Single Herb Tea (Bags)

What is Single Herb Tea?

Tea culture has long played an important role in many countries where it is commonly consumed at social events. It is also an integral part of formal ceremonies for many social occasions. Tea culture has also become a prized experience in the West with tea houses and tea shops popping up in malls and neighbourhoods throughout North America, and serving as a healthier and much-needed alternative to boozy lunches and wine-soaked dinners. Indeed, tea is a healthy and welcome addition to Western culture and comes in a variety of different iterations to please every palate. These include:

Teas made from the Camellia sinensis tea plant (a caffeine-rich plant):

• Black tea (including English Breakfast and Earl Grey)
• Green tea (including Matcha)
• Oolong (a blend of black and green tea)
• White tea (the least processed, unoxidized tea leaves)
  
  

Herbal teas (most are caffeine-free):

Unlike teas made from the Camellia sinensis plant, herbal teas can come in combined blends of flowers, herbs, plants, dried fruit and peel, and spices, or are offered, just as frequently, as single-herb teas. Single herb teas have the added advantage of being more precise in both the flavour profile as well as the medicinal benefits (if any) that the individual herb offers.

Single Herb Teas Offered in Teabags – Benefits, and Disadvantages

Single-herb teas come in loose-leaf form, ground powder, as well as in teabags. The most obvious benefit of teabags is their convenience – no measuring out the tea or second-guessing how much to use, as well as make for a speedier cleanup. From a composition standpoint, teabags are small, porous pouches that are typically made of filter paper or food-grade plastics. They are occasionally made of silk, although silk is considered to inhibit the full flavour development. Unfortunately, most conventionally available teabags are typically chlorine-bleached to make the bag whiter, resulting in small amount of toxic chlorine compounds ending up in the tea bag paper. This is why its critical to only select teabags where their tea bags are completely compostable and fully biodegradable, and that use a totally chlorine free whitening process (if at all) that does not rely on dioxin, a whitening agent that is toxic to the body and to the water supply. Premium tea brands typically offer these types of teabags.

Single Herb Teabags and Flavour

Another drawback of teabags is that, unlike whole leaf tea, teabags generally contain broken leaves, dust, and fannings created during production. This is known to degrade many of the healthy compounds and antioxidants in the tea. Another important thing to consider with teabags is that they are often too small and so, constrict the contents, which prevents the tea from infusing its full flavour profile. Alternately, if you’re able to find large sachets these help minimize the impact on flavour. Pyramid-shaped tea bags are even better since the contents are free to float around in the water.

Preparing Single Herb Teas in Teabag Form

Brewing a perfect cup of tea is an art form and should start with boiling clean filtered water (making sure not to boil the water more than once, as this reduces the oxygen level, which in turn, affects the flavour). If you’re brewing black, green, or white tea, your steeping time will be shorter – typically anywhere from 2 to 3 minutes; however, for herbal and/or medicinal teas, you’ll likely need a solid 5 to 15 minutes to fully infuse the water and extract the full flavour profile and medicinal benefits. Before drinking your tea, you should also allow the brew to cool down for around 2-3 minutes, after having removed the tea bags. Because, once the temperature reduces, the flavours start to develop and deliver a better quality taste. Depending on the plant(s) or herb(s) present in your tea, you may choose to add a little milk, sugar, or honey to sweeten the blend.