Ideal Bite

Are you mad about tea?

10.10.2007

Submitted by tmeronek on Wed, 10/10/2007 - 12:01am.

The Bite:

We mean in that just-can't-get-enough-of-it way, natch. If your answer is "Even more than the Dormouse!", then choose eco-tea for your next tea party. Going for conventional, potentially pesticide-ridden options would be madness.

The Benefits:

'Cide-free tea time. Although it's outlawed in the United States, tea from other countries can still contain toxic baddies like the pesticide DDT, and while you can wash away pesticides on your non-organic veggies, you can't wash 'em off your tea.
No strings attached. Prevent waste by opting for biodegradable teabags without staples or strings, or, even better, loose-leaf teas. Little things add up...
Fairer field wages. Look for the fair-trade seal, which guarantees that tea-estate workers are paid fairly.
Better health. Tea, especially green tea, is rich in antioxidants. Take a hint from big tea-drinking countries like Japan, home to fewer cases of heart disease and cancers than America.

Personally Speaking:

Toshio goes mad if he drinks too much caffeine, so a cuppa green tea in the afternoon reenergizes him without the jitters that come with coffee or energy drinks.

Wanna Try:

Choice English Breakfast Tea - well-balanced classic that's fair-trade and organic; oxygen-bleached, stringless bags in bulk ($33).
Republic of Tea Ceylon Breakfast Tea - organic, fair-trade, whole-leaf black orange pekoe tea with a smooth finish, in a refillable tin ($11).
Srina Young Hyson Tea - full-bodied green loose-leaf packaged in recycled materials and grown without pesticides by well-paid workers in Sri Lanka ($10).
Honest Tea First Nation Peppermint Tea - organic, mellow mint tea. Proceeds help to fund Native American programs, and it's packaged in completely biodegradable teabags without staples or strings ($5).

Cocktail Fact

The phrase "mad as a hatter" was derived from haberdashers whose exposure to mercury (which they used to cure felt for hats) led to mercury poisoning and, eventually, madness.