WELCOME TO THE 52 TEAS A YEAR CLUB

FAQs

How often will I receive tea?
Once a week, on a Friday. We will post the boxes each Thursday to arrive Friday (We post the international boxes earlier in the week so that you should receive your box at the same time as the UK members)

When will I start receiving tea after I subscribe?
You need to subscribe by Midnight on a THURSDAY to receive the next week's delivery. All subscriptions received after Midnight on Thursdays will start receiving boxes the week AFTER this (i.e. two weeks from subscription date.) E.g. Subscribe Thursday 5th May, receive first box Friday 13th May, Subscribe Saturday 7th May, receive first box Friday 20th May.

How long do I have to sign up for?
There is no minimum period. You can sign up for just a week, or as many weeks or months as you like. You can stop the subscription whenever you like.

Will I have to be at home to receive the box each week?
No. The postal boxes are designed to fit through a letterbox so you don’t have to be in to receive it. No annoying ‘we tried to deliver a parcel but you were out’ cards.

What if I live outside the UK?
No problem, you can still sign up. International memberships are £8 per week. We will send your tea box a week before the UK boxes go out. Sometimes this may mean you get your box a day or two before the UK members, sometimes a day or two later, depending on your country of residence. 

Can I give a subscription as a gift?
Of course. When subscribing, you just need to edit the 'Delivery Address' to that of the recipient of your choice. Once you've subscribed, you will be directed to a page where you can enter a gift message and request a gift certificate if desired. On this page you can also choose when you want their first box to be delivered. For example, you could buy a subscription in November as a Christmas present and the lucky recipient will start receiving tea in January.

How do I pay for a subscription?
You have two options:

1. Choose a length of time that you want to be a member for and pay upfront. You can do this for 3 months, 6 months or one year. This is a good option if giving the subscription as a gift.

2. Sign up for a rolling subscription and you will be billed weekly until you tell us to stop (You will need a Paypal account for this option).

Is there an incentive to sign up for longer periods?
Yes. We give everyone who subscribes for 12 weeks a useful and beautiful free gift. (Everyone receives the gift at the 12 week mark of their subscription, whether it is paid for weekly or upfront). If you sign up for 12 months you get 1 month free.

What if I go on holiday?
No problem. You can suspend the subscription for as long as you like. Or give us a call and have the box redirected to a friend or neighbour. Even if you have paid upfront for a certain length of time, you can suspend your weekly deliveries for as long as you like and jump back in again when you want until you have received all the boxes you've paid for. 

What if I am overrun with tea?
The club is a tasting club and so you won't be receiving large amounts of tea every week. Some weeks there may be enough for 5 or so cups of tea, so you can keep it for a later date. Other weeks when we send you a super-dooper top grade tea, you may only get enough for one cup. We don't think you'll be drowning in tea, but if you aren't getting through it you can pause your subscription till you catch up - or cancel it altogether.

How do I stop or suspend the subscription?
You can do this by calling us on 0844 417 6363 or emailing club@cantonteaco.com. Please contact us before 5pm the Friday before your next box is due. (For international customers the boxes go out earlier so please let us know by 5pm the previous Friday).

How will I know how to brew the tea?
We will include explicit brewing instructions with the tea and further detailed info will be available online at the dedicated Canton Tea Club web page.

Do I need any special equipment?
Not necessarily. A sturdy teapot is all you really need to start off with. It helps if it has an infusion chamber but it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t. We will provide brewing instructions each week which will always use 250ml water (equivalent to one English cup of tea.)

What is the special gift if I sign up for 12 weeks?
It is an exclusive Canton Tea Club Gaiwan.

Er...what’s a Gaiwan?
Good question. Its a lidded, porcelain bowl which is the traditional way to make tea in China. It is a quick and easy way to get the best from your loose leaf teas. We will provide instructions for brewing each week’s tea with the Gaiwan, as well as with a teapot, in each box.

Will I get tea to the value of £5 every week?
We will make sure that each week includes a tea to the approximate value of £5 or more. Most weeks the value of the tea will be significantly more than £5 so over a couple of months you will be guaranteed to have fantastic value.

What if I don’t like the tea?
We’d like to know about it. Each week on the blog, underneath the information about that week’s tea, you will be able to rate it quickly and easily. We want to know what is liked and disliked, so don’t be afraid to let us know how you feel.

How much tea do I get each week?
Some weeks it will be 25g, other weeks it may be 10g or occasionally if the tea is extremely expensive it will be 5g.

Won’t some teas be repeated?
There are thousands of different teas out there and we could go for many years before we had to repeat any. However, it’s possible we may choose to feature a particularly popular Tea Club tea again after 12 months to give new subscribers the opportunity to taste it.

Can I buy the Tea Club teas on your website?
Not generally. Most of the teas will be bought specially for the Tea Club and we will not sell them on the website. Occasionally we will choose some special teas from our website e.g. if we want to compare two different grades of say Long Jing.

If I like the tea can I buy more of it?
Only if there is enough left over. We just buy small quantities for the Tea Club but because the number of subscriptions will fluctuate, sometimes we may have some available to buy. However, if a certain tea proves particularly popular with the Tea Club we may think about stocking it on the website.

Who chooses the teas?
The Directors and Guest Selectors who have an interest and expertise in tea.

Can I suggest a tea?
By all means. If you know of an exciting tea that you’ve never had the opportunity to taste, please suggest it to us by emailing club@cantonteaco.com.

Can I see which teas are coming up?
Yes, we will publish the next 4 weeks on the Tea Club web page so you know what to look forward to (these will be a rough guide and could be subject to change.)

If you have any other questions that aren't answered here, feel free to email club@cantonteaco.com or call 0844 417 6363