Don’t drink green tea that comes in a tea bag

Everybody wants to be healthy. We spend so much of effort, time and money to shed those extra pounds that make us look fat in our favorite dress.

Good health is one of those things you cannot buy, you have to LIVE a healthy lifestyle – period. What can drive you crazy is when you don’t get results even after a lot of efforts. It is not always your fault and doing it right can help you get better results.

If you’ve had your daily cup of green tea and you’re thinking – “Ah, now I’m going to get several health benefits“, think again. Did you use a tea bag from the department store? If the answer to this question is yes, then read further.

The green tea that is kept in tea bags is exactly what it looks like – dust. You have to go back to the manufacturing and packaging process to understand this. During production, green tea or any organic tea for that matter is graded based on their size. The tips of the tea plant that are able to survive the ride from the tea garden to the factory are the best quality. The leaves from the middle part of the plant are older and mostly break down into pieces. Some others become almost powdery.

Large sieves separate these tea leaves. The loose leaves are the highest grade and fetch the highest rates. At the lowest end of the sieves are small, powdery dust that go into tea bags.

But why didn’t someone think of putting the full tea leaves into tea bags? Physics. The full tea leaves have larger surface area and if kept in a tea bag, they don’t get the space they need to soak up the water. The powdery tea has more air pockets for the expansion. Some green tea producers have experimented with different types of tea bags to allow for more space for loose tea bags to expand but in most cases, you don’t find the good stuff in tea bags.

Have you heard someone say that they tried green tea and found it bitter? Again, its because they probably made the mistake of trying green tea bags. Tea in tea bags contain more tannins which brings a bitter taste to tea. Since green tea is hardly oxidized, any mistake in its preparation can turn it into a bitter mess and you’ll promise yourself never to have another cup in your life.

So where do you go from here? Not to the department store that sells those tea bags that make your mornings an ordeal. Order a packet of high quality loose tea leaves, find a good infuser, boil your water to the perfect temperature, let your tea steep for the right time and enjoy the subtle flavours that this magical drink has to offer.