Our Private Label Tea Selection

Private Label Tea with Limitless Variety

Private Label Tea from Lapis teahouse does not mean that you are limited to a few house blends that we will slap your label upon. We like variety in our tea also! While we are often approached for a list of our available teas, it is more apt to consider that we will private label just about any tea we can find that fits your needs. We buy directly from a number of importers and increasingly are finding our own resources overseas, so if we haven't found a resource that fits your tea project, we will do our very best to seek one out.

Considering these wide variety of options for your line of teas, let us begin with some facts about tea. Tea is traditionally classified based on the amount of fermentation (oxidation) that the leaves have experienced:

White tea is comprised of young leaves from new growth that have not oxidized. The leaves are tended with great care, sometimes even being sheilded from direct sunlight in order to foster higher chlorophyll amounts. White tea is produced in smaller quanities than other tea varieties, and can sometimes reach quite lofty prices. Though less well-known in the western countries, white tea has received a lot of media exposure in the west in recent years, due to it's density of healthful properties.

After a minimal amount of oxidation by application of heat; either with steam a traditional Japanese method; or by dry cooking in hot pans, the traditional Chinese method, the process is then stopped. Tea leaves may be left to dry as separate leaves or rolled into small pellets to make gun-powder style tea. The tea is processed within one to two days of harvesting.

Oxidation is stopped somewhere between the standards for green tea and black tea. The oxidation process will take two to three days.

The tea leaves are allowed to completely oxidise. Black tea is the most common form of tea in southern Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan etc) and western countries. The literal translation of the Chinese word is red tea, which may be used by some tea-lovers. The oxidation process will take around two weeks and up to one month. Unblended black teas may also be identified by the estate they come from, their year and the flush (first, second or autumn). Orthodox and CTC teas are further graded according to the post-production leaf quality by the Orange Pekoe system.

Private Label Pu-Erh Tea (普洱茶)

Two forms of pu-erh teas are available, "raw" (生) and "cooked" (熟). "Raw" or "green" pu-erh may be consumed young or aged to further mature. During the aging process, the tea undergoes a second, microbial fermentation. "Cooked" pu-erh is made from green pu-erh leaf that has been artificially oxidised to approximate the flavour of the natural aging process. This is done through a controlled process similar to composting, where both the moisture and temperature of the tea are carefully monitored. Both types of pu-erh tea are usually compressed into various shapes including bricks, discs, bowls, or mushrooms. Compression occurs to start the second oxidation/fermentation process, as only compressed forms of pu-erh will age. While most teas are consumed within a year of production, pu-erh can be aged for many years to improve its flavour, up to 30 to 50 years for raw pu-erh and 10 to 15 years for cooked pu-erh, although experts and aficionados disagree about what the optimal age is to stop the aging process. In China and amongst some westerners, the tea is traditionally brewed in the gong fu style, which is a process of several short steepings in a yixing pot. Most often in the west, pu-erh is steeped for up to five minutes in boiling water. Additionally, Some Tibetans use pu-erh as a caloric food, boiled with yak butter, sugar and salt to make Tibetan Butter Tea. Teas that undergo a second oxidation, such as pu-erh and liu bao, are collectively referred to as Black tea (黑茶) in Chinese. This is not to be confused with the western term Black tea, which is known in Chinese as Red Tea (紅茶).

Private Label Tea - Organic Options

For your private label tea selection there are increasingly wonderful options for organic and fair trade teas. This is a booming area of growth for tea sales, and increasingly tea plantations and importers are recognizing the marketability and profit potential of providing clean and socially responsible products. We are proud to be able to offer an extraordinary organically grown tea selection at very competitive pricing (usually not much more than conventionally grown).

 © Lapis Teahouse, 2006