From time to time you might come across a carefully stored tea bag that has actually broken open. I’ve only experienced this once, but it did make me wonder if I should just throw it away or if I could still steep the leaves. In case you ever experience the same thing, let’s cover some of the facts you’ll want to know.
If a tea bag breaks either before or during your brewing process, you can steep the leaves either in an infuser or in your cup, and then safely drink the tea. Similar to loose leaf tea, the leaves in tea bags are edible and safe, although they may not be of the highest quality.
If you routinely use loose leaf tea and a tea infuser, either in your cup or in a kettle, you are accustomed to working with tea leaves.
However, if you primarily use tea bags with the leaves neatly contained, a broken bag might seem like a potential problem…maybe even to the point of being unsafe.
While the leaves in tea bags that have split open are usually entirely safe to eat, lets cover some of the additional specifics you will want to know.
Is Tea from Broken Tea Bags Safe?
The tea leaves inside a broken tea bag are generally safe to ingest. Steeping them in an infuser or right in your cup will still result in a healthy tea. You can even eat the tea leaves if some remain in your tea cup.
Tea doesn’t go bad if it is exposed to the air. You will always want to store your tea bags in a dry, dark, cool location. If you have stored tea bags correctly, even broken bags will contain usable, safe tea leaves.
The primary thing to consider is whether the tea leaves may have been exposed to moisture. Moisture can cause tea to mold, but if the bag has been kept dry, there should be no reason you can’t safely brew the contents.
Can You Eat Tea Leaves from a Tea Bag?
The question as to whether or not tea bag leaves are edible comes up more often than you would think.
If a tea bag has split open and you are left with leaves in your cup, or you are wondering how else you might use the leaves, you are not alone.
Tea leaves from a tea bag are edible and can be eaten directly. The leaves have more nutritional value after steeping, so only steeped leaves should be consumed. In addition, if you plan to use the leaves in a recipe, the finely ground leaves found in the majority of tea bags should work nicely as recipe ingredients.
Some tea, such as Matcha tea powder, is indeed ingested regularly. Other tea leaves are generally not eaten routinely.
Since tea bag leaves are probably not eaten very often, it’s important to know the potential benefits as well as the drawbacks.
What are the Benefits of Eating Tea Leaves from a Tea Bag?
If you first steep the grounds from the tea bag, hot water will cause the catechins, which are powerful antioxidants, to be released. Steeped tea grounds are the most nutritious if you plan to eat them. You can get an immune system boost from the steeped leaves.
Whether you eat the leaves after steeping or simply ingest a few of them if your bag broke open during the brewing process, you will gain some benefits.
What are the Drawbacks of Eating Tea Leaves from a Tea Bag?
Since the tea in bags is made up mostly of fannings, or dust, and possibly even sweeping from the tea factory floor, the contents of tea bags are not considered to be as high of a quality as loose tea.
In addition, it may not very enjoyable to have ground tea leaves in your mouth. While the resulting tea might taste good to you, the actual leaves may not. In addition, the leaves may get caught in your throat and cause irritation.
“The leaves in tea bags are edible and safe, although they may not be of the highest quality.”
TEA CROSSING
How to Save and Use Leaves from a Broken Tea Bag
A broken tea bag doesn’t mean that the tea must be thrown away.
If your bag tears, you can save the tea and still use the finely crushed leaves to steep tea without any negative consequences.
Here are 3 tips for saving and using the tea leaves from broken bags:
Tip #1: Use a Tea Ball or Infuser
If the bag breaks before you steep the tea, it’s easy to empty the contents in a tea ball. This is how many people prepare their loose leaf tea. The tea ball has tiny holes to allow the water to steep the tea without releasing the grounds back into your cup.
Tip #2: Use a Coffee Filter
If you don’t have a tea ball or infuser, you can use a coffee filter to strain the leaves from the water.
Tip #3: Use a Strainer
If you don’t have a tea ball, infuser, or coffee filter, you can use a very fine mesh strainer to brew the tea. Simply pour the hot water over the strainer. Allow the strainer to sit on top of the water so the heat continues to release the nutrients found in the tea leaves.
Are There Reasons NOT to Use Tea Bags? 3 Things to Consider
For decades, the argument against using tea bags versus their convenience has been an ongoing debate. Avid tea drinkers are split on the issue.
Here are the 3 top reasons why you should NOT use tea bags:
Reason #1: Most Tea Bags Contain Chemicals
Unless you buy tea in bags that are certified as organic and chemical free, they likely contain at least traces of chemicals that can be unhealthy for consumption. In addition to epichlorohydrin, some paper bags are coated with dioxin, or are bleached in chlorine. Hot water activates chemicals used to treat the bags, and you’re drinking them when you brew the bags. The plastic-based bags also release chemicals during the steeping process.
Scientific research into the dangers of tea bags has shown that four of the most popular brands of tea sold in bags contain polypropylene to seal the tea bags. When placed in hot water, the rate of release of micro-plastic and nano-plastic particles was in the billions, and up to several thousand times higher than the amounts you get from plastic water bottles. The effects on the human body are not yet known.
This is one of the most compelling reasons not to use tea bags.
2. The Quality of the Tea Suffers
Most tea bags are so small that they cannot contain enough of the tea leaves to fully release the flavor.
Flavor is imparted to the water as the leaves expand, but the bags constrict the tea leaves from full expansion. This means that the flavor is not fully infused through the water. Deprecation of the fullness of the taste is a reason why some tea drinkers take exception with the use of tea bags.
The alternative is loose leaf tea, and when you steep them at recommended temperatures and lengths of time, they impart a superior flavor.
3. You Lose Nutrients and Health Benefits
The argument continues over the value of tea bags vs. loose tea.
Many tea bags contain broken leaves and leaf dust, and the processing of the leaves used to fill tea bags can cause them to lose at least some of their nutritional value.
Loose tea leaves, however, undergo far less processing, which makes them a richer source of the nutrients that make tea so beneficial for your health. Some of the benefits include antioxidants that help in boosting the immune system and slowing down the aging process.
It’s important to note that the tea in bags still contain a good level of nutrients, but it is believed that the loose tea leaves retain higher levels of nutrients due to minimal processing. In addition, the broken leaves found in tea bags do lose more of their essential oils, and they tend to release more tannins, which erode tooth enamel and promote deeper teeth staining.
“The leaves in tea bags are edible and safe, although they may not be of the highest quality.”
TEA CROSSING
Are Tea Bags Edible?
Tea bags are not intended to be edible. Although there are some biodegradable tea bags, some are made of food-grade nylon, and PVC which are plastics. Most tea bags contain a coating of a substance called epichlorohydrin. This is a known carcinogen, but it can be rinsed off in room temperature water, where it quickly dissolves. It’s not recommended to eat the actual bag, but the contents of the tea bag are certainly safe to eat.