Stash Tea takes great pride in its teas, all hand-crafted from the finest natural ingredients, blended in small batches and packaged for lasting freshness and superior flavor. Stash Premium Specialty Teas are available in different pack sizes and configurations to meet customer needs.

Stash buys the leaves for its teas direct from the world's premier tea gardens in China, India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Stash processes its black tea using only the top two leaves and bud of the tea plant. If consumers open a Stash tea bag, they will see only flat, brown, high-quality tea leaves, not stems. (Stems indicate an inferior tea and are added for bulk, not flavor. Lower grades of tea also contain more dust -- finely broken tea leaves -- which results in a bitter taste and cloudy appearance.)

Stash sets equally high standards for its herbal and spiced teas. Stash purchases herbs and spices whole from the world's best sources and mills them right before blending for superior taste and flavor. They are tested against strict guidelines set by the American Spice Trade Association, the Food and Drug Administration and, ultimately, the Stash Tea Company's own, even more stringent guidelines. The flavors and extracts used in Stash Premium Specialty Teas are all natural.

A closer look at some of the popular Stash Teas indicates the care taken to ensure that only the world's finest ingredients are used. For example, Stash Earl Grey tea is a blend of the highest quality Ceylon, Assam and Yunnan black teas, and 100 percent pure bergamot oil. The hallmark ingredient of any traditional Earl Grey tea is bergamot oil which gives this tea its distinctive taste and aroma. Bergamot oil is extracted from the fruit of the bergamot tree, which grows almost exclusively in a narrow coastal strip in the southern part of Calabria, Italy. Many Stash competitors use a mixture of bergamot oil and other natural citrus oils or artificial oils in their versions of Earl Grey tea.

Stash sources the orange peel and orange oil in its Orange Spice blend from the best California Valencia oranges. This superior quality orange oil from California costs more than $50 per pound, compared with less costly orange oil at $1 per pound or less. Stash orange peels are produced right from their juice production line to retain the original citrus oil of the fresh fruit, resulting in a richer, stronger flavor.

Stash Herbal Teas also are created from the finest ingredients. Stash Peppermint herbal tea contains only top-quality Northwest grown peppermint. This region has the perfect growing conditions for the peppermint leaf used in tea. The dry, warm days, cool nights and abundant irrigation are ideal.

Stash, working with Oregon mint farmers back in the early 1970s, helped pioneer the growing and cultivation of Oregon peppermint for tea. Stash still works with the same mint farmers to this day. Buying direct from the mint farmers ensures the freshest and finest peppermint. Northwest peppermint has higher levels of menthol and imparts more flavor. It is recognized as the world's finest by tea manufacturers. Many competing brands, however, use less expensive peppermint from abroad, sometimes blending several different types of peppermint.

Likewise, in its chamomile blend, Stash uses Egyptian chamomile, which is considered by many herbalists to be the best in the world.

The Stash Tea difference is also evident in the number of tea blends unique to the company. For example, Licorice Spice is a dessert-like tea, naturally sweetened with licorice root which is 50 times sweeter than sugar cane but has no calories. Fusion Green and White tea, a blend of rare and expensive white tea from China and top quality green teas, is full of potent antioxidants, with a delicate and exquisite taste. Or our rich and delicious Decaf Creme Caramel, inspired by the cherished South American caramel dessert, Dulce de Leche.

With its emphasis on variety -- there are over 200 different blends of Stash teas -- and quality, the Stash Tea Company is leading the tea industry in helping an ancient drink "turn over a new leaf" to become the beverage of choice.