Why to Buy Loose Tea?
Anyone who hasn’t been persuaded by loose tea yet, here are a few ideas explaining why we love and sell only loose leaf tea over tea bags.
TASTE
When it comes to having quality tea time, we love making loose tea. Using a teapot helps the tea bring out its unique, delicious taste. A good size infuser for a cup or mug can work well, as long as the leaves have space to move around and brew properly. Loose leaf tea contains larger amount of essential oils, which deliver better taste. Tea bags often contain, much smaller (broken) leaves which tend to oxidise quicker therefore don’t retain the flavour as long. If stored well and drunk within a year from purchase, a good quality loose tea will taste fresher. A standard tea bag might be convenient and quicker to brew but often tastes of just that - a tea bag, especially the paper ones; you can taste the paper in your brew. The main drawback is that unlike loose tea, tea ‘trapped’ in a tea bag doesn’t have enough space to move around and brew sufficiently to bring all of the flavours out.
The smell of fresh loose tea is so much more fragrant and captivating, and of course goes hand in hand with the delicious taste. Warming the teapot with hot water will help to enhance the tea’s unique aroma so you can enjoy the pleasant smell of comforting tea before you pour the hot water into the teapot and infuse the leaves.
CHOICE
Although there are lots of tea bags to choose from nowadays, this still cannot compare with the choice you get with loose leaf tea. There are almost endless varieties from light white, to refreshing green, to stimulating black teas and fragrant oolongs, not to mention all sorts of herbal infusions. When it comes to loose leaf tea, the world really is your oyster!
EXPERIENCE
With loose tea you get a completely different experience. When you’re making it (especially when it’s very fresh) - warming the teapot with hot water and putting the tea leaves in, the smell of the tea is simply lovely and so comforting. Being able to see the tea leaves. Soon you may start to recognise different types of tea, the variations in shape and colour and their distinctive smell and taste.
HEALTH
According to many studies, tea has number of health benefits, is rich in antioxidants and helps us to stay hydrated. Lower in caffeine than coffee and giving a much gentler lift, it’s the perfect alternative to high caffeine drinks if your trying to cut down and control your caffeine intake. There are weaker and stronger varieties of teas that can help to do this, as well as the way it are brewed.
HAPPINESS
We’re convinced that tea makes us happier. It is a great means of connecting with people and oneself. Sitting down with friends, family or just by yourself is surely priceless! It must be time for another quote ;) As Tien Yiheng, an 8th Century Chinese Sage beautifully put it: “Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world.”
FREEDOM
Unlike a tea bag which has a specific set amount of tea in it, with loose tea you have the freedom of how light or strong you choose to make it, giving you a much better chance of making your very own personal perfect cup of tea and making it ‘best’ for your friends and family too.
RECYCLING
Tea leaves are perfect for composting, so you can enjoy endless cups of tea without creating any waste or if you don’t have compost, in the UK you can just add them to your local council food waste scheme for collection.