Let’s talk about tea companies that sell loose leaf tea samples.
So, you are interested in exploring loose leaf tea. Perhaps you are even interested in brewing with a gongfu cha approach. But, you aren’t sure where to get the tea or how to start looking.
I have some suggestions!
What about the Loose Leaf Tea?
If you are already a fan of a tea or company that sells sachets and loose leaf, that’s an easy switch. But, what if you aren’t? Or, what if you would like to explore different kinds of loose leaf tea suitable for gongfu cha? Buying a big bag of tea when you aren’t sure if you are going to enjoy it can be discouraging.
I recommend buying loose leaf tea samples or samplers to explore what teas speak to you. If the samples only come with one serving of tea per type, and it’s affordable, I suggest buying two samplers so you get two servings of each tea. I find having a tea more than once really helps me understand it and decide how I feel about it.
You can buy sampler kits of certain types of tea (green, oolong, and so on) or from certain locations (China, Taiwan, etc.). Alternatively, some tea places sell individual tea samples. If you have a tea shop or tea room near you that sells loose leaf tea, that’s a great place to start. You could also do an internet search for loose leaf tea samples.
Companies That Sell Tea Samples
In case you don’t know where to begin, or would like some recommendations, here are a handful of places that I suggest. (This post is not sponsored!)
Below I highlight four tea companies that sell tea samples and from which I’ve personally bought tea. Adagio, The Steeping Room, and Tea Vivre all carry a wide range of loose leaf teas. Soocha Tea specializes in Korean tea.
Adagio
Adagio has samples on their main webpage and their Master’s Tea division site. I’ve purchased a number of teas from them over the years. More recently, I bought my daughter a green tea sampler from them. She really enjoyed how convenient it was and the range of teas included.
On the Adagio website, many teas have sample sizes available to purchase. You can also pick and choose which teas to sample and buy them that way; however, at least at Adagio, that’s seems to be more expensive than buying a pre-made sampler assortment. (I say “seems” because I didn’t analyze every sample option.)
My understanding is that Adagio has U.S. and U.K. shipping locations.
The Steeping Room
The Steeping Room (TSR), another company from which I’ve bought lots of good tea over the years, also carries loose leaf sampler boxes and sells some teas in smaller bags (like the bag in the photo on the right in photo with TSR teas) to make them easier to try.
TSR is located in Texas (USA).
Tea Vivre
I’ve purchased tea a number of times from Tea Vivre, even a tea sampler or two. I thoroughly enjoyed them.
I believe Tea Vivre has its headquarters in Hong Kong. Shipping has been reasonably quick to the U.S.A. in my experience.
Soocha Tea
Finally, you might like to try a more specialized tea company. You can purchase a sampler, or “starter kit,” of some delicious Korean teas from Soocha Tea in Canada. Their starter kit (not shown in my photo) includes 10g each of two green teas (Sejak and Woojeon) and a black tea (Balhyo Cha). This sampler allows brewing a number of cups of each type of tea, which I deeply appreciate. Full disclosure: I’ve bought tea, teaware, and accessories from Soocha Tea for a number of years. I’ve also collaborated with this wonderful company on several giveaways.
Closing Thoughts
This is a non-exhaustive list, of course. I also enjoy tea from a number of companies that don’t sell tea samples at all.
I hope this helps you with a few ideas on where you might buy loose leaf tea samples.