About Us

From the farthest reaches of the globe, Tea Cloud brings to the discerning tea connoisseur the widest array of fine teas available. For those with a discriminating palate, we ensure that each tea is hand picked, hand processed, and freshly delivered. For those new to the exciting world of tea, we offer guided tutorials on the different types of tea available, a carefully chosen selection of catalog, and concise instructions on purchasing and brewing. Teacloud was founded by William and Hilary Rourke in Venice, California after the couple realized that there was a staggering paucity of fine tea retailers and importers in the area. What began as a small neighborhood tea shop quickly became one of the largest specialty tea importers in Southern California, if not the entire United States. It is by means of this growth that Teacloud has been able to extend a level of truly international service that few can match. The methods used to make tea have remained nearly unchanged for thousands of years, owing in no small part to the delicate nature of the tea plant and its leaves. A large tea estate will typically employ hundreds of workers to hand pluck tea leaves, each with a large basket slung over her back to collect the tea. Plucking is a skilled art, and each plucker is paid not only by the weight of the leaves gathered but also the quality. After the tea is plucked, it's processed in a variety of different ways in order to make different kinds of teas. Depending on how long the tea is allowed to oxidize (or ferment), the taste can vary greatly. Green teas are completely unfermented, preserving the tea's natural color and taste. Oolong tea is only allowed to ferment for a short period of time, while black teas are fermented for a day or longer. This simple process yields flavors which vary greatly, from vegetative greens to the fruited flavors of black teas, and everything imaginable in between. Undoubtedly the most common method for making tea is the tea bag. First sold by New York merchant Thomas Sullivan in 1904, the earliest tea bags were made of hand-stitched silk. Today's tea bags are mechanically produced and utilize paper instead of silk offering, a wide array of tea bags to the consumer. Traditional tea bags are square, for example, while lately some companies have started producing round tea bags. Another popular variant on an old tradition are the brown, unbleached tea bags.

Most connoisseurs prefer to purchase their tea in loose leaf form and steep it manually. This is likely due to greater availability of finer teas outside the bag; the tea from the neighborhood supermarket is most likely a cheap blend. Interestingly, the last few years have seen a number of speciality tea bags available containing finer teas, creating a developing market to keep one's eye on.