Insider’s guide to buying the best loose leaf tea online. Tea shops online are plentiful. I’ve discovered over 700 tea shops and brands! How do you know which ones are reputable? 
These shops carry quality loose leaf tea, sell at the retail level plus ship internationally. They are all trustworthy tea businesses that I personally shop.
I also surveyed other tea aficionados for their recommendations. I’ve narrowed them down to just ten shops and I’ve tried to give you a wide variety.
Every online tea shop specializes in something different, whether it be single estate tea, flavored, herbal, green, black, Pu-erh, matcha or origin specific tea. The types of tea available are seemingly endless.
The websites are listed here in alphabetical order. I’ve categorized them by specialty to get you better acquainted with each shop.
This is a good place for you to get started in specialty tea and buying tea online. As you refine your tea palate, you might become a little fussier! Fortunately, there are many shops to choose from. Enjoy my personal list of the best online tea shops.
Best All Around Tea Shop
Adagio Teas: Specializes in an expansive variety of loose leaf teas and teaware. They source directly from the artisan grower. The teas I have tried are always fresh and have a superb flavor. You can find almost any type of tea from herbals to masters’ collections, which I do recommend. They depend heavily on reviews, which are very helpful when buying their teas. They also include information about the origin of the tea and brewing guides. A New Jersey-based company owned by a mother and sons team. Samples are available and they ship internationally. Adagio Teas
Palais des Thés:
Specializes in single estate, flavored teas, and herbal teas. They have quite a wide variety of quality fresh teas from tea estates around the world. François-Xavier Delmas is the founder and has been touring the world’s tea plantations for more than 20 years in search of the finest teas. They feature teas from Darjeeling to Shizuoka, from Taiwan to the Golden Triangle. This is a great place to start trying out different teas. It is a boutique style tea shop. They have sample sets available and ship internationally. They also have boutiques all around France, Belgium, and Japan. In the US they have a boutique in New York City along with a Tea School. Ships internationally. Palais des Thés
The Tea Spot:
Handcrafted teas and innovative Steepware. They specialize in gourmet loose tea with handcrafted, signature blends, and single-estate full leaf teas. You will find a large variety of health-focused blends. The company was founded in 2004 by Maria Uspenski, a cancer survivor drawn to the health benefits of whole leaf tea during her recovery. Her message is simple and powerful: tea in its freshest form renders premium flavor and unmatched health benefits. With a steadfast mission to foster health and wellness through tea, The Tea Spot donates ten percent of all sales in-kind to cancer and community wellness programs. The Tea Spot is a Colorado-based Certified B Corp, woman-owned and operated as a philanthropic business. The Tea Spot
Best Matcha Tea Shop
MatchaSource:
Matcha tea comes in different grades. Alissa White is the Founder of Matcha Source, an online retailer of premium matcha tea and specialty utensils for preparing and enjoying matcha. This shop focuses strictly on matcha, from ceremony grade to kitchen grade and everything in-between. What you pay for are flavor profiles, not nutrients. Young leaves plucked early in the harvest, produce delicate and vegetal flavors. Mature leaves contain coarser matter from stems and veins and taste more astringent. MatchSource teas are hand-picked by the Yahagi River in Japan. International shipping. MatchaSource
Material Matcha Uji: Material Matcha Uji crafts the highest quality matcha green tea in the world with a simple & radical idea: aim for purity of material. Material Matcha works directly with local farmers, pushing them to always favor quality over quantity, and keep using little-known, ancient techniques. Their teas are one-of-a-kind, and extremely rare: less than 100kg are produced every year, a grade that has never been brought outside of Japan before.
Their product range contains 24 products that meet all needs, from beginner to expert. They have Matcha starter kits, accessories, and matcha packs. Material Matcha Uji
Best Indian Tea Shop
TeaBox: 
Indian based online tea company specializing in high-quality single estate Indian grown loose leaf teas. Sourcing the freshest teas from Indian tea estates in Darjeeling, Assam, and the Nilgiris as well as freshest teas from Nepal. Darjeeling and Nilgiri black teas are some of my personal favorites. And you can’t make a good English Breakfast tea without a good Assam. I want to try the Margaret’s Hope Moonlight Spring White Tea! Ships internationally. TeaBox
Teatulia:
Specializes in Indian teas. A Denver based company co-founded by Dr. Kazi Anis and Linda Appel Lipsius, they focus on sustainability, 100% organic fresh tea and the women of Bangladesh. Teatulia teas are single garden teas, grown and hand plucked in the beautiful tea gardens of the Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate in Northern Bangladesh, then delivered directly to the consumer. As tea gardens go, this one is fairly new. It was cultivated from virgin land nestled against the Himalayas to the North and the Brahmaputra and Ganges Rivers to the South in 2,000. They offer a wide variety of teas and have won many awards at the North American Tea Championships. You should definitely go to their website to check out the co-operative programs they have developed for the economic prosperity of the people in the region. International shipping. Teatulia
Vahdam Tea: Vahdam tea specializes in garden fresh Indian teas. All their teas are procured directly from plantations and tea growers within 24-48 hours of production, packaged garden fresh and shipped directly from the source in India. By eliminating all middlemen, they make available fresh high-quality teas. This makes sure that the growers are able to retain all earnings in the region where these divine teas are grown. This process helps every farmer get a better price for their produce. A truly ethical, fair-trade tea. Vahdam Tea
Best Chinese Tea Shop
TeaVivre
: Specializes in authentic Chinese teas. 100% natural. TeaVivre means Tea for Life. They carry a wide variety of unflavored teas and teaware. TeaVivre is a group of tea lovers and aficionados from China, Canada, and France. All living in China, they frequently visit China’s tea plantations tracking down only truly exceptional teas. Known for their green teas, some rare green teas such as Ming Qian Long Jing. China also produces some of the best black teas of which you will find many here. Samples are available. Compliant with European Union, which has much more stringent allowances for residues than does the United States. Really high-quality teas – ship from China internationally. TeaVivre
VerdantTea:
A marketplace for small family tea farmers, directly from their farm to your cup. This Minnesota tea shop has a unique approach to tea shopping. You don’t shop by the tea type or by the country – you shop by the farmer. The estates are listed and you virtually meet the family growing the tea. They specialize in a variety Chinese teas black, green, white, pu-erh and herbals. Their teas have gotten some very good ratings. Verdant Tea always provides steeping instructions for both western brewing and gong fu style. They have some beautiful gaiwan teaware. VerdantTea
Best Pu Erh Tea Shop
Yunnan Sourcing:
Most people shop here for the pu-erh tea. Excellent selection of ripe and raw pu-erh, oolongs tea, black tea and white tea. They also sell some unusual teas like purple tea and yak butter tea. pu-erh samples are available. Their raw pu-erh teas are produced mostly from a single village or mountain sources in small batches. All raw cakes are processed at every stage in the traditional method to ensure the best possible long-term aging outcome. Their ripe pu-erhs are selected based on their taste profile, fermentation degree, leaf quality and future aging potential. Ships internationally from China and the United States. Yunnan Sourcing
Bonus Best Online Tea Shop
MaryAnna’s Tea: I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my own site. However, my specialty is artisan brewed bottled tea from a premium blend of loose leaf teas. MaryAnna’s Tea has won several top awards at the North American Tea Championship for best-bottled tea. I use the direct-brew method to naturally infuse the tea and bottle immediately afterward. This is the least processed method available for a bottled tea. All MaryAnna’s iced teas are made from 100% natural and non-GMO ingredients. Free shipping continental US only. MaryAnna’s Tea
Thanks for Reading About Buying Online Tea
That’s my summary of the best online tea shops and where to buy tea online. This is purely a suggestive list, mind you. I hope you find this list helpful and enjoy your online tea shopping. If so, please share with your tea loving friends.
Have you tried to buy tea online from the shops I mentioned? Which do you think are the best online teashops? Share in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!
Upton tea! They may not have the flash and bang of a lot of online retailers, but they are serious about their tea and do a lot to make sure what they do bring in is high quality!
Sally I agree. Upton Tea has some great products too!
Agreed. Been using them for years. From order to delivery is about 3 days, and I’m on the opposite coast!
besteasnyc have AMAZING teas. Their blends are fantastic and their story is inspiring. Such a unique brand.
I love afternoon tea. Such a great tradition. Thanks, Lara.
Thanks so much for picking Teatulia for the list! You’ve got quite an amazing line up of tea companies and we’re proud to have made the cut.
How can you not mention What-Cha or Tea Source? What-Cha is my go-to shop right now. Even though it’s in England and I’m in Virginia, the packages arrive super fast and free shipping over a certain amount. He carries an amazing range of teas and only tea (no canisters or honey or cups or tea balls etc). You will know the harvest as well as the estate, flush info, description and rating if applicable.
There are so many great tea shops! I found over 600 online tea shops. It’s difficult to list them all. Thanks for mentioning the others.
I’ve heard of them – I will have to check them out. Thank you.
I ordered teas from so many websites but In recent I feel that Teafloor is the best online tea shopping website, It offers great price and tea quality is really unbelievable. You need to once try the teafloor tea.
Thank you.
You should really check out Leafy Green Tea, which is a new player with very high quality tea at affordable prices!
Thank you for the info.
have you guys ever tried srilankan exotic tea corps English breakfast tea?
TEA & ME (Pure Teas), an exclusive Ceylon teas outlet in Delhi. Must visit the outlet you will find 100 different varieties of Ceylon tea’s from fancy flavored teas to regular teas like English breakfast, sencha tea, earl grey…and many more. TEA & ME (Pure Teas) is located in Rohini, New Delhi.
You can also order teas online
Thanks for letting me know about your tea shop.
I have not but I do love a good English Breakfast tea. Thanks for the tip.
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Thank you for helping me find a local company I’m happy to support.
It’s really a good blog on tea. I appreciate your article. It’s important to get quality matcha teas. This blog is really helpful to give a light in this issue. So thanks for sharing all that important information.
Thank you!
If I have always loved tea and have always used just plain Lipton’s black pekoe loose leaf–it must be the loose leaf and brewed–and now wish to expand my tea ‘taste’, what might you suggest I try first? I’m a southern lady who has always enjoyed sweet tea. Or is there any hope for me to ever like another kind? 🙂 Enjoyed your blog, and bookmarking it.
I grew up on Tetley and Lipton Tea. My mother always made a wonderful sweet tea that inspired my tea business. I’m still making her iced tea but I don’t use Lipton tea bags anymore. Knowing your preferences I would start out with an English or Irish Breakfast tea. There are some wonderful breakfast blends available from the online shops mentioned here if you don’t have a specialty tea shop by you. Thanks for following!
Thank you for your suggestions! I’m going to give it a try.
An incredible source for amazing Chinese tea is ZhenTea.ca. Amazing selection (especially oolongs and Pu’er) and able to get some very rare teas. Give them a try! They are my go to!
I’ve not heard of them but I will definitely check them out. Thank you!
Great article, you have put together a nice list. They are new and you may not have discovered The Amazing Tea Company. I love the fact that they have superior offerings of great teas, all natural. Their focus is on the benefits of teas. Check them out. Their Just Beat It tea is an herbal blend that I swear The Amazing Tea Company.
Thanks, Jackie. I’ve not heard of them until now – hey look like a great company!
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You are right. I used to get tea from teavivre. But recently I found a vendor call LunaCha.com and made a purchase from them. Tea arrived after 3 days that really stunned me, and the quality was just relatively better compared on the price.
secretsoftea is also developing some impressive blends. they only deal with organic herbs and have some really amazing products that not only soothe the urge too drinking tea but also have really inspiring effects too for certain health issues especially for weight loss, morning sickness and breast milk supply. please have a look at it too.
Thank you for bringing this up. Nice site. There are many wonderful herbal teas known as tisanes that can be beneficial to health.
I just came across a wonderful online tea shop called The Tea Time Shop. It’s not a huge shop but I think they have over 200 teas. I love all the tea I have purchased and they always send a free sample or accessory. They care more about tea than the accessories and they package their tea so nicely, I enjoy opening the box every time! Not sure if this will even be published but I just wanted to give a shout out to this wonderful little shop. Thank you!
Hi Abigal, thanks for letting us in on another great tea shop. There are so many it’s hard to follow them all. It makes my heart sing to see quality tea so readily available.
Upton Tea is my go to shop. They are serious tea sellers, I’ve never received anything of inferior quality from them.
Thanks, Lorette – good to know.
Thank you so much for your list of companies! I wanted to ditch tea bags and shrink my waste contribution. Tried and love the teas from Adagio, however, curious your thoughts on the flavoring they (or other companies) use. I love flavored teas but wonder if I’m drinking nasties that my body would be better without. Thanks!
If I buy a flavored tea I try to stay with teas that are naturally flavored and not artificially flavored. The vendor will usually explain this in their description. For example, many Earl Greys are artificially flavored but a naturally flavored Earl Grey is divine.
When a natural oil is used it will say ‘oil of bergamot’ or ‘bergamot essential oil’. Natural bergamot has a subtle but intense flavor. And it’s not easy to find.
If the tea is artificially flavored it will read ‘bergamot flavoring’ or “bergamot flavor’. It’s definitely not the same as essential bergamot oil.
Is it True that Red Tea is better than green tea?
I found a blog about it.
Check it here BlogBuzz-GreenTea
I believe the tea you are referring to is called Rooibos or red bush. This is not a true tea made from the camellia sinensis plant but a tisane made from the rooibos plant in South Africa.
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I have been buying from Rishi Tea for some time and feel so connected with there products. Am I missing something? Can I get the same selections and quality elsewhere for less expensive? Thank, I am enjoying your site.
Rishi Tea offers excellent products. I’ve recommended them in some of my other posts. Most recently the Best Gifts for Tea Lovers Guide. Since I have readers from around the world I only included tea companies with international shipping in this post. I just checked Rishi’s website and I see now they have a special form to fill out for international shipping. I’m glad you are enjoying my website.
Harney & Sons gets my vote. They have a huge selection of excellent teas at reasonable prices and their customer service is great.
Agreed! Harney & Sons have some excellent teas at reasonable prices. I see they now have international shipping as well. Thanks!
Hi Mary Ann,
Great overview. Some of these inspired us to make our own shop.
Best wishes!
Thank you. Best wishes for success in your tea shop!
These are really the best online tea shops which have an incredible source of tea collections. Very nice article. You can also try out healthy loose-leaf teas from Healthzarp online tea shop from the USA, which has been specially made with 100% pure natural blended ingredients. You need to try Healthzarp tea collections once for all your health problems. Get one Now!
The Tea Time Shop. I am in love with their loose leaf tea and they always offer free accessories during their promotions. Their customer service is fantastic as well as their packaging. My tea always arrives beautifully packaged and with a free sample included. I’ve ordered new teas I never would have tried just because of the samples I’ve received. I just found out it is owned and operated by women! Power to the ladies for a wonderful, inexpensive and delicious selection of tea.
PuerhShop.com is my go-to for puerhs. Very good selection at great prices.
Thanks for sharing Jenna.
not sure if you have come across http://www.teacupsfull.com they are a tea boutique which is run by tea planters who have worked in Badamtam Tea Estate, Thurbo Tea Estate, Barnesbeg Tea Estate, Castleton Tea Estate. To sum it up they have spent a lifetime in tea and it is not a commercial brand.
I always enjoy discovering new tea shops. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the article, was useful. For European readers, tea drinkers I would recommend Zhao Zhou tea in Budapest. Great sheng puer selection, also other goodies from China, Nepal, Taiwan and Japan. Best regards