Nuri
You know, since you introduced me to the error of my tea-drinking ways (I still drink the occasional cup from teabags, but those are usually gifts these days), I've been spoiled. Deeply spoiled.
Good. You deserve it.
Dragon_Witch_Woman
I'm a little confused, whats wrong with teabags?
Let's see- where to begin.
1) Floor Sweepings are not Tea.
Fannings, sweepings or "dust" are what's left after the good tea has been sorted through. In some cases, they literally sweep them up off the floor.
2) Oxygen + Tea = BAD!
While most teas are oxidized to a certain extent (the exception being White tea- the process is sometimes called fermentation) it needs to be done in a carefully controlled environment. Good tea is then curled, balled or otherwise shaped to reduce the leaf's exposure to the air. The result is a sweeter, brighter tea.
Sweepings are too small to do this to- so their oxidization process continues and thus it spoils faster, takes on different flavors and looses it's nutritional value.
3) Tea leaves like to dance.
Tea needs plenty of room to circulate amongst the water in order for the flavor to develop. This is because some compounds are more soluble than others- and yet, when they aren't given room to flow properly, the diffusion of these compounds takes longer or doesn't happen at all, thus leaving with a bitter brew.
4) It's just plain poor quality.
When the tea traders buy tea, they look for qualities one cannot judge in fannings. When there is a shortage of fannings, tea plantations grind up poor quality tea for filler. Usually these are older teas that would have been good a year or so ago- but tea has a shelf life.
Why grind up good tea (with the qualities that tea merchants look for such as leaf size, color etc) for Americans and Brits to drink in tea bags when you can give them poor tea?
5) That's how old?
Unlike fresh leaves that can be tested for quality by eye, scent and feel on the fingers before being brewed, fannings cannot be given the same inspection. The result is that fannings are far more likely to stay on a shelf past their prime (not that they really have a prime) than loose leaf tea. And until you brew it- you won't know it.
6)... aren't 1-5 good enough?
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