And You Just Thought I Was a Snob

I was perusing the New York Times's website today and I found an article entitled Tea's Got a Brand New Bag. It's all about how Americans are drinking more and more tea and in the course of doing so creating a demand for better tea. The manufacturers are listening and new things are in the works for the tea bag. Here are some highlights from the article:

• Tea sales in the United States have increased by four times in the last decade.
• Lipton's research showed that “every consumer is becoming a gourmand."
• “Consumers have reacted positively to the flavorings,” said John Cheetham, Lipton’s Royal Estates tea master, who selects and blends teas. “And we have Black Pearl to appeal to the purist.” [That's me: The purest. Only interested in black teas.]
• Mr. Cheetham acknowledged that Lipton’s flavored varieties were “entry level” teas. And they are a far cry from Harney & Sons’s or Mighty Leaf. [I love Mighty Leaf]
• Brewing tea from fine tea leaves takes longer, as much as five minutes, for the infusion to develop.
• Like coffee lovers who moved up from making instant coffee to grinding their own estate-grown beans fresh for each cup, many American tea drinkers have graduated to whole leaf teas. [ You see? I am only a snob if people that drink fresh ground coffee are snobs, too]