What a 100g pack actually goes through between our shelf and your kitchen
Same-day delivery sounds simple until you try to schedule a 100g pack of Fènghuáng Dān Cōng (凤凰单丛) from Guangdong across three time zones and two courier networks. We wrote this FAQ because the questions we get on the phone every week are almost always the same: when’s the cut-off in my city, what happens if I’m at work, why does the EU pack take a week when the Moscow one takes ninety minutes, and what exactly is the courier doing during that window.
The short version: tea.taxi runs a portion-sized catalogue (around fifty hand-picked 100g packs) across a regional courier network in Russia, with a separate cross-border channel for EU destinations. Inside the major RU cities we use 1–2 hour express partners. Outside that radius — or for anything that crosses a customs line — the model changes, and the timelines change with it. None of this is unusual. It only becomes confusing when a site promises “fast delivery” without telling you which fast.
This page covers six things. First, the cut-off clock in each launch city, because everything else depends on it. Second, who actually carries the package — we partner with named regional couriers rather than running our own fleet, and that matters when something goes wrong. Third, the handover: photo confirmation, signature thresholds, what a courier will and won’t do if no one answers the door. Fourth, the reattempt window and how to reschedule without losing your slot. Fifth, the EU pipeline — customs declarations, the 150€ threshold, what a HS code is, why your Bái Háo Yín Zhēn (白毫银针) from Fuding might sit in a Vilnius warehouse for forty-eight hours before clearing. Sixth, the awkward edge cases: damaged seals, wrong address, gift packs going to someone who didn’t know they were coming.
A word on tea itself. The 100g format exists because that’s the practical impulse-buy size — enough for roughly twelve to fifteen gōngfū sessions of a rolled oolong, or about thirty Western-brewed mugs of Tài Píng Hóu Kuí (太平猴魁) green from Huangshan. Anything smaller and the per-gram economics break for a courier run. Anything larger and we’re in the territory of thetea.app’s monthly subscriptions or puerh.app’s brick-and-cake catalogue, which both ship through different channels with longer lead times. If you came here looking for a 357g cake of aged sheng, tea.taxi isn’t the right shop — puerh.app holds that inventory and ships via tracked post, not express courier. Conversely, if you want a session with the tea rather than the tea itself, tea.events lists this week’s tasting calendar.
We also want to be honest about what same-day cannot do. It cannot reliably reach addresses outside the city ring road. It cannot guarantee a specific fifteen-minute window — the courier networks we use quote two-hour bands. It cannot deliver to a parcel locker if you’ve ordered a gift-wrapped pack, because the wrapping doesn’t fit standard locker dimensions. And it cannot cross a customs border without paperwork, which is why EU orders are routed differently and quoted in days, not hours.
If an answer below doesn’t cover your situation, the closing note explains how to reach a human and which sister site to check for related ground — tea.community handles the broader logistics conversations, and tea.equipment covers the few delivery cases that involve teaware shipped alongside the leaf.
Common questions
What are the same-day cut-off times in each city?
Moscow and Saint Petersburg: order by 18:00 local for same-day delivery, with the last courier dispatch leaving the warehouse at 19:30. Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk: cut-off is 15:00 local because the local courier network closes earlier. Nizhny Novgorod and Rostov-on-Don: 14:00 local. Orders placed after cut-off roll to the next business day automatically — we don’t ask you to reconfirm. Sundays operate on a reduced schedule with a 13:00 cut-off in Moscow and Saint Petersburg only; other cities resume Monday.
Who actually delivers the package?
We partner with three regional courier networks rather than running our own fleet. Inside Moscow and Saint Petersburg the express tier is handled by a local same-day partner with two-hour delivery bands. In other RU launch cities we use a different regional carrier that quotes a four-hour band. The courier’s name and phone number appear on your tracking page once dispatch is confirmed. We don’t anonymise the handover — if the courier is running late, you can call them directly, and the tracking link stays live until the package is signed for.
What if no one is home when the courier arrives?
The courier will call the phone number on the order before knocking. If no answer, they wait three minutes, take a timestamped photo of the door, and leave. We then offer two free reattempts within the next 48 hours — you pick the new window through the tracking page or by replying to the dispatch SMS. After the third missed attempt the package returns to the city warehouse and you have seven days to either reschedule (paid second dispatch, around 290₽) or refund. Refunds at this stage retain the original delivery fee.
Can I leave the package with a neighbour or concierge?
Yes, but you have to mark it explicitly at checkout or via the tracking page before the courier dispatches. Without that note, the courier is instructed to hand the package only to the named recipient or to someone over eighteen at the registered address. Concierge handovers in residential complexes are common in Moscow and Saint Petersburg and add no extra fee. For gift orders we recommend against neighbour handover — the surprise effect tends to evaporate when Sergei from flat 47 signs for your Wǔyí Ròu Guì (武夷肉桂).
Is there a delivery fee, and when is it waived?
Standard same-day fee inside the city ring is 290₽ in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, 240₽ in other launch cities. Orders over 3,500₽ ship free inside the ring. Outside the ring but inside the metropolitan boundary, the fee is 450₽ flat and not waivable — that segment runs through a different courier tier with a higher per-stop cost. Gift packaging adds 180₽ on top of the delivery fee regardless of order size, because the wrap is hand-tied at the warehouse and adds about ten minutes to dispatch prep.
How does the two-hour delivery window work?
Once the courier picks up the package from the warehouse, you receive a two-hour window by SMS — for example 14:30–16:30. The courier app updates that band in real time if traffic shifts; you’ll see a narrower estimate (often forty-five minutes) appear on the tracking page about thirty minutes before arrival. We don’t offer fifteen-minute windows because the courier partners we use don’t quote that granularity, and we’d rather give you an honest two hours than a fifteen-minute promise we can’t keep.
What teas are actually available for same-day delivery?
The same-day catalogue runs to about fifty hand-picked 100g packs, refreshed seasonally. Zhou Xiang curates the green and hong cha selection from Hunan and neighbouring provinces — current picks include a Jūn Shān Yín Zhēn (君山银针) yellow from Yueyang and a Ān Huà Hēi Chá (安化黑茶) dark tea. Chen Hui Yi handles the white and yinzhen rotation from Fuding, Fujian. Fang Ting’s oolong picks from Wuyi and Anxi round out the list. The full catalogue with sourcing notes lives on /catalog; deeper provenance for any single tea is mirrored on thetea.app.
Can I order more than 100g of the same tea?
Yes — you can stack multiple 100g packs of the same tea in one order, up to ten units per SKU per order. Beyond that we ask you to contact us directly, because anything over a kilogram of a single tea is usually a wholesale or event-supply question, and we’d want to route it through tea.events or talk to you about a different price tier. Stacking doesn’t change the delivery fee — it’s per order, not per pack. The packs ship in a single courier bag for orders under 800g total weight.
How are EU cross-border orders handled?
EU orders ship from a separate fulfilment point and route through a tracked post channel rather than same-day courier. Expected transit is five to nine business days door-to-door. Each parcel is declared with the correct HS code (0902 for tea) and the actual EUR value. Orders under 150€ enter under simplified customs and typically clear within forty-eight hours of arrival in the destination country. VAT and any handling fee charged by the carrier are paid by the recipient on delivery — we cannot prepay these. Sunday and public holiday delays in the destination country are out of our control.
What’s the 150€ threshold I keep seeing mentioned?
Under EU customs rules, parcels valued at 150€ or less (excluding shipping) clear under a simplified IOSS declaration and avoid formal customs entry. Above 150€ the parcel enters formal clearance, which usually adds two to four working days and may trigger a brokerage fee from the carrier (typically 8–15€). For a 100g pack the threshold is not normally an issue — even our most expensive single-origin oolongs sit well under it. The threshold matters mainly when you stack five or more packs of premium-grade tea in one parcel.
Can I track the package once it leaves the warehouse?
Yes. The tracking page at /track/[order] goes live the moment the courier scans the bag at pickup. For RU same-day orders you’ll see the courier’s first name, the live map position, the current two-hour band, and a contact button that opens a call to their direct number. For EU orders the tracking page mirrors the carrier’s status — dispatched, in transit, customs hold, out for delivery — and updates roughly every six hours. The tracking link stays valid for thirty days after delivery in case you need to review the timestamps later.
What happens if the package arrives damaged or the seal is broken?
Refuse delivery at the door if you can — the courier returns the package to us at no cost to you, and we ship a replacement within twenty-four hours. If you only notice damage after the courier has left, photograph the outer bag and the inner pack within twenty-four hours and send the photos to the support address on your order confirmation. We replace damaged-on-arrival packs free of charge for fourteen days from delivery, no questions about whether you’ve already brewed a session. Vacuum-sealed white teas like Bái Mǔ Dān (白牡丹) are the most common claim and the easiest to verify.
Can I send a 100g pack as a gift?
Yes — the /gift flow lets you add a hand-tied wrap (180₽) and a short typed note (up to 240 characters, no emoji rendered on the card). The recipient’s name and phone go on the courier handover; your name appears only on the gift note unless you tick the box to stay anonymous. We strongly recommend confirming the recipient is home or has agreed to a concierge handover — a missed gift is more awkward to reschedule than a missed self-purchase. For gift sessions rather than gift tea, tea.events lists tasting vouchers.
Can I change the delivery address after I’ve ordered?
Until the courier scans the package at warehouse pickup, yes — log in and edit the address, or reply to the order confirmation SMS with the new one. Once the courier has scanned the bag, the address is locked in their app and we’d have to cancel and re-dispatch, which costs you another delivery fee. The cut-off for free address changes is roughly thirty minutes before your stated cut-off time. Address changes that cross city boundaries (e.g. Moscow to Mytishchi) always require cancellation and re-order; we cannot transfer mid-route.
What’s the refund policy if I change my mind?
You can cancel for a full refund up to the moment the courier scans the package at warehouse pickup — usually around two hours before the delivery window starts. After that, the order is in transit and we can only offer a refund minus the delivery fee (290₽ inside the ring). Once delivered and accepted, tea is non-returnable under Russian consumer protection rules for foodstuffs, unless the pack is sealed and you contact us within fourteen days with a photograph showing the seal intact. Damaged-on-arrival claims follow a separate process — see above.
Do you deliver to office addresses?
Yes, and it’s actually the most reliable handover. Mark “office” at checkout and include the floor and any reception instructions in the notes field. The courier will hand the package to reception or to you directly, depending on the building’s rules. We deliver to office addresses on weekdays only — Saturday and Sunday office attempts almost always fail and burn one of your two reattempts. If you work weekends, use a residential address.
What about delivery to addresses outside the launch cities?
Same-day isn’t available outside the seven launch cities. For anywhere else in Russia we ship via a tracked post channel with two to six business days transit depending on region — Vladivostok and Kamchatka sit at the longer end. The catalogue, prices, and pack sizes are identical; only the delivery fee and window change. Cross-border CIS destinations (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia) route through their respective national post and quote five to ten business days. None of the post-channel orders are eligible for the 290₽ same-day fee.
Still have questions?
If your situation isn’t covered above, the fastest route is replying directly to your order confirmation SMS or email — that thread is already linked to your order in our support tool, so whoever answers can see the courier status, the warehouse scan, and any reattempt history without you having to re-explain. Response times are typically under thirty minutes during business hours (09:00–20:00 Moscow time, seven days) and under four hours overnight.
For questions that aren’t about a specific order — sourcing, brewing parameters, whether a particular Fènghuáng Dān Cōng (凤凰单丛) is the right choice for someone who’s only ever drunk teabags — Fang Ting and Zhou Xiang both take written questions through the contact form on thetea.app, where the full sourcing dossiers live. Chen Hui Yi answers white tea questions in the same channel; her notes on the Fuding Bái Háo Yín Zhēn (白毫银针) we currently stock are worth reading before you order if you’re new to silver needles.
A few sister sites cover ground we deliberately keep off this page. tea.community runs the broader conversation about logistics, packaging, and what works for different climates — useful if you’re in a humid region and worried about how a 100g pack will store. tea.equipment handles any order that bundles teaware (a gaiwan, a fairness pitcher, a kettle) alongside the leaf, because those orders ship through a different channel with sturdier packaging. puerh.app holds the cake and brick catalogue we don’t carry here, and tea.school is where the brewing tutorials live if you’ve just received a tea and aren’t sure how to approach it. For in-person sessions with the masters named above, tea.events lists the next month’s tasting calendar by city.
We try to keep this FAQ accurate and dated. If anything here contradicts what you see on your order page, the order page wins — courier policies and customs thresholds shift more often than we update the static copy.