2 Tea Questions

[RosaryMan]

I've been drinking tea for years, but the tea bag stuff. Mostly Twinings. I was wondering about loose leaf tea. I bought a tin of Twinings, and what was inside looks like what's inside a tea bag. I thought loose tea would look like...well...dried leaves, leaf shaped. What does "loose leaf" tea look like? The loose tea in a Twinings tin, is that it?

Question 2: Now don't roll your eyes. What's a tea towel used for? I'm a bread maker. I use them to cover the dough as it's rising. What's its original use?

 

[mikey]

Hello RosaryMan,



With regards to loose tea:

The Twinings you have contains what is called "fannings". It is what is left over from the production of higher grade teas.

Here are a few good sources for loose tea.

In Pursuit of Tea
http://www.inpursuitoftea.com/

JAS-eTea
http://www.jas-etea.com/

QEDusa
http://www.qedusa.com/necessories-shop-c-58_57.html



With regards to tea towels:

from wikipedia.com
A tea towel (English) or dish towel (American) is a cloth which is used to dry dishes, cutlery, etc., after they have been washed. In 18th century England, a tea towel was a special linen drying cloth used by the mistress of the house to dry her precious and expensive china tea things. Servants were considered too ham-fisted to be trusted with such a delicate job, although housemaids were charged with hand-hemming the woven linen when their main duties were completed.[citation needed] Tea towels have been mass-produced since the Industrial Revolution.



Hope this helps.

Thanks,
Mike

I've been drinking tea for years, but the tea bag stuff. Mostly Twinings. I was wondering about loose leaf tea. I bought a tin of Twinings, and what was inside looks like what's inside a tea bag. I thought loose tea would look like...well...dried leaves, leaf shaped. What does "loose leaf" tea look like? The loose tea in a Twinings tin, is that it?

Question 2: Now don't roll your eyes. What's a tea towel used for? I'm a bread maker. I use them to cover the dough as it's rising. What's its original use?

 

[b128thopen]

JAS-eTea
http://www.jas-etea.com/

+1

and Upton Tea Imports
http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/ho...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

 

[JPDyson]

Of particular importance to me in a tea towel is that it be as lintless as possible. So, I'm thinking the linen towels you likely use for baking would be well suited.

As for tea, cut open a bag and have a look. It's mostly "bits" whereas the tea you get from JAS-eTea will be as whole as possible. TAZO sells "full leaf" tea in bags, which I think means "the whole leaf is in there, best we can tell, but it's in a few pieces."

 

[RosaryMan]

Of particular importance to me in a tea towel is that it be as lintless as possible. So, I'm thinking the linen towels you likely use for baking would be well suited.

What do you use the tea towel for? A tea towel is different than a dish towel. The tea towels I have are white, made of a thin material, and much larger than a dish towel, which is used for drying dishes.

I'll check out those web sites.

 

[JPDyson]

Drying stuff, pretty much. Maybe everybody wants a lint free towel for drying, and I just do so little drying of regular dishes, that the only time I dry anything is tea stuff.

 

[jwhite]

Drying stuff, pretty much. Maybe everybody wants a lint free towel for drying, and I just do so little drying of regular dishes, that the only time I dry anything is tea stuff.

+1
If you ever look at the videos of people using gong-fu brewing it can get pretty wet, but there are drips and splashes with whatever brewing method you prefer. A good towel keeps it tidy. They are also useful in clean-up after. Lint free is best as you don't have to worry about fuzzys floating in your drink.

 

[craig87c]

Loose tea will look different depending on the type of tea.

Tea towels are also used to help the tea rise

 

[a_bit_crafty]

I've been drinking tea for years, but the tea bag stuff. Mostly Twinings. I was wondering about loose leaf tea. I bought a tin of Twinings, and what was inside looks like what's inside a tea bag. I thought loose tea would look like...well...dried leaves, leaf shaped. What does "loose leaf" tea look like? The loose tea in a Twinings tin, is that it?

Question 2: Now don't roll your eyes. What's a tea towel used for? I'm a bread maker. I use them to cover the dough as it's rising. What's its original use?

1. I drink mostly black loose leaf (with some green or white thrown in occasionally), and most of what I have looks almost like little twigs when dry. When brewed, they unfurl. I'm sure there are others that look different.

2. I love, love, love my linen tea towels for bread making. I sewed them from white linen that Mr. Crafty bought for me from a fabric store. I make bread about twice a week. As for the original use, someone already said what I was going to say.

 

[JPDyson]

It's settled, then. Mrs. Dyson needs some towel making experience! I'm confident she can handle it - she sewed the bag that holds her knitting needs (and knit my favorite hat... that woman ).