Whenever I’m hungover — which is totally rare; the last time was probably yesterday a couple years ago — the only substance my stomach will accept is tea. Everyone has a different hangover routine, whether it’s a greasy breakfast, hair of the dog or just plenty of water. But the absolute only thing I can keep down is tea. It’s my ultimate, all-purpose elixir.
So when I realized that I might be hitting the bars this weekend but had finished all my boxes of Sleepytime, green pomegranate and good old-fashioned English Breakfast tea, I thought the most eco-friendly thing to do would be to abandon the plastic and paper packaging of the regular brands and invest in refillable packs of the loose-leaf variety, as well as buy a stainless steel infuser so I wouldn’t require disposable tea bags.
I also supported a new local business just around the corner from my building. Tealish, owned by a charming young couple with very white teeth who loved that I brought my own tote bag, has over 130 different types of premium and fair-trade loose-leaf, including green, black, white, Oolong, herbal and Rooibos, as well as shelves of gorgeous merch (it took all my frugal will power not to buy an $85 pot-and-cups set) and a menu offering iced tea, tea smoothies and Matcha tea lattes.
Of course, if I happen to be out at a café, I’m not going to demand that the wait staff serve me loose-leaf tea (although I will demand they serve it to me in a mug or thermos instead of a paper cup), but from now on, all the tea I brew at home will be unrefined, unconfined and ultimately give me peace of mind.
About that infuser… ‘Stainless’ is a bit of an overstatement…. I’ve had one of those, it was nice and stainless in the beginning, now its more like ‘stained’. Mine turned to rust after a few weeks… that’s why I am using special tea bags for loose tea. I know it’s wasteful, but at least they are compostable. I know that perhaps my rusty stainless is not really stainless, but I think it is… I think maybe I just didn’t take proper care of it. Anyway, let me know if it’s still ‘stainless’ after some use… I’m curious. Anyway, my advice is don’t leave it infusing for hours and wash it and dry it right after you use it. Not that you would do that, because you probably are not a slob like me
Our tea infusers (yes, plural) are stainless and still stainless.
We don’t use it a whole lot anymore, though.
Ooops, THEM, use THEM a whole lot…
[...] As A Thistle.com’s post today has a great tip, –>the green hangover cure. Some of us can use this information once in while, [...]
This was one of my favorite parts of my own transition. I am a tea-o-holic. It wasn’t even a sacrifice for me…the tea tastes sooooo much better than the store-bought, pre-packaged varieties!
Eventually, being a bit of a “tea snob” has led me to taking my own tea out. By doing so, I don’t have the issue of wasting excess packaging anywhere else with tea, also. I purchased a 3 pk. of the 2″x3″ cotton muslin tea bags and use one for my sugar, one for my tea leaves and one for salt (I only use sea salt, when I do use it at all). I also keep a small tea ball there. I empty the leaves on the saucer that comes with the tea cup, or on my empty food plate.
I keep them in in this little velvet “make-up” bag that had been sitting around for YEARS with no use. It’s been great, and when I go out, all I do is ask for “hot water” and brew my tea in the stainless infuser ball that I put in with it. The makeup bag is very small so it’s compact in my purse, too. On top of it all, I save money when I go out. Usually I’ll have two cups of hot tea…when you ask for the hot water you aren’t charged…but you are charged for the “disposable” tea bags, for each one no less. Save money, better flavor. It’s a win/win here!
Lol… That’s really funny. Here in the Netherlands you ARE charged for the hot water :p Tea bags are free… How crazy is that? I think it’s because the dutch are such cheap @$$es. If hot water was free, everyone would bring their own tea bags and they wouldn’t make any money
Loose leaf tea. Yes ! Absolutely ! But who needs an “infuser?” I just pour the boiling water right over the leaves and allow them to settle to the bottom and then pour the tea once they have settled. If using a cup instead of a pot, I just let the leaves settle to the bottom and drink from the cup once they have settled. You just need to get used to knowing exactly how much to use for each pot/cup etc. and you’re sailing. Also, it seems the better quality teas seem to have larger leaves so there is always less floating around in there in the first place.Then, of course, you compost the used leaves. So green……………
ceai oolong | ceai…
[...]Loose-leaf tea leaves more leaves on trees (Day 69)… « Green as a Thistle[...]…
[...] The Green as a Thistle green move I’m featuring today is switching from tea bags to loose leaf tea. Here’s a link to the post : http://greenasathistle.com/2007/05/08/loose-leaf-tea-leaves-more-leaves-on-trees-day-69/. [...]