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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

#21

Post by dragontamer »

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.

> Loose tea is often cheaper and of better quality in my experience.

This is indeed my experience as well. Still, the convenience factor of Lipton tea cannot be understated.

I'm personally willing to bring in my own tea, metal strainers + teaspoon measurement to my workplace for example (hot-water is usually available in most offices). But that's probably too much for a lot of people.

In contrast, you can usually get Lipton Tea from the office supplies, use some paper cups (also office supplies), and get to tea drinking without having to buy the supplies.

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

#22

Post by windsurfer »

londons_explore wrote: post #12
sleavey wrote: post #3

Plastic tea bags aside, I was shocked to learn that many paper tea bags still use plastic glue [1], which can contaminate compost. [1] https://www.countryliving.com/uk/create/food-and-drink/news/...

There really aren't many glues which are compostable, non-plastic, non-toxic and can withstand 10 minutes of boiling water.

Egg whites?

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

#23

Post by NietTim »

londons_explore wrote: post #12
sleavey wrote: post #3

Plastic tea bags aside, I was shocked to learn that many paper tea bags still use plastic glue [1], which can contaminate compost. [1] https://www.countryliving.com/uk/create/food-and-drink/news/...

There really aren't many glues which are compostable, non-plastic, non-toxic and can withstand 10 minutes of boiling water.

Are staples bad for compost? I've had some teabags that used staples, they worked fine for the purpose

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

#24

Post by AdmiralAsshat »

I drink a decent amount of tea, and I feel like this is largely confined to the mid-grade teas that are fancier than your basic Lipton or Twinings, but not-so-fancy as to be loose-leaf.

I'm thinking specifically of stuff like Harney and Sons, that you often see for sale at your nearest B&N or Starbucks: https://www.amazon.com/Harney-Sons-Hot-Cinnamon-Spice/dp/B00...

I also see grocery-store versions at Target and such. Those appear to be the ones that employee the plastic triangle satchet. The cheaper stuff, from what I can tell, is still using paper.

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

#25

Post by NeedMoreTea »

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.

Tea bag tea is much finer dust compared to loose leaf of the same brand. So it brews faster (and worse). They change the blend to try and compensate.

Tried Liptons once. On our very first trip to the USA, we needed a decent cup of tea. Visited Walmart, bought really expensive pack of Liptons which I think was one of just a very few teas among millions of coffees. Made tea, instantly regretted it. Surprising considering it's from Unilever who make the UK's best seller: PG, which is OK but a bit weak.

The place we stayed that leg got most of a pack of free tea bags, and we found somewhere that could make tea - without ice or lemon. :)

Thankfully plastic tea bags don't seem to have become popular here. Asda (Walmart) did them for a while, so we switched brands.

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

#26

Post by simias »

dragontamer wrote: post #21
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.

> Loose tea is often cheaper and of better quality in my experience. This is indeed my experience as well. Still, the convenience factor of Lipton tea cannot be understated. I'm personally willing to bring in my own tea, metal strainers + teaspoon measurement to my workplace for example (hot-water is usually available in most offices). But that's probably too much for a lot of people. In contrast, you can usually get…

I've been using these tea balls in office environments: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51mTZ1eURrL...

In terms of convenience I don't think it's significantly worse than sachets. But yeah, I do buy my own tea and store it in my drawer.

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

#27

Post by pmontra »

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.

I remember a local guide in Uzbekistan (I was on vacation there years ago) "The good tea, we keep it. The average one, we sell it. The bad one we send it to Europe to make tea bags."

Luckily I had been using leaves to make my tea at home. Probably the average quality one.

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

#28

Post by skookum »

rayiner wrote: post #4

Modern tea paraphernalia is stupid. Like those fancy woven strings that act like wicks and dribble tea down the side. It's hard to even find normal tea anymore. I ask for tea and people ask "what flavor." And I'm like "tea flavor." My Bangladeshi mom uses Lipton tea bags and a bit of milk. Should be good enough for everybody.

Which flavor is "tea flavor"? Black, pu-erh, oolong, green, white? For black, is it Assam, Ceylon, Darjeeling, etc, etc? Why should the specific flavor blend that Lipton's tasters put together for their Yellow Label be good enough for everybody?

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

#30

Post by RandomInteger4 »

rayiner wrote: post #4

Modern tea paraphernalia is stupid. Like those fancy woven strings that act like wicks and dribble tea down the side. It's hard to even find normal tea anymore. I ask for tea and people ask "what flavor." And I'm like "tea flavor." My Bangladeshi mom uses Lipton tea bags and a bit of milk. Should be good enough for everybody.

Any string dipped in tea is going to wick moisture and dribble on the side of the tea cup. This is due to a property of liquids known as capillary action.
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