- Whole-Leaf Teas are highest in Antioxidants
- Whole-Leaf Teas develop a much subtler and complex array of aromas
- Whole Leaf Teas don't become as bitter as quick as Tea-Bag Teas
Using the Whole leaf ensures that the Tea has a unique freshness in flavour and develops its full range of aroma.
Whole-Leaf Teas also maintain optimum levels of antioxidants and other health-promoting active ingredients which are greatly reduced through the oxidation process that occurs in machine harvesting and tea bag processing.
First of all there are teas and then there are Teas. One cup of tea might be completely different from another cup of tea. There is a common misconception that Green Tea is always high in Antioxidants. Certainly Green Tea is a step up from your fizzy drink, but that doesn't mean they are all high in Antioxidants. Your common tea bag green tea has as much Antioxidants as toast has wholegrain. There are several distinctions in the World of Tea:
- Quality: There are about 10 Grades of Green Tea. Special Grade is best, followed by Grade one or First Grade Green Tea, which are all hand-picked. This is done because the tea-leaf should not be damaged in harvest, to preserve all the Antioxidants. Tea-bag teas are generally mechanically harvested (like with your lawnmower), so no differentiation is made between leaf or stem.
- Probably one of the most important factors determining the Antioxidant content is the leaf size. Only whole-leaf Green Teas retain high levels of Antioxidants. As soon as the Tea leaf is cut (as with mechanic harvesting and further tea-bag cut processing) it oxidises and loses on average 95% of its Antioxidants. There are literally no Green Tea bags that are high in Antioxidants, unless they contain the whole-leaf Tea.
- Tea plantations have one of the highest application of pesticide application per area of any of the food crops. In Asia banned pesticides such as DDT, or high risk pesticides such as HCB, Lindan, Endosulfan are still used to combat weeds, bacteria or insects.
Less health and environmentally damaging, but still concerning is the high use of fertiliser. As a rule of thumb 40% of energy is used up to produce fertiliser. It helps the plant to grow faster, but reduces the natural aromas of the plant. Use of fertiliser also speeds up soil erosion, thus fundamentally loss of top-soil.
This can be prevented with Organically Grown Tea. These Tea plantations tend to be smaller (less prone to pests and diseases) and more diverse.
All of Solaris Botanical's Teas are certified organic, first flush, and first Grade Whole Leaf Teas.
(Joerg Mueller, Master Tea Blender of Solaris Tea)
Enjoy your cuppa!
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