Cheap Tea

[mnbob]

While in a Mid-Eastern Deli I purchased what seemed to be an unbelivable deal. A pound of green tea for $6.99. It was in a commercially sealed bag with a tag on it from Canary Trading Co, Anaheim, CA. The tea smelled and look ok, however it tasted extremely bitter. I drank a few cups of it anyway as I am a fanatic and this is all I had available. Afterwards I felt sick to my stomach. I like a really strong cup and figured it would be weak due to it's cheapness, so I increased the amount of tea and also the brewing time. Now my problem, should I try it again weaker or should I throw it away. Can this stuff make me really sick. Thanks

[Chip]

I would not drink it...but that is just me.

Really cheap tea makes me nervous. I have suspected for some time that really bad or contaminated tea could be dumped onto foreign markets, such as the USA.

The fact that it made you feel sick should answer the question for you, play it safe.

[xine]

I agree with Chip...cheaper teas; cheaper quality and usually won't list origin of tea; it might have where it was packaged, but I'm pretty sure it won't list the origin. Also, Canary Trading Company? It sounds like they have their fingers in many pies, and perhaps tea is not their forte...when you're 'trading' so many things, I dunno! Do yourself a favor, and shell out a couple of dollars for some quality tea- your stomach and tastebuds will thank you!

ps: I googled Canary Trading Company and they specialize in selling edible fats. YUM!

[mnbob]

Thanks. There was no country of orgin or nutritional information. They do have what appears to have japanese writing that looks like "Sylis". I am not going to drink this again.

[silverneedles]

these foreign markets always have crappy cheap tea, usually blacks, never seen green!

tried black once, nasty. if they stock them i suppose their regular customers drink them on a regular basis...but with the blacks they probably add stuff and sugar to them, not drank plain.

[scruffmcgruff]

I'm going out on a limb here... is your green tea dark in color and balled up into tiny pellets?

[hop_goblin]

I'm going out on a limb here... is your green tea dark in color and balled up into tiny pellets?

LOL!

[mnbob]

No, it looked like regular tea. Very dry - with no date.

Call me stupid, but I really like a deal. I also bought and have not tried Safari Pure Tea "high quality Kenya tea" sealed & foiled wrapped, 250g for $2.99, with a mfg. date of 07/06/07

[Space Samurai]

Really cheap tea is bad for everyone. Whoever grew it was probaly paid slave wages for it, and as it has already been pointed out, you have no idea what you're getting or if its safe.

[TaiPing Hou Kui]

I hate to waste a post on repeating what everyone else says but.......there is a reason why you can get a burger at MacDonalds for 1$ and a black angus burger from the supermarket for 10$ The answer is quality. If you had a tea that someone spent good effort to produce than it would not be 6$ a pound. I would trash it, ESPECIALLY if you didnt feel well, and have not had this reaction with other teas. Hope this helps!

-Nick (TaiPing)

[Chip]

...hmmm, instead of throwing it away, I would send it to Space... But what's the use, he wouldn't drink it anyway.

[Wesli]

I feel a tea bath......

[Chip]

I feel a tea bath......

Yeah...my back up plan...........

[mnbob]

Tried the Safari Tea this morning & dumped the green. Not bad & I am still alive. It is a strong black tea finely granulated. This will serve as a good back up to my usual spicy chai. Safari lists the ingredients as PF-! & BP-1. Anybody have any idea what this means?

[mnbob]

I did a little research and found this link to Safari Tea. Looks like I didn't get totally taken and this is acceptable tea. Still not sure what we call this type of tea?

http://transitpesa.com/default.aspx