FAQs

Dear Bird Pick Community,

As we continue to closely monitor the evolving situation with COVID-19, we wanted to provide an update on what we are doing at Bird Pick Tea & Herb. The health and safety of our customers and team members are top priority. We have been taking additional measures to ensure our work environment is safe, including daily disinfection of all surfaces, strictly enforced hand washing routines, and shorter business hours. Those who have the ability to work from home are doing so now.

We have also had a few concerns regarding the safety of our tea. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there is no evidence to support the spread of COVID-19 through food. So rest assured that you are safe to enjoy your favorite cup of tea.

Our online store is still open, but all orders are experiencing a delay in processing and shipping due to limited staff and work hours, as well as any unforeseen delays with USPS and UPS. We will continue to do our best to make sure your tea pantry is stocked and keep you updated should anything changes.

Thank you for your continued support of small businesses and your patience and understanding.

Stay healthy and be safe,

The Bird Pick Team

All orders of $49 or more AFTER any discounts applied and BEFORE taxes are valid for free standard shipping within the United States. No code necessary. Just make sure to choose Free Shipping when checking out.

Orders are processed on a first come, first serve basis. Please allow 2 to 4 business days for your order to be processed. Orders are shipped Monday through Friday by end of day (excluding any US holidays as dictated by mail carriers). If there is a promotion, orders may take a bit longer to process. Once your order has shipped, you will receive a shipping confirmation email that has a tracking number.

Note: Choosing to pay for shipping when your order qualifies for free shipping does not speed up the processing time of your order.

Please keep in mind that all orders have a processing time (2 to 4 business days) in addition to a shipping time. Choosing a faster shipping method does not speed up the processing time of your order.

The shipping time of each option is as follows:

• USPS First Class - 1 to 3 business days, for orders up to 13 oz.
• USPS Priority Mail - 1 to 3 business days, for orders more than 13 oz., see map below:

• UPS Ground - 1 to 5 business days, see map below:

We ship orders using USPS (either First Class or Priority Mail) and UPS Ground. The rates are based on the weight of your order and the distance it'll be shipped from our warehouse in El Monte, CA. If an option is available for your order, it will show up automatically when you calculate shipping during checkout.

You will receive a shipment confirmation email with a tracking number once your order has been processed. Please allow up to 48 hours for tracking details to be posted. If you are a registered user, you can also log in and track your order from your account.

Yes, we do! The rates are based on the weight of your order and destination. If you intend to have your order shipped to a P.O. box, APO, or FPO, please select "Priority Mail" for your shipping option, even if there are other shipping methods available. Your order may be delayed if you do not choose the correct option.

We ship to all 50 states in the United States and its territories. The rate is based on the weight of your order and destination.

We only ship within the United States at the moment.

We can change, cancel, or add something to your order as long as it has not already been shipped. Please send us an email and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

On the "Information" page during check out, there should be a text box labeled "Discount Code." Type the code you have in that text box and click on the "Apply" button. The page will then reload to show that your code has been applied.

If you run into any issues, please email us and we'll look into it. Please keep in mind that promo codes can only be used once and do not apply towards taxes.

Once the checkout process is complete, we unfortunately can not apply a promo code discount or value retroactively. However, if your code is from a gift card or gift certificate, that will remain valid and may be used at any time in the future.

Our website does not currently allow you to apply physical gift cards and gift certificates during checkout. If you have a physical Bird Pick gift card or gift certificate, please send us an email with a photo of the back of your gift card or front of your gift certificate.

We will create a personalized discount code in the value of your gift card for use on our store. The code does not have an expiration date and it does not apply towards any taxes and shipping fees incurred.

We now offer e-gift cards for purchase online here. The gift card will be emailed to you and all you have to do is forward the email to the intended recipient or print out the email to stick into a gift.

Yes! You can purchase a Bird Pick E-Gift Card here.

The gift card will be emailed to you and all you have to do is forward the email to the intended recipient or print out the email to stick into a gift.

We accept the following forms of payment:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Discover
• American Express
• Paypal
• Apple Pay

We are required by law to collect California sales tax for non-food items, such as tea accessories.

We offer tea samples if you are placing an order with us. We do not offer free samples otherwise. If you'd like to try a tea, please let us know which teas (limit 2 samples per order) in the Notes section when checking out and we'll do what we can. You can also email us your sample request. Please include your order number with your request.

We want you to be happy with what you’ve ordered and will gladly accept return on unopened items within 30 days of receiving your order. The refund issued will not include any shipping fees originally paid.

There are a couple exceptions to this:

• Opened tea, including loose leaf and packaged tea, cannot be returned due to health regulations.
• Sale/clearance items and yixing tea ware are final sale. 
• Opened and/or used tea accessories are not eligible for a refund.

If a return is due to a manufacturer defect or our error, we may provide you with a postage-paid shipping label to return to us depending on the reason. Otherwise, the cost of shipping the item(s) back to us will be deducted from your refund amount.

Exchanges are accepted for items that are incorrect, defective, or damaged during shipment.

To start a return or exchange, please send us an email.

Please read our return policy below and if the item is eligible for a return, send us an email to get a return started. Any orders sent back to us without prior communication will not be honored.

We want you to be happy with what you’ve ordered and will gladly accept return on unopened items within 30 days of receiving your order. The refund issued will not include any shipping fees originally paid.

There are a couple exceptions to this:

• Opened tea, including loose leaf and packaged tea, cannot be returned due to health regulations.
• Sale/clearance items and yixing tea ware are final sale. 
• Opened and/or used tea accessories are not eligible for a refund.

If a return is due to a manufacturer defect or our error, we may provide you with a postage-paid shipping label to return to us depending on the reason. Otherwise, the cost of shipping the item(s) back to us will be deducted from your refund amount.

Yes, you may return a gifted item as long as it adheres to our return policy below.

To start a return or exchange, please send us an email. Please mention that the item was a gift when you contact us.

We want you to be happy with what you’ve ordered and will gladly accept return on unopened items within 30 days of receiving your order. The refund issued will not include any shipping fees originally paid.

There are a couple exceptions to this:

• Opened tea, including loose leaf and packaged tea, cannot be returned due to health regulations.
• Sale/clearance items and yixing tea ware are final sale. 
• Opened and/or used tea accessories are not eligible for a refund.

If a return is due to a manufacturer defect or our error, we may provide you with a postage-paid shipping label to return to us depending on the reason. Otherwise, the cost of shipping the item(s) back to us will be deducted from your refund amount.

Our apologies if you receive an incorrect, damaged or defective item. Please send us an email with the details and any relevant photos, and we'll get a replacement to you as soon as possible.

For most loose leaf teas, you'll want to use 1 teaspoon for every 8 oz. of water. You can of course adjust this to your preference. More tea will brew a stronger cup, less tea will brew a weaker cup.

The density of the tea will also change the amount of cups of tea you can make out of a bag of tea.

Generally,

• 4 oz. of tea makes 30 to 40 cups
• 8 oz. of tea makes 75 to 100 cups
• 1 lb. of tea makes 150 to 180 cups

Each tea's product page has directions on how to brew that type of tea. Our packaging also includes directions.

General directions for each type of tea is as follows:
Use 1 teaspoon of tea for every 8 oz. of filtered water. You can adjust the amount to your preferences. More tea will result in a stronger cup of tea, more water will make a weaker cup.

• White Tea - Brew for 2-3 minutes
• Green Tea - Brew for 3-4 minutes
• Oolong Tea - Brew for 3-5 minutes
• Black Tea - Brew for 3-5 minutes
• Pu-Erh - Brew for 2 minutes
• Herbal Tea - Brew for 5-7 minutes
• Instant Tea - No brew time, it dissolves in hot or cold water
• Fruit Tea - Brew for 5-7 minutes
• Blossoming Tea - Brew for 7-10 minutes or until full bloomed

Tea doesn't go bad if it's stored in a well-sealed container in a cool, dry place. However, it will lose flavor over time. We generally recommend consuming tea within one year of purchase. It goes without saying that if a tea looks or smells funny, please do not consume it and toss it.

Japanese teas tend to be more delicate and may begin to show age after 6 months. Black and oolong varieties will stay fresh for much longer due to its oxidation processes.

Not all of our teas are organic. If they are organic, they will have the word "organic" in their name.

Our decaf teas are decaffeinated by exposing moistened tea leaves to pressurized carbon dioxide (CO2), which acts as a solvent to remove the caffeine. Because nothing else is affected during this process, the tea retains its flavors and beneficial antioxidants. Please keep in mind the caffeine is not 100% removed. There will be trace amounts left that usually do not affect anyone who is sensitive to caffeine.

For every 8 oz. of brewed tea, the caffeine content is as follows:

• Herbal, Fruit, and Rooibos - Caffeine free
• Decaf - Trace amounts (5-10mg)
• White - 10-15mg
• Green - 15-30mg
• Oolong - 30-45mg
• Black - 60-75mg
• Matcha - 60-80mg
• Yerba Mate - 70-85mg
• Coffee - 125-150mg

Most of our teas do not contain any sugar or calories.

Plain tea, such as the majority of our white, green, oolong, black teas, and herbal teas, where the only ingredient is tea leaves contain no sugar and zero calories.

Herbal blends which include fruit pieces vary, but may contain up to 10 calories per 8 oz. cup of tea.

Our Instant Ginger Teas contain 70 calories and 4g of sugar per 1 sachet (or 18g/3.6 tsp) of tea.

Our Instant Lemon Ginger Tea contains 70 calories and 17g of sugar per 18g (3.6 tsp) of tea.

We do not use birds for labor! The name actually comes from a grandfather’s story of birds and their ability to pick the finest tea leaves for their own nourishment. Check out our About Us page for more of the story.

Proposition 65 is a law in the state of California that requires businesses to include a warning label on any products that may contain a measurable amount of any of the 800+ chemicals listed by the State of California, many of which naturally occur in the environment. It enforces the idea that people have the right to know about the presence of chemicals in their food and water.

It’s important to note that most of these quantifiable levels are often well below the FDA’s and CFIA’s current tolerable intake levels.

For more information on Prop 65 and to view the most recent list, you can view the following links:
http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65.html
https://www.p65warnings.ca.gov/

Yes, our products are safe to consume and fall within federally mandated safety levels. All of our products also have to be approved by the FDA before we're allowed to sell it.

Prop 65 is not a product safety law. Rather, it is a right-to-know law requiring the public to be informed when a Prop 65-listed chemical is present above a very low threshold. In many cases, the substances in question occur at levels much too low to cause any measurable health effect and no known link between exposure to the substances at these low levels and any actual risk of cancer or reproductive harm has been established.

Proposition 65 warnings must be displayed on all products - this includes herbal teas and tea accessories - because we operate out of the state of California.