Tea Time: 6 Reasons Why You Should Give Instant Tea a Try
Waking up in the morning and enjoying a good cup of tea is a common activity for many people. But what are you supposed to do on those days when time is running short?
Instant tea powder gives tea drinkers the same great cup of tea without sacrificing freedom of time on busy mornings. Not only that, but instant tea also comes with several benefits you may be missing with a traditionally-brewed cup. The ease of instant tea powder makes drinking morning, afternoon, or evening tea more accessible and enjoyable for tea drinkers everywhere.
From encouraging an eco-conscious mindset to providing essential health benefits, here are six reasons why you should give instant tea a try.
Instant Tea vs. Brewed Tea
Before we go into why you should be drinking instant tea, we think it’s important to distinguish between instant tea and its brewed counterpart. Instant and brewed tea both make an equally delicious beverage. However, how each is made differs greatly.
Instant tea, for example, is made by extracting the liquid from tea leaves and drying the leaves through special drying methods. The most common drying method is by the spray-drying process. The result gives you the powdered substance packaged and sold as instant tea. This powder is then combined with a liquid like water or milk to make a cup of tea.
On the other hand, brewed tea involves steeping intact tea leaves and other ingredients into a cup of water or milk for 3-5 minutes. Brewed tea may come in loose-leaf or tea bag form and will sit in a liquid until the flavors from the ingredients have infused with the water.
Why You Need to Give Instant Tea a Try
Whether you’re new to tea drinking or a veteran brewed tea drinker, there are several reasons you should give instant tea a try. Beyond saving time, using instant tea can give you many of the same health benefits brewed tea offers.
While instant tea used to have a stigma around it being an unhealthy choice, many instant teas contain fewer additives and sugars than what you’re used to. In fact, Waka Coffee instant tea does not contain any additives or fillers.
Let’s take a closer look at six of the biggest reasons you should give instant tea a try.
1. Instant Tea is Less Time-Consuming
Compared to traditionally-brewed tea, instant tea takes a fraction of the time to make the beverage. Brewed tea requires you to boil your water, but you also have to allow the tea to steep in your boiled water for an additional 3-5 minutes before drinking. You may even need to wait an additional few minutes if the boiled water is still too hot to handle.
On the other hand, instant tea can be made instantly, just as the name suggests. You can boil your water first or drink it cold without sacrificing any of the great tea taste. For people who are constantly on the go and don’t have much time to get themselves ready in the morning, instant tea could be a lifesaver.
2. Instant Tea is More Environmentally-Friendly
If you’re a tea drinker who regularly drinks tea from a teabag, instant tea can help you minimize your carbon footprint. Unless you use compostable teabags, your teabag can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months to decompose. It may not break down entirely, and any plastic might separate into microplastics in the environment.
With instant tea, you eliminate the need for a bag, and most containers that hold instant tea are recyclable. When choosing an instant tea brand to purchase, look out for companies that use eco-friendly packaging. Waka Coffee & Tea uses kraft paper for our packaging and also donates a portion of all profits to Charity:Water to fund clean water initiatives.
3. Instant Tea Comes With Several Health Benefits
Tea leaves are well-known for their variety of health benefits ranging from heart health to stress relief. Despite undergoing a rigorous drying process, instant tea powder still contains many of the same health benefits as a traditionally brewed tea.
The drying process does reduce a lot of the health benefits of tea leaves, but instant tea can also help lower your cholesterol, encourage a faster metabolism, and aid in weight loss.
4. Instant Tea is Very Affordable
Instant tea is a common choice amongst those on a strict budget. Instant tea powder costs considerably less than loose leaf tea and is usually similar in price to bagged tea. Because teabags usually aren’t environmentally-friendly, it’s more eco-conscious and cost-efficient to go with an instant tea powder instead.
5. Instant Tea Typically Has Less Caffeine
Unless caffeine is added after the drying process, instant tea loses most caffeine content. While this may seem like a drawback to some, it can be very beneficial to those who need to cut back on caffeine consumption. In most cases, instant tea powder contains 40 mg of caffeine per every 8 oz cup. Depending on the blend, brewed tea can contain as much as 90 mg of caffeine in the same size cup.
6. Instant Tea Gives You More Concentrated Nutrients
While it’s true that instant tea can lose some of its nutritional value during the drying process, the powder utilizes the entire leaf. Because of that, you may find that the nutritional value is more concentrated in some respects, giving you the necessary vitamins and minerals needed to thrive.
Traditionally brewed tea is great, but it isn’t always practical. Whether you’re in a hurry for the day or you’re running low on energy, instant tea can help you. With a simple two-step process to make your favorite tea beverage, there’s no contest on whether or not instant tea is for you.
There are instant tea powders for every flavor of tea. Regardless of your preference, there’s an instant option waiting for you.
