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Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup

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Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup

#151

Post by Birch-san »

shanecleveland wrote: post #121

I drink tea over coffee (for digestive reasons), and I assume I am missing out on really good tea. Any readily-available loose-leaf tea recommendations?

Genmaicha is a wonderful green tea based on sencha, with brown rice and sometimes popcorn added. Tastes a little nutty.

Dragonwell is a nice take on green tea. It's easy to drink endlessly, and a good choice for your main drink.

Keemun is a subtle take on black tea. Good to have in the rotation when you've bored of breakfast tea.

Rose black tea is a great treat to rest with. I've found it hard to acquire lately.

Gyokuro is a super expensive green tea, impressive for special occasions.

Matcha powder is nice if you're in the mood, and looks great sprinkled on a coffee.

I tend to buy from Tea Makers of London.

Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup

#152

Post by fennecfoxen »

smn1234 wrote: post #100
joshvm wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Make sure you actually buy loose leaf tea. Even "respectable" brands like Twinings in the UK sell what looks like dregs. Its definitely not leaves. I've not seen an appreciable difference in brew time using loose leaf. A mug of Earl Gray should be done in a few minutes either way.

ever tried T2?

T2 is all about drowning out a mid-grade tea with random fruity flavors. Their actual high-quality teas are dangerously overpriced. I guess they make an okay Earl Grey, but I'm not a huge fan of the brand generally.

Try Lupicia (which has retail shops in the Bay Area), or Rare Tea Co, or Kettl, or something.

Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup

#153

Post by bsder »

roboys wrote: post #53
simias wrote: post #7

Loose tea is often cheaper and of better quality in my experience. If you brew tea a lot using a reusable strainer seems like a much better choice. I'm also entirely convinced that these plastic pyramid-shaped bags are pure marketing. Then again, I find Lipton tea absolutely terrible regardless of the shape of the bag.

My buddy used to work for Lipton. He explained that they use the cheapest grade of tea (dust) available. Also many tea companies mix non-tea additives (fillers) to their tea bags. After hearing this I decided, if it's not full loose leaf, I don't drink it. We found that companies like Elephant Chateau ( http://elephantchateau.com ) deliver the 3 highest grades of tea direct from Ceylon mountain estates with the optio…

> Elephant Chateau (http://elephantchateau.com) deliver the 3 highest grades of tea direct from Ceylon mountain estates with the option for plant-based pyramid bags (soilon) or a free stainless steel infuser.

And the "Shop" button takes me to Amazon?

My skepticism radar is going off.

Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup

#154

Post by sandworm101 »

comtn wrote: post #144
brokenkebab wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, bagged tea exists because there are lots of buyers who only want quick refreshing non-coffee caffeine, and don't care for taste that much. Or sometimes they just want a background for those 100 g. of sugar you mentioned. Tea dust is a perfect match for this market, because it releases everything it holds to water immediately, while whole leaves may require some patience, and proper procedure.

Celestial Seasons uses high quality ingredients, offering tours for anyone in the Boulder, Colorado area. They also use a patented pillow bag according to their FAQ: unique pillow-style tea bag that doesn't need a string, tag, staple or individual wrapper—and as a result, we save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year.

>> we save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills

3.5 million pounds? Of tiny strings and staples? Wouldn't that require literally billions of teabags to reach 3.5 million pounds saved?

Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup

#155

Post by kjw »

fitzroy wrote: post #134
shanecleveland wrote: post #121

I drink tea over coffee (for digestive reasons), and I assume I am missing out on really good tea. Any readily-available loose-leaf tea recommendations?

I love Mariage Frères, Eros. Also their Marco Polo and Earl Grey. I'm curious to try some others mentioned in the comments.

Second MF. While expensive, their individually bagged teas use cotton muslin.

Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup

#156

Post by madhadron »

shanecleveland wrote: post #121

I drink tea over coffee (for digestive reasons), and I assume I am missing out on really good tea. Any readily-available loose-leaf tea recommendations?

I mail ordered from TeeGschwendner (https://www.teegschwendner.de/en) for years, and their quality is very solid. I stopped because our local yarn store (!) had a truly excellent looseleaf tea selection.

Sadly, going to an upscale tea place in an urban area does not guarantee you decent tea, nor are places consistent. There are places that have nice blacks and greens, but utterly miserable rooibos (this is quite common).

Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup

#157

Post by smn1234 »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #152
smn1234 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ever tried T2?

T2 is all about drowning out a mid-grade tea with random fruity flavors. Their actual high-quality teas are dangerously overpriced. I guess they make an okay Earl Grey, but I'm not a huge fan of the brand generally. Try Lupicia (which has retail shops in the Bay Area), or Rare Tea Co, or Kettl, or something.

can you expand on _something_? I'd love to try out all those you're familiar with and recommend

Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup

#158

Post by fao_ »

comtn wrote: post #144
brokenkebab wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, bagged tea exists because there are lots of buyers who only want quick refreshing non-coffee caffeine, and don't care for taste that much. Or sometimes they just want a background for those 100 g. of sugar you mentioned. Tea dust is a perfect match for this market, because it releases everything it holds to water immediately, while whole leaves may require some patience, and proper procedure.

Celestial Seasons uses high quality ingredients, offering tours for anyone in the Boulder, Colorado area. They also use a patented pillow bag according to their FAQ: unique pillow-style tea bag that doesn't need a string, tag, staple or individual wrapper—and as a result, we save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year.

> unique pillow-style tea bag that doesn't need a string, tag, staple or individual wrapper—and as a result, we save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year.

Assuming the tea actually sells

Do the 'pillow-style tea bag's use plastic?

Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup

#159

Post by mc32 »

sandworm101 wrote: post #154
comtn wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Celestial Seasons uses high quality ingredients, offering tours for anyone in the Boulder, Colorado area. They also use a patented pillow bag according to their FAQ: unique pillow-style tea bag that doesn't need a string, tag, staple or individual wrapper—and as a result, we save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year.

>> we save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills 3.5 million pounds? Of tiny strings and staples? Wouldn't that require literally billions of teabags to reach 3.5 million pounds saved?

Yeah it seems overstated. Maybe they mean in terms of raw materials? Like iron ore and extra cotton production... still seems steep.

Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup

#160

Post by gniv »

mikestew wrote: post #43

Ugh, yet another "hmm, never thought of that" thing to worry about, but it comes at a good time. I was just giving thought to going to back to loose leaf and a tea ball as I was preparing some Trader Joe's Earl Grey that comes in an individual plastic wrapper, along with a string and a bag, and whatever else. For a cup of tea. I'm one step away from a Kuerig. Other brands in the cupboard aren't a whole lot better on…

Most TJ teas come in paper bags. It's still wasteful because of the outer plastic wrapper, but at least you're not ingesting these plastic microbeads.
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