Full leaves, or whole leaves, make the finest tea. Many tea bags are filled with broken leaves which don’t have as much flavor. Less expensive supermarket brands use fannings, the dust (think “crumbs”) left over from processing the leaves.

Open up a tea bag from the brand you favor, shake the contents on a plate and look at them closely. If you see broken bits and fannings, you’re not getting quality tea. (That’s also why sugar and milk are required to make the drink enjoyable for many people. The finest tea can—and should—be drunk straight.)

By the way, “whole leaf” refers to black, green, oolong and white teas, made from the Camelia sinensis plant. The term doesn’t apply to herbal infusions, although as with every product, there is a range of quality of the ingredients.

Learn all about fine tea in our Tea Glossary.

The bags are now whole leaf. Photo by
Benjamin D. Esham | Wikimedia Commons.

M-I-C-K-E-Y chocolate gifts are fun.
Photo courtesy Leonidas.com.

The retro keepsake gift box contains 16 pieces of chocolate embossed with Mickey’s smiling face, in four different flavors:

• Milk chocolate filled with caramel flan
• Marble chocolate filled with a hazelnut praliné ganache
• White chocolate filled with hazelnut praliné and pieces of biscuits (cookies)
• Dark chocolate filled with hazelnut praliné

Visit Leonidas.com or phone 1-800-900-CHOC.

Do you think Minnie will be getting a box for Valentine’s Day?

We think they’re a lovely gift for a deserving young lady. Find them at William Greenberg Desserts, or phone 1.800.255-8278.

Looking for more Valentine goodies for the kids?

Check out the Mickey Mouse chocolates above, and see our Best Valentine’s Gifts for Kids list, including heart-shaped cookies and brownies and the cutest mice and penguin bonbons from Burdick Chocolate, a NIBBLE top pick of the week.

The black & white goes pink & white for
Valentine’s Day. Photo courtesy
WmGreenbergDesserts.com.