History and origins

Publicly available profiles identify Angelyca Nery as the entrepreneur behind The Tea Source MNL. According to 8List, Nery started the business out of her passion for tea and developed blends using suppliers from different parts of the world. The publication describes the brand’s range as spanning oolong, matcha, fruit and flower-based teas, with individual blends intended to have their own character and story.

The brand has been present in Philippine specialty-tea discussions for several years. A 2022 When In Manila feature included The Tea Source among local brands selling loose-leaf tea and highlighted flavors including Lychee Black Tea, Peach Berry Tea, Cacao Mint Tea, and Chamomile Apple.

The brand also appears to have developed a presence beyond its own website through marketplaces such as Shopee and Lazada; an earlier feature specifically noted those purchasing channels.

One of the most distinctive characteristics of Tea Source MNL is the breadth of its catalog. Rather than focusing exclusively on traditional black, green, or oolong tea, the brand combines conventional teas with botanical ingredients, flowers, fruits, spices and functional-style herbal products.

Its catalog includes several major categories:

Traditional teas

Tea Source carries teas from established tea traditions, including:

• Black tea
• Green tea
• Oolong
• Puerh
• Ceylon teas
• Assam teas
• Chinese teas
• Jasmine-based teas

Examples currently listed include Assam Black Tea CTC, Anxi Tieguanyin Oolong, Biluochun Green Tea, Ceylon Uva Black Tea, and Ripe Puerh.[1] This gives the brand credibility with more conventional tea drinkers while allowing it to cater to people who are simply curious about different tea varieties.

Herbal and botanical teas

A substantial portion of the range consists of caffeine-free herbal infusions, including:

• Ginger
• Lemongrass
• Lavender
• Lotus leaf
• Burdock root
• Roasted barley
• Butterfly pea
• Various flowers and botanicals

For example, the brand sells a roasted barley infusion made from Hordeum vulgare and describes it as naturally caffeine-free.[1] Its ginger tea is similarly described as a caffeine-free infusion made from dried ginger root, while its current product format includes glass jars, pouches and teabags.[2]

Flower teas

Flower tea is one of Tea Source MNL’s most recognizable areas. The catalog includes products such as:

• Jasmine buds
• Lavender
• Butterfly pea
• Forget-me-not
• Lotus leaf
• Blooming flower teas
• Other dried floral ingredients

The Jasmine Buds Tea, for example, consists of jasmine buds and is marketed as a caffeine-free floral infusion.[1] The brand’s blooming flower teas are particularly notable. A 2026 buying guide from mybest Philippines described The Tea Source MNL as a pioneer of blooming teas in the Philippine market and highlighted its combinations featuring flowers such as jasmine, chrysanthemum, rose, carnation and lily. This is important to the brand’s identity because blooming tea is not merely consumed for flavor—it also turns brewing into a visual experience.

Flavored and blended teas

Tea Source also takes traditional tea bases and combines them with other ingredients to create more contemporary flavors. Examples found in its catalog include:

• Cocoa Green Tea
• Cacao Mint Black Tea
• Pomegranate Strawberry Black Tea
• Banana Almond Rooibos
• Berry Fusion
• Peach Berry Tea
• Lychee Black Tea

Its current Cocoa Green Tea, for example, combines green tea with cocoa beans and is positioned around the contrast between grassy tea notes and rich chocolate flavors.[1] The Pomegranate Strawberry Black Tea similarly combines black tea with strawberry, pomegranate, red dragon fruit and pepper.[1] This experimentation is arguably one of the brand’s defining characteristics.

Tea Source MNL’s blooming teas deserve special attention because they help differentiate the brand from ordinary tea retailers. Blooming teas typically consist of tea leaves and flowers that are formed into compact shapes. When immersed in hot water, the bundle gradually opens, revealing the flowers inside.

Tea Source has offered combinations incorporating flowers such as:

• Jasmine
• Chrysanthemum
• Rose
• Carnation
• Lily

The result is effectively a tea and centerpiece experience rather than simply a beverage. This also makes the products particularly suitable for gifting.

Another recurring feature of the brand is its emphasis on presentation. Tea Source products have been offered in:

• Glass jars/bottles
• Zip pouches
• Vacuum packs
• Teabags
• Gift boxes

Current product listings commonly give customers multiple size options—for example, a glass jar alongside larger pouches and packs of individually portioned teabags.[1] Earlier coverage of the brand also highlighted its loose-tea gift boxes, which could contain several tea jars, an infuser and information about the teas. This makes Tea Source function not only as a tea retailer but also as a gift-oriented lifestyle brand.

Gift products form another part of Tea Source’s identity. The catalog has included sets such as:

• Blissful Symphony Tea Set
• Brewmaster’s Choice
• Calm and Cozy
• Other themed tea collections

The product catalog shows these alongside individual teas, suggesting that the company treats tea sets as a significant part of its retail offering rather than merely an occasional seasonal product.[1]

The company has also expanded beyond conventional brewed tea. Its catalog currently includes superfood and botanical extract powders, with examples such as:

• Agaricus blazei extract
• American ginseng extract
• Ashitaba extract
• Buckthorn bark extract
• Burdock root extract
• Buddha’s Hand extract
• Other concentrated botanical products

The store specifically promotes these as “Superfood Extract Powders.”[1] This represents an evolution from a conventional tea shop toward a broader botanical wellness and beverage ingredient business.

Tea Source’s assortment suggests several underlying principles.

Variety and discovery

Rather than restricting itself to a particular tea-growing region or tea style, the brand encourages customers to explore a very large variety of flavors and ingredients. Its catalog ranges from traditional Assam and Ceylon teas to unusual botanical infusions and fruit-flavored blends.[1]

Accessibility

The brand sells tea in relatively small quantities as well as larger packs. A customer can therefore experiment with a small glass jar or teabag selection before committing to a larger pouch. For example, current listings for products such as ginger tea offer everything from small glass jars to 1-kg quantities.[2]

Tea as an experience

The emphasis on blooming flowers, unusual flavors, attractive packaging and gift sets suggests that the brand views tea as more than a functional drink. It is also about discovery, aesthetics, relaxation, gifting, experimentation, and personal rituals.

Tea Source states on its product pages that its products undergo a food-grade sterilization process, presenting this as part of its quality guarantee.[1] The company’s product pages also provide unusually detailed information for many items, including:

• Ingredients
• Caffeine content
• Flavor profile
• Liquor color
• Brewing instructions
• Suggested occasions
• Food pairings
• Packaging sizes

For example, its current pomegranate-strawberry black tea listing specifies the ingredients, caffeine status, brewing temperature and time, serving suggestions and food pairings.[1] This makes the website function partly as a tea education and catalog platform, rather than simply an online checkout.

Based on its catalog and public descriptions, Tea Source MNL occupies an interesting position in the Philippine tea market. It is not purely a traditional tea merchant because it sells many experimental blends and botanical infusions. It is not purely a wellness company because traditional teas, flavored teas and gift products are central to the assortment. And it is not simply a bubble-tea brand; its focus is on loose-leaf tea, brewing, botanicals and tea culture.

A useful way to describe its positioning would therefore be: a Philippine specialty-tea and botanical lifestyle brand that makes tea discovery accessible through a broad selection of loose-leaf teas, floral infusions, creative blends and giftable tea experiences.

Strengths of the brand

• Very broad assortment: Customers can move between traditional teas, herbal infusions and experimental blends.
• Strong visual appeal: Blooming teas and glass-jar packaging make the products highly giftable.
• Beginner-friendly: Small packs and teabags allow customers to experiment.
• Tea discovery: The unusual flavors distinguish the brand from supermarkets’ conventional tea selections.
• Gift positioning: Dedicated tea sets make the brand relevant for birthdays, holidays and corporate/personal gifting.
• Educational product pages: Brewing instructions and flavor descriptions help customers understand unfamiliar teas.

Tea Source MNL appears to have built its identity around the idea of making specialty tea approachable and interesting in the Philippines. Rather than presenting tea solely as a formal or traditional beverage, the brand brings together traditional tea culture and modern lifestyle retail. Its products can appeal to a serious tea drinker looking for Assam, oolong or puerh, while also appealing to someone who simply wants a colorful blooming flower tea or an unusual fruit blend.[1] That breadth is probably the most important characteristic of the brand.

The present online catalog shows that Tea Source has expanded considerably beyond a small loose-leaf tea selection. It now encompasses traditional tea, flavored tea, herbal tea, flower tea, blooming tea, botanical ingredients, extract powders, and tea gift sets.[1] This creates a fairly broad ecosystem around tea and botanicals rather than a single-product brand.

1. Products – Tea Source
2. Ginger Slices Tea | Herbal Tea | Caffeine-Free | The Tea Source MNL