Tea has a vocabulary, and most of it gets used without ever being explained. Here's what those words actually mean, in plain English. No snobbery — we learned all of this in a kitchen, same as you.
How tea tastes
The words people reach for when describing a cup.
Bitter
The sharp, unpleasant edge you get when tea has been sitting in the water too long or the water was too hot. Think coffee that's been on the burner all morning.
If yours tastes bitter: shorter steep, cooler water. See the brewing guide.
Bright
Lively and a little tart, the way lemonade is bright. Usually comes from citrus peel, hibiscus, or rose hips.
You'll taste it in: Wild & Well and Cool Flame.
Earthy
Tastes the way soil smells after rain. Sounds unappealing written down and is genuinely lovely in a cup. Roots do this.
You'll taste it in: Night Root, from the valerian.
Finish
What you're still tasting after you swallow. A tea can start one way and finish another — Night Root starts soft and floral and finishes deep and earthy.
Flat
Dull. Nothing lifting it. Usually means old tea, or water that was boiled twice.
Floral
Tastes like flowers smell. Lavender, rose, chamomile and linden all bring this.
Grassy
Green and fresh, like the smell of a just-mown lawn. Characteristic of green tea and a good sign, not a flaw.
You'll taste it in: Grounded Energy.
Muddy
Everything blurs together and you can't pick out any single flavour. Almost always means too much tea for the water, or several strong herbs fighting each other.
Notes
The individual flavours you can pick out of the whole. "Citrus notes" just means you can taste something lemony in there.
Round
Smooth and balanced, no sharp edges, nothing sticking out. The opposite of bitter or harsh.
Thin
Watery. There's flavour in there but not much of it. Usually not enough tea, or it didn't steep long enough.
Vegetal
Plant-like and green — closer to steamed vegetables than to flowers or fruit.
How tea feels
Not flavour — the physical sensation in your mouth. This is the part nobody explains.
Astringent
That dry, puckering feeling that makes your mouth feel like it's tightening. It isn't a taste, it's a sensation. You know it from unripe bananas, red wine, and over-brewed black tea.
Body
How heavy or light the tea feels. Skim milk versus whole milk is the easiest comparison — same liquid, very different weight.
Mouthfeel
The catch-all for texture. Thin, silky, coating, drying — all mouthfeel words.
Tannins TAN-ins
Natural compounds in tea leaves that cause that dry, puckery feeling. Hotter water and longer steeping pull out more of them. This is precisely why green tea wants cooler water and a short steep.
Mucilage MYOO-sih-lij
A soft, slippery substance some plants release into water. It gives a tea a silky, slightly thick quality that coats the mouth. Marshmallow root is full of it — and it breaks down in very hot water, which is why one of our blends is brewed cool and slow.
You'll feel it in: Tame the Flame. If the cup seems slightly thick, that's it working.
Brewing words
Steep
To soak herbs in hot water. That's the whole thing. "Steep for five minutes" means leave it sitting in the water for five minutes.
Infusion
Two meanings. The liquid you end up with, and the method itself — pouring hot water over herbs and letting them sit.
Decoction dee-COCK-shun
Actually simmering tough material — bark, hard roots — in water on the stove, rather than just soaking it. You won't need this for our blends; they're all cut fine enough to infuse.
Bloom (or "opening up")
What dried herbs do when they hit water — they swell, unfurl and expand, sometimes to several times their dry size. It's also why a packed infuser makes a weak cup: there's no room to bloom.
Agitation
Stirring or swirling while it steeps. It speeds things up, though for most herbal blends a good initial pour does the job.
Resteep
Using the same leaves for a second cup. Works well for green tea, poorly for root-heavy blends that gave everything up the first time.
Concentrate / double-strength
Twice the tea in the same amount of water. You brew this way for iced tea so that melting ice dilutes it back to normal instead of ruining it.
Cold brew
Steeping in cold water in the fridge for eight to twelve hours instead of using heat. Comes out smoother and less bitter.
The leaves themselves
Loose leaf
Tea that isn't sealed in a bag — whole leaves, petals, roots and berries you can see and identify. It needs an infuser, and it's why it tastes better: nothing has been ground down to fit a bag.
Tisane tih-ZAHN
The technically correct word for a "tea" made from herbs, flowers or fruit with no actual tea plant in it. Almost everything we make is a tisane, not a tea.
We say "tea" anyway — because that's what everyone calls it, and we're not going to make you learn a French word to buy chamomile. Grounded Energy is the only blend in our line with real tea leaf in it.
Herbal tea
The everyday name for a tisane. Naturally caffeine-free unless something caffeinated has been blended in.
Botanical
Any plant part used in a blend — leaf, flower, root, bark, seed or peel. A fancy word for "the plant bits."
Cut
How finely the herbs have been chopped. "Tea cut" means small enough to fit an infuser but large enough that you can still see what it is.
Fannings & dust
The tiny broken particles left over from processing — what fills most supermarket tea bags. They brew fast because there's so much surface area, and they taste harsh for the same reason.
Blend
Several herbs combined on purpose, balanced so no single one takes over. All five of ours are blends.
Single origin
One plant, grown in one place, sold on its own. Not what we do — our blends are built from many herbs.
Words on labels
Caffeine-free vs. decaffeinated
Not the same thing, and worth knowing. Caffeine-free means there was never any caffeine in it to begin with. Decaffeinated means caffeine was removed through processing, and a small amount almost always remains.
Ours: every blend is naturally caffeine-free except Grounded Energy, which contains real green tea and therefore contains caffeine. We don't decaffeinate anything.
Small batch
Made in quantities small enough to be mixed and packed by hand rather than by machine. It means fresher tea and more attention per tin — and less of it available at any given time.
Traditionally used
Means people have used a herb in a particular way for a very long time. It's a statement about history, not about medicine, and it's the honest way to talk about herbs without pretending we've run clinical trials.
Demulcent dih-MUL-sent
A plant that produces that soft, coating quality in water — see mucilage above. Marshmallow root is the classic example.
Adaptogen
A term from herbalism for plants said to help the body cope with stress. Worth knowing that it isn't a regulated or medically defined category, and it gets used very loosely in marketing. Holy basil, which is in two of our blends, is commonly described this way.
Infusion time / steep time
How long to leave the herbs in the water. It varies enormously by blend — three minutes for green tea, twenty for marshmallow root — which is why the number is on every tin.
Words we don't use
And why.
Detox
Your liver and kidneys do that job, and they do it whether or not you drink tea. Any product promising to "detox" you is selling a story. Our teas taste good and they're made from good ingredients — that's the actual claim.
Superfood
A marketing word with no agreed definition and no regulatory meaning. Elderberries are wonderful. They're still just berries.
Cure · treat · heal
We don't say these because they aren't true and because it isn't legal to say them about a food. Our blends are made from herbs traditionally used for comfort and daily balance. They are not medicine, and they're not a substitute for it.
The honest version: herbal tea is a small, pleasant thing you do for yourself. It isn't a treatment. If you're pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or managing a health condition, talk to your healthcare provider before adding any herbal products to your routine — herbs can interact with medications, and that's a conversation worth having first.
Our blends are crafted with herbs traditionally used to support wellness, comfort and daily balance. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Now you speak tea.
Put it to use — the brewing guide has the exact numbers for every blend we make.
Read the brewing guide