Frequently Asked Questions

Are your teas safe to drink in pregnancy?

Each of our teas has been designed with a specific purpose in mind, and the Newborn Wonder and Milk’s Up are not designed to be used when pregnant.  Our The Final Push blend, is best drunk from 32 weeks onwards as this is an aid to preparing the body for labour.

If you have any concerns about what to drink, we strongly recommend talking to your doctor or midwife for additional advice.

Do you have to be pregnant or breastfeeding to drink HotTea Mama teas?

Absolutely not!  The HotTea Papas in our families love the blends and we regularly fight over who gets to drink the last one in a pack.  That said, they are designed for all the mamas and mamas to be who need something lovely to drink, so they take priority.

Are all HotTea Mama teas caffeine-free?

All except Newborn Wonder are caffeine-free and only use fruit and herbal ingredients.  Newborn Wonder contains white tea which does have caffeine, making it perfect to drink once your baby arrives and you need some help staying awake.  It’s also really high in anti-oxidants to support your body as you get used to broken sleep with your new baby…

Do you sell wholesale?

Yes, just drop us a line if you want to stock our teas – they’re the perfect gift for mamas and mamas to be, as well as great to serve in cafes, yoga studios, hospitals, Mums groups…

How should I store my tea?

We have selected the most amazing whole leaf ingredients to go into our teabags, and they will retain their flavour best if you make sure you always close the box after you take out a tea bag, and store the box in a cool, dark, dry place.

How should I make a cup of HotTea Mama tea?

Each of our packs has simple instructions on it, but essentially you should use 1 tea bag per person, and freshly boiled water for all except Newborn Wonder.  This tea works best with 80 degree water (let your kettle sit for 5 minutes with the lid open after boiling).  Brew for 3-5 minutes depending on how strong you like it.

As the tea bags contain whole leaves, you can make at least 2 cups of tea from each bag, so don’t throw it away – reuse them!  Just make sure you brew for a little longer second time around.

Also, if you’re anything like us, you might end up microwaving your tea – all of our blends still taste delicious after a quick re-heat, we checked!

Are your tea bags biodegradable?

Yes, our tea bags are made from a very special, biodegradable nylon.  It is a by-product of corn-starch and in an industrial composter it will break down within 6-8 weeks.  It’d take at least 2 years at home, so we recommend putting them in your food waste bin and not your composter

Are HotTea Mama teas organic?

We have to source our teas from specialist suppliers and do so on the basis of taste and quality, to make sure they are as delicious and beneficial for you as possible.  This means that sometimes the ingredients are organic, and sometimes not.  We would like to work towards being 100% organic, but at the moment that isn’t possible…

Why do your teas cost so much?

Our teas are more expensive than a standard cuppa that you find in the supermarket, this is simply because of the quality of the ingredients that we use and the special biodegradable, whole leaf tea bag.  We also proudly blend and pack in the UK rather than overseas.  Each of these things mean that you are getting a delicious cuppa, bought at a fair price from a British company.

How can I pay for my tea?  Will my details be safe and secure?

You can either pay using a debit or credit card, or alternatively use PayPal.  We use a secure server as part of the Shopify ecommerce platform, to take your details and this is protected.

What is your Privacy Policy?

WHO ARE WE?

HotTea Mama is a tea retailer based in the UK with a registered address of 19 Isis Close, Long Hanborough, OX298JN. This privacy policy covers the use of data by HotTea Mama. You can contact us at this address or via email on: contact@hotteamama.com.

For legal purposes, HotTea Mama is known as the 'data controller'.

 

HOW DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION?

When you place an order online or by phone

We will gather all the information we need to process your order. (For example: name, email, postal address, billing address, card number or other payment method details, contact phone number. We also capture your IP address for fraud check purposes only). When you first place an order online you will also be given the option to opt in for email marketing. We will not send you email marketing unless you tick the box to ask us to, or unless you have asked us to previously. You can opt out of email marketing at any time by clicking the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email, or by contacting customer services.

When you place an order with us online, we may also send you a feedback request email even if you have not opted-in to receive email marketing. We do this so that we can improve our service to you. Any feedback you send us will remain anonymous. You can opt out of receiving these emails by clicking the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email, or by contacting customer services.

As with all sensitive data we keep all of these details securely in our systems. The exception is payment details which are sent to and managed securely by our payment service provider. We do not keep a record of your credit card, for example, apart from the card type and last four digits for reference.

When you opt in to receive marketing communications from us

There are several ways you might do this, for example:

  • using an online form;
  • when entering a competition and asking us to send you emails.

You can opt out of email marketing at any time by clicking the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email, or opt out of any marketing by contacting customer services.

When you contact customer services

We keep records of any communications we have with you so that we offer the best service to you and so that we can refer to them at later date if we need to. As with all sensitive data, we keep these details securely.

 

WHAT DO WE DO WITH YOUR DATA?

When you place an order online or by phone – fulfilling your order

Primarily we use the data you provide to us to fulfil our contract with you: we use your delivery address to know where to send your order; we use your email address and mobile phone number to update you about your order status.

When you place an order online or by phone, or make a transaction in store – marketing

For marketing purposes we also use transaction data to analyse customer behaviour and to ensure we send you the most appropriate marketing (if you have said you want us to). For example,

  • if you buy a certain product we might send you information relating to other products based on your purchase history;
  • if we want to know how many customers live in a certain area, we might generate a report to find that out.

The legal basis we use for processing data for marketing purposes is called 'legitimate interest'.

We have a legal obligation to keep this data for six years in case we need to refer to it. However, we will usually keep data for twelve years since your last interaction: customers who haven't shopped with us for several years sometimes return to us.

When you opt in to receive marketing from us

We use any data you provide to us (at any time) as way to send you the most relevant marketing. For example:

  • if you have provided us with your date of birth we might send you a birthday offer;
  • if you have entered a competition to win Morning Rescue we might send you marketing relating to that tea;
  • if you have given us an address in a certain area we might let you know about a new retailers stocking our tea near you.

If you have not made a transaction with us, but you have opted in to receive marketing by email or any other method the legal basis for processing is called 'consent'.

We will keep personal data unless you tell us you no longer wish to receive marketing from us, in which case we will remove your opt-in, but keep non-transactional data for twelve years afterwards in case you change your mind.

When you contact customer services

We only use this data to answer your query, to refer to at a later date if necessary and to train our staff. We have a legal obligation to keep this data for six years after which time it will be deleted from our databases.

 

SHARING YOUR DATA

We do not share your data with any third party outside of those required to fulfill services for us.

However, they can only use this data to fulfill those services for us and cannot pass it on, use it to fulfill services for other companies, or use it for their own interests. The types of companies we use are, for example:

  • courier companies (to send orders);
  • data analysis companies (to provide us with tools to analyse our data);
  • customer review companies (so you can leave feedback and we can improve our service to you).

We are also obliged to pass your personal data onto a legal authority if instructed to do so under certain circumstances, for example, for the prevention of crime.

YOUR RIGHTS RELATING TO PERSONAL DATA

You have the right to access your personal data (to ask us what information we hold about you).
You have the right to ask for your data to be deleted or corrected.
You have the right to ask us to stop processing your data.
You have the right to stop receiving marketing from us.

For all of the above, please do get in touch. Where we are obliged to comply with your request we will do so as quickly as possible.

COMPLAINTS

If you have a complaint about the way we use your data please contact us. If we cannot resolve the problem for you, you can also contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): https://ico.org.uk/.