Your Favourite Tea Bag is Killing You.

Loose leaf tea or tea bags? Authentic or Quickie?

The debate is on since the time someone in America “invented” tea bag by mistake (the dumbest and most horrifying invention to any true blue tea lover).

Well, I made my point already there! You see, if you consider yourself a true blue tea lover, you can’t be seen with a tea bag (Forget Simon Baker in Mentalist. He even added milk to a Chamomile tea bag!) Trust me. It’s like blasphemy. Or, may be more! It’s like drinking premixed “scotch” (sounds weird right? A brand tried to sell a premix whisky – didn’t work at all) and calling yourself a whisky connoisseur.

Now, that was all about passion. But passion, these days, are not that relevant after all. We need rationale. And we need scientific reasoning. So, here it is:

Before that let’s clarify what includes loose leaf and what’s a tea bag:

Most (90%) tea bags contain small cut leaf which is primarily tea dust and very broken tea leaves and twigs; while  Whole Loose Leaf Teas are primarily made up of Whole, large and Unbroken Leaves.

Tea grades such as dust & brokens have higher surface areas which means higher exposure to the essential oils and more of a chance for them to evaporate. The large grades have a relatively lesser surface area and hence the essential oils remain intact. Hence better Aroma, Better flavor and more Antioxidants!

Tea bags have limited space for the tea leaves to let water flow and absorb very little water and hence the infusion and the yield is not very flavorful, Loose Leaf tea have space to expand and hence allow the water to be absorbed and flow through the leaves and extract good amount of vitamins, minerals, flavors all along with great aroma.

Loose leaf teas can be reinfused several times (in many cases) unlike a tea bag.

Tea bags may release tannins more quickly when compared to loose leaf tea resulting in bitter and astringent brews.

Most tea bag teas are machine picked and machine make unlike most whole loose leaf tea which are carefully handpicked and carefully selectively processed.

Not convinced yet?

Ok… No problem. Let me share with you a study called the The Glaucus Studies, 2013

The Study consisted of 25 varieties of tea bags that were tested for 365 different illegal pesticides of the eight well-known brands. They are manufactured in India and China for global distribution. Some countries already have banned these brands, but not the U.S.

Here is the list of eight brands and 25 types of teas that were found “adulterated”:

1. Tetley – Pure Green Tea, Long Leaf Green Tea
2. Twinings – Classic Assam Tea, Classic Lady Grey, English Breakfast, Earl Grey
3. Uncle Lee’s Legends of China – Green Tea, Jasmine Green Tea
4. Celestial Seasonings – Authentic Green Tea, Antioxidant Max Blackberry Pomegranate, Antioxidant Max Blood Orange, Antioxidant Max Dragon Fruit, English Breakfast Black K-Cup, Green Tea Honey Lemon Ginger, Green Tea Peach Blossom, Green Tea Raspberry Gardens, Sleepytime Herbal Teas, Sleepytime Kids Goodnight Grape Herbal
5. Lipton – Clear Green Tea, Darjeeling Tea, Pure Green Tea, Yellow Label Black Tea
6. No Name – Black Tea
7. King Cole – Orange Pekoe
8. Signal – Orange Pekoe Two Cups

Unfortunately, if you drink tea, you may see several of your favorites on the list! The Glaucus Testing selected an independent and highly accredited lab, so there would be no discretions. The brands were chosen because they were specifically marketed as “100 percent natural and healthy.”

Source : https://www.sadakafirm.com/tea-bag-containing-deadly-pesticides/

It’s kind of ironic because some of the names like “Pure Green Tea” are nothing more than a marketing ploy to make you feel believe that it is all natural, this is exactly why organic whole leaf tea is always a better choice.

  

Toxic Tea Bags

So, if the alarming levels of pesticides wasn’t enough to get you to make the switch, perhaps the epichlorohydrin that is used to treat these tea bags to ensure that they do not disintegrate or tear, will. This chemical, epichlorohydrin is a chlorinated epoxy compound that is used as an industrial solvent. It is not only a strong skin irritant, but also a known carcinogen. According to Dow, it is a very dangerous chemical that requires a special handling procedure, and yep, that’s right – the tea bag companies mentioned above use this chemical to spray their bags. That chemical is not only being absorbed into our skin, but it’s being extracted in hot water and then consumed.  

Given your love for tea bag which you have been drinking as tea for a while now, how much poison are you now carrying in your body?

Conclusions:

Tea bags gained momentum in an era when there were no alternative to the convenience that they offered. People had foregone quality for convenience.

Now days there are enough tea accessories available in the market so making loose leaf tea is as much a convenience as much a tea bags!

I usually carry a strainer like this with me along with my tea leaves. It costs something between Rs.150-Rs.200 and are easily available in Amazon. If you are living outside India, please check online stores in your own country.

Temi – Tea, Cherry Tree Festival and Tea Travel: Part 1

I always wanted to visit Sikkim – had heard so much about the place – its natural beauty, food, people and, of course, Kanchenjunga! Then last year I saw some pictures of the Cherry Tree festival at Temi in Southern Sikkim and I was blown away.

As a tea artist and a tea blogger, I wanted to visit Temi and experience the Cherry Tree festival. I also wrote to them about my interest but it was too late, unfortunately.

This year luck turned on me unexpectedly and I was invited to visit Temi by the Temi Tea Company (the organizers of Cherry Tree Festival) and write a story about it. I was ecstatic.

This year the festival was scheduled between 8th and 10th November. I decided to reach there by 7^th  so as not to miss anything. I reached Bagdogra by a morning flight from Bangalore and was hoping to reach Temi by early afternoon. But there were other guests who are coming that day and the last arrival was at 1:30 p.m. So by the time we all got into the Sumo (sent by the MD of Temi Tea) it was well past 3:00 p.m. And we had 5 to 6 hours of drive ahead of us.

The driver was an expert, the company in the car was excellent and the scenery outside was awe-inspiring. By the time we reached Rangpo, it was dark and almost 7:00 p.m. We stopped there to savor the famous Sikkimese Momo before we started for the last leg of the journey.

Momo at Rangpo

As we entered Temi district, the road became quite bad. It was a 4 x 4 SUV hence the jerks and rolls were bearable. We joked that the road is helping us digest our food so that our dinner at Temi feels more sumptuous. The bad road lasted about 14 kilometer and slowed us down a bit. After that, the road widened and became smooth and very driving friendly. Our expert driver stepped on the accelerator and got us to our destination by 9:00 p.m. Not bad I thought!

My destination it seems was a cosy little Homestay which is part of the Temi Tea hospitality ecosystem. The homestay is run by a lovely local lady and her teenage daughter (she is studying and preparing for 12th exam). There was another guest who travelled with me and was also staying here. And Nabanita my other co-passenger, a fellow tea lover and entrepreneur, wanted to join us instead of going to her hotel which was further down. Nabonita and I decided to share my room and the hostess quickly moved stuff around and made a comfortable sleeping arrangement for my new roommate. We ordered a light dinner of chapati and chicken curry. Since the hostess had already cooked some chicken curry for us, the dinner got over quickly.

I found everything at the homestay to be very neat and clean –  the bed, linen, towel, cutlery bathroom etc. I don’t usually prefer to stay in big hotels but I definitely need a clean bed and a super clean bathroom. These are the musts. Here at this tiny two room homestay they exceeded my expectations on both these requirements.

In terms of food, I preferred their vegetarian options more than their non-vegetarian food, which was primarily chicken.

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Tea served to us in the room in these special cups with a local snack. The round-shaped snack is called Sel Roti, which is a deep-fried, soft pretzel made from fermented rice batter. These crispy crusted donuts are often eaten during festivals and special occasions.

Next morning my roommate had woke up early and ordered tea to be served at the terrace table. I got up hearing her placing the order and then joined the two of them at the terrace for my morning cup of fresh Sikkim tea. Sitting in an iron chair overlooking the valley and among the morning mist, it was the best morning tea for me in a long long time.

Me and My Morning Tea – clicked by Nabanita

The car was supposed to come and pick us at 9 am.  After a hot shower and a quick breakfast of bread and omelet, we climbed up to the main road to wait for the car. Since the car was getting delayed. We decided to walk a bit and meet the car on the way . 5 minutes of walk in the morning mountain road cleaned my mind and energized me immediately.  

We made the car just after 10 minute of our walk. The driver told us that the cherry festival will be inaugurated at 12:00 and asked what we want to do until then. We decided to travel in the car and get down whenever we feel like to click pictures. We stopped at two locations. One of the road bends gave us a magnificent view of the Kanchenjunga along with the other joining peaks. It was a Sunny clear day, visibility was superb, clouds had still not started floating towards us, and nature gave us our best few of the majestic peak. It was quite overwhelming. I am always haunted by the Himalayas, it’s one of those things that make you speechless in the most beautiful way.

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Kanchenjunga, Valley & Perfect Road

Next stop was the Temi Tea factory. I realised that at a certain vantage point on that road one can have a clear view of the Kanchenjunga, the factory building, and the cherry trees altogether.

All in one frame

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Temi Tea Factory, Our cheerful driver, Cherry Tree, our car and me.

 

Concluding part next week...

Pranayum – The High on Life Tea

I chanced upon Pranayum Tea by luck.

Knowing my love for all things tea and the work I do around it, a close friend from my MBA days Sai Sudha, introduced me to Seema who runs Pranayum from Hong Kong.

Seema is a very nice person, polite and humble; it was really refreshing to find an entrepreneur who is so down-to-earth, in spite of her very interesting international background. (Does Tea do that to you? J )

When Seema told me she is willing to ship her pack of four teas for me to try, I was more than happy.

Coming from Hong Kong took a little time but I must say, the teas are worth the wait.

The packaging is beautiful (the inspiration coming from Seema’s mother’s beautiful collection of sarees!); and each of the tea is exotically different.

The Complete Set of Pranayum Teas – I tried Love, Serenity, Bliss & Presence

Once you open a jar, the aroma itself will entice you to try the tea –  I loved the names given to each of these teas –  they are absolutely apt. Excellent branding, communication and presentation (My alter ego is waking up!)

But why ‘PRANAYUM’? Seema explains, “ ‘Prana’ as in ‘high energy’ and ‘yum’ as in ‘yummy’. Pranayum teas draw inspiration from the ancient wisdoms of health in the Ayurvedic, Mayan and Chinese traditions. At the same time, they impress with sophisticated quality and taste, classifying them as fine teas.”  And I must agree that they are incredibly fine teas.

The Pranayum teas are sourced internationally and blended in Hong Kong; and served at deluxe outlets around Hong Kong like the Four Seasons Spa and the Murray hotel as well as at chic outlets internationally in Europe and East Africa. Bloomberg and JP Morgan have also served this tea at their respective corporate events.

On tasting, I found that the aromas of the teas to be little overpowering and so it was a bit difficult to get the true flavours. It took me a couple of brew to get the right balance. But the overall experience was very unique and exciting.

A couple of suggestions:

1. The tea inside could be packed in an aluminum foil and not in plastic, because plastic has the tendency to rub off its smell on the things it carries.
2. A Brewing process should be mentioned, because all the 4 teas are so different from each other, that if someone is not so much aware of tea, she may not enjoy her brew just for the wrong steeping process.

Overall, the teas are fantastic, the concept is wonderful and they perfectly fit my vision of tea as a celebratory drink.

Pranayum tea is looking to enter India soon; if you are interested please do get in touch with Seema directly at Seema@prana-yum.com

Here is their website : www.prana-yum.com 

 

(If you want me to review your tea, please drop me an email at itsourcuppatea@gmail.com  )

Why Indian Tea is Unique?

India is the world’s second largest tea producer and produces some of the best quality teas in the world. In fact our teas are so good, that our Darjeeling Tea is called the Champagne of Teas. Not only that, when a tea growing nation tries to market their tea globally they benchmark it against our teas (my firsthand experience at this year’s Dubai #Gulfood).

The teas that come from India are, however, very unique as compared to rest of the world. And this uniqueness comes at the very basic level – that is the kinds of teas plants that we have, the produce of which gives an array of teas diversified in flavor, aroma, astringency, body and value.

India is the only country (only other the Szechuan and Yunnan provinces of China), which has teas produced from both the tea plants varieties (there are only two) – that is Camellia Sinensis as well as Camellia Assamica. While Camellia Sinensis came to India from China with the British, Camellia Assamica is a native of India. Our very premium Darjeeling teas are produced from Camellia Sinensis, while the robust Assam, versatile Nilgiris and other teas comes from Camellia Assamica.

Globally this is how teas are produced:

• Sinensis is grown in China, Korea, Japan and in Darjeeling in India.
• Assamica is grown in Kenya, Vienam, India – other than Darjeeling, Myanrma, Sri Lanka etc. Sinensis leaves are being brewed as tea for thousands years now, while Assamica became popular when the East India Company decided to make tea as a commercial commodity for mass consumption.

Relatively small and narrow leaves of Sinensis and larger Assamica

How this makes Indian Tea unique?

Well, to begin with India produces and exports some of the best Orthodox teas that comes from its various tea growing regions.

Second, the Indian orthodox tea (primarily Sinensis and some Assamica) is so good that they are one of the most premium teas in the world and they fetch high dollars based on the estate / garden they come from, or the time of the year that they are produced (very much like wine).

Third, our Assamica teas are used globally to make some of best tea variations, such as The English Breakfast Tea which is one of the most popular teas around the world.

Fourth, the lesser teas are also used in tea blends or flavoured teas where teas are enhanced with additional flavors from flowers and oils to herbs and spices.

It is interesting to know that many tea producing countries are positioning themselves as a source for flavoured teas, while this is an interesting variation to teas that they sell, it has to be kept in mind that only lesser or low quality teas are enhanced – a premium tea like Darjeeling will never be or should never be used for flavouring.

As a Darjeeling tea drinker, I may, at times, indulge myself with some flavour enhanced teas, but they would never be equal to the aroma and flavor of a second or a first flush, single estate, high altitude muscatel Darjeeling 🙂

 

Write to me or share your views at: itsourcuppatea@gmail.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TeawithSusMita

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Next story: What makes a premium tea and what you should look for before buying one?