Bagged and Loose Tea: Is There Really a Comparison?
A cup of tea is not only soothing and delicious, it’s a healthy, natural beverage filled with antioxidants. Many people choose bagged tea because they consider it to be more convenient. However, true tea connoisseurs prefer brewing tea from loose leaves. If you are only using tea bags, you are missing out on the superior taste, quality and health benefits of the finest tea leaves.
Tea Quality: Bagged vs. Loose
The tea inside paper tea bags has been pulverized into tiny dust-like particles; this causes it to lose its flavor and become stale faster. The over-processing also causes the leaves to lose their natural properties. When you brew from loose tea, you are enjoying the entire tea leaf. More of the essential oils are left intact, so the tea keeps its full aroma and flavor and its health-boosting antioxidant power. Unconstrained by tiny paper sacks, loose tea delivers the true essence of the plant.
Loose Tea Is More Economical
Although tea bags aren’t expensive, the potency of the tea inside them is significantly reduced. Loose leaf tea can be re-used up to four times before losing potency, and even though it may seem to cost more upfront, it produces far more tea per ounce than its rival.
Loose Tea Lets You Be Creative
With loose tea, it’s easy to make your own custom blends by combining two or more teas, and there are generally more flavors and options to work with. You could combine several different tea bags in a cup to make a new flavor, but with loose tea, the precise control over ratios gives you the ability to experiment and tweak your creations easily.
Loose Tea Is More Convenient than You Think
You may be under the impression that brewing loose tea is time-consuming and inconvenient, but it’s actually quick and easy. Small mesh brewing baskets allow you to brew your tea inside your cup. Larger baskets can fit into a tea pot. You simply insert the tea-filled basket into hot water, and dispose of the contents when your tea is fully brewed. If you prefer a compromise, you can use open-ended paper tea sacks that you fill with loose tea and use just like individual tea bags.
If you ask tea lovers who have tried both, you will find that they almost universally prefer loose tea over tea bags. After you try it for yourself, you may never buy a tea bag again.
Tea Quality: Bagged vs. Loose
The tea inside paper tea bags has been pulverized into tiny dust-like particles; this causes it to lose its flavor and become stale faster. The over-processing also causes the leaves to lose their natural properties. When you brew from loose tea, you are enjoying the entire tea leaf. More of the essential oils are left intact, so the tea keeps its full aroma and flavor and its health-boosting antioxidant power. Unconstrained by tiny paper sacks, loose tea delivers the true essence of the plant.
Loose Tea Is More Economical
Although tea bags aren’t expensive, the potency of the tea inside them is significantly reduced. Loose leaf tea can be re-used up to four times before losing potency, and even though it may seem to cost more upfront, it produces far more tea per ounce than its rival.
Loose Tea Lets You Be Creative
With loose tea, it’s easy to make your own custom blends by combining two or more teas, and there are generally more flavors and options to work with. You could combine several different tea bags in a cup to make a new flavor, but with loose tea, the precise control over ratios gives you the ability to experiment and tweak your creations easily.
Loose Tea Is More Convenient than You Think
You may be under the impression that brewing loose tea is time-consuming and inconvenient, but it’s actually quick and easy. Small mesh brewing baskets allow you to brew your tea inside your cup. Larger baskets can fit into a tea pot. You simply insert the tea-filled basket into hot water, and dispose of the contents when your tea is fully brewed. If you prefer a compromise, you can use open-ended paper tea sacks that you fill with loose tea and use just like individual tea bags.
If you ask tea lovers who have tried both, you will find that they almost universally prefer loose tea over tea bags. After you try it for yourself, you may never buy a tea bag again.
