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brikym | on: EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices
People still use tea bags even though they're a top source of microplastics.
SchemaLoad | parent | next
People don't even know. I had long assumed that it was only the obvious nylon pyramid tea bags that were plastic, and only recently discovered it's _all_ tea bags.
littlexsparkee | root | parent | next
Not all, if they use stitch method with cotton it's okay - many use PLA though

https://www.hampsteadtea.com/blogs/news/is-pla-plastic-free-...

squidsoup | parent
People still use tea bags even though what they contain is a byproduct of tea production and barely counts as tea.
NicuCalcea | root | parent | next
To me, sounds like it's a great thing that we waste less agricultural output and have goods available at different price points.
squidsoup | root | parent
Yes, there’s a huge market in the UK, Australia and New Zealand for low quality tea.
childintime | root | parent | next
Then where does the real stuff go? The arabs, indians?? Tea bags are the mass market in Europe for example. Hardly anyone uses tea leaves (are they different?).

I know an Iranian in the Netherlands who says the tea there is mostly coloring.

squidsoup | root | parent | next
India, China and Japan are the largest markets for quality whole leaf tea. Tea bags contain fannings and dust, the lowest quality byproducts of tea production. Try a single estate TGFOP and you’ll never want to drink tea from a bag again.

Chinese tea is again a whole different world from Indian tea, and has a much broader spectrum of complexity. You could spend a lifetime learning about Chinese tea.

graemep | root | parent
My knowledge of this from a long time ago and narrow, but I can give you a rough picture.

Different countries do buy different types and qualities of tea. The US is big market for low quality (dust, stalks) tea for tea bags.

Countries that like strong sweet tea with lots of milk buy tea that is low grown (i.e. lower elevations) and processed using the "cut, torn curled" process rather than the older "orthodox" process. High grown (on mountains) tea is better for those who drink it without milk.

Leaves do tend to be higher quality and they have grades reflecting the size of the pieces. There is a standard system which is marked on some types of tea.

It is usual to pluck two leaves and a bud. Plucking more would add a lot of stalk which lower quality. Plucking or using just a bud produces a very delicate flavour (sivlertips). High grown silvertips is good with

Most tea is blended so will contain a mix of different things.

account42 | root | parent
Most tea bags aren't trying to be tea as in camellia sinensis but rather herbal infusions. Nothing wrong with that.