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Just added to your cart. Continue shopping. By Function. By Flavor. By Form. Tea Customer Care. Whole Leaf Tea. What's the difference? Loose Leaf Tea vs. Tea Bags. They are smaller in size and have a larger surface area, which can result in the quick evaporation of essential oils. When broken tea leaves are steeped, they can also release a plethora of tannins which create a harsh tasting flavor. Thus leaving the tea - dull, stale and lacking an aroma. Alternatively, whole loose leafs are packed with antioxidants and claim to provide a number of health benefits; such as, to help decrease blood pressure, reduce the risk of cancer and aid in the reduction of weight loss.
Aesthetically, the natural and fresh loose leaf form provides true beauty as you can see the whole flower buds, perfectly detailed tea leaves and dried pieces of healthy fruit. Furthermore, whole loose leafs can be sourced from a region or estate which specializes in the production of a certain loose leaf.
The flavor profile, aroma and appearance varies yearly and can subtly change each season. Regions, estates, processing methods and growing seasons are acknowledged for their distinct aromas and flavours. Ultimately there is a plethora of intense flavours and aromas that can be discovered with loose leaf tea than that of standardized tea blends.
When loose leaf tea leaves are steeped in water, they expand and provide a more aromatic and flavorsome cup. During this process, flavors come to life and the nutritional benefits are extracted. However, traditional tea bags prevent tea leaves from unfurling to their true potential during infusion; thus, placing further limitations on the taste of the tea. Despite this, teabags can also come in various shapes and sizes which claim to improve the flow of tea leaves.
Unlike traditional tea bags, however, loose tea can be reinfused several times which can result in more quality for less cost. Contrarily, tea bags release all of their flavor in one cup and can only be infused once. Generally, freshness can be problematic with traditional tea bags as they are mass produced on an industrial scale and can remain on the supermarket shelves for numerous months. It has been noted that tea bags can be sealed with plastic or glue, and packaged with tags and strings for a more sellable design than loose tea.
A problem with this is not only the quality of freshness; but also, the environmental impact. Furthermore, tea bags are traditionally bleached white to make them more aesthetically appealing to customers to increase sales.
Finally, flavor experts have noted that they can taste the sensation of paper that is used to produce tea bags. If you buy a Dragon Well green tea, for example, you get only Dragon Well leaves, not a mix of a whole bunch of different teas. As a result you get to taste the unique flavor profile of one single type of tea.
Cost is the other big factor. I already covered this extensively above in the disadvantages section for the bagged tea. This article goes into much more detail on the cost comparison. This was mentioned above as well. You can steep loose leaves multiple time generally , though I often get 6 or 7 out of some of my teas. This greatly reduces the cost of your tea and also has another wonderful benefit.
The flavor profile of the tea changes slightly from one steep to the next, so you get to enjoy several different variations of your tea. And usually, the first steep is not the best one. I always enjoy steeps 2 and 3 the most.
Many consider the ritual of steeping tea relaxing in and of itself. For some this would be a clear disadvantage, due to the time it takes, but others actually enjoy the process of steeping their tea. This is especially true for those who follow a ritualistic tea ceremony or a traditional brewing style, like the Chinese gongfu style of brewing. Loose leaf tea is usually freshly packed and sealed to keep in that freshness, and then quickly brought to market.
Bagged tea, on the other hand, can spend a long time sitting in a warehouse or on shelves. This was already touched on in the quality section, but deserves its own section as well. When the leaves stay intact or mostly intact, since many loose teas are chopped up leaves, but not finely chopped , they retain all their essential oils.
When you steep larger leaves, those oils and the vitamins and minerals they contain are released into your cup. The cons of loose leaf tea all have to do with convenience and that is the main reason so many people opt for bags. Loose tea is more difficult to prepare, no doubt about it. While you can brew some teas directly in the vessel and drink them with the leaves still inside, that does not work for all.
And many people prefer not to do that, even when they can. This post will help you with the brewing process and with finding the right strainer or other brewing vessel for you. If you already know which vessel you need, I have review pages for all of them: teapots with included infusers , travel mugs , tea mugs with infuser , and just tea infuser baskets or balls on their own to fit into any mug you already have. Or you can go all out and get one of these best tea sets.
This is actually my least favorite aspect of loose tea. I hate cleaning the leaves out of the strainer and putting them in the trash. To be fair, it takes me less than a minute, but I still hate it. If you have a garbage disposal, this task becomes a lot simpler, though. You can just rinse out the strainer and let the leaves go into the disposal.
No need to keep them out of the drain in that case. Loose leaf tea is much harder to come by in most parts of the world. Sure, they may have some, but they are usually not good varieties. At least that used to be the case. Nowadays, there are hundreds of online shops that will deliver great loose teas anywhere in the world, including Amazon. All the tea pages on this site you can find them here give recommendations for the best quality and best value teas you can get from several stores, including Amazon.
You can also check out this reviewing and comparing my favorite online tea vendors. Almost all serious tea drinkers prefer loose leaf teas to bagged varieties and most avoid tea bags whenever they can. Similarly, if you go to a tea drinking country like Japan or China and you will rarely be served a cup of tea that has been brewed using a bag.
If you want to drink tea, but want it to be a simple as possible, bags make sense. But if you want to enjoy the full flavor profile of tea and also the full health benefits, you need to get loose tea leaves. The most effective and most common among them is the pyramid bag.
If you want to get more out of your tea, but want to continue to enjoy the ease and convenience of bags, pyramid bags are the solution for you. I drink quite a bit of bagged tea. I am actually excited to to try leaf tea after my next trip to town. A friend of mine, that know I drink a lot of tea, asked me why I only make it by the cup.
Can you, please, tell me the pros and cons of using either a stainless steel percolator coffee pot or a coffee maker to brew tea in? I agree that loose tea leaves have a good amount of freshness in them which makes them a good choice. Switching to drinking tea will still give me the caffeine fix that I need but to a lesser extent.
I have a question. On some teas Lipton green varieties , I have noticed soy lecithin as an ingredient; why? Is there a purpose or need for it? I started drinking loose leaf tea last year after learning that many tea bags are made with plastic that can leach into the tea. The fancy pyramidal tea bags are literally made out of plastic, but I doubt that occasional use will do any harm. I got a fancy electric kettle as a gift over the holidays, and now I can actually get consistently or degree water.
The easiest way to brew it for me has been diffuser baskets that give the tea plenty of space while sitting in one of my mugs.
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