Volition Tea

Hello tea drinkers! If you recently discovered our brand, we'd love to welcome you to your VT journey. Scroll through to learn more about us!

New Year, Same Team. These are the humans that make your VT journey a delicious and meaningful one. In a space where tea purveyors are constantly on the lookout for new producers and new regions, we prioritize on building upon existing working and personal relationships with our tea farmers and producers, and sourcing new and exciting teas from them. Knowing the humanity behind your tea is a beautiful thing 🌱💙

We want to take a moment to explain this tagline we created for VT’s first tea-shirt. If you have been following us for a while, you know that we created VT to cultivate empathy across communities through storytelling. We firmly believe the future of tea is collectively recognizing tea as a specialty, not a commodity. And in realizing that goal, it’s paramount to pause and ask more questions. 🌱 Have I thought about the farmers that produced my tea? 🌱 When companies say they removed all middlemen from their supply chain, do they recognize those people as real human beings, or just faceless NPC who don’t deserve basic respect in the modern day marketing? 🌱When we are conditioned by green-washing companies to believe organic farming is the bare minimal standard for food, are these companies standing by the producers during hardship partially if not entirely due to forgoing pesticide usage? 🌱Is it possible that there are more similarities between a Chinese tea farmer and me than I have presumed? These questions all boil down to one action - recognizing the humanity behind your tea. It affords us the ability to re-examine our spending habits, and demands accountability from tea purveyors to transform this industry so farmers who dare to farm sustainably feel truly supported. But most necessarily, it cultivates empathy within us that allows us to truly understand the world behind our beloved beverage, and support the humans behind it in ways that they find most helpful. Recognizing humanity protects our humanness. In this volatile world where basic rights of marginalized communities can be so brutally eviscerated by the powerful, let empathy lead the way to collective power. ***** 10% of proceeds of this tea-shirt will be donated to @bravespacealliance . Now available at volitiontea.com.

Golden Tie Guan Yin, or Iron Goddess of Mercy, is our fifth (misspoke in the VO!) collaboration with grandpa Li Shao Lin who produced a fall harvest TGY with a thick mouthfeel. The tea was then meticulously scented with osmanthus flowers over three rounds by farmer Xie Rong Fu. A lasting, golden impression.

Excited to share that Reprise Coffee Roasters is now serving seven Volition single-origin teas at the Evanston café. Rooted in a shared commitment to quality, intentional sourcing, and genuine human connection, this collaboration brings together two programs that believe every cup should tell a story. From a umami green to a bourbon-barrel-aged red, the new lineup is thoughtfully selected to bring the same level of care and curiosity to tea as Reprise has long brought to coffee. Come by for a cup and experience the new tea program with us.

What a fun way to celebrate the mother figures in our lives than sipping on delicious teas and hearing the humans behind each. The whole experience made sweeter by @delsur.bakery ’s intricate pandan rhubarb basque cakes. Thank you to our gracious host @edgewatercandles who has the most whimsical space 🤍🤎 Mother’s Day promotion is still happening online until May 10, 11:59PM CST. Use MOM10 for 10% off, plus free shipping over $60!

Qing 🐍 but two years later… We are releasing ‘23 Gankeng Lapsang. True to Xiao’s production style, this Lapsang goes well beyond the “campfire” aroma. It’s deeply complex, with notes of stone fruit sweetness and baking spices. As Xiao proudly states, the pinewood smoke is in the bones of this tea, and the juicy taste is unrelenting. Available now on our site.

Greetings from Wuyi, where harvesting from the Bai Rui Xiang cultivar, or White Lucky Aroma, has begun, followed by withering of the leaves under the sun. Then, producer Yang Jie and his workers stayed up all night for the Shaking Green process, or Yáo Qīng 摇青, bruising the leaves to kickoff partial oxidation on the leaves. This will eventually become his most prized product, fully handmade Big Red Robe.

Mark your calendar! Join us on Saturday, May 2, 11–1pm at @edgewatercandles for a Mother’s Day Sip & Gift experience. 🍵💞 Come sample a lineup of @volitionteaco teas, build a custom set of four single-origin teas with info cards and farmer notes, and linger over beautiful candles. We are making your visit even SWEETER, giving away limited-edition, mini pastries from @delsur.bakery with purchase (while supplies last). Bring your mom (make it a parent–child date!), or simply come treat yourself—everyone is warmly welcome.

It’s officially Guyu season! Our most prized tea - Tipsy Garden has been out of stock for a while now as we impatiently waited for this moment to arrive. Plucking finally started earlier today for the base tea Guyu White, which will eventually travel across the ocean and land into several of @kovaldistillery ’s aromatic gin barrels for 60-100 days of barrel aging. We can’t wait to experience how this new harvest will transform the process and what surprises await for us around August/September.

Big smiles across the garden as this year’s Red Jade harvest comes to a close. Hands that have tended these leaves for years now pass the rhythm forward, as Farmer Wu Lin Tao steps into his own Red Jade season following his teacher Chen Yong Qiang’s retirement. Every harvest carries its own story. People come and go, seasons shift, and the tea reflects it all. While Red Jade remains one of our core offerings, it will never be static - and that’s what makes it alive. We welcome Farmer Wu’s voice in this year’s lot, and all the subtle ways it may differ, evolve, and surprise. ❤️‍🔥

Two full days at the Chicago Tea Festival (@chicagoteafestival ) 🍃 From familiar faces to new friends, we were pouring nonstop - cup after cup, story after story. The tea kept flowing, curiosity kept growing, and it meant everything to see people connect not just with the flavors, but with the farmers behind them. If you just found us - welcome to your Volition Tea journey 🤍 Every sip supports true, sustainable farming and the hands that make it possible. We’re so grateful for the turnout and for each of you who stopped by to taste, listen, and share a moment with us. To many more cups of tea 🍵