SpecialTeas Substitutions / Replacements

As many of you may have heard, SpecialTeas is closing down their wholesale and retail web site. We enjoyed their teas and we wish them much success in their future endeavors.

For those of you who don't know us, Kopius Teas (www.kopiusteas.com) is a business to business distributor of fine teas and herbs. We offer the finest selection of Certified Organic and Fair Trade teas and blends, all shipped direct from our blending and packaging facilities in Southern California. In addition, we stock an abundance of conventional products as well.

We thought it would be helpful to create a quick chart of SpecialTeas equivalent teas to see how many we could match. The traditional unflavored teas should be fairly close in character. The blends will vary slightly based on the percentage and nature of the flavoring used.

In researching the SpecialTeas list, I was quite impressed by the range of teas and non-teas they stock. Of course, we're not Kopius (Copious) Teas in name alone.

Here's our initial view. It's slightly over 75 at first glance. Not too bad. If you're a business in need of a replacement for a SpecialTeas tea or tisane, you can use the chart below to find our closest equivalent. If you're a retail customer, shoot us a message, as we may still be able to assist you.

We'll try to update this list when we get a chance - this is a preliminary view. Do you have a favorite that's not shown below? Let us know...

SpecialTeas Product / Item	Recommended
No. 249 ASSAM TGFOP-1	Assam FOP
No. 220 MALTY FBOP	Organic Banaspathy GBOP
No. 264 MANGALAM FTGFO	Satrupa SFTGFOP1
No. 317 KENILWORTH OP1	Kenilworth OP
No. 318 DIMBULLA OP	Kirkoswald Full Leaf
No. 311 KOSLANDA OP	Koslanda BOP
No. 316 LOVER’S LEAP B	Lovers Leap Pekoe 1
No. 304 NUWARA ELIYA B	Mahagastotte FBOP
No. 321 VITHANAKANDE F	New Vithanakanda Extra Special
No. 319 VITHANAKANDE F	New Vithanakanda FBOPF Special
No. 310 PETTIAGALLA FO	Pettiagalla
No. 502 KEEMUN IMPERIA	Keemun Black OP 1276
No. 501 KEEMUN SPECIAL	Keemun Black Superior
No. 515 SUPERIOR TI KU	Organic Tie Kuan Yin Oolong Ex Special
No. 511 FINE TI KUAN Y	Tie Kwan Yin K103
YUNNAN FBOP	Yunnan Black 6112
No. 507 YUNNAN IMPERIA	yunnan Black Needle
No. 142 MARGARET'S HOP	Oaks TGBOP
No. 135 SELIMBONG FTGF	Selimbong
No. 104 JUNGPANA FTGFO	Jungpana
No. 882 DECAF ENGLISH	Decaf English Breakfast
No. 871 DECAF CHAI WIT	Decaf Rockin Chai
No. 895 DECAF SENCHA G	Decaf Papaya Green
No. 928 RASPBERRY WITH	Berries & Rose
No. 908 ALMOND COOKIE	Fortune Cookie
No. 916 GINGER PEACH A	Ginger Peach
No. 927 PEACH WITH PEA	Ginger Peach
No. 915 COCONUT WITH C	Hula High
No. 917 SWEET LEMON WI	Lemon Drop
No. 919 MANGO WITH MAN	Mango Swirl
NO. 933 WILD CHERRY WI	Persian Delight
No. 867 GREEN TEA GREE	Apple Pear Green
No. 940 GREEN TEA SWEE	Lovely Lemon Drop
No. 946 MOROCCAN MINT*	Moroccan Mint
No. 771 GREEN TEA ORAN	Orange Spritzer
No. 712 SWEET CRANBERR	Crimsonberry
No 725 Lemonade Sonata	Lemonade
No. 755 GREEN ROOIBOS	Cape Carnival
No. 750 PURE GREEN ROO	Green Rooibos
No. 976 AFTER DARK	Chamomile Blend
No. 987 LEMON VERBENA,	Lemon Verbena
No. 977 PEPPERMINT, CU	Peppermint Organic
WHITE PEONY (PAI MU TA	Bai Mudan Ex Special
No. 655 GENMAI-CHA	genmaicha
No. 700 GYOKURO SUPERI	Gyokuro
No. 654 HOJI-CHA	Hojicha
No. 591 BOLD-LEAF PU-E	Organic Pu-erh #2
PEACH BLOSSOM WHITE TE	Peach White
STRAWBERRY WHITE TEA	Pomegranate White
SILVER NEEDLE (YINZHEN	Silver Needle
No. 551 China Silver N	Silver Needle White Down
No. 800 ENGLISH  BREAK	Venture English Breakfast Organic
No. 705 MATCHA 30g tin	Yame Matcha
LAPSANG SOUCHONG ORGAN	Organic Lapsang Souchong
No. 966 MATE TIRAMISU	Chocolate Vanilla Mate
No. 963 MATE ROASTED	Roasted Yerba Mate
No. 960 MATE GREEN	Yerba mate
No 350 Himalayan Golde	Organic Gurance SFTGFOP1
No 354 Himilayan Tips	Organic Gurance SFTGFOP1
No 351 Himilayan Mount	Organic Gurance SFTGFOP1
No. 331 TIGER HILL OP	Chamraj FOP
No. 952 ROOIBOS CHOCOL	Chocolate Mint Rooibos
No. 760 ROOIBOS CHAI (	Herbal chai
No. 950 PURE ROOIBOS,	Rooibos Short Cut
No. 763 ROOIBOS WHITE	Rooibos White Chocolate Melange
No. 956 ROOIBOS SIMBA	Safari
No. 562 JASMINE ORGANI	Jasmine #4 DZS
No. 565 JASMINE PHOENI	Jasmine Pearls
No. 569 CHINA ROSE CON	Rose Congou
No. 522 CHINA CHUN MEE	Chun Mee 9371
No. 533 LUNG CHING (DR	Dragonwell Extra Special
No 547 Superior Lung C	Dragonwell Extra Special Organic
No. 520 GUNPOWDER SPEC	Gunpowder
No. 527 PI LO CHUN SEL	Organic Bi Luo Chun
No. 618 TUNG TING JADE	Organic High Mountain Oolong
No. 614 FORMOSA POUCHO	Paochong

Reordering Wholesale Teas and Herbs

We recently posted a video on how to quickly reorder products from the Kopius Teas website. If you order from us frequently, give it a look. We're sure it'll save you much time and energy.

3 new organic flowering teas

We just added three NEW organic flowering teas to the menu.

Solstice

White Affair

Silver Wedding

Personally, I like the presentation of the Solstice the best.  We'll be loading some videos of the flowerings opening to the www.kopiusteas.com site shortly.

 

Contract Tea Formuation Services and Ingredients

Sometimes people view our range of different organic and conventional teas and tea blending ingredients and forget to note that Kopius Teas (www.kopiusteas.com) and its partner QTrade Teas & Herbs are also in the business of contract formulation and manufacturing. In fact the main reason why we even offer our vast selection of herbs spices flowers and fruit pieces is because we use those ingredients in our own contract blending operations. The tea blending ingredients we show on our website are, in fact, only a small portion of the ingredients we actually maintain in our inventories.

Why don't we show all of our inventory for sale? The two main reasons are availability and price stability. Some ingredients may be subject to large price fluctuations based on crop size, climate, and overall demand. In addition we may need to reserve inventory simply to fulfill ongoing, manufacturing commitments.

The other component we do not show on the website are our flavorings. Most of the flavors we use are liquid-based and are shared across the manufacturing of multiple flavored teas. Tea is normally a naturally hydroscopic ingredient, which absorbs and retains applied liquid flavors quite readily.

Now that we know there are many ingredients and flavors to choose from, we can begin to address how new and novel blends are created.

Like many things in life it, product development begins with an idea, a concept. These may be variations of things that we've already tasted, or they can be completely new. I like to think of one company that's brought this to life most recently and that is Jelly Belly. Jelly Belly innovates and introduces completely new and interesting concepts in jelly bean flavors. Buttered popcorn, bubble gum, peanut butter, etc.

You can think of the range of flavors to be at this extreme and even further. Although you may immediately reject the idea of drinking a peanut butter flavored beverage, some of these concepts became immediate hits, just because someone had the foresight and courage and determination to see these items to market.

That same originality can be applied to contract tea formulation. We start with an idea, and build from there. We try different ideas and remain open to variations and subsequent new avenues for pursuit.

As a business, our wholesale custom tea formulation services are geared at working with your ideas and defining a range of alternative recipes that fits your specific pricing needs. We generally offer a series of different alternative sample blends for consideration. Tasting these samples under a range of different steeping conditions is the best way to understand how the product may be accepted by your clients.

Once the formula has been finalized, the manufacturing process then returns to one of sustaining quality and availability.

I should end by noting that not all formulation projects entail the use of flavors. Some of our largest contract formulation projects revolve around the proper blending of pure, natural teas. This is where our expertise in sourcing and cupping becomes paramount. A well balance tea blend, whether served hot or iced, needs to exceed a set range of criteria for flavor, aroma, texture, color, strength and freshness. Tea, being a natural product subject to seasonal variations in rain, moisture, wind, sunshine, soil, and processing, can introduce new considerations from lot to lot.

Seek a business partner who will take a personal interest in the size of your project and can make a commitment to developing and maintaining the resources needed to both formulate and manufacture according to your volume requirements.

Most contract blenders will start with a minimum size order of 50 - 100 lbs of tea. Of course, you may also wish to check how your vendor can accommodate a dramatic increase in scale, should you develop the next blockbuster product in tea and obtain a distribution contract with a large grocery store chain or big box retailer.

Lastly, if you are building an organic tea recipe, you should inquire about Organic Certification with your vendor. This documentation trail is necessary to support the US National Organic Program requirements for use of the USDA Organic Seal on the package label. Similarly, if you are seeking other certifications, such as Fair Trade or Kosher, be sure to mention these to your vendor early on so you select ingredients that maintain these standards.

Teaze Infuser Demonstration

Here is a new video featuring the Teaze infuser in action...

Fair Trade Resource Network

If you're new to Fair Trade or want a fresher on how these programs are designed to assist small farming communities, sign up for a series of seminars offered by the Fair Trade Resource Network.

They are offering a new series called, "Webinar Series "Clarifying Certifications in Fair Trade". A small donation is requested per webinar segment.

You might also want to visit FairTradeUSA or FairTradeCanada for additional resources.

First Pyramid Tea Bags

We just completed our first run of wholesale, bulk pyramid tea bags for food service. I think they came out rather nice!

This particular manufacturing run was made with a slightly larger bag and contains 2.5 grams of tea per bag. The pyramid bagging machine is all digital, so we can set the desired weight per bag and it will constantly monitor the weight per bag to ensure the proper minimum quantity.

Think of it. Any restaurant chef, tea merchant, coffee roaster can now come to us and we can custom formulate and manufacture tea bags for food service. Pretty cool.