet, always with company. Cooling and grassy at once, and one of the few teas that's genuinely as good iced as hot.

Tastes like: bright spearmint, toasted green tea, a clean sweet finish

Brew it: 1 tsp per 8 oz at 175°F, steep 3 minutes. Use cooler water than you would for black tea — boiling scorches the green leaf and turns it bitter. Traditionally taken with sugar.

Loose leaf, 3 oz.

Black tea scented with bergamot, the fragrant citrus grown along the Calabrian coast. The oil gives it that unmistakable perfumed lift over a brisk black tea base — floral and citrusy without being sweet.

Tastes like: bergamot, orange zest, malt

Brew it: 1 tsp per 8 oz at 205°F, steep 3 to 4 minutes. Push past 5 and the bergamot turns bitter. Excellent with a slice of lemon, or with milk if you prefer it London Fog style.

Loose leaf, 3 oz.

Hibiscus flower with mixed berries — tart, ruby red, and completely caffeine-free. The hibiscus does the heavy lifting: sharp and cranberry-like, with the berries rounding off the edges.

Tastes like: cranberry, raspberry, tart citrus

Brew it hot: 1 tsp per 8 oz at 212°F, steep 5 to 7 minutes. Herbals need boiling water and a long steep.

Or iced: Double the leaf, steep 10 minutes, pour over a full glass of ice. It's built for a Florida afternoon.

Loose leaf, 3 oz. Caffeine-free.

A caffeine-free herbal infusion built around sweet apple and warming spice — the flavor of cider off the stove, without the caffeine or the sugar. Comforting hot in winter, and surprisingly good poured over ice.

Tastes like: baked apple, cinnamon, warm clove

Brew it: 1 tsp per 8 oz at 212°F, steep 5 to 7 minutes. Herbal blends need boiling water and time to open up. A cinnamon stick and a spoon of honey turn it into dessert.

Loose leaf, 3 oz. Caffeine-free.

A black tea blend flavored with mango and scattered with marigold and calendula petals. Sweet and tropical up front, with the black tea base underneath giving it enough backbone to keep the fruit from taking over.

Tastes like: ripe mango, malt, soft floral sweetness

Brew it: 1 tsp per 8 oz, water just off the boil (205°F), steep 3 to 4 minutes. Push much past that and the black tea turns tannic and buries the mango.

Or iced: Double the leaf, steep 4 minutes, pour over a full glass of ice. It makes a better iced tea than most.

Loose leaf, 3 oz. Contains caffeine.

A caffeine-free herbal blend built around ripe peach, with sour cranberry cutting the sweetness and rose softening the finish. Fruity and aromatic without tipping into candy.

Tastes like: peach, tart cranberry, rose

Brew it hot: 1 tsp per 8 oz at 212°F, steep 5 to 7 minutes. Herbal blends need boiling water and a long steep to open up.

Or iced: Double the leaf, steep 10 minutes, pour over a full glass of ice. The cranberry keeps it refreshing rather than syrupy.

Loose leaf, 3 oz. Caffeine-free.

A brisk, full-bodied black tea blend built for the first cup of the day. Malty and robust with a clean finish, it stands up to milk and sugar without losing its backbone — the reason it has been the default morning tea for well over a century.

Tastes like: malt, toasted bread, a touch of honey

Brew it: 1 tsp per 8 oz, water just off the boil (205°F), steep 3–5 minutes. Steep longer for a stronger cup that takes cream well.

Loose leaf, 3 oz — roughly 35 to 40 cups.

Black tea layered with the warming spices of a traditional Indian chai — cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and clove. Sweet and peppery at once, with enough body to hold its own against milk.

Tastes like: cardamom, baking spice, warm ginger heat

Brew it two ways: Quick cup — 1 tsp per 8 oz at 205°F, steep 4 minutes. Or make it properly: simmer the leaves in equal parts milk and water for 5 minutes, sweeten to taste, and strain.

Loose leaf, 3 oz.

Green tea layered with jasmine blossoms over several nights, so the leaf takes the scent from the living flower rather than from an added oil. Delicate and floral, with the soft body of a good green tea underneath.

Tastes like: jasmine blossom, fresh grass, a light honey finish

Brew it: 1 tsp per 8 oz at 175°F, steep 2 to 3 minutes. Water that's too hot will flatten the florals — let the kettle sit a minute off boil.

Loose leaf, 3 oz.