6 reasons to stop taking 'Tea bag' tea - j-okini

Growing up, I used to drink Japanese tea in a teapot. It was normal way to drink tea with family. I don’t remember when exactly, but probably when a lot of western influence came to Japan including food, fashion and lifestyle, Japan started to import ‘Tea bag’ black tea. I don’t recall having loose leaf black tea at home. Then it has become ‘normality’. It has become for many of us ‘Tea = tea bag’

When I moved to Malta back in 1999 I was surprised how cheap the ‘Tea bag’ teas were sold in local shops. I know why now. It’s because of mass production. To make people buy their product, they had to be cheap so they had to grow with high amount of pesticides and they had to choose the cheapest material for tea bag even if they were not good for health.

Have you wondered what is the benefits of brewing loose leaf teas, since you have ‘Tea bag’ teas and that’s the most convenient way to make and drink a cup of tea? I agree that ‘Tea bag’ tea is the most convenient way in this busy life.

What about the health point of view? Is ‘Tea bag’ tea better? The answer is no.

Here are 6 reasons why you should stop drinking ‘Tea bag’ tea.

1. Some tea companies use a large amount of pesticides
2. Low quality tea which includes unwanted grass harvested together with tea plants
3. Tea bags contain unwanted chemicals
4. Some tea bags are made from plastic and it releases billions of plastic particles into your tea
5. Tea plants are chopped into pieces – so called ‘tea dust’
6. Full flavours and nutrients will not appear into water from tea dust so you need more time to brew + flat taste

You can see that most of them result from the mass production.

When it comes to ‘Tea bag’ green tea, the origin is usually China. They oven bake the tea with coals in order to stop oxidation and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cancer causing substance) are released and remains in the tea bags.

Japanese green tea is steamed unlike other teas so it’s more efficient and with 1 tbsp you could make 3 cups like the photo (This is Sencha by the way)! For the 2nd brew I added fresh fennel to change a bit

If you would like to start consuming green tea because of the health benefits, go for real green tea not ‘Tea bag’ tea. Some studies show that Japanese people who drink green tea regularly do live longer because it reduces the risk of chronic diseases but they are drinking real green tea!

You can also have a look at the comparison I made ‘Tea bag’ green tea with our Sencha green tea.

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