T2 Tea

T2 Tea is an Australian tea and teaware brand founded in Melbourne in 1996 by Maryanne Shearer and Jan O’Connor. It began with a single store in Fitzroy and a concept of presenting tea as a colourful, design-led experience rather than only a familiar pantry staple. The company describes its approach as reimagining an ancient ritual for modern life and making everyday moments extraordinary. The range includes teas and tisanes, matcha, teaware, brewing tools, gifts, bundles, and related accessories. Its website presents more than 100 teas and tisanes alongside teaware, and offers services including digital gift cards, corporate gifting, and recurring tea deliveries through T2 Sipscriptions. T2 also develops hospitality partnerships, with its teas served in restaurants and cafés. T2 operates through its online presence and retail experiences, and describes itself as having expanded globally from its Melbourne beginnings. Its brand identity places emphasis on colourful presentation, in-house design, and the sensory qualities of tea. The company says it works with long-standing grower partnerships and identifies as B Corp certified. It also highlights environmentally oriented packaging and plant-based teabags in its corporate gifting offer. T2 is a privately owned business. It was acquired from Unilever by the private-equity firm L Catterton. The brand continues to sell tea, teaware, and gifts through its website and retail and hospitality channels. Its current presentation pairs product discovery with an emphasis on sustainability, artistry, and making tea a considered daily ritual.

T2 Tea was founded in Melbourne in 1996 by Maryanne Shearer and Jan O’Connor. Its first location was a single store in Fitzroy. From the outset, the founders presented tea through a distinctive retail and design approach, seeking to renew interest in a longstanding everyday drink. The company’s account of its beginnings frames the brand as a modern interpretation of an ancient ritual: tea should be enjoyable not only for its flavour but also for the preparation, presentation, and experience around it. The original Melbourne store supplied the foundation for a broader brand built around blends and teaware. T2’s product offer grew to include a wide range of teas and tisanes as well as matcha, brewing equipment, gifts, and accessories. Design and colour have remained central to how the brand presents these products. T2 also developed online retail and gift services, including digital gift cards and corporate gifting, extending its offer beyond purchases made in a physical store. Over time, the business expanded beyond its original location. T2 describes its development as growth from a cult following to global expansion, supported by online activity, retail experiences, and hospitality partnerships. Its teas are available through restaurant and café partners as well as direct-to-consumer channels. The company also introduced T2 Sipscriptions, a recurring delivery service intended to fit customers’ tea-drinking routines. T2’s present-day brand story places sustainability alongside design and product experience. The company says it has long-standing grower partnerships and is B Corp certified. It also points to its Melbourne studio’s in-house design work and, in its corporate gifting materials, to environmentally friendly packaging and plant-based teabags. These statements position the brand’s development not only as retail expansion but also as an effort to connect tea consumption with sourcing, design, and everyday rituals. In an ownership change, Unilever sold T2 to private-equity firm L Catterton. T2 continues to operate as a tea and teaware brand, with its website offering teas, tisanes, matcha, teaware, gifts, and related services. Its history therefore spans a single Melbourne shop, the development of a recognisable design-led product and retail identity, and expansion into online, international, and hospitality channels.

• 1996

  T2 founded in Melbourne

• Expansion into global, online, retail, and hospitality channels

• Acquired by L Catterton

A colourful, design-led tea brand that presents tea as a sensory, sustainable, and elevated everyday ritual.

• Tea and tisanes

  The core range includes tea blends and tisanes; the website says its digital gift card can be redeemed toward more than 100 teas and tisanes.

• Teaware and brew tools

  T2 offers teaware and equipment for preparing tea.

• Matcha

  The website features matcha products, including certified organic matcha powder.

• T2 Sipscriptions

  A flexible recurring-delivery service designed around customers’ tea-drinking schedules.

• Gifting

  The offer includes digital gift cards and corporate gifts, as well as giftable tea and teaware.

• Unilever sale to L CattertonOther

1. 1T2 Tea: 30 Years of Extraordinary Tea, Teaware & Gifts | T2 Tea AUt2tea.com
2. 2Our Story | T2 Tea AUt2tea.com
3. 3Corporate Gifts - Customised Business Gifts At T2 Tea | T2 Tea AUt2tea.com
4. 4Digital Gift Cards | T2 Tea AUt2tea.com