In the thread on green and whites teas causing headaches, Mydnight
wrote:

For one thing, nobody that I know condones actually DRINKING tea
balls; otherwise known as "art tea" or "tea art". It is not natural
and they use all kinds of different plastics and coloring agents to
make the teas appear so nice.

What are other people's opinions on this? I know we've discussed the
fact that these teas are made more for looks than taste, but I don't
remember anyone mentioning that they are anything more than tea,
flowers, and string. They certainly don't add any artificial
flavors! ;-)

Thanks,

Alan

On Sep 27, 3:29 pm, Alan wrote:
In the thread on green and whites teas causing headaches, Mydnight
wrote:

For one thing, nobody that I know condones actually DRINKING tea
balls; otherwise known as "art tea" or "tea art". It is not natural
and they use all kinds of different plastics and coloring agents to
make the teas appear so nice.

What are other people's opinions on this? I know we've discussed the
fact that these teas are made more for looks than taste, but I don't
remember anyone mentioning that they are anything more than tea,
flowers, and string. They certainly don't add any artificial
flavors! ;-)

Thanks,

Alan

It's not so much artificial flavors that are the issue, it's (just as
was said) plastics, strings, and dyes/colorings, among other things.
There are some that are pure tea crafted into an artistic shape with
some minimal cotton string, they are also expensive. The one's you buy
for $0.50-$1 are most likely going to involve plastic, string, dye,
binder/glue/sizing, etc. I have seen bright red centers made of
plastic, I have also seen bright red centers made from ungodly dyed
leaf... and red dye ain't exactly the safest color especially coming
from China.

I'm very wary of artistic teas, even beyond the normally bad flavor
and improper steeping needed to make them "flower."

- Dominic
http://teasphere.wordpress.com

I have a collection from cheap to expensive. I don't see any evidence
of the horror stories. If nothing else they are 99% green tea bud
with some expensive string or cheap plastic ties. Everyone taste a
little odd but nothing more than any other flavored tea from China.
If stuff was added you would see it in the brew as particulate or
discolorization or residue. Mine pop out in a minute so much for the
glue theory. I don't think you can say anymore about tea blossoms
than all the other fake teas from China, supposedly.

Jim

Alan wrote:
In the thread on green and whites teas causing headaches, Mydnight
wrote:

For one thing, nobody that I know condones actually DRINKING tea
balls; otherwise known as "art tea" or "tea art". It is not natural
and they use all kinds of different plastics and coloring agents to
make the teas appear so nice.

What are other people's opinions on this? I know we've discussed the
fact that these teas are made more for looks than taste, but I don't
remember anyone mentioning that they are anything more than tea,
flowers, and string. They certainly don't add any artificial
flavors! ;-)

Thanks,

Alan

On Sep 27, 5:47 pm, Space Cowboy wrote:
I have a collection from cheap to expensive. I don't see any evidence
of the horror stories. If nothing else they are 99% green tea bud
with some expensive string or cheap plastic ties. Everyone taste a
little odd but nothing more than any other flavored tea from China.
If stuff was added you would see it in the brew as particulate or
discolorization or residue. Mine pop out in a minute so much for the
glue theory. I don't think you can say anymore about tea blossoms
than all the other fake teas from China, supposedly.

Jim

Maybe I'm just the lucky type who's had some bad experiences. I've
seen blossoms, with plastic centers made to resemble a flower (one was
yellow, the other was red). I've seen ones closed using something
similar to sizing used on new paintbrushes. The one I mentioned with
the garishly dyed center. I've also had non-artificial ones that
ranged from terrible in flavor to at best an acceptable/good.

I have a glass teapot just for them, and mainly I just use it as a
centerpiece. I have a couple called "peach blossom" that I bought when
I was in NYC that I'll both display and drink, it's a decent green tea
and only cotton string is used in them. I've had the Numi brand ones,
and they are all decent as well.

I guess I'm just a mixture of bad experience with them and not
interested when I have much better tea I can drink. Not snobbishly,
that's just the way I see it.

- Dominic
/as for luck I got rear ended solidly yesterday sitting at a red light
totally stationary... so that should give you a frame of reference as
to my "lucky" streaks.

Years ago, on a early Sunday morning with no freeway traffic, I exited
an offramp with my choice of 3 left turn lanes at a light. I got a
premonition not to use one of the lanes. A car pulls up next to me in
that lane and got rear ended while waiting for the light to change.
There were only us three cars on the ramp and one lane empty.

Jim

PS I got my tea blossoms from two reputable Chinese sources, one
cheap with limited selection and plastic ties the other expensive with
everything under the sun and silk ties. So my experience is also
limited. When I'm brave I drink my off the top in my Bodum Pavina
glass. They're more fun than taste which will raise the hair on your
neck.

Dominic T. wrote:
On Sep 27, 5:47 pm, Space Cowboy wrote:
....
I guess I'm just a mixture of bad experience with them and not
interested when I have much better tea I can drink. Not snobbishly,
that's just the way I see it.

- Dominic
/as for luck I got rear ended solidly yesterday sitting at a red light
totally stationary... so that should give you a frame of reference as
to my "lucky" streaks.

Thanks for the input everybody.

I'll assume that the "simple" tea balls, such as the Jade Flower at
Tao of Tea:
http://www.taooftea.com/detail.php3?...aH AzP2lkPQ==

are simply tea and string, and less likely to be adulterated than the
ones that are designed to open and put on a little show.

Alan

with some expensive string or cheap plastic ties. Everyone taste a
little odd but nothing more than any other flavored tea from China.
If stuff was added you would see it in the brew as particulate or
discolorization or residue. Mine pop out in a minute so much for the
glue theory. I don't think you can say anymore about tea blossoms
than all the other fake teas from China, supposedly.


Drinking boiling water over expensive string or plastic isn't enough
to deter you?

Does anyone remember those pill-sponge small toys you could get from
the gas station? They were little sponges inside of pills; the pill
would desolve in water letting the sponge out. It would also take a
minute...drinking the water was toxic.

And, with all the nonsense and dirty goods coming out of China these
days, why do you think tea is immune from this?

When I drink tea blossoms with a net displacement of about 100ml
string and plastic is the least of my worries. They don't dissolve,
they don't fade, they don't change shape, that is all that counts.
You are the Chinese equivalent in our country relating all the daily
horror stories about Western processed foods. Herbicides and
pollutants will fall to the soil. Processing will take care of most
of the problem. Your water is more of a problem than the
environment. I drink tea out of foam cups many times. I am still
alive.

Jim

Mydnight wrote:

Drinking boiling water over expensive string or plastic isn't enough
to deter you?

And, with all the nonsense and dirty goods coming out of China these
days, why do you think tea is immune from this?

Hi!
I do not know if all is meant for a good cuppa but the lovely artistic
teas, that to me, have been pretty scarce until a few years ago. I do
believe they put on a nice show, and I have given them to my little
(um not so little now) nephew, after he became a big fame of Jasmine
balls of course w/ the sugar bowl around. He was facinated that they
were called "dragon balls" and made a nice beautiful seaweed bed in
the cup. And they tasted really good. I am sure the sweetner helped.
So getting him the artistic teas (by numi) really increased his
passion for tea. This is good. Later as his palate gets more refined
maybe he will derive much enjoyment from much better tasting teas!
I also took some artistic tea to my mother who was dying in the
hospital so she could see the beauty of someones art in tea form,
which no one in my family had ever seen before. You must admit the
work is mighty extensive and beautiful. ANd if it caused one person
joy and awe, it was worth it to me.
Jenn

On Sep 28, 11:00 am, Alan wrote:
Thanks for the input everybody.

I'll assume that the "simple" tea balls, such as the Jade Flower at
Tao of Tea:http://www.taooftea.com/detail.php3?...1cmVsZWFmdGVhc...

are simply tea and string, and less likely to be adulterated than the
ones that are designed to open and put on a little show.

Alan

Alan,
A friend gave me a glass "ginger jar" he bought in Chinatown SF with
"peach flavoured green tea blossoms" inside called "Fairy Peach Green
Tea" by a company called Tian Hu Shan in Fujian . They were sprayed
with a light plastic covering (as Dominic inferred, similar to sizing)
and were extremely inexpensive. The heat of the water breaks down the
coating and voila! a blossom appears.
Personally, I'm not crazy about drinking "a light plastic coating".
I recently bought some very nice, unsprayed, plain old tasty green tea
blossoms from Dragon Tea House on eBay. These were hand-tied and as
far as I know, untreated. No jasmine. No plastic. A pretty good
quality green for the price.
I bought them as an intro to tea for a hesitant cousin.
Gordon still has some and I can vouch for the quality.
Shen

When I drink tea blossoms with a net displacement of about 100ml
string and plastic is the least of my worries. They don't dissolve,
they don't fade, they don't change shape, that is all that counts.
You are the Chinese equivalent in our country relating all the daily
horror stories about Western processed foods. Herbicides and
pollutants will fall to the soil. Processing will take care of most
of the problem. Your water is more of a problem than the
environment. I drink tea out of foam cups many times. I am still
alive.

I do hope you enjoy your time in the alternative reality you are
living in. Seriously, though, if you think drinking something that
has plastic and string in it after pouring boiling water over it, and
you think you will ingest NO chemical run-off from it, I don't know
what to tell you. There are daily horror stories of processed foods
for a reason, just as the teas so soaked in chemicals and grown in
scorched earth locals here won't even drink it has cause for
concern.

Call me a rabble rouser if you want. Looks to me like you are trying
to ignore a problem that's coming to the forefront of the world's
stage now, though. That's pretty ignorant.

On Oct 4, 11:42 am, Mydnight wrote:
When I drink tea blossoms with a net displacement of about 100ml
string and plastic is the least of my worries. They don't dissolve,
they don't fade, they don't change shape, that is all that counts.
You are the Chinese equivalent in our country relating all the daily
horror stories about Western processed foods. Herbicides and
pollutants will fall to the soil. Processing will take care of most
of the problem. Your water is more of a problem than the
environment. I drink tea out of foam cups many times. I am still
alive.

I do hope you enjoy your time in the alternative reality you are
living in. Seriously, though, if you think drinking something that
has plastic and string in it after pouring boiling water over it, and
you think you will ingest NO chemical run-off from it, I don't know
what to tell you. There are daily horror stories of processed foods
for a reason, just as the teas so soaked in chemicals and grown in
scorched earth locals here won't even drink it has cause for
concern.

Call me a rabble rouser if you want. Looks to me like you are trying
to ignore a problem that's coming to the forefront of the world's
stage now, though. That's pretty ignorant.

Mydnight,
Agree fully! Being called a "rabble rouser" is a fine compliment in my
mind.
There has been so much information available lately regarding plastics
and heat in preparation of foods and liquids and the dangers therein
..Shen