Loose Leaf Tea Or Tea Bag?

Why do you drink tea? Or more importantly, how do you drink tea? Is it for the health benefits of tea, for the flavor of the brew, or is it just a hot companion to make you feel at ease while you have a cold?

Regardless, whether it is for the benefits of flavor or health, there are a few important factors that determine exactly how much that cup of tea is giving you. They might be simple, but should be taken seriously! In this article you’ll learn what that cup of tea is really doing for you.

Now, if you are a daily tea drinker, one of the most important things to consider is brewing your beverage using loose leaf tea. Keep reading if you are a tea bag dunker, this is for you…

There are many grading terms that go into classifying tea. They do not go based upon flavor, body, or color, but instead by leaf size. While I won’t go into details about all the terms, I will mention that the leaves that go into tea bags are at the bottom of that list! They are called “fannings” (or tea dust), and are what is left over after the whole leaves have been separated into their classes.

Tea bag tea may add a nice rich color to your cup, but will not offer much more than that. The flavor will be dull, bitter, flat, or fuzzy, depending on the variety and of course how much time the already dried up leaves spent in those bags on supermarket shelves before you got around to steeping them. Now don’t get me wrong, tea bag tea isn’t horrible, it may even taste fine if you’re used to it, but my point here is that once you experience loose leaf brewed tea, you’ll realize exactly what you were preparing prior.

The reason loose leaf tea offers superior flavor and even health benefits, is because of two main things…age and natural oil. Whole loose leaves get to keep all their essential oil, which in turn gives the drinker great aroma, taste, and even healthier benefits. Tea bag fannings as mentioned above are just dried out pieces of “dust” that have lost most of their oils, and therefore give you little sipping pleasure.

So, whatever the variety of tea you want to experience, white tea, green, oolong, or black tea, remember that loose leaf tea is the way to go! It is also important that you brew it when these leaves are fresh. After about 6 months to a year is when even loose leaf tea starts to lose its benefits.

Now that you know about loose leaf tea, let’s have a quick look at other factors.

Brewing your tea with the right water is important too. Either use natural spring water, or filtered water. Avoid distilled water since it tends to make the tea taste flat, and avoid tap water since impurities like chlorine can influence the subtle taste. Do not add boiling water to white or green tea; let it cool down for 30 seconds before pouring. Oolong and black tea however can withstand boiling water.

Try not to over-steep either! Tea leaves have plant polyphenols in them called “tannins” which when released in great numbers can make the tea go bitter and fuzzy. This happens a lot with Japanese sencha green tea, and one should not brew sencha for more than 2 to 3 minutes. Loose leaf tea usually comes with steeping times on the package.

Last but not least is, try to avoid adding sugar or artificial sweeteners! Loose leaf tea has a delicate flavor that should be savored straight up. The only exception would be some stronger black tea varieties like English Breakfast tea. A drop of honey in any tea is the best way to sweeten it up if you need to.

So, if you are a tea bag dunker, I hope this read opened up a new side of tea for you! If so, a whole new beverage awaits you as you experience tea the true way it was meant to be enjoyed!