Bags versus Leaves?

I was wonderng what the general thought is in pre-bagged tea versus loose-leaf tea? Personally, I prefer the process of filling and using my tea ball to dealing with soggy bags; however, I had a friend come over last week who was mystified by the device and accused me of being over-influenced by all the British literature I read.

A tangent to this -- does anyone know where to get a good loose-leaf peppermint tea?

From what I have read, both in books and on the web, the general consensus is that the best brew is achieved when the leaves have room to circulate in the pot. This means that both teabags and tea balls are not the optimum. On the other hand, it's a nuisance when drinking tea to find the leaves in your cup. :-p

What I do when using a pot or brewing straight in the mug is to use a large tea strainer that has enough room in it for the leaves to unfurl uncramped. Chatsford is one manufacturer ( http://www.english-teapots.com/england/chatsford_teapots.htm ), and there are others.

As to loose-leaf peppermint tea, while I have never tried these brands, one of them might fill your need:

http://www.specialteas.com/product_detail.aspx?item_no=126+00+00+77+1

http://www.zooscape.com/cgi-bin/maitred/GreenCanyon/questp510621

With loose leaf, why don't you just leave the leaves in the cup?

Grow your own! It's very easy to grow peppermint and it's so much fresher when you dry your own.

I don't leave the leaves in the cup for the reason mentioned above - I hate too many leaves in my cup! (and it seems silly to strain my tea).

And actually, I would love to have my own little herb garden one day, but at the moment I live in an efficiency with two cats (who already ate my bamboo plant).

Thank you for the links!

Given the choice, I definitely prefer leaves. There's something about the ritual of prepairing the pot that brings me great happiness. (I rather like the system one of my partners uses actually, brewing in one pot, keeping warm / serving from a second).

I've not had any luck finding loose leaf peppermint tea here either, so I am seriously considering some kitchen windowsill mint growing - would it just be a matter of picking, leaving somewhere to dry then using as I would any other loose tea?

Leaves are best. A very young Assam Pekoe is the most heavenly brew in the world. However, I have had some awful problems with sink blockage down the years and now resort to bags for convenience. Tea leaves in your cup are great if you're a fortune-teller, otherwise they're alarming.

The Chatsworth teapot is a wonderful invention and well worth the money. Whittards do a lovely one (I have dropped hints that this is what I want for Christmas).

Why dry the mint SemilahMeriwae? Just grab enough leaves, roughly tear them into bits, put some sugar in and then add boiling water. Don't even bother taking the mint out either, just drink with the mint at the bottom of the cup.

The time I experimented with it, fresh mint leaves and dried mint leaves make a different flavor in the cup. You might try it both ways and see what you think. I left the leaves out on the counter and let them dry, but I suppose you could put them in a dryer/oven/dehydrator.

There are lots of different varieties of mint all of which produce different flavour teas. Grow a few on your windowsill pick a sprig (I find about 5 leaves is good for a large mug) steep and drink. eat the leaves at the bottom for good measure. The Choclate Mint is quite a nice flavour even if its not particularly chocolately. It has very dark stems.

I always prefer leaf tea, just seem to get a better flavour and certainly more variety. I haven't tried a blind test to differeniate though. Bags are easier when one just wants a quick cuppa.

I read somewhere, in an article about green tea, that tea bags do not provide the same benefits as loose tea.

I agree, I preer leaf tea as well, but bags are much easier. Especially when you're at work.

About 6 months ago I purchased a tea maker. It's kind of like a French Press for coffee, but rather than pressing the strainer down, and pouring the tea out from the top (and of course in the process, smashing your leaves) you pour your water in the devise, on top of the leaves (which float freely). When you're ready to drink it, place the device over your cup and the water drains from the bottom of the cup, keeping the leaves safe and able to use over again.

i got mine at Teavana for like $20, its called the Prefect Tea Maker. I like it because the water and the tea are all together, rather than being seperarated by the strainer.

I just picked up a box of a brand new to me, called Ineeka. It is organic, and is packaged with each serving in its own disposble infuser (picture here: http://www.ineeka.com/ ) You hook the "wings" over the sides of your cup, and pour the water through the teabag. A bit pricey, due to the elaborate teabag, but somewhat combines the virtues of teabags and free-floating leaves. I got their green tea, which is pleasant but not distinguished.

For me, it's leaves only at weekends when I've got time to fiddle about. (I use a perforated spoon-thing in a mug or a spare coffee filter-jug, and I'm working my way slowly through a pack of looseleaf Oolong.) On a weekday morning, it's always a plain fairtrade teabag in a big brown teapot. The teabag goes on the compost heap (useful tip: tear the bag before you compost it, so that the worms and things can get in and break it all down faster).

I prefer loose tea, but will drink either. If you are planting peppermint (or any mint for that matter) in your gardens, make sure you either use a pot or hedge it in as it will spread like wildfire and take over everything in its path.
For loose leaf I like to place the leaves loose in the pot to brew then use a strainer in the cup to catch any leaves to prevent them from being in the cup. Usually with herbals (like a mint) I don't worry to much about it and munch the leaves too (as reading_fox suggested).
If you can find a good loose tea speciality shop it will provide an endless variety of taste adventures along with good knowledge on the products, as well as a variety of pots/strainers/cups/etc. for the tea lover. The World Tea Company http://www.worldteacompany.com/teastore.html

i think bagged tea is definitely tons better than the whole leaves process. i feel that its a lot easier to transport and deal with, you don't need a bunch of tools to drink with them, and you don't have to clean the tea ball or anything like that. i order some of my tea on the internet, you might try using google to find your tea

Leaves are always better. Like SemilahMeriwae said in message 6, "There's something about the ritual of preparing the pot..." It's a great way to slow down, and the taste is superb. I even enjoy the process of reading descriptions of loose leaves and imagining what they might taste like -- it's a similar process to choosing and enjoying a fine wine. Read The Agony of the Leaves: The Ecstacy of My Life with Tea by Helen Gustafson for the perspective of a true tea lover....

I have a variety of tea making apparatus: a glass tea pot w/built in strainer, several 1-2 cup mugs with built-in strainers, a couple of spoon thingies, and one metal heart-shaped tea strainer.

That said, the tea I consume on a daily basis is Bigelow Earl Grey in bags!

I drink both, but loose leaf is better by far.

I usually put my loose leaf teas into a paper filter with a gusseted bottom, which gives the leaves lots of room to expand but is convenient like a tea bag. No brewing dust and fannings, but no dealing with tea balls or strainers, or leaving loose leaves in the pot to get over steeped.

I'm beginning to feel like quite the heathen, but I am drinking green tea brewed from a bag right now. Out of a styrofoam cup, even. :-o Seems like these days, a lot of tea-drinking takes place at work (where I am now), and they provide a variety of free teas as well as a few herbals (chammomile, etc.). Naturally, these are in the form of teabags.

It's nice to dabble in leaves when that is an option, but at work, or when rushed, teabags are a convenient alternative.

Hello all! I'm a newbie here.

How nice to find a group after my own heart, dedicated to my favorite beverage, or "my rocket fuel" as I sometimes call it!

I would agree with most of you that loose leaves are better than bags but I have found that there are a few exceptions. Kousmichoff teas are often sold in teabags that are every bit as good as most of the loose teas I've enjoyed in the past. "Kousmi" teas are sold in gourmet shops and are expensive, but well worth it for an exquisite cup of tea. I also love Republic of Tea teas, especially their Ginger Peach and Good Hope Vanilla Rooibos.

As much as I love loose teas, I have to admit that I usually will use bags for the sake of convenience.

Happy sipping/quaffing!

Besides the improved ability to 'fine tune' the brewing of your tea, ounce for ounce (or mg for mg), loose tea bags tend to cost more than twice as much as loose tea, and (usually) tea bags contain more of the poorer quality tea (more broken leaves and 'dust'). Not necessarily a bad thing, but the 'dust' tends to brew very quickly, so, again, less control over the brewing.

As for convenience, there are some new loose tea brewing systems (for a mug or a pot) that make loose tea much less trouble but, as with tea bags, you have to decide how much the conveniene is worth. I'll post separately about these tea makers.

I use loose tea at home in the evenings and when entertaining. I use bags when I just want a quick cup and don't want to create any more dishes to wash than necessary. In a few cases, I use teabags because I've not found a source for a favorite in a loose tea.

O.

Loose tea brewing - tea makers on the market that I know of (just a list and brief description - no opinions as to their suitabilty, quality, or reliabilty):

By the Pot:
triniTEA by Adagio - similar to a drip coffee maker, with control over water temp and brewing time.

Tea Machine by Zarafina - similar to triniTEA, but brews directly into a ceramic teapot rather than a glass carafe.

By the mug:
IngenuiTEA by Adagio - Add leaves and hot water. When brewing is complete, set it on top of your mug and the tea drains directly into the mug, ready to drink.

BTW - nothing to keep you from using teabags in the two Adagio brewers. Don't know about the Zarafina. You still get the benefit of water temperature and brewing time control.

O.

In the Asian Markets around here you can buy , and I have purchased two, porcelain cups with a porcelain deep strainer that sits right on the rim and strains your tea. When you're done. It also comes with a porcelain lid that I turn over and put the porcelain strainer in. They're not expensive either - around $7. I love Jasmine teas loose leaf (which is my only reason for needing this type of cup.).

#23 - You can get some lovely designed ones. I find them impractical however. The porceline insert takes up about 50% of the mug, so you get a very small cup of tea as a reault.

My favourite device is a 'tea ball' normally stainless steel holds about 1 tsp of leaf with room to expand (though not as good as floating free) and easily brewable to control time and strength. First seen in Germany, I have in recent years seen them in the UK too. Make sure you get a mesh rather than just a few holes poked in the side.

You may also look for reusable, washable, cloth mesh tea bags with a drawstring. The allow a lot more room for the tea to expand (compared to regular tea bags and most tea balls), and are a very fine mesh to prevent leaves from escaping.

O.

While working, I used a Bodum Tea Press teapot - particularly with three of us constantly drinking Earl Grey, it was both inexpensive and a luxury at the same time. It's also reasonably easy to clean, as long as you've a bit of a sink.

If you really need something a bit more portable, Bodum also makes a tea press travel mug perfect for loose tea. As someone who was flying six times in the past two months, it was a godsend at 7 AM in the airport :)

There are so few choices available in bags, but we have an excellent tea shop here that makes the choices for leaves nearly endless, or at least until you run out of money - some are quite pricey. If I just want a quick cuppa I'll use an Earl Grey bag, but my daughter and I love the tea ritual and we take turns choosing new tea.

I'm a big fan of loose tea when I'm at home, and I've got my pot and strainer and all that handy. Mostly because it seems like the loose tea I buy from a really good shop is just so much better quality than anything I can get in bags. And CHEAPER! On the other hand, at work I'll drink the flakes of tea in a bag provided by the company, and when I'm backpacking nothing beats the sheer packability and convenience of little individually sealed bags of tea.

Around here you can only get loose-leaf tea at very expensive specialty shops or by mail order, so I use tea bags

~~EK

I've got a Bodum Tea Press pot for single-mug cups of specialty teas. For all other tea situations I have an enormous pot that makes eight cups, or three big mugs. I love leaves but the mess is awful. I bought a tea ball and it's ideal for individual fresh herbal teas. I used it a lot on holiday: all my friends are tea addicts and we spent a lot of time in speciality tea shops browsing and killing our credit cards. The highlight was a fresh camomile with the flower heads - mmmm!!

I have finally kicked my 'Assam/strong tea/milk' insistence and really enjoyed some unusual blends that I brought back with me, in bags: the leaves were too messy and I worried what Customs would think.

Here is a "tea party" idea. My family is almost all female, so every quarter my grandmother, aunts, first cousins and second cousins take turns hosting a tea party. Everyone tries to outdo eachother in unique food, new flavors of tea and fancy decorations. It doesn't cost that much, because we borrow dishes and tablecloths and everything back and forth, and we all collect tea cups and pots. Everyone enjoys spending their time searching for new recipes for the party to surprise everyone with. Sometimes two or three people go together to be the hostess, so that everyone gets a turn, and it help cuts the cost.
My mother and I rented a hall on our turn and set up seven tables for four, each decorated uniquely, with its own tea service. The big hit was a gourmet cold cherry soup I had found in an antique recipe book.
These teas make great family memories. Sadly, it has been over a year since we have done this, due to several illnesses.

re: 31
mydomino1978, what a wonderful idea! Here's to having my own place (and a proper table to go with it) in a few weeks :)

Even if it is only one or two friends it can still be fun.

Has anyone else tried the Perfect Teamaker from Teavana. I was a confirmed tea bag user until this weekend when I discovered this device. It's the simplest thing in the world. You put your tea leaves in the container, add the appropriate amount of hot water and let it steep for the recommended amount of time. Next, you take the container and rest it on the opening of your mug. It automatically knows to start draining. There you go, a nice cup of tea. I think I'll get one for work too. :)

>34 LittleTaiko:
Sounds like another brand with the same approach as the IngenuiTEA by Adagio that I mentioned in post 22. These work great if you are a cup-at-a-time teamaker, but still want to the benefit of loose teas.

O.

A friend of mine has a very clever ceramic teapot; the inside is divided in two compartments with the divider at an angle. You put the tea in one side, brew it as you like it, then turn the pot on its side. The leaves stay in one section and the tea in the other, so it doesn't overbrew.

I've never seen this anywhere else, but would love to get one!

You probably mean a tilting teapot as seen in http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/CH00_Prolog.pdf
or http://www.virtualtea.com/vt/tilt.html and many other commercial sites.

Wow, Krishh, I want that! Thanks for both websites, have put them on my fav list.

Yup, that's the one!

Thanks - I was using all the wrong search terms, so couldn't scare up a picture.

I recently found a mesh strainer insert for my tea pot, with a little wooden handle for easy insertion and removal, in an asian market. They had various diameters and it works lovely for loose leaf teas. The only thing is that it works best for a full pot of tea as the insert only goes about half way down into the pot. I recall it costing less than $3.

Loose leaves are the best flavor. My favorite though is rose bud tea from China it is actually rose buds

A friend brought me tea from Hong Kong--it's actually leaves rolled by hand. When brewed it looks like sea weed (dulse)--very nice!

Has anyone tried (or even seen) blooming flower teas? Easier to explain if you look here . These are dried 'nuggets' that open up in hot water like a bloom in a time-lapse video.

No tea bag and no filter either.

O.

Osbaldistone I tried a Jasmine blooming flower tea once and was rather disappointed as it didn't bloom and therefore the tea didn't steep well at all since the leaves stayed in a dense knot. However I am interested in trying again as perhaps that was a badly put together 'nugget'.

I have - very pretty to watch! I had it at a teashop in El Cerrito, CA called "Tea for Alice" - an Alice in Wonderland theme. They serve the Numi brand of flowering tea. Numi has several varieties of tea done this way, and also sells glass teapots of different shapes for best viewing.

If you go to this link
http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/CategoryDisplay?cgmenbr=175633&amp...
you can see a cute little video of it unfurling.

Hi, all

Just by coincidence, was browsing the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and came across an article on flowering tea by P-I food editor Hsiao-Ching Chou.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/313909_chou02.html

#41 - I've got some of that, bought in a market in china. Wonderful delicate flavour. I've also got some chrysanthanum flower heads that work very well too - a weird vivid orange colour though.

Openining bud teas - these are not buds per se, but hand tied collections. They are very good when well done. Anybody know if you can source them from outside china? My supply was long since drunk.

Reading_fox - See #45 above.

Reading_fox's message reminds me to ask: does anyone know the kind of tea used in Thai iced tea? Restaurant versions are milky orange in color. The recipe in Keo's Thai Cuisine calls for "Thai tea" plus sweetened condensed milk. (I prefer Thai iced coffee, but my kids are partial to the iced tea.)

Edit: Oops, should have googled before posting! Thai tea is made from Sri Lankan or Chinese black tea, finely cut, with star anise powder, a hint of cinnamon and vanilla, and orange food coloring (or tamarind). I've seen an FDA warning against brewing star anise for colicky babies--it might be that (toxic) Japanese star anise is being substituted for the Chinese one, so buy from reputable source!
http://www.blueray.com/thaitea/index.html

I've had Adagio's blooming jasimine which are lovely, and bloom very nicely. They're a bit pricey at $10 for 10. There's free $5 gift certs I can send out, and shipping is I think a flat rate of $3.75. Whole Foods has also started stocking this tea, at least around Philadelphia - Adagio is a New Jersey company, so it could be a local thing.

>50 parelle: Easy to order, though. :)

On other sources for blooming art teas: I've had them in a restaurant locally, which bought theirs in China, seen the Numi on sale and and found some myself at Ten Ren Tea in San Francisco, a couple of years ago. I'm sure other Ten Ren Tea shops (including those here) carry them. Harney & Sons has some particularly attractive versions, albeit on the costly side. 'Jasmine Fairy Maidens' have always attracted me.

Numi's not bad for a grocery-stocked brand; not bad at all. Perhaps I'll give theirs a try. :) They make a fine Aged Earl Grey, and just thinking of their dry desert lime tisane (with just a hint of sugar - rare, from me) has begun a true summer craving.

Like several others, I use a Bodum Tea Press that works very well for making a larger amount of tea. When I want a smaller amount of tea or there are multiple tea drinkers who want different kinds of tea, I use loose tea spooned into these large, disposable tea bags that I bought (along with my tea) from www.specialteas.com. These bags are super cheap, come in large packages, allow the loose tea enough room to expand, and are ridiculously easy to clean up. They also stand up to re-use, if your tea is suited for multiple infusions. If you wanted, you could pre-fill one of them and take it along to work.

#50 Adagio is online at www.adagio.com

Mighty Leaf Tea Company at www.mltea.com

Have tried and tried, but first word of line 2 keeps combining as part of the adagio line. On my computer, I get that site cannot be found, but there is a search box on the page, so I just typed in adagio.com and got into it that way. Ditto the first word of line 3 combining with the mltea line. Oh, well.

>53 buddy:
buddy,

I think you left off the double close-quote after .com in the adagio address. It looks like it's after the word Mighty instead.

So, it should look like this, right?

Adagio is online at www.adagio.com

Mighty Leaf Tea Company at www.mltea.com

Os.

Thanx! Can you tell I'm technically challenged? What's a double close-quote? Teach me. :)

Well, that's what I call it. It's the character in the parens (")

Os.

Did you put one of those at the beginning of each website, too?

It should precede the http:// part of your link and should end the .com part.

I'd type an example, except it will be translated onscrean so you couldn't see it anyway. However, if you "View" "Source" in your browser and then search for text from my post, you will see the HTML source code that I used. However, it will also contain a few things added by the Talk site itself, so you have to be a little flexible.

Any more questions should probably be posted privately on my profile page.

Os.

Mighty Leaf has to be the best bagged tea I've ever had. Try their Darjeeling and I'm sure you'll agree with me. If I had to get off loose tea permanently, I'd certainly choose Mighty Leaf bags first and perhaps Harney and Sons second.

I have become obsessed with loose leaf teas. I had the same problems though of not loving the tea leaves floating around in my cup, some teas are ok to do that, some not so much. I recently found a great tea infuser that I can bring with me anywhere (its a tea infuser glass in one- really cool!) and I can decide which teas I want to drink with the filter or not. I think you can find it a Teavalize.com and I got it free when I signed up for their loose leaf tea. Maybe this will be helpful for those of you needed a good tea infuser!

Like many here, I use tea bags while at work and favour loose tea while at home on weekends. I've found that it's possible to brew a good cup of tea using bags if you simply store them the same way you store loose tea (in an airtight opaque container like a tin) and take the bag out after your tea has reached its desired strength. Bagged is also much more affordible for me, which is unfortunately a consideration!

I use tea tongs for leaves rather than a tea ball because I find them much easier to handle (tea balls are so fiddly). Just remember to not overfill them so the leaves have enough room to expand when you add water. I really prefer being able to remove the leaves once the tea has steeped to my satisfaction.

I've got the Bodum travel mug but have found it problematic as I don't have a dishwasher and the rubber tends to take on the flavour of the tea. This gets pretty gross, and if you add milk in your tea it's much worse. I used it for coffee once (my sister was visiting) and have not been able to use it for tea since.

Wosret: You might try Bodum's infuser mug - I've forgotten the name - for which infuser and mug are both vitrified glass. It handwashes easily, doesn't retain smells, leaves ample room for leaves to expand, allows you to see the full color of the tea, lasts years, and is relatively cheap. The infuser lifts right out, but filters well, and is large enough to empty readily.

I'm reverting to pots and cups and saucers again, but it's a great way to brew a mug simply. Upton is not a bad choice if you need to mine the low end of good leaf teas, but it's true that cost matters, and in a pinch there are a couple of kinds of bags I will drink. There are a couple more British blends to which I've simply been converted. :) But I do best, and always, love leaves.

Also: in actual fact, loose teas ARE cheaper than bags, even at a somewhat higher quality. One just has to find the meeting-point between drinkability, cost, availability, and ease of brewing. Often it's needing to order - and make a large enough order to keep shipping from skewing prices - which tips me toward the stand-in. I only do it once in a few months.

Several mail-order places, Stash Tea for one, carry paper fill-it-yourself filters in cup- and pot-size. Less than $5 for 100 im nost cases. I fill a batch out of my loose tea supplies and carry to work. Best of both worlds.

Yes, I've often bought those. You're quite right. :) At the moment, it's a decision: those, again, or another permanent filter? As I'll do the brewing at home, I'm thinking the latter. It's only $8 (so, equivalent to two cup-size boxes) for something that will outlast them... And appealing but cheap leaves.

Anyone else plagued by indecision, when the time comes to narrow the 'want' list to the frugal budget? Or forecast from the moment's appeal and previous drinking, to what you'll want in the couple of months ahead?

If you have local access to bulk tea in the varieties/blends that you like, then the quality and cost benefits at home are heavily in favor of loose tea. Loose tea also makes it easier to experiment with quantity and brewing time to get the flavor you want. Plus, you can more easily experiment with your own blends.

With reusable cloth teabags (cheaper and 'greener' in the long run than paper), using loose tea at the office or when traveling can even be fairly practical.

Having said that, I buy a few teas in bags (foil packages for freshness) just because I can stick a couple in my pocket or bag when I'm going somewhere and don't have time to prepare a few teabags myself. I'm also likely to use them when I only want one cup of tea instead of a small pot.

Os.

Os., how do you clean the cloth bags?
Agreed, on all the rest.

This time, I settled on adding a mug-sized, very fine-meshed infuser to my collection; and found (among other teas) that Upton's Rose Congou is surprisingly lovely, at $3.90. (I hadn't tried it for a while, lest the quality was not up to specs. But very nice - the rose the most subtly complex and natural I've had.)

Well, the cloth bag needs cleaning in the same way that the pot needs cleaning (Cleaning Teapots thread) - it's more aesthetic than hygene.

But, you can drop them into a basket in your dishwasher.

Os.

At the office I use bagged teas because of the convenience. At home I use both.

I agree with Osbaldistone that the loose gives better options in brewing time and flavor choices. The issue is being in a local where you can find a tea store that has the variety to choose from.

Hence the ordering by catalog and online. :)

Os., thanks: of course, you're quite right about the bags - hot water should suffice - but I wasn't thinking. And the dishwasher option makes it a matter of great simplicity. I admit, I've not been reading the Cleaning Teapots thread, but will do so, now.

>69 Osbaldistone: and 71
I intentionally did not recommend dropping them in with the laundry. Laundry soap often leaves clothes with a nice clean scent that you probably would not want in your tea.

Os.

LOL. Quite right!

#72: Ah, yes, the lovely complex soapy flavor!

If you have local access to bulk tea in the varieties/blends that you like, then the quality and cost benefits at home are heavily in favor of loose tea.

So I caved and bought some loose tea for work. Sure, it may be cheaper than bags per gram (I haven't done the math so I'm not sure) but I drink twice as much because it tastes better! ;-p

Now THAT is the problem! ;) Only I get so much more pleasure from it - even from lower-end teas from good purveyors - that it's eminently worth doing. I do wish sometimes I didn't drink so much, though, so what I did drink could be (still) better.

I happened across the following in The Book of Coffee and Tea (p. 197 in the paperback edition I borrowed from the library):

"Did we just say that one can get truly superb tea by using a tea bag? We did. It's true. If fine tea is put in the bag in sufficient quantity, and proper brewing procedures is followed, fine tea will result. The bag itself is an odorless and tasteless filter paper. It offers the convenience of an individual pre-measured portion; it is easily disposable; there are no "messy leaves" to clean up. Each tea drinker can brew his cup to the strength he himself enjoys."

The authors then go on to explain why all the above requirements are not often met.

"While high quality tea bags should not be shunned, no one should underestimate the pleasures that may come from a close acquaintance with loose tea."

I was home all day yesterday and went through two pots of pu-ehr (a strong black tea that stands up well to a second brewing) brewed from loose leaves. Got a lot of chores done, too, in between cups.

I'm so common!! I just stick a bag in a mug! I'm not much of a connoisseur. However, I do have a couple of great teapots, so I really should make the effort to use them.

I do both. I drink Ahmad or Twinings Earl Grey or Mesna Chai tea in bags at work. At home I drink loose Earl Grey from India, caramel rooibos, or a variety of WHOLE leaf asian teas...not just loose leaf (Green Mountain, Oolong, Ten Ren's Kings tea, or either dragon pearl or star jasmine). I have a fine strainer to use for loose leaf tea, I make it in a pot and pour it in my cup. With whole leaf teas, you really don't need to worry so much as you don't have tiny flakes attacking you as you drink...the larger leaves sink as the tea cools. In the case of the pearl tea or star jasmine, the whole leaves are tied into tiny bundles, so you don't really need to worry about stray leaves. The problem with the pearl and the star is that they run $50+ a pound...although a pound makes an awful lot of cups.

Loose tea is much better than tea bags. In general tea bags use the inferior 'fannings' which is virtually tea dust. Loose tea is inexpensive, probably cheaper per cup than tea bags, and can be had in a vast variety. I use a tea pot with #4 filter bags. When I'm having just a morning mug of tea I still use my filter bags (T-Sac brand) because my mug is really huge (16 oz). I am an impoverished failed academic and bankrupt riverboat gambler and would not use loose tea if there were a cheaper way to feed my tea habit! I buy tea mailorder from Coffee Bean Direct, Upton, and Grace. The first of those is the most economical.

But Upton is great. Tell me about Grace?

I've been brewing loose leaf tea for years now, so whatever onerous tasks associated with loose tea brewing have been routinized to the point of mere reaction.

Okay, I exaggerate a bit. But still, brewing loose leaf tea is so simple that I can't imagine going back to the bags. I just dump the tea in my pot, pour in the water, steep, and filter through a cup sized hand strainer. Simple as that.

True, one must go through more steps to make one cup of loose leaf tea than one would go through in making one with the bags, but, in my experience, the taste is generally better with the loose leaf.

>82 codyed:

My experience shifting to loose tea is much like that of codyed. I hardly think about the trouble any more.

I'd add that I find getting the amount of tea right for one cup is difficult, so I make 3 cups or more in a pot, even if I will only drink a cup or two. A small error in measuring has little effect when making a pot instead of a cup.

Os.

If you love loose tea try Mate in a french press.
Mid afternoon energy and the most amazing color green!

I like to use leaves when I can, but this is usually only when my friends are over and they want to read each others tea leaves.

However I prefer to use bags just because they're simpler for me and afterwards I save the bags and use them for a variety of little odd jobs.

StardustLuna - What kinds of odd jobs do you save your tea bags for? I just tend to dump all my used tea leaves/bags into the compost.

>85 StardustLuna:, 86
FYI, we have a thread here regarding non-beverage tea uses.

Os.

I definitely prefer loose leaf teas. I love the process of preparing my tea that way.
My family drinks a lot of green tea so I use a Japanese style cast iron teapot. The infuser screen goes all the way around the inside.
Green teas need room to expand in order to get the best green tea so tea balls do not usually work very well.
I also have found I love the flavor of many blooming teas.
However, I do use tea bags for many of the other tea I like. It takes much less time, especially if I am just brewing for myself!

I only drink tea brewed from tea leaves in a (small) pot, poured out through a strainer to withhold tea leaves.

I prefer loose leaf, by a wide margin, but bags are handy for traveling, and the teabag options have improved greatly in recent years. I really like those from "Two Leaves and a Bud", especially their Organic Earl Grey and Organic Assam.

>90 tealadytoo: I agree on the travelling ease of teabags, but some jasmine pearls or similar "stay in the cup" green tea is just as easy and tastes much better in my opinion.

Baskets. Almost all the tea balls and bags I can find are too small, so I've taken to used tea baskets from large 'tea mugs' or little pots to steep my tea. I finally bought an extra tea basket with saucer so that I could finally get rid of this cheap and annoying pot that I have kept only to use the basket it comes with. When steeping I'll go by and lift the basket up to "fluff" the leaves while steeping.

>84 ravendory: I love this idea! I'll be trying that soon.

I love loose tea but I'm a little picky about how it's brewed. I don't always have the time to put it in a pot, so I'll steep it in my cup - but unfortunately this can lead to having unwanted bits of leaves, etc. in my cup. My favorite strainer is metal and fits completely over the edges of my cup - very few bits of sediment falls into my cup with it.

>84 ravendory: If you love loose tea try Mate in a french press. Mid afternoon energy and the most amazing color green!

Well . . . I did try to use up some mid afternoon energy by mating in a French press.

The doctors says the amazing green color should disappear when the bandages come off. 😢