Walk into almost any Amsterdam office and you will find a serious coffee machine. Tea is often an afterthought: a box of assorted tea bags next to the sugar. Yet in an international team, tea is often one of the things people miss most from home. A British colleague may want a proper strong cup with milk, someone who grew up in Turkey or Morocco may be used to tea all day long, and a colleague from East Asia may simply miss a good green tea. Here is how startups and international teams in Amsterdam can set up tea that everyone actually drinks.
Why tea matters in an international team
Dutch office life has its own rhythm: a coffee round in the morning, a quick lunch, often at the desk, and the borrel on Friday afternoon. For people who moved here from elsewhere, a familiar cup of tea is one of the small things that make a new workplace feel like theirs. The kettle is also a natural meeting point: it is where people from different teams, and different countries, actually talk to each other.
Start with a quick tea poll
Before you order, ask the team in a short poll which teas they drink. Three questions are enough:
- Black, green, herbal, rooibos or fruit: what do you drink most?
- With milk, with lemon or plain?
- Do you drink tea in the afternoon too, and would you prefer it caffeine-free then?
You will almost always end up with the same mix: one or two black teas, a green tea and at least one caffeine-free blend. That is exactly how our Office Tea plans are built: four different blends a month, always including a caffeine-free one.
A tea corner for every tea culture
Some blends that tend to please an international team:
- For the strong-tea crowd: a full black tea such as the spiced Cretan Chai or the bergamot-scented Earl Grey Blue, both lovely with a dash of milk.
- For green-tea drinkers: a green blend with citrus and a touch of spice, such as Byzantium.
- Caffeine-free, for the afternoon: Rooibos Orange, or a Greek herbal blend such as Olympos Secret.
- A conversation starter: Greek mountain tea, which few colleagues will have tasted before. Our guide to Greek mountain tea tells its story.
With Office Tea you do not have to choose every blend yourself: we put together a new selection from our own blends every month.
What does good office tea cost?
Startups like to know the number per cup, so here it is:
| Plan | Team size | Tea per month | Cups per month | Price | Per cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter – Tea Corner | 5–15 people | 400 g | about 160–200 | €54/month | about €0.27–0.34 |
| Team – Tea Break | 15–40 people | 800 g | about 320–400 | €95/month | about €0.24–0.30 |
| Office – Tea Ritual | 40–100 people | 1,600 g | about 640–800 | €179/month | about €0.22–0.28 |
Your tea arrives by courier, anywhere in the Netherlands. How to pick the right size for a hybrid team is explained step by step in how much tea does your office need.
Ordering as a company
- Taste first. The Office Tea Trial Box (€21.99) brings three seasonal teas of 50 g each, with free courier delivery anywhere in the Netherlands. Choose a plan afterwards and the €21.99 comes back as a one-time discount on your first Starter, Team or Office payment, valid for 30 days.
- Company details. The Trial Box is for companies: you enter your company name and KvK number when you order. We check your company quickly and then ship.
- Invoices. You receive an invoice with every order, which keeps your finance team happy.
- No lock-in. Monthly plans have no minimum term. Pause anytime, for example during the summer holidays or when everyone works from home over Christmas, and decide yourself when to restart.
- Mugs and tins for the team. Juliet tea mugs, the Filter and Lid and aroma-proof tea tins are never included in a plan, but you can add them once at a discount: 20% off for 1–5 add-ons and 25% off from 6.
We are in Amsterdam too
Holy Tea is a small family tea shop in Amsterdam, run by Greeks who, like many of your colleagues, made this city their home. For offices in Amsterdam and Amstelveen we can visit once, the first time, to present our teas and brew the trial teas together with your team. That part is entirely optional, if you would like it and have the time. Everywhere else in the Netherlands, every delivery comes by courier, with brewing instructions on each pack and a short video for each tea type.
For a full checklist of kettles, mugs and tins, read how to set up good loose-leaf tea for your team. Working mostly from home? Compare all our tea plans.
Let your team taste first
Three seasonal teas with free courier delivery anywhere in the Netherlands, and the €21.99 credited on your first Office Tea plan.