Guide to Enjoying Organic Loose Leaf Tea

A Brief Introduction to Loose Leaf Teas and Herbs

Until recently, buying tea involved a quick and disinterested choice between three or four generic tea brands in your local grocery store. The consumer wasn't offered anything other than plain old "tea" and offerings were pre-bagged in bleached paper. These teas were almost always of the same quality (poor) resulting in a belief that there may be slight differences in flavorings and aromas but, at the end of the day, tea is tea.

Loose Leaf Teas Arrive

Loose leaf teas made their appearance as the educated consumer now wanted to see, smell and touch exactly what they were drinking before brewing a cup. The mysterious contents of those tea bags became unacceptable to this modern tea drinker. Words like Oolong, Darjeeling, and Pu'erh became a part of their vocabulary. Brewing and drinking a cup of tea became an experience similar to tasting a fine wine. Indeed, like wine, everything from the elements of the crop condition to the processing and storage of the resulting product effects the flavor, aroma, and look of the drink.

If your experience with tea has been from plain tea bags from the shelves of a grocery store, you have really missed out on the wonderful qualities of real tea.

What’s the Difference?

The main difference between loose teas and bagged teas is the leaf size. Tea leaves contain powerful antioxidants and essential oils, which are the basis for the benefits and the flavor of tea. When the tea leaves are crushed, those oils dissipate leaving a tasteless tea.

Typical tea bags contain the tiniest pieces of broken leaves, called fannings whereas loose leaf teas are whole leaves or large pieces of leaves. Fannings result in little more than dust and is the lowest grade of tea available. These smaller particles of tea have been crushed so that the essential oils evaporate quickly and the flavor evaporates. This means artificial flavors are often added to improve the bland taste.

The processing of loose leaf teas is much different than the processing for tea bags. Because tea bags are mass-produced, the leaves have often been picked and processed by machines. Loose leaf teas, by contrast, have been carefully hand selected.

Room to Expand

In addition to the leaf size, there is also the space factor. To provide the distinct flavor, tea leaves need space to swell, expand and unfurl. This room for water circulation is not available in tea bags and so even more of the flavor is confined. For example, oolong teas have a dramatic difference in the taste of dry leaves and the unfurled steeped leaves. If they are unable to fully expand, much of the flavor stays within the leaves.

Important Health Benefits

The more processing the tea leaves go through the more of the healthy antioxidants and essential vitamins and minerals are stripped from the plant. That is why green tea is better than say, black tea. It has gone through less processing. Imagine the difference between green loose leaf teas to prepackaged tea bags and there is little comparison.

If you truly want to reap the wonderful benefits that teas have to offer, organic loose leaf teas are the best choices.

Is Convenience the Only Issue?

You will have to determine is convenience is your only issue when deciding on tea bags or loose leaf. The tea bags can be easily carried about and are an easy cleanup compared to the more messier strainers or infusers required for steeping your own loose leaf teas.

Also, for freshness, you must look to loose leaf teas. Reputable tea sellers will only be selling this year’s crop as opposed to tea bags which can sit on warehouse and grocery shelves for years.

It is true that in recent years, as tea and natural, health conscious products have seen steady incline in interests, tea companies have experimented with ways to combine the best of both worlds, and whole leaf tea is now frequently available in infuser bags that allow more room for the leaves to unfurl. Still, if you are looking for better flavor, health benefits, and variety, the choice is simple: stew your own organic loose-leaf teas.

Loose Leaf Tea Popularity

Cafés catering to the tea brewing experience have been popping up across the country, much like the popular Starbuck’s cafes have for the past decade. Infusion, a tea bar located in Orlando, Florida offers a variety of loose-leaf teas for customers to choose from and then steeps the teas at their tables with specially designed bottomless teapots and timers to keep the steeping specific to the teas. They even offer special packages for the bride-to-be or mom-to-be. Of course loose leaf tea can be enjoyed daily and in the comfort of your own home. Here is a quick guide to brewing your own loose leaf teas at home.

Steps to Brewing Loose Leaf Teas

Always choose the best water you can such as spring or bottled water as it will bring out the best flavor of the tea.
Bring water to a rolling boil.
Add tea leaves to a teapot or fill your own tea bag or use an infuser.
This is often a matter of convenience but remember that tea leaves need room to expand in order to get the most flavor. If using bags, be sure to choose larger, non-bleached teabags.
As a general rule one to two teaspoons per eight ounce cup of water is the right amount although experimenting with strength is important. People often make the mistake of brewing tea longer for a stronger flavor, but that only makes the tea more bitter. If you prefer a stronger flavor, add more tea to the pot.
Pour boiling water over black tea but allow water to cool slightly before steeping green and white tea.
Steep tea leaves using these basic guidelines:

Green Tea: 1-2 minutes

White, Oolong Tea: 3-4 minutes

Black, Roobios, Herbal Tea: 4-5 minutes

Remove the tea bag or infuser from water or strain leaves and enjoy.
One of the great things about brewing your own loose leaf teas is the possibility of a new taste with every cup by creating your own blends to trying the variety of options available. Loose leaf teas offer the best choice for serious tea drinkers: variety, quality, and enormous health benefits.