Loose Leaf Green Tea

Most people tend to buy their tea in tea bag form. But are they missing out on quality by choosing tea bags over loose leaf green tea?

Tea Bags v Loose Leaf Green Tea

I think most people use tea bags rather than loose leaf green tea because of the convenience factor. It is also easy if you are making a cup of tea just for yourself. You just boil the kettle, put the bag in the cup, wait for it to brew and then throw thee bag away. There are no messy tea leaves to clear up or teapot to clean.

Many people are put off the idea of using loose leaf green tea because they perceive it to me a lot more messy and time-consuming. But is it really? It’s true you have to measure the amount of tea leaves toy are using, because you don’t have them conveniently measured in a tea bag. But at home I have a tea measuring spoon, so all I need to do is scoop the tea out of the bag. It’s just as simple as picking a teabag out of a box. Then there is the perceived problem of there being more mess because you need to use a teapot and strainer. When making tea at home for just myself, I usually use a strainer that fits directly in the cup, so the brewing is done in the cup, not in a teapot. Once it has brewed, it is easy to take the strainer out and empty the leaves into the bin. Yes, it involves slightly more effort, but the rewards of better tasting and better quality tea far outweigh any additional work involved.

Supermarkets

Another reason people may choose tea bags over loose leaf green tea is that most supermarkets and general stores stock a wide range of tea in tea bag form, but a much smaller range of loose leaf green tea. But with the advent of the internet, and more people doing their shopping online, it’s now very easy to buy the loose leaf green tea of their choice. And as they become more used to drinking loose leaf lea, they are starting to demand it at their local stores. So store are now starting to broaden their range due to increased customer demand.

Quality and Flavor

So is there any difference in quality and flavour between loose leaf green tea and tea bags. The answer is an emphatic yes. Loose leaf green tea wins the battle hands down.

The reason for this is very simple indeed. When the tea leaves are sorted, the good leaves are sorted and sold as loose leaf green tea. Whatever is left over goes into tea bags, which generally have much lower quality tea. This leftover tea is often referred to as tea dust.

One recent innovation aims to improve the quality of bagged tea. It’s the pyramid tea bag. It’s larger than the conventional tea bag and allows the tea leaves to move more freely inside, thereby allowing larger leaves to be inserted into the bag. The pyramid bags are limited to a few makes of tea at the moment, and personally I still think the quality and flavour is much lower than you get with loose leaf green teas.