If you don't notice the difference, well, your loss. I take a nice Darjeeling or Assam over a British Zombie Tea any time.
this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2024
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Look at this fella, drinking tea on their weekend vacation. π
OPs reasons may be wrong, but the conclusion is nonetheless correct: Big tea did scam you.
I KNEW IT!
One time a friend brought me some good quality, loose leaf Darjeeling tea. The box said to drink without milk or sugar, so I thought I'd give it a try.
I am now a convert to plain black tea. That stuff was good!
A few years ago I got myself a nice tea maker with adjustable temperature and brew time. Then I got some nice Assam tea, brewed a pot, and it turned out so nice I decided it didn't even need milk. Then I ended up on a wikipedia spiral and found out that the Brits apparently started putting milk in their tea when they started drinking Assam tea, after being used to milder Chinese teas. Heh.
I'd argue that most people can't see nor taste the difference between similar products unless they are literally beside each other.
Many products, sure. And with many caveats; Earl Grey is clearly distinct from Darjeeling, although both are black teas, simply because of the added bergamot. I can tell many apples apart - I couldn't name them in a blind test, but in most cases I can tell you which aren't Honey Crisp - the textures and tastes are very different for many varietals of apples. However, I don't think I could identify what kinds of apples are in an apple cider.
I'm sure you have your own examples. I'm not disagreeing with you, in general.
Are you comparing bagged tea or looseleaf? I feel like bagged tea tends to taste pretty similar, especially if sourced from a grocery store vs a tea shop.
Bagged. And that could be the case.
Seconded. Most grocery store brands are low quality tea. Think grocery store tea is to good tea as Folgers instant is to a decent coffee shop fresh grind.
Good tea isnβt easy to find, at least in the US.
If you can find a place that sells good tea loose leaf youβll enjoy it much more and be able to taste differences.
Put four bags in the cup this morning. Now I can taste the difference.
Ouch.
I need the caffeine unfortunately.
Thatβll work.
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.
"Tea" inside tea bags is just dust from the tea factory floors. Micro plastics are the least of your concern.
Microplastic? I thought teabags were quite organic. Do you have a source on being microplastic?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49845940 https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/27/health/microplastics-tea-bags-study-scn-scli-intl/index.html
It's a subject I follow more closely than most I bother with.
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 Twiningsβ 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?
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.
I'd expect (and from experience is the case) loose leaf to be cheaper, since it requires less packaging.
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 20β¬. Brewing 4g one time equals 5β¬ per cup.
If you brew the same 4g 5 times it reduces to 1β¬ 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.
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