FAQ for your brew

Our natural flavoring is an extract or oil taken directly from the same fruits that are present in our tea. All of our natural flavors and oils comply with all USDA and EU regulations. These are completely plant-derived and extracted from ingredients present in that particular blend.

If you are concerned about a specific tea blend's natural flavoring due to allergies, please email customerservice@tiestatea.com.

Our teas go through at least three different levels of testing before they are sold to you. Before the blending process, all tea ingredients are tested by the European Commission for Health and Consumer Protection for any harmful components. After blending the ingredients together, our tea blends go through another series of tests to examine pesticide content and harmful chemicals to ensure that any trace amounts of pesticides, if any, are well below the regulations set by the USDA and EU. Before packaging the teas for distribution, our teas go through one final test to ensure the safety and quality of the finished product.

The tea leaf itself contains no sugar whatsoever and we do not add individual sugar particles to any of our teas. For blends that contain dried or dehydrated fruits, cane sugar is sometimes added at origin to the fruit pieces to conserve the fruit's taste and freshness. This addition will always be clearly marked on the front of our packaging or listed clearly on the product description online. Those particular teas may contain trace amounts of sugar after brewing, but never more than 2-3 grams per cup.

Tiesta Tea strives to source the highest quality teas and ingredients possible while maintaining an affordable price to you, the customer. We are currently in the process of obtaining a USDA organic certification as we do use organic ingredients in some of our blends, but cannot market them as such without the certification.

Our teas are 100% gluten free. No wheat (or wheat derivatives), rye, barley, triticale, malt, yeast, or wheat starch was used in the blending of your teas. There are certain facilities that we manufacture products in that may not be certified as gluten-free, so please proceed with caution if you have any gluten sensitivities or allergies.

We sort our teas into four different categories based on caffeine content: high, medium, low & none. With any loose leaf tea, the caffeine content will vary based on the origin of the tea, weather conditions, processing techniques and the amount of tea you use for brewing. Our black teas (75-100 mg) typically contain the caffeine content of ½ of a cup of coffee. Our green teas (35-50 mg) typically contain the caffeine content of ¼ of a cup of coffee and our white teas (15-25 mg) typically contain the caffeine content of about ⅛ of a cup of coffee.

All of our teas are vegan and dairy free except for those that contain chocolate, chocolate chunks, chocolate shavings, chocolate shells or yogurt pieces. If you are looking to avoid these ingredients, be sure to check out the ingredient list on the front of each blend for further clarification.

As a general rule, it is best to speak to your healthcare provider before introducing any new foods, herbs or beverages into your diet when pregnant or breastfeeding.

We abide by a refined food safety process and procedure to prevent any potential allergen cross-contamination. The eight major food allergens identified by the FDA are milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat. We do have select tea blends that contain trace amounts of milk, eggs, tree nuts and soy, so please refer to the ingredient list on the packaging or the product description before consumption.

Our products are not currently kosher certified.

The reuse of tea leaves depends on the type of tea you are brewing. Below is a breakdown of our recommendations:
Black tea: 1 brew
Green tea: 1-4 brews
Oolong tea: 1-4 brews
White tea: 1-4 brews
Herbal tea: 1 brew

We do not recommend letting tea leaves sit for more than 4 hours after the most recent brew to limit bacteria growth from the moisture.

While we don't recommend eating the tea straight you most certainly won't get sick from it, we have several customers emailing us saying that they love to eat the almonds in Nutty Almond Cream or the berry bits in Fireberry. Some like to eat them after they've been brewed others before hand, it's up to you. Should be totally safe either way.

The difference is Cold Brew Tea is brewed in cold water without adding ice. Cold Brew Tea is brewed with the same amount of water to loose leaf tea ratio as hot tea because adding ice won't dilute the flavor of the tea. Cold Brew tea is also known for having a smoother taste and tends to be less bitter than iced tea.

However, Iced Tea refers to when you brew up loose leaf tea in hot water, and then pour your hot tea over ice once it's done steeping. Iced Tea is brewed with double the amount of loose leaf tea to water because when you pour the hot, brewed tea over ice, the ice will dilute the tea to the correct strength. 

We recommend taking your favorite blend, doubling the amount of loose leaf tea to water ratio that you would normally use for hot tea. Example: for 8oz of water, use 3 teaspoons of tea instead of 1.5. Steep the tea like you normally would and then drain the hot tea in a cup filled with ice. We recommend doubling the amount of tea used when brewing, because as hot tea is poured over the ice, the ice will melt and dilute your tea. Adding double the amount of loose leaf tea to water ratio will ensure you get the full flavors of your favorite blend. Increasing the steeping time for an iced tea will also help bring out those flavors. The strongest cups of iced tea will have a higher ratio of tea to water.

Try out one of our Dry Flight Samplers to try a variety of our tea blends!

Oops! We apologize that your tea mail was sent missing an item! Please email customerservice@tiestatea.com with your order number & item missing and we will help straighten this out right away.

As much as we would love to send free samples to everyone, we simply get too many requests to do so. If we did that for everyone that asked, we wouldn't be able to keep the lights on! And working in the dark is hard.

Our goal is to have every order placed on our website shipped out to you within 24 - 72 hours. Orders placed before 2pm CST Monday - Friday ship out the same day.

Since your tea is coming to you from Chicago, shipping time may vary based on where you live. We ship your tea via USPS and typically the ship time ranges from 3-4 days.

Click here to view a map of transit times on our Shipping & Returns Policy page. 

We most certainly do! If you are interested in purchasing some tea to be shipped internationally, simply enter your address at checkout and select which shipping method you would prefer. US & Canada are the only countries we currently offer flat rate shipping. To find out your shipping rate, enter in your address at checkout and select your carrier. Click here to check out our Shipping & Returns Policy page for more shipping information. 

We keep things simple by charging a flat rate of $4.99 for standard 3-5 day shipping for orders under $50 via USPS, and shipping is FREE on most orders over $50 within the US. In a rush? We offer a flat rate of $8.99 for 2 Day shipping and our Next Day rates are calculated based on weight, size and distance. For all other orders/countries shipping will be calculated for your at check out. For more information on shipping, click here  to visit our Shipping & Returns Policy page. 

Sorry for the technical hiccup! Please contact customerservice@tiestatea.com and we will help fix the glitch.

Want to make a change? No problem! Simply follow these steps: 

1) Log into your account on our website

2) Click the "My Account" button located in the top right corner of your screen (look for the person icon)

3) Select the "Manage Subscription" section on the left side of your screen

4) From here, you're all set to edit away

First things first, make sure you are logged into your account. Once you're logged in, you can make any changes to your account details by clicking on "My Account" in the top righthand corner of your screen (look for the person icon). 

We guarantee that you will love our loose leaf tea! If you don't love our loose leaf tea, it's on us. If you aren't 100% satisfied with your order, please contact us within 30 days of your delivery date. We would be more than happy to offer store credit to help you find a tea that you love. In addition, we will always accept returns for unopened items still in the original packaging within 30 days of purchase. We are not able to accept returns on sample-size products and we will not be able to accept returns on opened variety packs, sampler flights, gift boxes or used products. If you received a damaged item, if you are missing an item or if you got an incorrect item, contact us immediately and we will take care of you. If you have any other questions or concersn regarding our return policy, please feel free to reach out our Customer Service team (customerservice@tiestatea.com).

Once you’re cart is filled with the goods, there’s only one thing left to do. Checkout. To access the checkout screen, click on the handbag at the top right corner of the screen. This will bring out a side bar for you to review all of the items items in your cart, if you'd like to add more items click anywhere on the main website. This will remove the sidebar and you can shop till you drop. If you’re content with the items in your cart. If you are paying by debit/credit card, go ahead and click the "proceed to checkout" button. If you are paying another way, there are options below that button you can select. Once you let us know the method of payment then it will whisk you away to the checkout page. Here you will find fields to enter your billing and mailing address, as well as your credit card information as well as pick your shipping option. On the side of the page is also where you can enter any coupon codes you might have. Just copy and paste it in the "Gift Card or Discount Code" box, and hit apply!  Once everything is entered, click on the 'Place Order' button to finalize your order. We’ll shoot you an email confirming that your order has been submitted. We’re pumped for you to get your tea too, so we’ll get to your order as fast as we can. Please allow 1-3 business days for your order to ship your way. Then, enjoy your tea!

So sorry for any confusion! Some of our teas are a little bit heavier than others, so they might not look like they have the correct amount or fill the tin all the way to the top. Our more fruit heavy teas like Fruity Paradise or Maui Mango have larger fruit pieces that weigh a little bit more than pieces in a tea like  Passion Berry Jolt or Lavender Chamomile. For example 6oz of Maui Mango might not look as full or fill the tin completely compared to 6oz of Passion Berry Jolt. We promise that there is the amount of tea listed on the front.

We're on a mission to make tea beverages with premium ingredients that taste good and do good. Tiesta Tea has been the fastest growing tea company in the United States since 2014 (just ask Nielsen!), and we are currently distributed in over 8,000 stores nationwide. We were founded in 2010 by two college entrepreneurs from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and the University of Illinois - Chicago. Today we've grown into a strong team driven by passion and grit. We work hard and have a good time doing it.

We're here to bring you a premium loose leaf tea experience full of flavor and health benefits. We create tea blends that naturally energize, relax, slenderize, boost immunity & help you stay looking and feeling young for eternity.

We believe in using our resources to have a direct social impact on our communities. That's why we've created the Tiesta Tea Foundation. Every time you purchase Tiesta Tea, a portion goes back to improve our world. 

ENERGIZER: Our Energizer Blends contain black and maté teas, which help you deal with fatigue by giving you an added mental and physical boost.

SLENDERIZER: Our Slenderizer Blends contain green and oolong teas that suppress your appetite and boost your metabolism, helping you maintain a healthy weight.

ETERNITY: Our Eternity blends contain herbal, white and green with an abundance of superfruits for an antioxidant boost.

IMMUNITY: Our Immunity Blends contain rooibos and herbal teas, which help you recover by fueling your body with a variety of vitamins and nutrients.

RELAXER: Our Relaxer Blends contain herbal and rooibos teas with various ingredients that produce relaxing effects for both your body and mind. 

Our tea filters are made from Manilla hemp, a fast growing and easily degradable natural fiber, and celluose, both of wich are procured from sustainable forestry. The  paper layers are sealed with synthetic sealing fibers, forgoing the need for an adhesive. Our tea filters are not bleached or undergo any other chemical treatment.

Absolutely! For our tins, just pop out the plastic windows on the tin as well as the plastic ring on the inside of the lid and toss those in the trash. Now your tin is ready to be recycled! For our sample, pouch and bulk tea bags, after you are done scooping all of the tea leaf goodness out of them, they are good to go in the recycle bin! 

Our tea is sourced from all over the world! For example, our black tea comes from India, our rooibos tea comes from South Africa and our mango pieces come from Thailand! It all depends on which tea you’re drinking. If you would like to know the details of a specific tea’s origins, shoot us an email at customerservice@tiestatea.com.

Yes! All of our mugs are microwave and dishwasher safe. Our Tiesta Tea Brewmasters are made from medical grade plastic that is BPA free and dishwasher and microwave safe.

Our Slenderizer tea function is only made up of green tea blends. Green tea naturally suppresses appetite and provides a metabolism boost! We do not add any magical chemicals to our teas that help with weight loss, this is just naturally what green tea does for you.

If your favorite blend is not currently up on our website one of two things happened: it might be a seasonal blend, and if this is the case, don’t worry! It will be back when its season rolls around again. Or, your missing blend may have been discontinued. Every year we evaluate our teas and take into account feedback from our customers and employees about how their favorite blends and new flavor trends. When we find awesome new tea blends that we want to bring to our customers, it means we have to say goodbye to old friends to make room for the new. If you want to double check if your favorite tea was discontinued or not, shoot us an email at customerservice@tiestatea.com.

You sure did! For each dollar you spend on our online store, you earn 1 loyalty leaf. Those add up and can be redeemed for some pretty sweet deals. To sign up for the rewards program, simply create and account and then look for the blue rewards program button in the bottom lefthand corner of your screen. 

Each tea blend will yield a different amount of servings per container, but we have the following handy guide to help you find the right container to best fit your brewing needs: Sample Size: 8-12 cups
Pouch Size: 15-30 cups
Tin Size: 30-50 cups
Bulk Bag size: 140-200 cups

The best way to clean a Brewmaster is to take it apart for hand-washing or dishwasher cleaning.

Step 1: Take off the lid
Step 2: Pull the inside filter out of the Brewmaster (you may have to tug hard the first time)
Step 3: Detach bottom orange disk from the Brewmaster by pulling it out. (Make sure when you replace this after washing that the rubber bulb and be sure that the rubber circle is not pinched when it is back in place. If the rubber circle is pinched, it will not create a seal and your brewmaster will leak.)

Step 4: Clean all pieces by hand-washing or placing in the dishwasher. 

To put back together, push the bottom disk back into the body of the brewmaster, place the filter into the Brewmaster and snap the lid back on. For a visual guide, please reach out to our Customer Service Specialists.

Our tea filters are make it easy to brew on the go with 3 simple steps: 

Step 1: Fill your tea filter with your favorite loose leaf tea. We recommend 1.5tsp for every 8oz of water

Step 2: Fold the top of the filter over - your filter will seal itself when it gets wet

Step 3: Place your filter in your mug of hot water and let the brewing commence!

You can use your Takeya Flash Chill Iced Tea Maker to make tea in three different methods:  

 Method 1: Flash Chill with Hot Brewed Loose Leaf Tea and Ice

1) Fill the built-in infuser with 4 tablespoons* (or 20 grams) of loose leaf tea

2) Fill with 5.5 cups (or 44oz) of water to the desired heat (depending on tea type**)

3) Secure infuser into the lid and brew the tea for the recommended time***

4) When brewing is complete, detach the lid, remove infuser from the lid and place into infuser holder - add sweetener if desired

5) Once the infuser is removed, fill the rest of the pitcher with ice, seal airtight and shake it for 30-60 seconds to chill.

Tea is ready to serve! 

Method 2: Cold Brewed Loose Leaf Tea

1) Fill the built-in infuser with 4 tablespoons* (or 20 grams) of loose leaf tea

2) Fill Iced Tea Maker 3/4 (or 48oz) full of cold, filtered water - add sweetener if desired

3) Secure infuser into the lid and brew in the refrigerator for 2 hours

4) When brewing is complete, detach the lid, remove infuser from the lid and place infuser into infuser holder

Tea is ready to serve! 

Method 3: Cold Brew Loose Tea Packet

1) Remove the inner infuser from the Iced Tea Maker

2) Add one cold brew tea packet to Takeya Flash Chill Iced Tea Maker.  

3) Fill with 64oz of cold, filtered water 

4) Let it steep in the fridge for 2 hours. 

Tea is ready to serve! 

*For a stronger flavor add more tea, for a lighter flavor add less tea

 **Recommended Brewing Temperatures:

herbal/rooibos/fruit tea - 212 degrees (equivalent to boiling water)

black tea - 195 degrees (add one ice cube to lower temp from 16oz of boiling water)

green/white tea - 175 degrees (add two ice cubes to lower temp from 16oz of boiling water)

 ***Recommended Brewing Times: 

herbal/rooibos/fruit tea - 5-7 minutes

black tea - 3-5 minutes

green/white tea - 2-4 minutes

Note: Less time will yield lighter tasting tea, longer time will yield stronger tasting tea

If you want to work in a fast-paced environment where every day is different, have a can-do attitude and a passion for innovation, you have come to the right place. We are always looking for those with incredible passion and energy to join our team and Live Loose with us! If you think you would make a good addition to our company, check out our careers page to read about any opportunities available and apply for the position you’re interested in!

Please email customerservice@tiestatea.com for all partnership opportunities, PR questions and media requests.

Tiesta Tea believes that giving back is one of the most important things a successful company can and should do. After all, we would never be where we are today without a little help from our friends.

Spread The Warmth: Everyone has love in their heart. We're using the love of many hearts to bring warmth and comfort to people in Chicago. We’re asking our community, friends, and family to share a moment of joy and warmth with those less fortunate. Using our resources, we’ll pass out cups of hot tea and warmth kits to those who find themselves sleeping on the cold city streets. Sign up to volunteer, donate and learn more about next year's Spread The Warmth event at tiestatea.com/spread-the-warmth.

ExtraSpecialTeas: EST is a community inspired nonprofit tea house located in Great Barrington, MA, employing people with ExtraSpecialNeeds seeking their purpose & where the future belongs to everyone belonging. Visit extraspecialteas.org or visit our Loose Change page for more information on how we create loose change with every online order to give back to EST.

We believe that giving back to the community is one of the most important things a successful company can do. After all, we would never be where we are today without a little help from our friends. All charitable donation requests should go to our Customer Service Guru's, (customerservice@tiestatea.com) who will forward it to our teammates who will then assess if our business and your charity are a good fit together.

We would love to partner up! The best way to let us know you are interested is to head to our wholesale page. All you have to do is fill out the form, and someone from our team will reach out with the next steps.