AO Tea Reviews 

Written by the company

AO Tea is a small specialty tea shop based in Portugal, run by one person. I source single-origin loose-leaf teas from China, Japan, and Taiwan, and sell them alongside a rotating selection of vintage Japanese teaware. It started as a personal obsession with good tea and turned into a shop for people who want the real thing without the ceremony or the markup of a big brand. The catalogue covers the full range of true tea: white, green, yellow, oolong, black, and pu-erh, plus Japanese matcha. Everything is single-origin, bought in small batches, which means some teas come and go and rarely return. I would rather offer a small, honest selection I have actually tasted than a giant menu of blends I cannot stand behind. A few things I focus on: Taiwanese GABA teas, processed in nitrogen and drunk for their calm, rounded character; aged and raw pu-erh, including older vintage-dated pressings for people who like tea that changes with time; and Japanese greens like gyokuro and sencha. On the teaware side, I curate vintage Japanese pieces, mostly chawan and cups from the mid-20th century, each a one-off. Because it is a one-person operation, every order is packed and sent by me, and every email to hello@aotea.store is answered by me, not a support desk. If you are new to loose-leaf tea and not sure where to start, or you want to know how to brew something you have never tried, just ask. Helping someone find a tea they love is the part I enjoy most. I ship across the EU from Portugal, usually arriving in 2 to 5 days, with free shipping on orders over €90. Orders are packed to keep the leaf fresh, and if anything arrives not as it should, I will make it right. What I care about is simple: teas worth drinking, described honestly, sent quickly, and backed by a real person if something goes wrong. If you have bought from AO Tea, I would be grateful to hear how it went, good or bad. It genuinely helps me do this better. Artur, founder, AO TeaSee more