this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2024
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As far as I can tell, Darjeeling and regular old Irish breakfast tea essentially taste the same. But the former is more expensive. I think I've been scammed by Big Tea. (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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I'm on a weekend vacation and forgot to bring my tea and the international grocery didn't have it, so I settled for Darjeeling. I can barely notice the difference. It's so subtle that it might as well just be a different tea brand.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Tea bags -- depending upon your locality -- are also a large source of micro plastic consumption. I've switched to loose leaf but it's ridiculously expensive and very worse.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 2 weeks ago

"Tea" inside tea bags is just dust from the tea factory floors. Micro plastics are the least of your concern.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Microplastic? I thought teabags were quite organic. Do you have a source on being microplastic?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Oh, those "premium" ones. Yeah, those are clearly plastic. Premium cancer dispensers. ~~But the~~ ... oh, yeah, even the "normal ones" are paper fiber "sealed with plastic". Sometimes biodegradable, sometimes not, and sometimes not plastic.

  • FSC-Certified Paper Bags
    Many of Twinings’ traditional string-and-tag tea bags now use paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). These bags are reinforced with plant-based sealants instead of conventional plastic.
  • Compostable Tea Bags
    Twinings offers fully compostable tea bags in selected product lines. These bags decompose in home composting systems, making them convenient for eco-conscious consumers.

Amazing. Learned something new again and how I'm being poisoned by my lovely tea containers. Ain't the world grand?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Sounds like the same study in both articles? And the BBC says it was specifically to 'premium' plastic tea bags?

The fabric ones should be fine then?

Edit: sealed with PLA which is industrially compostable, but not home compostable : https://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/our-packaging No mention of how bad it is to consume.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'd expect (and from experience is the case) loose leaf to be cheaper, since it requires less packaging.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Loose is usually higher in quality (depending on brand). The tea bags are usually just dust and basically production trash.
Good quality tea can also be brewed multiple times. And there you can make the price good again.
Say 12g cost 20€. Brewing 4g one time equals 5€ per cup.
If you brew the same 4g 5 times it reduces to 1€ per cup.
Some teas can be brewed up to 6 or 7 times but I had only luck with <5 times.

I am not saying tea bags are shit but they arent good either. A local testing company in Germany also tested a high amount of heavy metals in tea like lead.
Loose tea isnt immune to that but may be less suscepticle to it due to less machine handling.