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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Thrifty Thursday - Cup of Tea Anyone

Not related to the title but a couple of great posts I have read in recent days:

A Home Blessing on Taking Time

On cleaning tools on Like Mother, Like Daughter

A poem on Beauty that Moves

Back to the title now....I have been reading Paul Lonergan's Little Book of Thrift.  He has something interesting to say regarding tea (p. 36)..........

The main difference between loose teas and bagged teas is the size ofthe leaves.  The bigger the leaf, the better chance the essential oils and flavours have of coming out.  Tea needs lots of room to expand and swirl in order to get the best flavours out of the leaf, so by definition, a loose tea is superior.  Typical budget tea bags are filled with the tiniest pieces of broken leaves, called fannings.

I far prefer loose leaf tea, and though it only works out marginally cheaper than pre-bagged tea, I think the flavour and fun of going to a tea shop and picking my tea makes it worthwhile.

Cup of tea, anyone?

2 comments:

  1. I just ran across your site through a comment on the Like Mother, Like Daughter blog, and enjoyed looking around. I was especially excited to see your 2010 book list post - I do the same thing (though I'm behind on posting this year's list) and always love seeing what others are reading.

    Just wondering - do you have any favorite Australian authors? I don't think I've ever actually read any Australian literature, and was wondering where to start.

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  2. Well, thank you for the tip! My husband and I are avid tea drinkers but I didn't know that about loose leaf vs. tea bags. I wonder where I could get loose leaf tea for a good price. I don't think I've ever seen it at the grocery store, but I'll have to have closer look next time I'm there.

    I will say that when I was a teen I spent some time in Russia, and the loose leaf tea they drink there is delicious...I brought a package home to Canada to enjoy, and I thought it was so good because it was "Russian" tea--maybe it was just because it was loose? Hm.

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