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My buddy used to work for Lipton. He explained that they use the cheapest grade of tea (dust) available. Also many tea companies mix non-tea additives (fillers)
by roboys 7y ago
My buddy used to work for Lipton. He explained that they use the cheapest grade of tea (dust) available. Also many tea companies mix non-tea additives (fillers) to their tea bags.
After hearing this I decided, if it's not full loose leaf, I don't drink it. We found that companies like Elephant Chateau (http://elephantchateau.com http://elephantchateau.com) deliver the 3 highest grades of tea direct from Ceylon mountain estates with the option for plant-based pyramid bags (soilon) or a free stainless steel infuser.
Bonus, the tea actually tastes like tea and is tasty enough to drink plain unlike Lipton dust. It always funny to hear people promote all the health benefits of tea then turn around and dump 100 grams of sugar into a cup to make it palatable.
- ccffph 7y agoWhat's the difference between Elephant Chateau and something like this? https://www.amazon.com/Ahmad-Ceylon-OPA-Tea-Carton/dp/B0011010XY https://www.amazon.com/Ahmad-Ceylon-OPA-Tea-Carton/dp/B00110...
- cpcallen 7y agoNot tried Elephant Chateau, but I have tried the Ahmad Earl Grey, and it was very disappointing compared to, e.g., Twinings.
- Spooky23 7y agoI’ve noticed that many of the fancy tea companies make an earl grey that is way too bergamot-y.
- wyclif 7y agoI simply use loose-leaf Twinings Earl Grey, the kind that comes in the light yellow tin. It's easy to find everywhere, even in some fairly unexciting supermarkets, and the quality and price are in the tea sweet spot for me. And to your point, it has enough bergamot but not too much. Just the right amount for me.
- roboys 7y agoI've tried Ahmad's Ceylon tea in the past and enjoyed it, but not this particular product.
- hdrujvw-4579 7y agopg tips used to sell a tea that came in a brown/oragne box. It was rich and tasty but somehow they discontinued it. Lipton and many teas in the US taste of cardboard. It baffles me how people find anything in it to keep buying it.
- Spooky23 7y agoIt’s part of people’s morning habit and tough to break. My grandparents drank a ton of Lipton or Tetley tea. I literally didn’t realize there was anything else until college!
- JCharante 7y agoI just bought a 320 pack of Lipton black tea. I don't drink it for the caffeine. To me the black tea tastes good, but I know that better tea exists. I'll have "good tea" when I visit friends but I'm just not personally interested in hunting down the store in Dalat that my friend likes to get her tea from. Lipton still tastes good to me.
- mumblemumble 7y agoRelated: http://wondermark.com/557/ http://wondermark.com/557/
- brokenkebab 7y agoTo be fair, bagged tea exists because there are lots of buyers who only want quick refreshing non-coffee caffeine, and don't care for taste that much. Or sometimes they just want a background for those 100 g. of sugar you mentioned. Tea dust is a perfect match for this market, because it releases everything it holds to water immediately, while whole leaves may require some patience, and proper procedure.
- jolotriage 7y agoWe took a tour of Loolecondera Tea Estate aka James Taylor Tea Museum a few years back. I left with the idea that high quality tea manufacturers consider dust almost waste material.
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- mumblemumble 7y agoFWIW, I'm personally fond of tea dust for cold brew, too. This summer I've been very much enjoying gyokuro dust steeped overnight in the fridge as my morning beverage. Not only is it less expensive than the whole leaf stuff (essentially free vs. some of the most expensive tea I own), but I think that works better with that brewing method, too. Probably the main reason I don't use Lipton instead of the good stuff when I'm making cold brew is that I dislike all the packaging waste. Between the brewing method and the serving temperature, I don't necessarily find the taste alone to be enough better to justify the higher price.
- thinnerlizzy 7y agoI've been using Lipton for this purpose and don't like all the packaging either. What do you use to contain the dust while you brew overnight? I make mine in a pitcher that lasts a few days.
- mumblemumble 7y agoI use a travel mug with a strainer cup that fits snugly inside. In the morning I pour it out without removing the strainer, so whatever dust fell through and collected in the bottom ends up getting filtered out when it goes back through the wet bits of leaf.
- petre 7y agoYup, exactly. I used to call Lipton "tea broomed off the ship's hold". But fillers? That explains why it tastes like paper. It isn't the paper bag.
- JJMcJ 7y agoYou don't see it often in stores but I have had Lipton loose leaf tea brewed in a tea pot. That is much better than the tea bags. Of course since it's loose leaf it can't be dust.
- bsder 7y ago> Elephant Chateau (http://elephantchateau.com http://elephantchateau.com) deliver the 3 highest grades of tea direct from Ceylon mountain estates with the option for plant-based pyramid bags (soilon) or a free stainless steel infuser. And the "Shop" button takes me to Amazon? My skepticism radar is going off.
- bduerst 7y agoSame. Their whole experience feels like the drop shipper of tea, or at least a liquidator. I have used Adagio Teas (https://www.adagio.com/ https://www.adagio.com/) for almost a decade now and have no complaints.
- cpcallen 7y agoIt took you to Amazon? It to me to, of all places, Etsy!
- Spooky23 7y agoTry Upton. They sell an insanely broad array of teas.
- roboys 7y agoI bought it on Amazon on a whim and it ended up being a great purchase. Hard to go back to normal tea and we haven't found this kind of leaf anywhere else.
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- pnutjam 7y agoI drink Lipton unsweetened, as ice tea. Although, I usually prefer Tetley.
- 14 7y agoThis really has me wondering. I have always really enjoyed coffee but found tea was just not for me. Thinking back, I have only ever tried cheap shelf tea such as Lipton as you mentioned. Perhaps I need to try a real tea and see the difference. How is it a company like Lipton who aims to use the cheapest quality product success in the market?
- SpicyLemonZest 7y agoIt's the same principle as fast food. A McDonalds hamburger is very different from a "normal" burger - but it's cheaper, quicker, more standardized, and someone has to use the trimmings. There are a few edge cases who like burgers but hate McDonalds, but for most people it's close enough to be a suitable replacement.
- jdnenej 7y agoPeople add sugar to tea O.O? I understand it for coffee but tea isn't even bitter. That's just insane.
- johnmaguire2013 7y agoHoney in tea is very common.
- tripzilch 7y agoFor coffee???? o_O
- gambiting 7y agoTea + lemon + sugar is the only way to drink it. True madness is milk in tea, those two liquids should just never go together. And coffee...I guess that's why the best most delicious coffee I buy is literally whatever is cheapest at Lidl - milk and sugar make all coffee taste acceptable. //obviously, I realize that people around the world have different tastes :P Where I am from literally no one drinks tea with milk, but adding a slice of lemon is extremely popular(I can guarantee that if you order tea at a restaurant it will be served with a slice of lemon to the side), but in the UK it's the opposite - people look at you like you are some kind of demon for adding lemon to tea.
- cjrp 7y agoLemon in Earl Grey is pretty common.
- dTal 7y agoLogically, even if milk and sugar made all coffee taste acceptable (spoiler - they don't) that still wouldn't explain why specifically the coffee you buy from Lidl is "the best, most delicious coffee you buy". In point of fact, cheap Lidl coffee is actually weirdly really really good.
- gambiting 7y agoI was being facetious obviously, by trying to imply that even the cheapest coffee is "the best and most delicious" because the milk and sugar make it all taste the same regardless of coffee beans used. But yes, Lidl's coffee is actually weirdly good despite being unrealistically cheap.
- ajcarpy2005 7y agoI have found Tai Chi Green Tea to be the best. They keep the tea refrigerated instead of letting the tea leaves dry out.
- fortran77 7y agoI really doubt you had a buddy that worked for Unilever who told you "Lipton uses the cheapest grade of tea (dust)" and that companies add non-tea additives. This is a rumor that's swirling around sites like "Food Babe" but is pure nonsense. See: https://www.unileverusa.com/news/press-releases/2005/lipton-the-proof-is-in-the-leaves.html https://www.unileverusa.com/news/press-releases/2005/lipton-...
- roboys 7y agoCan't compare the grade of loose leaf I'm talking about to the dust Lipton sells, having tasted the difference. Even visually...it's like comparing champagne to cooking wine. Elephant Chateau - https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61N4gza3WuL._SL1500_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61N4gza3WuL... Lipton (similar look) - http://ongsambee.com.sg/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/tea-dust.jpg http://ongsambee.com.sg/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/tea-dust.... In this case the proof is in the pudding, and Lipton happens to make especially terrible pudding, regardless of any doubts you have.
- cjrp 7y agoIsn't it just that the Lipton's content is crushed up, presumably to reduce brewing time?
- whenchamenia 7y agoNo, lipton tends to get the cheap crushed remnants of better tea, and only processes whats left to consistency. Others start with whole leaf, and then diliberately crush and seive it to a givin size (selling the remnants to lipton). Not to say its bad tea, just a bit cheap and oxidized. And if going cheap, luzianne (sp?) is the one to grab. Lipton is reserved for weak iced tea imho.
- AdmiralAsshat 7y agoIIRC (struggling to find a source), Thomas Lipton was the guy who formalized the tea-leaf grading process for Western Europe. The "legend" goes that back in the day, all of the imported tea would be dumped onto the floor of a particular room. The first round of tea producers would come and extract the full, unbroken tea leaves for top-shelf tea. The next round of producers would extract the broken leaves for mid-grade tea. On and on. Finally, what was left would be the tea leaves that had been so crushed, broken, or pulverized that they were little more than a tea dust. This is what Lipton would then sweep up to make Lipton tea. Which is to say, Lipton knew what he was doing. He went for the cheapest stuff possible. And that's what you get.
- tripzilch 7y agoI mean, there is a middle road of convenience made out of not-Lipton tea in paper bags. It's not as good as loose leaf, obviously. But it's also not dust with flavourings.
- mantoto 7y agoAnd by what standards is dust garbage? It is still tea. You might get even more out of it as it has a bigger surface. Anyway try a blind test if you can taste the difference.
- pndy 7y agoI've switch 10 years ago from bags to loose tea and since that moment I can't drink tea with sugar anymore - maybe all that bagged dust stuff was more palatable sweetened back then? No idea. But one thing is sure, I can't switch back to bags and each time I have to drink such, it's a nightmare - esp. the occasional Lipton cup tastes like worst thing under the sun.
- HonkHill 7y agoSugar is good. Sugar is a source of easily digestible carbohydrates. I find it funny how vilified sugar has become.
- aruggirello 7y agoI buy my tea from tealyra [0] - matcha but also other teas as well. [0] https://www.tealyra.com https://www.tealyra.com