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Overpackaging Alert: Treleela Tea

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.15.07
TH Exclusives (un-treehugger)

treleela.jpg

We often rail against excessive packaging and have to wonder about this. "This boutique tea line by Ineeka ntegrates innovative design, responsible philosophies and superior flavor into one cool package. These aren’t you grandma’s tea bags– the Treleela Pochettes are made to replicate the experience of a traditional good brew. Simply tear where the arrows tell you to, attach the wings on each side of your favorite mug, and pour hot water over the opening." While the tea may be "Cultivated on Ineeka’s own family farms, these 100% organic whole leaf teas are produced by an industry pioneer of environmental and social responsibility standards.", what is with the tea bag as big as a mug? Is it re-useable? ::Josh Spear

Comments (8)

I've had that tea, and it's so-so. The theory is that the "wings" on either side stabilize it, resting over the sides of the mug. In fact, this doesn't always work very well. It's expensive and the metal box doesn't lend itself well to reuse, as the label is hard to soak off. I won't buy it again.

jump to top Jim says:

Is the teabag compostable? If so, it's not so bad.

jump to top Icelander says:

It seems like it's a tea bag trying to be one of those rest-on-the-rim-of-the-mug tea diffusers (which I love and own many). This, to me, seems to defeat the point. If you are targeting a consumer who is concerned about the difference in tea quality between bagged tea and tea made in a diffuser, said consumer will probably already own a number of diffusers. I agree that this is silly and a waste, especially since those supports, depending on what they're made of, might make it less biodegradable than your average regular tea bag.
_B

jump to top Beavertales says:

Ordinary tea bags are fine to stick in the compost - so not convinced that this is somehow environmentally superior to "grandma's tea bags" as they put it. Still, organic is good, and I presume 'boutique' means premium price!

jump to top Firoz says:

I think this product is reaching out to people who may not already be tea connoisseurs and own multiple infusers. They're fine whole leaf teas, so you can't steep them correctly in a closed tea bag. So it's a novel idea to make this kind of quality more accessible and convenient. I've used these before and they work really well, and the teas are fresh and really high quality. I had the whole-leaf Assam and it was the real deal. There's really no comparison to the other teas in tea bags masquerading as "premium" teas. And as far as the tins go, if you're dealing with really nice whole leaf teas, you need to store them in tins that are airtight and block out the sunlight, so they'll stay fresh and won't absorb everything that's around them. It's not like the single-serve infusers are individually wrapped in cellophane like I've seen with other tea packages.

jump to top Sam says:

I use an in-pot diffuser not so much because I'm a connoisseur but because if you price it out cheaper bulk teas are frequently much cheaper than cheap bagged teas and the quality is much higher. If I can get a better product for less money that's just good economic sense.

jump to top Jared says:

I have had Ineeka teas before. I think they are really excellent quality teas and I love the design of the bag. For the chai, especially, it lets the herbs, teas and spices stew beautifully. My concern, environmentally, is with the tins: if one buys the tea regularly, it would be great to offer refills for the sturdy metal tins. As it is, I use the old ones to store spices, but I really don't need endless metal boxes.

jump to top Bean says:

The Labels peel off not soak. and they peel off easy. The bags are compostable. The tins are recycleable aluminum. Whats the problem??

I hate Tea though.

jump to top SkoalReaver says:

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