The quality and safety of all our tea offerings is our mandate, to ensure that you enjoy only the highest quality and safest teas. All of our teas are naturally produced and undergo stringent quality assurance testing for pesticides and microbial contamination from the garden level to the post-harvest facilities, and through the final production processes and handling.

Organic - Tea Forté offers both conventional and organic teas, tea blends, and herbal tisanes to our consumers. All of our teas are rigorously tested for food safety and comply with US and EU regulations. The EU has stricter pesticide standards than the US and it also has test laboratories that detect pesticides at lower levels than US labs. The only way to ensure that teas are pesticide free, whether Camelia sinensis or herbal, is to buy certified organic teas or tisanes. All of Tea Forté organic teas meet both the US and EU standards. 

Tea Forté conventional blends, while not organic, undergo strict quality procedures. Washing/cleaning/sorting is one of the early processes for raw agricultural products. Each ingredient (tea, herbs, dried fruits, flowers, spices and other plant ingredients have to be processed and tested according to good manufacturing practices before blending and packing to ensure the cleanliness and safety of the product. All tea ingredients are tested before blending and packaging. All quality, food safety and toxicological safety are ensured in compliance with EU and US pesticide regulations.

Flavours - Tea Forté offers a wide selection of both organic and conventional teas and herbal tisanes with or without flavouring. We use natural flavouring in some of our blends to create a unique taste experience. Flavoured teas, both conventional and organic, are safe, clean and of as high a quality as unflavoured teas. Tea Forté flavoured teas are free from allergens and GMOs.

GMOs - All Tea Forté products are GMO free. This includes the material for our tea infuser, the ingredients in the teas and the natural flavours.

Packaging - Tea Forté pyramid infusers are made from FDA approved, food safe, recyclable PET silken mesh fibres and hand-crafted into a pyramid shape without the use of any chemicals or adhesives. Our pyramid is not made from PLA (poly lactic acid), a derivative of corn. Additionally, our infuser material does not contain gluten, GMOs, corn or any of the eight FDA recognized allergens (tree nuts, peanuts, milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, wheat or soybeans). Our infuser material has been tested by an accredited third party independent lab for food safety. Tea Forté’s signature pyramid is inert (does not react with boiling water), does not contain heat sealing adhesives and is designed to allow free flow of water for maximum tea infusion.

Tea does not have an expiration date, but it can start to lose freshness over time. At Tea Forté we label all of our products with a "best by" date to ensure that you experience the best we have to offer. We do recommend storing your tea in a dry, cool, dark space. Tea needs to be kept away from heat, light, air, and moisture to ensure its freshness. Do not store your teas in the freezer or refrigerator.

Many of our teas, over 50 and growing, are certified Kosher. Our production facility is also certified Kosher. Many of our teas, over 50 blends and growing, are certified Kosher. You may download a copy of our official Kosher Certificate here (PDF).

Yes, all of our teas are Gluten Free with one exception, our winter seasonal blend Rum Raisin Biscotti.

Tea Forté is proud to bring you organic tea as part of our commitment to sustainable farming and healthy living. It’s important to us to produce genuinely distinctive, expressive leaves that are grown with care, unlikely to be found anywhere else in the world. The result is our premium portfolio of organic teas, all of which have earned USDA Certified Organic status.

Tea Forté is proud to be Fair Trade Certified and support the Fair Trade movement dedicated to building equitable and sustainable trading partnerships that create opportunities to alleviate poverty. Our Fair Trade Certified tea provides a pro-active premium paid directly to the tea estate workers which affords and supports fair wages and added benefits such as better housing, healthcare, education, safe working conditions, a sustainable environment and no child labor. Every time you purchase one of our Fair Trade Certified teas you join in the Fair Trade movement and become an advocate for humane working conditions worldwide.

Our blended teas and herbal tisanes are crafted using plant-derived ingredients and natural flavours including tea leaves, herbs, spices, fruits and flowers and are suitable for vegans. Please check the label however, as some of our teas may include honey.

Tea Forté understands that some of our customers are sensitive to caffeine and would like to know the differences between the terms “decaffeinated tea” and “caffeine-free tea.” The word “decaffeinated” refers to teas that once contained caffeine and went through a process to remove it almost entirely. The phrase “caffeine-free,” on the other hand, refers to ingredients not related to Camellia Sinensis, the species of plant whose leaves and buds are used to produce tea. Herbal tea is caffeine-free, and some examples of the plants often used to create it include hibiscus, chamomile, and rooibos.