Free The Leaves !

CA_tea and myself have been promulgating a new campaign – Free the Leaves.
It’s based on this principle:
“Good tea shouldn’t be caged in bags. Bad tea just shouldn’t be”
So, what’s your take? Will you stand up for the soggy mess of paper, string, staple and CTC tea, or will you burn your teabags and cry “Free The leaves”

50 Replies
TeaGeeks said

Awesome. I’ve gotten ride of all teabags. We should really get this popular.

Login or sign up to post a message.

I invite everyone to say the catchphrase ““Good tea shouldn’t be caged in bags. Bad tea just shouldn’t be”” on video and send me the file at [email protected] → I’ll stitch them, all together and post it on youtube. You can also burn teabags while you say it if you want, but be careful, they can actually take off when lit; I know, I’ve done it as a party trick.

Login or sign up to post a message.

Jillian said

I agree with you – in principle. And yet despite having been enlightened to the awesomess of whole-leaf tea there are still some bagged teas that I love despite their imperfect nature. ;)

Login or sign up to post a message.

…perhaps I’m not as much of a tea freak as I thought I was…

Angrboda said

I had the same thought about myself…

I, uh… Well
I’m all for “spreading the know” about loose tea, but…
bagged tea exists for a reason.

Angrboda said

Exactly. And it’s a good and inexpensive place to start for those who are just starting out on their tea adventure.

Or for people who just drinks it without being particularly interested in it. Like how my dad drinks his coffee and knows which brand he likes best, but doesn’t care in the slightest where the actual coffee berries grew. He just wants a cup of coffee. Tea drinkers like that are out there too. If I was one, and I found a bagged tea that I liked, I wouldn’t bother with a more expensive and difficult to prepare loose tea either.

Login or sign up to post a message.

spohkh said

I use bagged tea purely out of convenience.

Me too or if something is really rare

Login or sign up to post a message.

I definitely agree with you Robert. The first tea I ever tried was loose leaf, and I plan on keeping it that way. :)

Login or sign up to post a message.

PeteG said

For all the discerning tea lovers…let’s not discriminate. Let’s just enjoy our tea however it is dressed. It is in the combining of the leaf and hot water into a cup that draws us together – let us not seperate into camps but unite to enjoy the ebb and flow of life in a cup.

Angrboda said

This.

You’re always so poetic, Pete. :)

PeteG said

Cheers! I raise my cuppa!

Heyes said

Well said.

Login or sign up to post a message.

A Robert Timms Coffee Bag offers convenience. How many espresso drinkers would dare put that in the same category as a well made coffee?
Eating a protein bar instead a meal is more convenient, how many people would be happy to be served one at a restaurant?
Come on, where’s the activists here?

Login or sign up to post a message.

PeteG said

Activists? Get Real – it’s Tea!

There are people here in Haiti that can’t locate clean water for a cup of tea let alone worrying about which is more ‘pure’ bag or loose. Give me a break! Get off of your high horse…and not be pretentious…people are looking for one meal a day…let alone worrying about granola bars or some specialty tea. This is getting out of hand when one is seeking activists in “tea land”.

Pete, I’m having some fun. A distraction from the serious stuff.
Just because someone cares about tea, or a football team, or a TV show, and enjoys those things in their life, doesn’t mean they aren’t concerned about the bigger thngs in life.
Over the time I’ve been enjoying this discussion, I’ve also contributed to discussions elsewhere about the destruction of the ruins of Babylon; proposed censorship in Australia, a garage sale for Haiti victims in Sydney and social media week. And a dozen topics on top of that, many of them humourous and irrelevant.

PeteG said

Granted. I see your point. Yet, possibly the wrong choice of words such activist. There have been a ubiquitous amt of activists that have caused change for the postive and tea for example has been a cause in and of itself in the 18th century US history. Maybe I am too close to the action here at the moment and my judgment is clouded. I may have come on too strong and for that I am sorry.
For too long this country*edit* (Haiti) has been ‘irrelevant’ in the eyes of world community and it is my desire that we do not forget what is ‘real’.
Convoluted language mixed with humour can be misinterpreted…
Saying that – I raise a cup of tea to you Robert!

Pithy said

Obviously this is less about haiti and human suffering than it is about your tea bag insecurities, PeteG. Guess what! Tea bags ARE the equivalent to drinking instant coffee or flavored wines and anyone who thinks they have tapped into some divine state of being by drinking stale cut up leaves or teas masked by lychee flavoring beyond recognition needs to get over themselves.

I’m with you Robert, we’re at war! Pick a side!

Thanks for your gracious reply.
I myself have been asking people who mean #teaparty to stop use #tea on twitter, because quite frankly, US politics are a mystery to many of us, and a mystery that many of us don’t care to delve into, fascinating though it is. I meran, from an outsider’s point of view, you guys elected someone because of what he might achieve and now the scandal seems to be he’s doing it. Wish we had that problem here!
In Australia, we tend to laugh first and ask questions later, and I appreciate that my sense of humour may be outlandish. actually it’s one of the reasons I love steeper.com – my American friends on the site seem to be a charming, intelligent and someone quirky subset of the US population.
So, on this side of the world, I raise the last 33% of my cup of Raspberry black tea to you in return!

Hey Pithy, you’re obviously a guy/girl/ after my own heart. Great work. I look forward to your video on the subject!

PeteG said

All due respect to my American cousins to the south but I am Canadian. As Cofftea desscribes below – to challenge people or to make blank assertions with borderline arogance lke Pithy so aptly attempted to describe my “teabag insecurities” is blatant ignorance.
Pithy-you have no idea! It’s all about human suffering and compassion but it is obvious that your interjection into this discussion displays your lack of clear understanding.
WRT Tea – unless you purchase and drink tea from fair trade companies we are complicit to low wages and virtual economic slavery.

PeteG said

Hiding behind or using humour to diminish anothers opinion(of tea bags vice looose leaf), or nationality is contrary to what tea is all about. Pithy as your nomaclature describes you are terse, and to the point rather succinct. I appreciate opinion of others and I rather enjoy open discussions but I gather by some previous responses of other “steepsters” in this post that the humour dislayed is not globallly enjoyed () or at least, not entirely understood () BTW I am in Haiti doing my part to help…come on over…we need your help.

Pithy said

I drink loose leaf artisanal teas. Not because it’s pretentious, but because it’s important to me to know the harvest date, the region it’s grown in and the farm it comes from. Can you say that about your mass produced tea bags? If you really cared about tea and/or economic slavery, you’d care more about where it comes from and not trust some vague stamp on a box that is more harmful to traditional teas than helpful.

Shanti said

Hey PeteG, I’m with you on let everyone enjoy what they like, it’s just tea, but can we please not bring up something unrelated like Haiti into this conversation? It just cheapens the awful situation there, and yes, omgz, people can care about more than one thing at once! Since you’re a smart guy, I think you already knew that, but I just wanted to point out that arguments like “how can you be so concerned with x when y is going on” are almost always illogical.

Login or sign up to post a message.

Cofftea said

@Pithy, please drink what you like and like what you drink, but please don’t tell others what you (negatively) think about what someone else likes. Thank you.

PeteG said

You go girl!

Login or sign up to post a message.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.