Crafted with imagination, mastery, and uncompromising taste, Steven Smith Teamaker represents a new standard in the world of tea. Founded in 2009 in a former blacksmith’s shop in Portland, Oregon, the brand was born from Steve Smith’s vision of “haute tea couture”—where quality, origin, and creativity matter more than convention. Smith blends are small-batch, artfully composed, and full of character, offering a unique tea experience that celebrates curiosity and craft. Whether you're steeping a classic or a bold new blend, each cup is a tribute to the joy of discovery and the enduring legacy of an extraordinary teamaker.
5 varieties available.
Steven Smith Teamaker
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The traditional tea of the Japanese tea ceremony. Our matcha is made from tender green leaves known as Tencha harvested in early spring in Katsura, Gifu Prefecture. Brilliant green in color, matcha has a rich, slightly sweet vegetal flavor and aroma.
INGREDIENT*: green tea leaves
TASTING NOTES: Spirulina, cashew, malt
PREPERATION: For best flavor, bring 6-7 ounces of spring or freshly drawn filtered water to 175 degrees. Add between 1/2 to 1 tsp (approx. 1 g) matcha per cup. Whisk vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Drink while contemplating this floating world. Approximately 30 servings per tin.
NET WT: 40g
*To make Matcha, the tea plants are covered for up to three weeks before harvest, allowing only diffused light to reach the leaves. This promotes the development of chlorophyll and increases L-Theanine content, which brightens color, increases flavor, and helps counterbalance the energizing effects of the caffeine. After plucking, the leaves are steamed, neutralizing the oxidizing enzyme and preserving their color. They are then put through a rolling and drying process, along with a special step through a machine that removes the viens and stems of each leaf. The tea that results from this process is called Tencha, which is then refridgerated until it is ready to be ground. In the final step, Tencha leaves are placed in small amounts on a granite grinder to make its signature fine powder. Granite is ideal for grinding, as it doesn't produce much heat, which helps to maintain the rich color of Matcha and its full flavor in the cup.
It's no secret that the world's best peppermint comes from the Pacific Northwest. Gently hand-screened for perfect leaf size, it infuses a full, creamy flavor with distinct chocolate notes and an intense finish. A great after dinner treat or midday breath freshener.
INGREDIENT*: Peppermint leaves from the Pacific Northwest.
TASTING NOTES: Mint, sugar, chocolate
PREPERATION: For best flavor, bring spring or freshly drawn filtered water to a boil (212 degrees). Steep 1 sachet or 2 tsp (1.6 g) loose leaf for five minutes. Determine when time is up by using your own biological clock.
* Peppermint LeavesPacific Northwest BotanicalThe world’s most flavorful peppermint comes from the Pacific Northwest, where the summers are hot and dry. Ours is harvested just before it begins to flower, when the oil content is highest. After cutting, the plant is allowed to field dry. Then the stems are removed and the mint is sorted into uniform leaf sizes. With intense menthol and rich chocolate notes, Pacific Northwest peppermint is a real wakeup for your senses.
A caffeine-free blend of golden Egyptian chamomile flowers and mildly stimulating, fragrant hyssop joined with smooth Cape rooibos, rose petals and linden flowers. You may need a sun hat.
INGREDIENTS*: Egyptian chamomile, South African rooibos, hyssop, linden flowers, lemon myrtle, rose petals, safflower, cyani flowers and natural flavors.
TASTING NOTES: Chamomile, apple, honey
PREPERATION: For best flavor, bring spring or freshly drawn filtered water to a boil (212 degrees). Steep 1 sachet or 2 rounded tsp (1.8 g) loose leaf for five minutes. Imagine something beautiful happening somewhere else in the world.
NET WT: .85 oz / 15 satchels per case.
*About Ingredients:
- Cyani Flowers: This blue blossom, also called cornflower, is used primarily by teamakers to add color to dry blends. Grown in Eastern Europe, the flower is handpicked and the calyx removed, leaving thin blue threads of color with little flavor impact. We like the way it makes our Meadow blend look – almost like confetti.
- Chamomile Flowers: With a soothing characteristic and a subtle taste and aroma that is apple-like and toasty, chamomile is one of the most popular herbal ingredients on the market.
- Rooibos: also known as red bush, is perhaps the most tea-like and naturally caffeine-free beverage in the world. During the 20th Century, red bush went from being a mostly indigenous drink of South Africa to a global commodity and a cash crop for the Clanwilliam district. Rooibos is also known to be high in antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. Similar to tea, rooibos generally undergoes an oxidation process after the leaves are cut, when it develops a uniquely sweet and creamy flavor, without the astringency of black tea. It is a common alternative to coffee or tea because it also stands up well to milk and sugar and can be served in various forms quite easily (hot, iced, lattes, etc.). Rooibos can also be steamed after being picked to stop the oxidation process, which will keep it as green rooibos, a more vegetal and floral flavor than the more common red rooibos.
- Hyssop: Used for structure and sweetness in a variety of blends. It grows best in arid regions and is particularly suited for the dry climate of Southern Oregon. Seeds are sprouted in greenhouses during the early spring to avoid frost and are then transported to prepared fields for the dry, hot summer. The fields are irrigated with fresh water regularly, helping the hyssop to flourish in the heat. After harvest, the hyssop is dried and sorted for market.
- Pink Rose Petals: provide a sweetness and spice along with distinct floral qualities and are used to create complexity.
- Safflower: Firey in color, with a bright yellow brew color, Safflower is often mistaken or used in place of safron, that is until someone tastes it. Safflower is slightly sweet with notes of squash. It also produces a texture that is used to round out brighter qualities of other herbs when blending.
- Linden Leaf & Flower: Grown in Eastern Europe, these dried leaves and flowers have been used for centuries as medicine. We love them for the texture and florality that they bring to blends like Meadow.
- Lemon Myrtle: Commercially grown in Eastern Australia and the evergreen bush can be cultivated multiple times per year. It provides the unmistakable citrus notes in the Meadow tea.
Your perfect go-to green for everyday enjoyment, this spring-harvested Mao Feng tea from Zhejiang has a slightly sweet, vegetal aroma with a lingering fresh aftertaste. Peaceful, refreshing, and rejuvenating, it's naturally rich in antioxidants and organically delicious.
INGREDIENT*: Organic spring-harvested full leaf China green tea.
TASTING NOTES: Salted macadamia, daffodil, artichoke
PREPERATION: Bring spring or freshly drawn filtered water to 185º F. Steep 3 minutes and give yourself the green light to enjoy.
*About Ingredient:
- Mao Feng: Grown in the mountains of central Zhejiang Province, China, at altitudes above 300 feet, Mao Feng is harvested in the spring and quickly hot air fired. This neutralizes the oxidizing enzyme and seals in the fresh flavors and aromas. The long, slender jade leaves of Mao Feng brew to a color of pale green and impart a pleasing vegetative fragrance with buttery notes and lingering sweetness.
A flavor somewhat superior to traditional Earl Grey. Fragrant Ceylon Dimbula and Uva are artfully combined with select teas from India's Assam valley, then scented with bergamot oil from the realm of Reggio Calabria, Italy.
INGREDIENTS*: Indian Assam and Sri Lankan Ceylon full leaf black teas, bergamot oil from Italy and natural flavor.
TASTING NOTES: Malt, honey, citrus
PREPERATION: For best flavor, bring spring or freshly drawn filtered water to a boil (212 degrees). Steep 1 sachet or 1 rounded tsp (2.5 g) loose leaf for five minutes. If possible, play a little opera softly in the background.
*ABOUT INGREDIENTS
- Assam: biggest, brightest, richest, and most astringent tea made. It is the backbone to breakfast style teas of nearly all brand and quality although it is also used in many blends for body and top notes. Assam is less floral and has more bread or biscuit-like flavor than other origins, and is often described as malty or coppery.
- Ceylon Dimbula: The Dimbula region is directly opposite the Uva region in Sri Lanka. Dimbulas are often called "Westerns" in the tea trade. They have a reddish amber color in the cup, with a medium to full body, slightly fruity flavor, and mineral notes. Ceylon Dimbulas are often used in medium bodied blends, Earl Grey formulas, and other flavored teas. The best Dimbula teas are produced from December to February.
- Bergamot Oil: Bergamot is a citrus fruit the color of a lime and the size of a large orange. Picked when ripe, the thick peel is removed and pressed like an olive to extract its essential oils. It has a distinctive flavor and aroma with notes of lavender, lemon, and spice.
- Ceylon Uva: Situated 1100 meters above sea level on the island of Sri Lanka, the Uva region produces teas of distinctly different character from their Ceylonese siblings. Uvas are astringent, intensely floral, and slightly sharp in flavor with a golden cup color. They add "bite" and freshness to blends.