Traditional tea bags are typically comprised of broken up leaf fragments. Tea leaves have essential oils and chemicals which provide the tea not only with its delightful taste but with its many health benefits. A low quality tea bag (such as those typically sold in supermarkets) has crushed the leaves that were used to prepare it which means many of these oils and chemicals have evaporated. The resulting tea is often bland, tasteless and with minimal health benefits. Using whole tea leaves (or large tea portions) makes sure that the entirety of the taste and benefits remain. It is also important for a tea leaf to have room to expand and for water to be able to circle it completely, in order to maximize its flavor, which does not often happen in tea bags for ergonomic reasons. Using whole tea leaves also provides the individual greater control as to how strong or mild he wants the tea to be. Tea leaves are also often reusable a number of times and, in the case of some teas like high quality oolong, the quality of the tea itself improves when the leaves are reused three or four times.
The main drawback to using loose leaf tea, aside from its typically higher price, is that its method of preparation is not as simple as inserting a teabag into a cup of water and putting it in the microwave. There are a series of steps that need to be taken.
The higher quality the water, the higher quality the tea. Tap water should only be used in case of emergencies as bottled spring water tends to work that much better.
Do not microwave. The microwave will cook the tea leaves and alter the flavor of the resulting tea as well as its potential beneficial properties.
Water should only boil for a very small period of time. Boiling water will burn the leaves, robbing them of their flavor. Very hot water is usually enough to make a very high quality tea. There are different temperatures recommended for different teas and the usage of a cooking thermometer could be very worthwhile.
Tea leaves should not be allowed to over steep. Using whole leaves means the chemicals and oils are much more concentrated so steeping the leaves for too long will result in a bitter, wasted tea that will also reduce the amount of times the leaves can be reused.
Metal accessories (silver, etc) tend to leave an aftertaste. They should be avoided unless the metal in question is tempered steel.
To learn more about the equipment needed to brew Loose Leaf Tea and how to use it, see out Tea Equipment section
Shop for Loose Tea, Teapots, and Accessories in our Loose Tea Shop
Traditional tea bags are typically comprised of broken up leaf fragments. Tea leaves have essential oils and chemicals which provide the tea not only with its delightful taste but with its many health benefits. A low quality tea bag (such as those typically sold in supermarkets) has crushed the leaves that were used to prepare it which means many of these oils and chemicals have evaporated. The resulting tea is often bland, tasteless and with minimal health benefits. Using whole tea leaves (or large tea portions) makes sure that the entirety of the taste and benefits remain. It is also important for a tea leaf to have room to expand and for water to be able to circle it completely, in order to maximize its flavor, which does not often happen in tea bags for ergonomic reasons. Using whole tea leaves also provides the individual greater control as to how strong or mild he wants the tea to be. Tea leaves are also often reusable a number of times and, in the case of some teas like high quality oolong, the quality of the tea itself improves when the leaves are reused three or four times.
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