Loose leaf tea in checked luggage: good or bad idea?

I would leave it at home. One, you can buy tea in Dublin (trust me, I’ve been there, it’s sold quite commonly). Two, unless it’s in the original, factory sealed pack, you are leaving yourself open to scrutiny from customs and US customs and in particular the TSA have (in my humble opinion) no sense of humour and an evil vindictive streak. And Three given the care and attention baggage handlers employ there’s no guarantee that you won’t have a suitcase full of broken glass and loose leaf tea when you arrive.

This is a terrible idea. Dried tea leaves look very much like dried plant matter of any kind. (My youngest step-son was busted in third grade for selling oregano to his classmates and telling them it was something else.)

There is lovely Irish Breakfast Tea and there is no American Breakfast Tea. That should tell you something.

You would come under immediate suspicion, since cocaine is sometimes disguished in coffee and tea. leave the tea at home and buy more in Dublin. it will save you a lot of hassle at the airport.

Unmarked glass jars? A bad idea.

Unless you’re carrying the loose leaf tea in its original, sealed packaging, I’d avoid it. I think it’d be more trouble than it was worth.

Yes, I wouldn’t do jars, but, I wouldn’t do baggies either. lol

Prepackaged tea in it’s original packaging is fine. I brought back tons of loose leaf tea from asia last year.

No problem.

The problem was a baggy of Taiwan Tide that blew up on the customs conveyor belt while re-arranging my luggage weight.

Yep, a tense moment, smuggling heroin out of asia….that takes care of my retirement worries. hahaha

Alright, thanks for all the advise. I only ever thought to bring it because I have had friends advise me that the tea selections over there are miniscule, but the less trouble I get from the TSA the better.

You may as well carry coals to Newcastle.

Seriously, taking tea to Ireland? Whatever for?

I find it interesting that everyone thinks this will be a problem. My opinion is that it likely would not. I mean, if I can travel internationally with a big Ziploc of white powder marked ‘Oxyclean’ and get through with no problem at all, I really don’t know why you shouldn’t be able to take tea. It certainly doesn’t violate any customs regulations that I know of, usually that has to do with fruits, veggies, plants, seeds, meats, etc.

Secondly, thanks to my mom’s ridiculous shopping habits, I have carried over just about every manner of product. I have carried tea, multiple times, and never had a problem. Personally, I think you’d be fine, if that’s what you want to do.

Everyone is right, though, they should have tea there and it should be pretty decent.

My mom gave my wife a bunch of tea when we visited this summer. She’s probably got 30 types of tea at any given time so I understand why you might want to take some with you when you travel. It was the same situation, many small baggies inside a larger plastic bag. I gave her a bad time about smuggling for my mom but nothing came of it.

She kept it in her carry on just in case with the thinking that if it got searched she’d at least be right there to let them know it’s tea. Could you just do the same?

@Foolaholic: I thought of you after I drank a delicious freshly brewed (the old-fashioned way) mug of Irish Breakfast Tea this morning.

@gailcalled It’s nice to be thought of. I’m sure I’ll be returning the favor when I wake up in Dublin tomorrow.

@Foolaholic: I’ve always wanted to wander around Dublin and retrace Leopold Bloom’s and Stephen Daedalus’s paths. Do a quick obeisance to Joyce for me.

May the wind be at your back and the runways plowed at Logan tomorrow.