What is the caffeine content of the various Good Earth^® Teas? The following are the caffeine contents of our best selling teas:
(Compared to 100mg caffeine in an 8 oz. cup of coffee)
Black Tea: 50mg caffeine per 8 oz. cup
Green Tea: 30mg caffeine per 8 oz. cup
White Tea: 20mg caffeine per 8 oz. cup
Gingseng Green Tea: 18mg caffeine per 8 oz. cup
Decaffeinated Teas: 4mg caffeine per 8 oz. cup
Red Teas: 0mg caffeine per 8 oz. cup
Herbal Teas: 0mg caffeine per 8 oz. Cup

Do your teas contain MSG, Soy or Gluten? Our teas do not contain MSG, Soy or Gluten. They contain no dyes, barley, wheat or wheat by-products.

Do any of your teas contain artificial flavors? We are proud to say that none of our teas contain artificial flavors. For our Original Sweet and Spicy fans, now you can enjoy the delicious taste with all natural ingredients. As always, none of our teas contain sugar, or artificial colors and preservatives.

Are Good Earth^® Teas Kosher Certified? Our teas are Kosher certified by the Orthodox Union.

How are your teas decaffeinated? Our teas are naturally decaffeinated using two primary methods. Our All Natural Green Tea, White Tea, Organic White, Organic Green and Organic Black teas are decaffeinated through a process that involves putting the tea leaves into water and adding liquid carbon dioxide. When the water and carbon dioxide are drained off, the caffeine washes away too, leaving a decaffeinated tea leaf. Our All Natural Black Tea is decaffeinated using ethyl acetate. Both methods of natural decaffeination are designed to remove the caffeine from the leaves while leaving most of the flavor and antioxidants intact.

What makes Good Earth^® Tea taste so sweet? Our teas have no added sweeteners in the formula. They do not contain any sugar, artificial sweeteners or preservatives. Any perceived sweetness in the tea is due to the combination of spices and citrus components in the herbs and oils.

Is the tea in my cabinet still good? What is the shelf life of Good Earth^® Tea? Tea does not “go bad” like a container of milk. We recommend a shelf life of 2 years from production, and our cartons are marked with a “Best By” date. Tea may still be fine to drink after two years—it just may lose some of its flavor. If you brew up a cup of tea and it tastes okay, then it is safe to drink. Remember, boiling water poured over the tea bag that steeps for 5 minutes will extract the most flavor.

Where are your teas sourced from, and how do you guarantee safety? We source our teas, herbs and spices from a variety of locations around the world. These tea growing areas include China, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and others. Our main focus has been to work with reliable growers with whom we have longstanding relationships. This includes visiting and inspecting the production on-site personally or through our brokers or agents. Good Earth^® Tea has a rigorous testing policy for teas and herbs from growing areas of known concern.

Are your packages recyclable? Yes. All our cartons are produced from 100% recycled board (at least 60% post consumer material and often up to 90%), and are printed with soy based inks. All our blends are packed in unbleached tea bags and even the tea tags are recycled. The new cartons are marked with these symbols:




If you have a carton with the old graphics, these, too are recyclable, just remove the outer wrapping. In 2008, we eliminated the plastic overwrap on the cartons in place of a small adhesive label to keep the carton closed.

Why do you envelope your teas? What makes Good Earth^® Teas different are the rich, full-flavored teas we blend. Rather than take pre-mixed blends off the shelf like other companies, we mix our own premium ingredients on site and blend using liquid flavors for a richer taste. We then allow the blends to develop full flavor and bouquet, sometimes for up to 5 days. It's not the easy solution, but we think it's worth taking the extra time to get the flavor just right. When the blends are ready, we pack the tea into teabags and wrap them in foil envelopes to maintain freshness and "lock in" the flavor. Without the envelopes, the flavor would gradually decline resulting in a bland, weaker tea. The envelope material is a mixture of paper, foil and plastic specially chosen to protect these flavors. Unfortunately, the envelopes are not currently recyclable and the recyclable materials available (e.g. paper) do not provide sufficient barrier to lock in the flavor over time. However, our aim is to reduce our environmental impact wherever possible and we have an ongoing project with our suppliers to find more environmentally friendly materials. When we get a viable solution, we'll be sure to let you know.