I’ll never forget the first time tea really mattered to me. It wasn’t in a shop or at home — it was in Cambodia, long before I thought much about what was in my cup.
I was in Phnom Penh, caught in one of those sudden, tropical downpours that soak you through in seconds. Seeking shelter, I ducked into a tiny roadside café — little more than a few plastic stools and a corrugated roof.
While the rain hammered outside, an older Cambodian man appeared with a small pot of tea and two chipped cups. He sat down next to me, nodded, and we ended up sharing a quiet drink together. Our conversation was mostly gestures and a few broken words of English, but it didn’t matter — for those few moments, we were just two people sharing tea, waiting for the rain to pass.
That was the first time I felt what tea could be: not just a drink, but a ritual that slows you down and connects you to someone else, even without words.
What’s Really in a Supermarket Tea Bag?
When I look at most tea bags these days, I’m struck by how far they feel from that moment. Many of the teas sold in grocery stores — especially from big, well-known brands — are made with “dust” and “fannings,” tiny bits that brew fast and look like tea, but don’t have much of its soul.
That’s not just my opinion — the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada classifies fannings as the lowest grade of tea.¹ And the International Journal of Food Science found that teas made from dust and fannings have much lower antioxidant levels than those brewed from whole leaves.²
The reason is simple: those tiny, crushed bits oxidize and lose their flavor and health benefits long before they ever touch your teapot.
Whole-Leaf Tea: Slower, Healthier, Richer
Whole-leaf tea is different.
Each leaf is left intact — or at most gently broken — which keeps its essential oils, its complex flavor, and its antioxidants preserved.
Research published in the Food Chemistry Journal has shown that green teas made from whole leaves have far higher levels of EGCG, an antioxidant linked to heart health, than teas made from dust.³
And you feel the difference, too. Whole-leaf tea takes a bit longer to steep and reveals its character gradually — the way a good story does. Sipping it reminds me to put my phone down, slow my thoughts, and give myself a few moments of real presence — something I learned first, all those years ago, in that small café in Phnom Penh.
Tea as Connection
That rainstorm ended, and I eventually moved on. But the feeling stayed with me — the sense that tea is more than a drink; it’s a bridge between people, a way to slow down and truly see one another.
That’s the feeling we want to share at Yama Tea.
Every loose-leaf tea we sell is chosen for its rich flavor and gentle energy, and sourced from organic farms that reflect our values.
Tea reminds us to put aside distractions — especially in a world where it’s too easy to scroll endlessly — and embrace what’s real: this moment, this cup, and the people we share it with.
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