It’s no secret that cold brewing is by far our favorite method of making iced tea. A long steep of natural teas in cold water creates flavor that is consistently sweet and smooth, negating the need for added flavors or sweeteners. Though hot tea holds an obvious place in our hearts, cold brews are the perfect way to create a refreshing, ice cold beverage with the full-bodied, complex flavors of our favorite single origin tea leaves.

Though most people consume caffeine in some form or another on a daily basis, myths and misinformation persist about the way it works. In particular, there are several popularly held misbeliefs about the caffeine content in tea that are simply not true. Some are based in fragments of truth, while others are pure invention. Today, we’re clarifying the facts about four caffeine myths that we encounter often.

Clearly, this all-important stage of processing must have some major impact on flavor. But the influence of oxidation is hard to isolate, since crafting methods are usually specific to each traditional region. If we were to taste the hypothetical teas above, plucked from the same tea bush on the same day but processed in different ways, what range would we find in flavor? What molecular changes take place during oxidation that have such a profound effect on our palate? And what makes some varieties and harvests more suited for oxidation than others?

Do you depend on a daily cup of coffee to get out of bed in the morning? Maybe you need another by the time you get to work, and another after lunch to power through the afternoon slump. By the end of the day, coffee consumption can really add up. Coffee shop concoctions or high quality beans come with a high price tag, milk and sugar in many coffee drinks add extra calories, and high levels of caffeine can disrupt sleep (and send you reaching for the coffee pot again tomorrow morning).

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a cup of coffee, but cutting back a bit can help avoid building a caffeine tolerance, and keep it feeling like a treat, instead of a necessity. Here are five good reasons to choose a cup of tea over a cup of coffee, especially if it’s the third latte of the day.

With the wide variety of tea styles produced worldwide, it can be hard to believe that all types of tea, excluding herbal tisanes, are made from the same species. Flavors and even the physical attributes of the finished leaves can vary drastically from tea to tea, giving the impression that green teas are in some way fundamentally different from black teas.

But in fact, all teas come from the same Camellia sinensis plant. Thousands of years of cultivation have teased myriad colors, textures, and flavors out of this single species, which now distinguish the huge variety of teas we know and love.

We understand the urge to drop a teaspoon or two of sugar into your breakfast blend. Not all teas can live up to the lofty flavor ideals of traditional tea crafters, and modern palates are trained to expect sweetness. Nevertheless, we think tea deserves a chance to be appreciated without sugar, and today we’ve got five good reasons to give it a try.

Tannins are commonly discussed in the context of tea tasting, but usually poorly understood. Cited as a source of bitterness and astringency, their presence is often considered a sign of low quality tea, but their role is a bit more complex than that. As a natural part of every tea plant, tannins contribute to the growth process and health benefits of all teas, as well as the color and flavor.

Green tea is among the most popular style worldwide, but the huge variety in green teas can be overwhelming. Though the crafting steps of green tea are typically minimal, and the style is narrowly defined by the lack of oxidation, the range in green tea flavor can be enormous, even before considering scented and flavored varieties. To narrow down the options to more a more specific selection of flavor profiles, we recommend asking about harvest date.

Harvest date is the primary criteria for grading traditional Chinese green teas, with the first leaves picked during the year fetching the highest prices. But the most expensive tea is not always best for every palate, and exceptions exist to every rule. So how exactly does harvest date contribute to quality? And what factors can change the impact of traditional harvest dates?