xxxtea
Find your brew

The nine leaves, briefly

Leaves.

/lēvz/  ·  noun

The leaf — and what was done to it after picking.

Nine leaves cover almost everything worth pouring. What separates them isn't the plant — it's what was done to the leaf after picking. Choose one. Or let the matcher choose for you.

Match me to a leaf ↓ Skip to the nine

01

All real tea comes from one plant — Camellia sinensis. The name on the tin — black, green, oolong — is what processing did to it.

02

Tisanes — chamomile, peppermint, rooibos — aren't tea. They're herbs in hot water. We cover them anyway.

03

Brew math is the law. Every leaf wants a different temperature and a different number of minutes. Get it close enough.

The matcher

Three questions.
One leaf you'll keep.

We've narrowed nine leaves to whichever two answer your mood right now. Direct buy underneath. No quiz wall. No email gate. Pick and pour.

When
Vibe
Caffeine

Awaiting all three

The matcher is patient.

The nine, in order.

Strongest first, gentlest last. Plus one sampler at the end for the indecisive. Each card carries the pick we'd put in your cart tonight.

At a glance

The caffeine ladder.

Roughest estimates — actual mg depends on leaf cut, water, and how long you forgot the cup. Use it to decide what's safe after dinner.

  1. Black
    high
  2. Matcha
    high
  3. Chai
    high
  4. Green
    medium
  5. Oolong
    medium
  6. Pu-erh
    medium
  7. Samplers
    medium
  8. White
    low
  9. Herbal
    none
  10. Rooibos
    none

Plain English

The dumb questions, answered.

So what's the difference between black and green?

Same plant. Green is left alone after picking; black gets bruised and let oxidize until the leaf turns dark. Black is bolder, takes boiling water, and carries more caffeine. Green is grassier, hates boiling water, and lets you drink more of it.

Is herbal tea actually tea?

No. The word is wrong but it stuck. Chamomile, peppermint, rooibos, hibiscus — they're tisanes. Herbs, flowers, or roots brewed in hot water. None of them came from the tea plant. None of them carry caffeine.

Which one has the most caffeine?

Matcha — because you're drinking the leaf, not steeping it. Black is second. Chai is third (it's black tea underneath the spice). Green and oolong sit in the middle. White is low. Herbal and rooibos are zero.

What's pu-erh and why does it cost more?

Aged, fermented Yunnan tea — pressed into cakes and left to age like wine. Older cakes get smoother and pricier. Start with a young one in mini-form before committing to a brick.

Loose leaf or bagged?

Loose, almost always. Bags are dust — broken-leaf with no nuance and a short flavor arc. A ten-dollar basket infuser removes the only excuse to buy bags. The exception is the cult bags from Harney and a few others — those use whole-leaf sachets and earn it.

Where do I start if I've never had real tea?

A sampler. The eight-tin Vahdam set walks you through the obvious ones for under thirty dollars. Find what you keep coming back to, then buy that one in volume.

Next →

The brew chart.

Temperature, steep time, caffeine — every leaf, one page. Built to print and hang next to the kettle.

Open the chart →

Then →

The vessel matters.

Right leaf, wrong cup is half the problem. Kettles, teapots, infusers, matcha sets — by what they do to the brew.

Browse vessels →