Would you eat your tea leaves?

[Jackie]

@riccaicedo wrote an interesting little post just recently about eating his spent tea leaves. It made me wonder. Would you eat tea leaves? Do you eat tea leaves? I know @iheartteas does, but what about the rest of you? I do add brewed tea but not tea leaves to food. One concern I have, is that tea leaves that are not certified organic might contain unwanted pesticides. I can’t remember the source but I do recall reading that even where there is pesticide residue, the amount that steeps into the drink is miniscule. That makes me think however, that eating the actual leaf, could be a different matter. Thoughts on it you guys?
J.

[riccaicedo]

Hi @jackie, thanks for mentioning my post.

Over here in my country we have very little access to organic vegetables, so what I’m trying to say is that I rarely eat organic and I’m not dead yet : )

Anyway, if you look at the various articles recently about the the problems with “organic” and “fair-trade” certifications in tea (and coffee), you can conclude that even the “certified organic” seal might not be enough to guarantee the safety you’re looking for. Although that could be a topic for another discussion in the forum.

[Xavier]

I never tried eating tea leaves.

Perhaps because I drink tea 😉

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I eat but just for curiosity, bitterness normally we get.

More is to use tea for foot spa, the water temperature got be hot, it can cure beriberi. I use different kinds of teas, it’s funny.

Also a good method to relax after day-long work.

[Warren Peltier]

I’ve actually had deep-fried tea leaves in Fuzhou. They were in a dish with fried shrimp. Meant mainly as a decorative element, the texture was very interesting, not your wilted, limp damp leaves from a teapot, but whole, flat, and most importantly, crispy, tea leaves. The tea variety was some cheap green tea; and they had a slight grassy flavor.

However, if I’m eating tea leaves in a dish, I prefer that they are either from an organic or wild source, just to preclude the possibility of pesticides on tea leaves.

[Jackie]

@tea-author Were the crispy tea leaves just like pan roast tea leaves?

[Warren Peltier]

No, they weren’t like pan roasted tea leaves. They were either brewed spent leaves, or leaves brewed once; allowing the leaves to fully open up; then fried in oil. The texture was very crunchy – almost potato chip crunchy.

[Author]

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