So apparently there is plastic that leaks in most tea bags. What are the best loose leaf brand tea I can buy for black tea?

>>21408136 (OP)
when i learned that several years ago, it was the start of a realization of how much plastic we consoom. shit is fucking everywhere, and there's barely efforts to remove it from our lives.

>>21408140
>there's barely efforts to remove it from our lives.
And a lot of the efforts are simply bullshit. Do you feel OK buying "BPA free" products? You shouldn't:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_S
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_F

TLDR, the manufacturers just switched to BPF and BPS.... similar chemicals, with similar health concerns, but with slightly different names that the public hasn't heard about.

>>21408136 (OP)
I can't even tell you because it keeps selling out.

>>21408136 (OP)
OP, let's be honest. If you were drinking tea from teabags before, then you were probably drinking something far from "the best". And that's fine, by the way. My typical cuppa is something like PG Tips loose leaf, not fancy. So if you're just looking for the quick path to loose leaf, consider just buying your old brand in loose leaf form (if available). Then you can experiment with fancier stuff later.

And whatever you do, don't check out the /tea/ general. They'll try convincing you to buy some ancient Chinese gutter tea from Temu with a $200 Trump tariff.... and then explain that you also need a $1000 Chinese clay pot to properly steep it.... and then they'll make fun of your "plebian palate" when you complain it tastes like a smoke from a bonfire of burning used plastic diapers. That's just /tea/.

>>21408233
this is also why they got rid of glass bottles for most "products"

>>21408251
they got rid of glass because it weighs more and is more fragile

>>21408267
yes goy consume the (((plastics)))

>>21408248
Spot on

>>21408248
/tea/ is not super elitist. you're thinking /ctg/
/tea/ will try to convince you to get into puerh because it's trendy right now like espresso was/is popular in the coffee community. But the loose leaf side of the /tea/ community is pretty redneck and will advocate for grandpa style (just throw leaf into a cup and drink without filtering it) or at most a gaiwan ($10 cup to brew tea in). teapots are hardly ever brought up because they're not really interesting or making the brew any better, it's just batch brewing.
I've seen /tea/ discourage people, more than anything, from buying expensive equipment or fancy clay. The market is so full of scams and the claims about clay affecting taste are so esoteric that it's pointless when a neutral porcelain cup costs $10-$30

>>21408267
Sure but glass is also actually recycled at a much higher rate, unlike plastic which ends up shipped to China, burned, or poisoning the oceans.

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/glass-material-specific-data
https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data

TLDR: In 2018, nearly 25% of glass was recycled. Compared to plastic, less than 9% was recycled. In both cases, about 75% ended up in landfill, but you don't hear stories about glass poisoning water supplies.

It's now pretty widely known that the 1970s petroleum industry blatantly lied about the recycling potential for plastics. Think about that the next time you're fiddling with one of those new cuck-caps on a plastic bottle, because we wouldn't want a single piece of precious plastic to escape being "recycled", tee hee.

>>21408136 (OP)
Don't bother with brands, find a local tea/herb store and buy from there. They're fairly common and it will pretty much guaranteed be an upgrade over whatever bagged shit you were drinking before
Now, of you WANT to go down the tea elitism rabbit hole look for a /tea/ thread. I think they make a new one at the start of every month

there's a company called Teapigs that uses plastic-free biodegradable bags

teabags only exist to package tea which has been smashed into a powder in the manufacturing process, it's trash of tea.

Just buy a metal strainer which sits in your cup, these strainers come in any number of thicknesses and you can just break a tea bag straight into them if that's the tea you have.

Tea is cheap, you can buy it online in a little brick. few of the online retailers are reputable but the tea you buy in teabags is bottom of the barre anyway.

>>21408136 (OP)
I just buy the whole herbs. No tea bags.

>>21408553
yeah those don't look plastic-free

All those I checked where I live were made of harmless cellulose.

>>21408251
>>21408267
no it's because the goyim are miserly cunts who always want the cheapest junk

>>21409170

>>21408136 (OP)
My goto

>>21410923
What they’re describe is literally called ‘bioplastic’. Just because it’s made from corn starch doesn’t mean it’s not plastic. We also use corn to make diabetes goop, and combustible fuel, so the notion of ‘it’s corn so it much be good for you’ clearly doesn’t hold.

Don’t buy products from companies that lie to you.

>>21408267
>>21409292
It’s all of the above. Greed, apathy, sadism all dance to the same tune.

>>21410980
Forgot to add that there’s this new invention called ‘paper’, and these literally zero excuse for companies to use ANY sort of plastic over paper if they’re concerned about microplastics and sustainability.

Don’t buy products from companies that lie to you.

>>21410994
>plastic over paper
talking specifically about teabags here. Still waking up, language services still booting.

>>21410994
turns out paper teabags are even worse because of the adhesives they use to seal them shut.

>>21410998
There’s also this new invention called ‘sewing’.

You know that string that attach to the top of the bag so you can fish it out of your cuppa? You can stitch bags closed with that (yes, even paper!)

>>21411002
You know they sell stringless bags? (yes, you can use a spoon to fish it out of your mug!)

>>21410998
Why don't they just origami them shut?

>>21411004
>incoherent rambling
Perhaps consider not ingesting the poison?

>>21411004
Yes, bags I prep myself are stringless (because desu I can’t fuckin bother). But if you’re using thread to stitch a bag closed, you might as well leave a long tail so you can fish it out from your tea.
>or tea without bags you idiot!
Some tea *really* needs to be bagged. Rooibos for instance, it’s generally powder so grandpa style/loose brewing isn’t a great option.

>>21411011
That wasn't the point of my comment. I drink the poison daily and I couldn't give less of a fuck. "microplastics dangers" yeah sure, for the environment maybe.

>>21411018
>"microplastics dangers" yeah sure, for the environment maybe.
Sounds like a good reason to stop to me, what’s stopping you?

>>21408136 (OP)
Oh, dunno about this plastic assertion... you'll notice they also state the paper isn't bleached.
I like darjeeling, and most brands are alright. Start with Twinnings or Harney &Sons if in the US. Harneys has a sampler of loose leafs to be purchased too.

Irish breakfast is nice in the morning, much stronger, and mostly Assam. Irish and scottish breakfast can take a little cream. Most brands do not have plastic bags. Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold, oes not and is a common middle of the road brand. They have a delicious decaf bedtime tea that will drug you to sleep.

I like a delicate scented Jasmine tea too, but it's getting hard to find without being green tea (I avoid vitamin K) The cheapie chinese brand for lychee tea is quite delicious, too. Oolong will remind you of chinese restaurant tea, but is nice for sipping.

>>21411028
If you like jasmine, you should try osmanthus. It’s also a fairly pungent floral flavor, but unlike jasmine is fairly easy to get the blooms (not buds) in dried form, which mostly retain their flavor. You can then add it along with a unflavored black tea (or anything, or by itself).

I also like dried jasmine buds, but they’re not the same as jasmine tea. Jasmine tea is scented with jasmine that’s fully bloomed, dried bits have a much milder flavor (people say it tastes like hay… yea kind of).

Do not combine jasmine buds and osmanthus though. I learned that together they produce ‘snot flavor’.

>>21411024
I don't care. What's the point of making my life harder "to save the environment" when 80% of the people on this earth are actively destroying it?

>>21411041
>identifies problem
>actively contributes to it
gee

>>21411018
What was the point of your comment?
Anon said you can use string instead of glue to seal the tea-bag, and you replied by stating some tea-bags don’t have a string leash? How does that prevent them from sewing the bags shut?

>>21408136 (OP)
Assuming you're american I don't know what brand but I'll tell you to be careful and avoid the retarded (american) redditor path of wildly overpaying for 'artisan' bugpeople shit. Decent loose leaf tea, outside of really niche varieties, shouldn't cost much more than 20-50% more per cup than average quality bagged tea and anything beyond that you're being ripped off/larping as a gook.

>>21411048
I just said that paper tea bags aren't free of microplastics because of the adhesives and this fucking moron replies all passive aggressive that "stringed paper bags exist" like I didn't know that already.

>>21411049
Okay but keemun tea is really good though.

>>21411053
It’s almost like the bag material is an independent quality than the method used to close the bag, retard.

>>21408136 (OP)
plastic leaches from PLASTIC tea bags not paper bags like the one in your photo

>>21410923
Yeah you linked tea bags made of plastic you fucking retard

>>21411053
Oh, I see. My mistake.

>>21411058
no shit Sherlock, damn, nothing can get past you guys, amazing!

>>21411049
And this sort of retard >>21408457 is exactly the problem, recommending bugpeople larp solutions instead of buying a cheap strainer (think mini-sieve you rest over a cup), a classic teapot with a built in strainer or maybe one of those cups that comes with a little basket you remove. Avoid that shit it's just another one of those cases where what was a boring interest has been redditified and pushed as a personality replacement, like craft beer/coffee/mechanical keyboards/straight razors/whatever and now there's grifters out there wildly overcharging for 'handmade' products that suck.

>>21411049
>beyond that you're being ripped off/larping as a gook
You are just being a retard. I am not into tea at all and I never buy super expensive tea but to claim that anyone buying tea that costs more than .2 cents per cup is being ripped off or larping just makes you seem like a fucking idiot.

>>21411062
You sound really angry that you didn’t realize you don’t have to glue everything closed. Maybe lay off the rubber cement for a few days anon.

>>21411056
I would agree, but you shouldn't be paying out the ass for it. Tea is kinda like whisky where the mainstream stuff is blends of high and low qualities over a bunch of different varieties. Once you pick out one strain of tea (or one single malt) you'll get a decent improvement in experience for not a huge price increase but going deeper than that there's significant diminishing returns and a lot of grifting/snobbery.

When you buy kemun you're not (normally) buying super special heritage tea leafs folded 10gorrillion times in a chink monastery you're just buying one single component that goes into a 'normal' tea bag just unblended and in a higher quality vs the smashed up sweepings off the floor. That should indeed cost more but not a fuckton more.

>>21411068
If you're buying it blindly off the internet from any chink source you're 100% being ripped off. Even high end hotels can't manage to avoid that sort of shit.

>>21411080
>>21411068
Though to be fair I was less targeting outright scams and more saying you're overpaying for a fake story and little if any quality difference most of the time. You can usually get the same tea without the branding and the larp just by buying fairly reputable bulk loose leaf teas because they're coming from the same source anyway. And then yes way, way at the high end you get a unique experience that's probably worth a premium price to those who can afford it and know the difference which most people won't but that's a whole separate market.

This pattern holds true for most things considered luxury goods. See also: 'made in italy' clothing that uses imported Chinese labourers in Italian factories.

Besides which anyone using the term grandpa style, which derives from claimed practices of old chinese men, or recommending things people aren't familiar with like gaiwans over just spending literal pocket change on something like picrel is clearly into it as a larp not just to drink tea. It's a good way to work out who you can just ignore.

I drink a bunch of those fruity Celestial Seasonings teas. Any good loose teas like that, preferably no more expensive per ounce than the bags. There also cannot be any licorice.

>>21408233
It's like the move to paper straws. It's done to inconvenience to consumer forst to disincentivize further opposition to more significant plastic production. I haven't seen shit done about excessive packaging.

>>21408233
This works because people are literally retarded. All the plastic industry had to do was slap a ''not BPA!'' sticker on their product and look at that, problem solved. The implication is that only BPA is bad and the other kind of plastic is good when there is barely any difference between the different plastics.
Retards who are concerned about plastic just check if it's BPA or not and will just use it.

>>21408233
This is why I didn't touch receipts

>>21411119
There’s one restaurant (small chain) near me that actually has straws made from plants. Not ‘plant-based’, not plastic coated, literally a type of reed/grass that’s been cut, dried, and sterilized. Better than plastic straws functionally because they hold their shape better (no kinking or bending). But I know they’re not price competitive at all with plastic/paper/corn products.

Place is a 7/10, but I go there regularly and the straws factor into that. I appreciate the commitment to not having shitty things.

>>21411064
>put it in a cup or use a teapot
>BUGMAN
The fuck is wrong with you

>>21411101
Yeah you are just outright wrong. There are very labour intensive methods of tea growing or tea grown in an expensive country with high labor costs so if you aren't buying mass market bulk product the price is going to be higher. Made in italy or made in france clothing from high end brands is usually expensive because of the materials and labor but the price is totally decoupled from reality if the brand is very famous. The fact that some shitty clothing is made of chinese imported dogshit doesn't mean all clothes made in europe are bad. Tea is not a luxury good. I buy organic tea from arbor tea and its pretty cheap and not even close to being specialized tea and it costs way more than supermarket bag tea. I buy really nice coffee and its expensive because its not a commodity product. The growing and processing is expensive and the product is typically auctioned to roasters with the price being predicated on a q rating. Stuff like wine has the price decoupled from the quality past a certain point just because of supply and demand. Its not a meme its just that there are only x numbers of bottles and rich people can afford to bid against one another driving the market price higher. You just seem to not understand how anything works. Things are not done for no reason and super rich people that can buy 5000 dollar bottles of wine are not retarded. You are retarded.

>>21411175
Learn the lore, summer poster

>>21411213
Fuck off newfag

>>21411101
If you're too poor and stupid to buy a $10 gaiwan and spend 5 minutes learning how to use it then you shouldn't bother drinking loose leaf tea.

>>21411609
>teapot :|
>teapot, asian :O

>>21411616
if you seethe at asian things for no reason then you shouldn't be posting on a board for anime tbqh

>>21408136 (OP)
bait

>>21411043
the problem isnt the consumer, its the people pushing the products. the jews taught you well to shit on the consumer though

>>21411624
ah, youre a newfag, i understand now

>>21411681
Nice projection. If you think what I said is newfag, then you're the newfag anon.

>>21411702
>doesn’t get any of the deepest lore jokes
>’actually you’re the newfag!’
sad

>>21411708
>deepest lore joke
>from 2020
Yeah, fuck off newfag.

>>21411711
and yet you still didn’t get it

>>21411718
Fuck off newfag

How much of a limp wristed faggot/pussy do you have to be to worry about tiny particles of inert plastic? Fucking wusses like y'all are pathetic. We all eat a barrel of dirt before we die Ms. Prissypants.

Fucking hell... you kids today.

Representative from /tea/ here. You guys are all leaflets.

>>21411741
I probably drink more leaves in a day than you do in a year

>>21411744
I am the boiled leaves milk tea anon

>>21411766
While you post about tea, I’m actually drinking it. This is the difference between us.

>>21411767
I drink tea, you drink leaf water.

>>21411064
Nigga did you even read the post you're crying about, actually don't bother answering that was rhetorical.

>>21411819
based

gween tea

>>21411049
>>21411064
>>21411101
>>21411616

>>21408553
I had a box of the morning glory ones once, it's nice tea better than than the standard supermarket stuff but it's too expensive for what it is, I'd rather just stick with Yorkshire Tea

>>21413871
Chinese tea practices aren't really weeb. That'd be more sitting down with matcha or something.

>>21411671
>we are completely powerless so just give in and don't take any actions to remedy it!
sounds like the jews did a number on you

>>21415874
>I sure feel good about myself even though my actions have no real effect on the world or the problem I'm concerned with

Next time refrain from posting

>>21411176
>Things are not done for no reason and super rich people that can buy 5000 dollar bottles of wine are not retarded.

I agree with most of your reasoning but this is so stupid it almost made me angry. You're simplifying things just as much as the other anon is. Plenty of things are done for no reason and plenty of products are marketed to be sold at higher than their actual value. Wine prices in the USA are also highly affected by import tariffs, scarcity, shipping etc
Anyway, buying such expensive wine automatically marks you as an idiot unless such an expense is chump change for you.

>>21408136 (OP)
Don't buy brands, just source the tea directly. It can be done, my aunt gets her directly from the producer but then again the producer is her son in law's father. But he sells to other people on the internet as well, you just have to buy a lot of it at once.

>>21416034
>it's hopeless goy you can't win against us just consoom consoom consoom and make others feel bad if they don't consoom as much as you do!
damn, they REALLY did a number on you.

>>21416062
lmao that's not at all what I'm saying though, if anything you're the one pushing to consume specific products in a vain attempt to put the breaks on something way bigger than you could possibly affect. You sound like the type of person who congratulates themselves over avoiding air travel or nags at people who don't bring their own bag when shopping, ie a bitch.

But keep those quippy comebacks going man, I'm entertained!

>>21408140
I don't know how people get takeaway in plastic containers.
The food comes straight out of the pan at a few hundred degrees straight into the container. It's 100% leeching phylates and other hormone disruptors at those temps.
I stick to pizza, burgers or subs for takeaway, it's all in paper.

>>21416097
wow. every time you open your mouth, you amaze me with how wide the jews buckbroke your bootyhole. beaten down like a dog at a kennel and proud to have the opportunity. i hope one day you get your balls back kid.

>>21416194
eh, you're just retreading the same insults as before, I'm disappointed.

>>21416204
i'm going to guess you were just baiting me, so here's one last (You) for ya kid before i head out

>>21416225
Feels like you were the one baiting me, but sure. Always nice to get some (you)s

>>21408136 (OP)
From teacampaign or the betty darling company. Both solid choices for good tea imo. The latter is a bit over priced since they wanna be all fancy and what not but since we're talking about a hot leaf soup

>>21408267
No they got rid of it because plastic is cheaper. They are selling you a waste product from distilling gasoline.