How we source our herbs

Every jar, pouch and bottle at Herbaty starts in the same place: with the people who grow what is inside it. Long before Herbaty had a name, our founder Dr. Hamza Nassrallah built his reputation on a simple idea, that good herbs cannot be rushed, and you never sell what you would not keep on your own shelf. Two decades later, that is still how we work.

Relationships, not order forms

We do not buy from faceless wholesalers. We source from growers we know by name, across regions like India, China, Vietnam and beyond, choosing partners who share our standards for how a plant is grown, harvested and dried. Those relationships mean we can ask questions, and understand exactly what we are putting in front of you.

The questions are always the same plain ones. Which harvest is this from? Was the field shaded or open? How long did the leaf sit before drying, and was it dried in shade, in sun, or with heat? A grower who knows their crop answers without pausing. When the answers turn vague, we let the shipment go, however good the price looks. That is the whole discipline, and it is not complicated.

Where things actually come from

Origin is not decoration on a label. It is the reason two green teas can taste nothing alike.

Our ceremonial matcha comes from spring leaves shaded for weeks before picking, then stone ground until the powder feels like silk between finger and thumb. Our pu-erh is pressed and aged in the Chinese tradition, dark and mellow in the cup. Our jasmine green tea is layered with fresh blossom at night, when the flowers open and give up their scent. Those three, and the rest of our Chinese herbal tea shelf, come from different growers in different valleys, because nobody is excellent at everything.

The same holds outside the tea tin. Turmeric powder is milled from Indian rhizomes and should be a deep, warm orange, never a tired yellow. Himalayan fine salt is hand-mined from ancient seams, then simply washed and ground, which is why it keeps that soft rose colour. Moroccan argan oil is cold pressed from kernels by cooperatives who have done this work for generations, and it arrives golden and light rather than heavy and flat.

Checked by hand

When a shipment arrives, it does not go straight to a shelf. Every batch is checked by hand for colour, aroma and quality before it earns a place in our range. If it does not meet the bar Dr. Hamza set for his own kitchen, it does not ship. It is slower, and that is the point.

What we look at is unglamorous, and most of it is done with the senses:

• Colour. Green tea should look green, not olive. A dull tone usually means age, or drying done in a hurry.
• Aroma. We open the bag before anything else. Fresh Lion's Mane powder smells clean and faintly sweet. A musty note ends the conversation there.
• Texture. Powders should be fine and dry, with none of the clumping that hints at moisture in the bag.
• The cup and the bottle. Teas get brewed and tasted. Oils such as lavender get opened and smelled properly, because a tired oil gives itself away in a second.
• Paperwork. Harvest dates, organic certification and lab results, read properly rather than filed away.

Some of it is simply arithmetic of the nose. Two samples of the same herb sit side by side on the counter, and one of them is obviously better. That comparison is easier than any description of it.

Packed fresh, to order

We pack by hand and to order, so nothing sits around losing its character. That is why a Herbaty tea smells alive, and why our powders and oils arrive with their aroma intact. It also means the date on your pouch sits close to the date you open it, which is most of what freshness really is.

Once it reaches you, the rest is easy. Keep teas, powders and salt in a cool, dry cupboard, away from the stove and out of direct sun. Keep oils capped and upright in the dark. Our carrier and infused oils in particular hold their character far longer in a closed cupboard than on a bright windowsill.

When you buy from Herbaty, you are buying from people who care what is inside. If you would like to see what has passed the bar this season, our organic herbs collection is a good place to start, and if you ever want to know where a particular batch came from, write to us and ask. We keep that answer, and we are glad to give it.