The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf—the iconic Southern California specialty coffee and tea retailer—created an exclusive line of limited-edition coffees and teas for Amazon.com.
David DeCandia, director of Tea for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and a 20-year industry veteran, handcrafted each blend to create unique teas to represent the Amazon brand and its customers. Working closely with the Amazon team, DeCandia carefully selected every tea component directly from private growers and tea estates around the world.
“This is the first time The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf collaborated with Amazon.com to create and market an exclusive blend of teas,” DeCandia says. “It’s a great collection and features some teas, such as Yerba Mate, that aren’t available in our stores.”
Available in 20-count tea tins, sold in packages of six across the U.S., the exclusive tea blends include:
- Caffeine-free Mango Breeze: tropical fruit flavors with a subtle grassy finish
- Caffeine-free Exhale Herbal Blend: an earthy blend of sarsaparilla root, valerian and other herbs
- Caffeine-free Fireside Blend: a blend of honeybush with a subtle hint of pumpkin
- Vanilla Earl Grey: vanilla blended with black tea and the essence of bergamot
- Brazilian Roasted Mate: roasted yerba mate blended with chamomile and lemongrass
- Citrus Blossom: Taiwan green tea with Jasmine petals and a citrus finish
In addition, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf created two limited-edition ground coffees. Senior director of coffee Jay Isais and master roaster Jesse Martinez developed each specifically for the Amazon.com customer. Based on the same exacting quality and taste standards Isais applies to all of the company’s coffees, he worked directly with growers to source just the right coffees for these blends.
“These coffee blends offer flavors unique to Amazon.com using our signature roasting methods and high quality ingredients,” Isais says. “The Pacific Northwest Blend captures the essence of a region famous for coffee culture, and the Vanilla Hazelnut brings together our two most popular coffee flavors, French Vanilla and Hazelnut, in one delicious coffee.”
Available in 12-ounce ground bags, the exclusive coffees include:
- Pacific Northwest Blend: fragrant wood-like aroma with black cherry notes and a cocoa finish
- Vanilla Hazelnut: full-bodied with creamy nut flavor and buttery finish
