Frequently Asked Questions

We deal with over 20 different growers & distributors and source from over 30 different countries. We blend a ton of the teas ourselves with recipes designed by teamaster Gwen. She comes up with the ideas and executes on them. For the rest, we either buy direct from the estate, or through one of our many distributors. We don't just buy from one, we taste EVERYONE'S offerings and only buy the best.

Yes! Oh my god, yes, absolutely! Please, send us a message, or call us. Our teamaster will get back to you as soon as she can with recommendations based on literally (almost) whatever you want. Caffeine-content, flavor profile, use-case (as long as it isn't medicinal), vibe alone, your D&D character, whatever you need. PLEASE send us a message or give us a call. we'd love to recommend you teas. And ask us questions! We love to talk about our teas.

I mean, not technically a question, but I'll allow it. Shoot us a message or call us, and we'll be happy to walk you through it and suggest you something perfect. That, or check our our tea box selections! We offer boxes of teas based on various things that will help you get a selection without having to make the hard choice!

Tea, on average, has about a third of the caffeine of coffee. So that is what we call "standard." But here's the breakdown per (on average) 16oz mug. • Very High — 125+mg of caffeine, about double a cup of morning joe, or about a double-shot espresso. • High — 40-100mg of caffeine, anywhere from half of a coffee to about equivalent. • Standard — 20-40mg of caffeine, about a third of coffee. Regular tea strength. • Low — 5-20mg of caffeine, weaker than a straight tea. Good for afternoon relaxations. • Caffeine-Free — 0mg of caffeine. None. NO caffeine at all.

No.

No! Lord no! What, you think we're gonna report you to the World Tea Council and have you banned from tea? Do what you want! It's your tea! The suggestions are based on our teamaster Gwen's experience tasting the teas brewed several different ways, and reflect the way she thinks best brings out the flavors. But you don't have to listen to her! Steep it for ten minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar to everything. Drown it in milk. Take the leaves out after twenty seconds. Who cares? Do it the way YOU want.

No. We're not cops. We're not gonna bust down your door for not doing it the way we want. We don't care. Make it however you want. Most of the latte-suggested teas come out just fine as straight teas. They just taste better as lattes, in our opinions. The reason traditional masala chai is made with milk is that the lipids (fats) in the milk extract the flavors from the masala spices better than water does. If you don't like (or don't want) regular cow's milk, try using nut "milks" and other alternatives. We make a lot of tea lattes using cashew milk and almond milk, and they come out very good!

That depends! If you make it as per our instructions, divide the grammage of the bag by the number of grams we suggest brewing it with (most of the time 7 for regular teas, 14 for masala chais, since they're lattes). If you brew pitchers of iced tea, or regularly drink double-leaf? That's kind of up to you. But if you follow our instructions, the majority of teas (not masala chais) wind up averaging to (these are cups you drink, not "cups" the measuring unit)... • Tiny — 5-10 cups • Small — 15-20 cups • Medium — 25-40 cups • Large — 50-80 cups • Bulk — A lot • Dragon Hoard — A whole frickin' bunch

Unfortunately, no. Offering teabags as a packaged option is complicated. Traditional teabags don't work well with large leaves, and many of ours are whole-leaf teas that require space to brew. That's why we recommend using tea pots or one of our Pour-Over Infusers. Most of our teas work well in a Tea Ball Infuser as well.

Great question! What we suggest is, to make a half-gallon pitcher, use 4x the suggested leaf of the tea in question, brew in one of our signature 16oz infusers in the water temperature suggested, and steep for 3x the suggested steep time, usually around 10 minutes. Pour that into the half-gallon pitcher, and fill the rest of the way with cold water. Gwen likes to include about 3tbsp of sugar per half-gallon, to make just over 1tsp of sugar per glass of tea, in most cases.

We cycle through teas on a regular basis, trying to keep our stock fresh. This means, of course, many teas go away. This is a result of keeping things fresh and interesting, as well as just the way tea cycles go. With pure teas, especially single-estate teas, some year's batches just aren't as good as last year's. So we cycle them out. Sometimes, our distributors cycle them out, and we just can't get them anymore. So feel free to send a contact message to Gwen asking about your favorite tea. You might be told we're working on a replacement, or it's only temporary. But the answer may just be that it's gone forever. Sorry.

No. Come on. Our "boozy blends" have essence of booze. They taste boozy. You can't get drunk off our teas. Only tea drunk, which is a much more zen experience anyway.

Sure! You can request whatever you like. Whether or not we can complete it will depend on how much time our teamaster has at the moment, whether we carry the ingredients you're looking for, how complex the blend is, and how much you intend to buy. If you really want a custom blend, ask nicely, be patient, keep it simple, and buy a bunch of it. No promises, but it can't hurt to ask!

We love fantasy, and sci-fi, and D&D, and TTRPGs in general! That bleeds through to our teas. If you're confused by a name, there's a high likelihood that it is a reference to a franchise you may not be familiar with. We do it because it adds flavor and flair to teas. Wouldn't you rather drink a "Magic Missile" than a "Cherry Hibiscus Herbal?"

Generally, that's what the Tiny Bag is for. It's only 5 cups worth or so, so it's a good sample size. But if you really want to just try a cup's worth of something, we allow samples on a case-by-case basis. The more money you spend, the more likely we are to get you a sample or two.

If we have your teas in stock, we can usually ship in a couple of business days. If we have to blend more, it can be up to 5 business days. In the event that we are completely out of a tea — or one of the ingredients we need to blend it — we will get in touch with you by email and let you know what the schedule looks like. If you don't want to wait, we can suggest an alternative or just remove that particular tea from your order and refund you for it.

Most of our shipments go out through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). If you need us to use a different shipper, like UPS or FedEx, please let us know.

Please shoot us an email and we'll be happy to make special arrangements with you. Remember, though, that our tea tavern in Red Lodge is closed, so you'd be picking up your tea from our Great Falls, Montana office.

Yes! We were founded in Red Lodge, MT, and had our flagship location there until 2022, when the Tavern closed and we moved our facilities to Great Falls.

Our tea tavern operated in Red Lodge, MT from 2017 to 2022, and closed in April of 2022. We are now an exclusively online store.

There are no plans to open a new retail or food-service location at the moment. But we never say never.

Unfortunately, no. Our game distributor accounts have been shut down, and we no longer sell games.

Funny enough, yes, actually. We keep our book distribution channel open for projects we're working on, and can still purchase TTRPG books, as well as... any book on the market, frankly. If you really want to support us and buy a book, just send Gwen an email at Gwen@PhoenixPearlTea.com, and she'll hook you up.

Gwen: Honestly, it's the TTRPG I'm currently running, and have been since beta. Pathfinder 2e. Its action economy is amazing, the tactical combat is unparalleled, its character building is incredibly smooth, and it has so many options, I really feel like it can't be beat. That's if you want a combat game. If you want a narrative game, I highly recommend Cypher or Fate. Both very easy to pick up and fun to play without crunchy rules. If you want my general favorite that isn't one of the big ones, I'd have to say Legacy: Life Among the Ruins. It was a PbtA game that played both with a character, and as a whole clan Civilization-style, that would pan in for character minute-by-minute gameplay, and pan out for clan day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month gameplay. It was refreshingly unique, a blast to play, and I wish I had a game going right now. Gary: There are several that I like, but my favorite at the moment is Dungeons & Dragons 5E. I really wasn't happy with 4th Edition, and I like the improvements in 5E.

Gwen: I'm running a game at the moment. Strength of Thousands, an Adventure Path for Pathfinder 2e. So I'm not really playing anyone at the moment. But I am in a currently on-hold campaign where I'll be playing an Aphorite Elf Monk with a Hyena animal companion. Gary: I'm taking a break from running games, and enjoying just being a player in a D&D 5E campaign run by my other daughter, Heather. I'm playing a harengon (rabbitfolk) ranger/hunter named Artemis Caerbannog.

Gwen: I love bards. Damn, I love bards. Bard, Captain, Diplomat, Corpo, whatever is the talkiest class. My longest-running characters were a Cleric, a Bard, and a Warlord (D&D4e, a battle commander). My first character was a Rogue, followed by a Bard. I love making charismatic folks. Gary: My first character, back in the early days of D&D, was a Magic-User named Dhr. Today, he'd be Wizard. I love the spellcasters, but lately I've been having a great deal of fun playing Rangers.