Loose Leaf vs.Tea Bags
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foodies' sababarama
I may be a firm republican harbouring anti neo colonial sentiments, and like everyone else, I don’t consider myself a snob. But when it comes to ordering tea in this country, I say pass.
Have you ever ordered tea in Israel? I mean in a café or a hotel or any other premises where someone actually coughs up and pays for the dubious pleasure? If the place has any pretensions of a touch off class they’ll probably bring it out in a personalised little chrome tea pot. You'll be rubbing your hands together in anticipation of the aromatic flavour billowing up from your porcelain cup, you peering out from the vantage of your table in the balmy shade, through the glare of the wilting sunlight, out over the unruffled insects hovering around the bougainvilleas in some Levantine garden, or at the hectic little indigenous persons buzzing around the street darting amongst the traffic. But where in this country can you order a genuine pot of tea? What you get instead is a pot with this white twine drooping from beneath the lid to a wee paper tag, like something that used to be more hygienic before it hit the bathroom bin. Perish the thought.
It is commonly held among tea aficionados that preparing tea with teabags provides an inferior taste and experience. Now this is something I have understood since the world’s most unsung cooking hero, Timothy Dwyer, introduced me to reruns of the Goon Show on the weekend, whilst sitting on a stump in the backyard, his daddy long legs pegs folded delicately underneath him, all over a genuine pot of tea. However this gospel hasn’t yet reached the shores of Tel Aviv’s swanky old port.
Cafes abound in Israel as much as anywhere else in the world and it doesn’t take a whole heap of genius to understand the viability of any well frequented café, the outlay per cup is minimal and the returns are fetching. And so I wonder is the investment in a decent pot of tea so outrageous that businesses are not prepared to serve up anything better than the equivalent of strained dags and skirtings? Let’s face it; the quality of a cup of tea served up in this country is equivalent of flogging off a bale of odds and ends for triple A class high micron wool.
Typical tea bags are filled with these tiniest pieces of broken tea leaves. In the industry the tea used in tea bags is called "fannings" or "dust". It’s the waste product produced from the sorting of higher quality loose leaf tea.
Loose leaf teas on the other hand are typically whole leaves or at least large pieces of leaves. And the main difference between loose teas and bagged teas is the size of the leaves. That's what affects the resulting cup of tea. Tea leaves contain chemicals and essential oils, which are the basis for the delightful flavour of tea. When the tea leaves are broken up, those oils can evaporate, leaving a dull and tasteless tea.
It’s not just the leaf size that matters; there is also the space factor. Tea leaves need space to swell, expand and unfurl. Good water circulation around the leaves is important and typically this doesn't happen in a cramped little tea bag.
If this is all starting to sound a bit too much like Dr Ruth let’s turn over a new leaf and take on something in a more, let’s say Ita Butrose vein:
When preparing loose leaf black tea The water for black teas should be added at the boiling point (100 °C or 212 °F), except for more delicate teas, where lower temperatures are recommended. This will have as large an effect on the final flavour as the type of tea used. The most common fault when making black tea is to use water at too low a temperature (take note shomrei Shabbat-ers). Since boiling point drops with increasing altitude, this makes it difficult to brew black tea properly in mountainous areas. It is also recommended that the teapot be warmed before preparing tea, easily done by adding a small amount of boiling water to the pot, swirling briefly, before discarding. Black tea should not be allowed to steep for less than 30 seconds or more than about five minutes (a process known as brewing or [dialectally] mashing in the UK, Specifically in Yorkshire.). After that,tannin is released, which counteracts the stimulating effect of the theophylline and caffeine and makes the tea bitter (at this point it is referred to as being stewed in the UK). Therefore, for a "wake-up" tea, one should not let the tea steep for more than 2-3 minutes. When the tea has brewed long enough to suit the tastes of the drinker, it should be strained while serving.
As you are all no doubt aware by now, with the tea like stuff you buy in Israel cafes, the tea leaves are packed into a small (usually paper) tea bag. It is easy and convenient. American tea merchant Thomas Sullivan began distributing samples of his tea in small silk bags with a drawstring, in 1908. Consumers noticed that they could simply leave the tea in the bag, and better still re-use it with fresh tea. However, the potential of this distribution/packaging method was not be fully realized until later on. During World War II, tea was rationed. In 1953 (after rationing in the UK ended), Tetley launched the tea bag to the UK and it was an immediate success. The convenience of the tea bag revolutionized how Britons drank their tea and now the traditional tea pot has given way to making tea in a cup utilising a tea bag.
But is that convenience worth it or mere expediency?I won’t be too snobby about it. Having gone and argued at length the various merits and defects of loose leaf vs. teabags. I say no to teabags and yea to loose leaf. But I’m no fundamentalist. To borrow a phrase from the Gershwin Bros. (of course made famous by Normie Rowe),
“I takes dat gospel whenever it's pos'ble.
But wid a grain of salt”
Additional reasons why bag tea is considered less well-flavoured include:
The small size of the bag does not allow leaves to diffuse and steep properly.
Dried tea loses its flavour quickly on exposure to air. Most bag teas (although not all) contain leaves broken into small pieces; the great surface area to volume ratio of the leaves in tea bags exposes them to more air, and therefore causes them to go stale faster. Loose tea leaves are likely to be in larger pieces, or to be entirely intact.
Breaking up the leaves for bags extracts flavoured oils.
Another element detracting from the tea's flavour is the paper used for the bag which can also be tasted by many.
A quick aside: If any of you does go out and open a chain of teashops with real tea, with or without scones and rock cakes, remember who gave you the idea. I ought to at least get a cut as a sleeping partner.
P.S.: the declaration of "Orange Pekoe" that you'll find on boxes of tea bags doesn't refer to the flavour or kind of tea. Orange Pekoe is actually a grade of tea. It's a good grade, but not a great grade. The grade is based on leaf size, but even Orange Pekoe tea is an inferior tea to a true whole leaf tea.
Here are some black tea grades :
Orange Pekoe (OP)
A good quality tea, consisting of large leaf pieces. Used for teas from Sri Lanka or south India.
Flowery Orange Pekoe (FOP)
Similar to OP, but used for teas from the rest of India or other regions.
Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (GFOP)
A higher quality tea, that includes the golden tips of the young buds leaves.
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (TGFOP)
Similar to GFOP, but with an even higher proportion of golden tips.
Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (FTGFOP)
Extremely high quality TGFOP.
Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP)
Tea with many small or broken pieces of leaves.
Fannings / Dust
The tiny bits and pieces, usually leftovers from processing. Commonly found in tea bags.
Have you ever ordered tea in Israel? I mean in a café or a hotel or any other premises where someone actually coughs up and pays for the dubious pleasure? If the place has any pretensions of a touch off class they’ll probably bring it out in a personalised little chrome tea pot. You'll be rubbing your hands together in anticipation of the aromatic flavour billowing up from your porcelain cup, you peering out from the vantage of your table in the balmy shade, through the glare of the wilting sunlight, out over the unruffled insects hovering around the bougainvilleas in some Levantine garden, or at the hectic little indigenous persons buzzing around the street darting amongst the traffic. But where in this country can you order a genuine pot of tea? What you get instead is a pot with this white twine drooping from beneath the lid to a wee paper tag, like something that used to be more hygienic before it hit the bathroom bin. Perish the thought.
It is commonly held among tea aficionados that preparing tea with teabags provides an inferior taste and experience. Now this is something I have understood since the world’s most unsung cooking hero, Timothy Dwyer, introduced me to reruns of the Goon Show on the weekend, whilst sitting on a stump in the backyard, his daddy long legs pegs folded delicately underneath him, all over a genuine pot of tea. However this gospel hasn’t yet reached the shores of Tel Aviv’s swanky old port.
Cafes abound in Israel as much as anywhere else in the world and it doesn’t take a whole heap of genius to understand the viability of any well frequented café, the outlay per cup is minimal and the returns are fetching. And so I wonder is the investment in a decent pot of tea so outrageous that businesses are not prepared to serve up anything better than the equivalent of strained dags and skirtings? Let’s face it; the quality of a cup of tea served up in this country is equivalent of flogging off a bale of odds and ends for triple A class high micron wool.
Typical tea bags are filled with these tiniest pieces of broken tea leaves. In the industry the tea used in tea bags is called "fannings" or "dust". It’s the waste product produced from the sorting of higher quality loose leaf tea.
Loose leaf teas on the other hand are typically whole leaves or at least large pieces of leaves. And the main difference between loose teas and bagged teas is the size of the leaves. That's what affects the resulting cup of tea. Tea leaves contain chemicals and essential oils, which are the basis for the delightful flavour of tea. When the tea leaves are broken up, those oils can evaporate, leaving a dull and tasteless tea.
It’s not just the leaf size that matters; there is also the space factor. Tea leaves need space to swell, expand and unfurl. Good water circulation around the leaves is important and typically this doesn't happen in a cramped little tea bag.
If this is all starting to sound a bit too much like Dr Ruth let’s turn over a new leaf and take on something in a more, let’s say Ita Butrose vein:
When preparing loose leaf black tea The water for black teas should be added at the boiling point (100 °C or 212 °F), except for more delicate teas, where lower temperatures are recommended. This will have as large an effect on the final flavour as the type of tea used. The most common fault when making black tea is to use water at too low a temperature (take note shomrei Shabbat-ers). Since boiling point drops with increasing altitude, this makes it difficult to brew black tea properly in mountainous areas. It is also recommended that the teapot be warmed before preparing tea, easily done by adding a small amount of boiling water to the pot, swirling briefly, before discarding. Black tea should not be allowed to steep for less than 30 seconds or more than about five minutes (a process known as brewing or [dialectally] mashing in the UK, Specifically in Yorkshire.). After that,tannin is released, which counteracts the stimulating effect of the theophylline and caffeine and makes the tea bitter (at this point it is referred to as being stewed in the UK). Therefore, for a "wake-up" tea, one should not let the tea steep for more than 2-3 minutes. When the tea has brewed long enough to suit the tastes of the drinker, it should be strained while serving.
As you are all no doubt aware by now, with the tea like stuff you buy in Israel cafes, the tea leaves are packed into a small (usually paper) tea bag. It is easy and convenient. American tea merchant Thomas Sullivan began distributing samples of his tea in small silk bags with a drawstring, in 1908. Consumers noticed that they could simply leave the tea in the bag, and better still re-use it with fresh tea. However, the potential of this distribution/packaging method was not be fully realized until later on. During World War II, tea was rationed. In 1953 (after rationing in the UK ended), Tetley launched the tea bag to the UK and it was an immediate success. The convenience of the tea bag revolutionized how Britons drank their tea and now the traditional tea pot has given way to making tea in a cup utilising a tea bag.
But is that convenience worth it or mere expediency?I won’t be too snobby about it. Having gone and argued at length the various merits and defects of loose leaf vs. teabags. I say no to teabags and yea to loose leaf. But I’m no fundamentalist. To borrow a phrase from the Gershwin Bros. (of course made famous by Normie Rowe),
“I takes dat gospel whenever it's pos'ble.
But wid a grain of salt”
Additional reasons why bag tea is considered less well-flavoured include:
The small size of the bag does not allow leaves to diffuse and steep properly.
Dried tea loses its flavour quickly on exposure to air. Most bag teas (although not all) contain leaves broken into small pieces; the great surface area to volume ratio of the leaves in tea bags exposes them to more air, and therefore causes them to go stale faster. Loose tea leaves are likely to be in larger pieces, or to be entirely intact.
Breaking up the leaves for bags extracts flavoured oils.
Another element detracting from the tea's flavour is the paper used for the bag which can also be tasted by many.
A quick aside: If any of you does go out and open a chain of teashops with real tea, with or without scones and rock cakes, remember who gave you the idea. I ought to at least get a cut as a sleeping partner.
P.S.: the declaration of "Orange Pekoe" that you'll find on boxes of tea bags doesn't refer to the flavour or kind of tea. Orange Pekoe is actually a grade of tea. It's a good grade, but not a great grade. The grade is based on leaf size, but even Orange Pekoe tea is an inferior tea to a true whole leaf tea.
Here are some black tea grades :
Orange Pekoe (OP)
A good quality tea, consisting of large leaf pieces. Used for teas from Sri Lanka or south India.
Flowery Orange Pekoe (FOP)
Similar to OP, but used for teas from the rest of India or other regions.
Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (GFOP)
A higher quality tea, that includes the golden tips of the young buds leaves.
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (TGFOP)
Similar to GFOP, but with an even higher proportion of golden tips.
Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (FTGFOP)
Extremely high quality TGFOP.
Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP)
Tea with many small or broken pieces of leaves.
Fannings / Dust
The tiny bits and pieces, usually leftovers from processing. Commonly found in tea bags.
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