Loose tea Vs Teabags

When I want a good tea to serve guests or to cuddle up with in front of the fire, I head out to my apothecary and mix up a loose leaf tea blend to match my mood.

I tend to forget that, for most people, tea usually comes in a tea bag. That is, until I head out for a speaking engagement in a new town and forget to bring my own tea!




It feels like a violation of some herbalist cardinal rule to forget your own loose leaf tea blends at home. I creep through the grocery aisles hoping no one recognizes me. I feel like I should have on some sort of disguise because if someone catches me buying some sub-standard blend I’ll be called out – “Visiting herbalist on aisle 4! Visiting herbalist on aisle 4 buying pre-packaged tea!” My own ridiculous worries aside, I struggle when this happens to find a quality tea.

Problems With Tea Bags

Quality

There are very few tea bag manufacturers using quality herbs in their tea. On the herb farm we know that the less we process our herbs the higher quality we are able to give our customers. We try not to crumble our herbs and keep them as whole as possible. This is because every time you break the surface area of a plant part, the more area is presented to the air for oxygenation to damage flavor and benefits. Now, think about what happens when you have to fit herbs into a tiny bag. That’s right, you’ve got to crumble those herbs up pretty good. In the case of some of the really cheap herb producers you are really getting the siftings, or the bits, of leaves that were so small and crumbled that they fell through the conveyor belt to the floor.

Toxins

I don’t, as a rule, ever purchase tea in bags. It became a hassle to find bags that were not glued. I avoid the polyvinyl chloride found in a tea bag that has been stuck together in this way. Occasionally I come across a tea maker that is either stapling their tea bag together or on rare occasions, sewing it. It is a consideration, of course, that stapling and sewing takes more time and therefore results in a higher priced tea bag.




Note from Matt & Betsy: In addition to the glue in tea bags posing a problem, many tea bags are made from plastics or treated with chemicals that may leach into your cup of hot tea. [source]

Overcrowding

My husband once bought me a very expensive biodynamic tea for Christmas. He was particularly pleased with himself that he had found a tea bag that I would feel comfortable using. When I pulled out one of the few bags nestled at the bottom of the tin he audibly gasped. Inside the machine-stitched tea bag was comparable to what you’d see on the plate at a very high-end, minimalist restaurant… almost nothing. While he was upset, I was thrilled. While he grumbled something about spending half his Christmas budget on two leaves and a twig per bag, I happily poured my first cup of hot water over this tiny bag. As I anticipated, the very small amount of herb expanded when the water hit it and together they loosely filled the bag without being squished together.

I’m sure it is difficult for tea manufacturers to sell a lightly filled bag, but here is why you should prefer it – the more surface area your water is able to interact with in your tea cup the more flavor and phytochemicals you will be able to extract. When you get an overfilled bag you are not likely to get as flavorful or beneficial cup of tea as you would if they were free-floating.

Loose Leaf Tea is the Solution

I choose to buy loose leaf teas for the same reason I insist on selling them to my customers. It is a superior way to get flavor and benefit from the plants we make with tea. Loose leaf tea floats freely in your teapot, there is no concern over glues or other chemicals, and you can see the quality. When you see the quality of your herb when you buy it, there is no concern that something is being hidden from you behind that gauzy tea bag.

Re: Loose tea Vs Teabags

Hello Tish we are having difficulty separating your own writing from quotations .
If you post text from another website could you please put it into quote tags like this ...

..which you will find in the menu above each post also a link to the source of your quote.
It is considered good netiquette to reference quotes from other sites in this manner.
Thank you

Re: Loose tea Vs Teabags

I much prefer the flavour of loose tea and do use it a lot. Would not use anything else for guests - but - sometimes for speed when I just need one cup I do use a bag. So you will always find both in my kitchen.

Re: Loose tea Vs Teabags

I gave up coffee almost two years ago because it was causing me some health problems and I went over to tea only and now I am seriously thinking of going back to looses tea because although I've got used to tea bag over the years, when we were in Tenerife in 2013 we stopped at a café / bar and I asked for tea.

They brought me a pot of loose-leaf tea and it was so nice!

I've been thinking of it for weeks again so I'm going to look and see if I can find a tea strainer as we no longer have one then I'll look for the tea! stevmk2

Re: Loose tea Vs Teabags

Sure !! I am sorry, I did not know, I just did a simple copy and paste to try to pass along interesting articles I come across, I was unaware of how it should be done ! Bad Tish !!! 50 lashes with a wet noodle as punishment !

Re: Loose tea Vs Teabags

Sainsbury's sell them, Steve, or The Range, if you have either of them near you.

Re: Loose tea Vs Teabags

loose tea. Big chunky flakes in a teapot. I tasted my best like that in a hotel in Stirling. I've never tasted it so good since. Every other day I love good, strong teabags. I can't stand weak tea. I've a teapot especially for tealeaves and I use it now and again.

Re: Loose tea Vs Teabags

I only drink green tea, decaffeinated if I can get it. I don't think I've ever seen it sold as loose tea.

Re: Loose tea Vs Teabags

loose tea to impress-after that she has a bag

Re: Loose tea Vs Teabags

I drink decaf green tea too, Twinings, Stash, Tazo do it in bags, but if you go to a loose tea and coffee shop, of which there are several in Brooklyn and probably a ton more in Manhattan, it can be had that way.

Here's an idea - have you tried mail order ?

Over here we have Upton Tea by mail or Porto Bella in person, but they do mail order too. Maybe Ebay ??
Just a thought !