Product FAQ's
General
What does green tea actually do for me? Three things, with the evidence to back them. Calm energy and a sharper mind within the hour (L-theanine and caffeine working together). A small, steady shift in how your body uses fuel, including a slight drop in fasting blood sugar. And calmer inflammation, starting in your gut, plus a lift in your body's own antioxidant defences. The last two are daily-habit effects that build over weeks. It is not a weight-loss product and it won't fix anything on its own. It's one good part of a complete routine, with no notable downside.
Why loose leaf and not tea bags? Most tea bags hold broken leaf and dust, which goes stale faster and brews flat and bitter. Whole leaf keeps its flavour and can be re-steeped. Many bags also use plastic in the seal or mesh. With loose leaf it's just leaf and water.
Why brew at 75–85°C, not boiling? Taste. Boiling water pulls out more bitterness and makes green tea harsh. Hotter water doesn't destroy the good compounds; it actually extracts slightly more of them. Brew cooler and give it a little longer (3–4 minutes), and you get a cup that's smooth and still doing its job.
Hot or cold? Both work. Hot brewing pulls out more EGCG. Cold brewing gives a smoother cup with less caffeine and bitterness — good for afternoons.
Can I re-steep? Yes, and you should. The second steep of good loose leaf gives you almost all the EGCG again, plus most of the caffeine and about half the L-theanine. Same leaves, more value.
Is it safe every day? For most people, yes. Green tea at normal drinking amounts has no notable trade-offs. A few things to know: it contains caffeine, so set your own afternoon cut-off if sleep is affected. It reduces absorption of iron from plant foods, so drink it between meals if your iron runs low. And if you take regular medication, check with your pharmacist, the same as you would for grapefruit. If you're pregnant or breastfeeding, talk to your midwife or doctor about your total caffeine.
Have other questions? Email us. Straight answers, no scripts.
Green Tea Gems
What's in a gem? Organic green tea with a hint of jasmine, made with a patented low-temperature process and pressed into a 2g effervescent gem. Each gem has 3× the EGCG and 10× the L-theanine of a standard cup of green tea (102mg L-theanine), and about 5mg of caffeine. These figures are independently lab-tested for L-theanine, EGCG and caffeine.
Will I crash? There's very little caffeine to crash from — about 5mg, compared with roughly 95mg in a filter coffee. The L-theanine supports calm, clear focus. For the combination used in the attention research (about 100mg L-theanine with 40–50mg caffeine), have a gem alongside a well-brewed cup of green tea.
How is it different from coffee or energy drinks? It's not a stronger hit — it's a steadier one. A low caffeine dose plus L-theanine, in a drink you can have every day. Coffee isn't bad; it's a different tool.
Is it sweetened? Lightly, with erythritol (a sugar alcohol). Zero sugar.
Why is erythritol the first ingredient? Is it safe? Ingredients are listed by weight, and erythritol makes up the body of the gem: it lightly sweetens and holds the gem together without sugar. A whole gem weighs 2g, so there's less than 2g of erythritol in each one. Erythritol also occurs naturally in fruit and fermented foods, and your body makes a little itself.
You may have seen headlines about a 2023 Cleveland Clinic study linking erythritol to heart attack and stroke. Two things worth knowing. That link came from blood levels in people already at higher heart risk: it shows an association, not a cause, and blood levels partly reflect what your own body makes. The follow-up tests that found stickier blood platelets gave people 30g of erythritol in one drink, more than 15 times what's in a gem. We keep watching the research. If you've been told to avoid erythritol, or you have a heart or clotting condition, check with your doctor.
How many a day? One is the everyday habit. Two works well on high-pressure days — two gems give about 200mg L-theanine with only around 10mg caffeine. Have gems with or after food.
How long does a gem take to dissolve? A few minutes in cold or room-temperature water.
Green Velvet - Matcha
What makes this matcha different? Organic, first harvest, from Uji in Japan. Young leaves, shade-grown before picking, then stone-ground. That's what gives it the deep green colour, the natural sweetness and the smooth, almost creamy finish.
How do I prepare it? Whisk 1–2g (about ½ tsp) with 60–80ml of water at around 80°C until frothy. Or add it to a latte or smoothie. Skip boiling water — it makes matcha bitter.
What's the caffeine content? About 30–35mg per 1g serve, with the L-theanine that naturally comes with shade-grown leaf. Because you drink the whole leaf, matcha delivers more per serve than steeped tea.
Jade Mountain (Bi Luo Chun)
What is Bi Luo Chun? One of China's Ten Famous Teas. Made only from the youngest early-spring buds, hand-picked and rolled into tight spirals. Sweet, floral and smooth.
Why does it cost more? A short harvest window, hand-picking and hand-rolling. Young buds are also where the tea plant concentrates its L-theanine and caffeine.
How do I brew it? About 3g (a heaped teaspoon) per 200ml, water at 75–80°C, steep 3–4 minutes. Re-steep the same leaves 2–3 times through the morning. For a flask: 6–8g in 500ml.
Elysian
What are tea cakes? Pressed green tea in single-serve cakes. One cake, one cup — no measuring, no bags, no mess.
Why collagen? It binds the cake instead of fillers. Each cake has 3g of marine collagen. It's there to hold the tea together, not as a beauty promise — we don't make skin claims.
How do I brew it? Drop one cake into your cup, add water at about 80°C and steep 3–5 minutes.
Can I re-steep it? Yes, once or twice. The flavour lightens with each steep.