What are Pure Teas?

August 24, 2022

In the tea industry when you hear the word pure teas, it is referring to teas that come from a single estate, meaning, a single point of origin. Pure teas allow you to experience the natural and nuanced flavors unique to the estate from which it came. The soil, surrounding vegetation, climate, cultivating, processing, and harvesting conditions of the estate contribute to the subtle and sometimes pronounced variations in flavor.

In contrast, blended teas are a combination of teas, flowers, herbs and/or spices that come from various sources. These blends of various ingredients are inherently not any better or worse than pure teas, it is simply about having options. Again, pure teas let you experience all of the pure flavors of that estate’s tea while blended teas, like a good cocktail, are simply a combination of complimentary flavors that create a different experience.

Pure teas are generally enjoyed by tea connoisseurs who savor the subtle and nuanced flavors. It is common practice for tea enthusiasts to get to know the estate from which they enjoy their tea creating for themselves a deeper understanding of all of the various flavors associated with each. It’s quite the niche and not generally a practice of the masses. However, single-estate teas need not only be enjoyed by the tea aficionado, they can be enjoyed by the everyday tea drinker like most of us.

In fact, tea is not the only category with such distinctions. A similar designation of purity is found in other food and beverage categories as well, including, single-origin coffee, single-malt Scotch whiskey, and even single-source foods. These specific foods and drinks are also generally enjoyed by the connoisseurs of their category. For the world of tea, we simply call them single-estate teas or pure teas and we believe that everyone can enjoy the unadulterated flavors of these teas along with their usual tea blends.