Tea Dust? If You’re Drinking Tea in the U.S. You May Not Be Getting the Real Deal

We all know that our European neighbors have a very strong relationship with tea. In fact, drinking a daily cup of tea is part of the culture in many countries, and they even have a designated time set aside for it.

But the U.S. hasn't quite kept up with the tea trend, and now some people are saying that the reason may have to do with the fact that our tea is inferior to the tea other countries are consuming.

Why is American tea so bad? Well, despite hilarious jokes about how it has to do with the fact that we once threw a whole lot of it into a harbor in Boston, the real reason may actually have to do with how we're making it.

In the quest to be the best, America seems to fall flat when it comes to tea. That's because so many people who have sampled tea in the U.S. and abroad have often come back with the same complaint: American tea is weaker than tea made in other countries.

When it comes to the why, there are a lot of theories floating around online.

On Reddit, one person explained that tea is prepared differently in the U.S., noting that many people will just throw some water in the microwave. However, in the U.K., the preparation process can be different.

"A lot of restaurants use coffee machine water heaters for making tea, so the water isn't boiling when it hits the bag," one Redditor wrote. "For proper strong tea, you want to stew for at least five minutes; ideally, mashing the bag into near oblivion first."

Another person commented that the tea made for Europeans was made with European taste in mind, since they tend to use different additives when mixing the perfect cup.

"It's the blend. British tea is chosen and blended to the British taste, which is a strong cuppa with milk added," another person wrote before adding that U.S. tea is usually blended with lemon.

That, and the actual type of tea leaves used to make the tea also plays a role, according to another Redditor. "The typical British cuppa is called Breakfast tea, this contains a large component of the type known as Assam," they wrote. "Assam is dark and strong, containing quite a kick of caffeine, it’s actually a bit too bitter for most tea drinkers. Thus the reason it’s blended."

According to one TikToker, American tea doesn't stack up to the tea around the rest of the world because U.S. teas are made with an inferior product.

The Eastern Philosophy claims that the tea most Americans are used to getting in their tea bags is made from something called tea dust, instead of the actual whole leaves that are used in many other countries.

And they aren't the only ones complaining about the "dust" either. On the message board Ask MetaFilter, several people made complaints about ordering tea online. They claim to have ordered some traditional tea from Amazon, only to be sent an "American version" of the product, which contained dust instead of the leaves.

Just like many other things in life, getting the "perfect cuppa" will all be based on individual preferences. And, what works for one person may be too weak (or too strong) for another, which could also be one of the reasons why some people love American tea and why others think it's so bad.