A friend of mine came by my desk at work the other day, and asked, “What is that? It smells so good!” I told her that it was Strawberry Long Island Green Tea. She said that her tea smelled nothing like that and that she was trying to switch from coffee to tea to cut down on her caffeine intake. When I told her it was loose leaf, she asked what the difference was and I gave her some of the reasons that I think loose leaf tea is better than bagged tea.

Not all pre-bagged teas, but MOST are made up of little fragments of tea leaves. Because the tea leaves are all broken up, they get stale very quickly – much more quickly than whole loose leaf tea. Because of this, when the tea is brewed, it doesn’t have nearly the same flavor or fragrance. Just like coffee – fresh is better. Coffee grounds for example, that have been sitting around in a cupboard and exposed to air are not going to taste as good as coffee beans that have just been ground. On top of the freshness factor, in general, the quality of the leaves themselves, are much higher with loose leaf than bagged tea.

Another thing to consider is how the tea is actually brewed… Tea in a tea bag doesn’t really allow the hot water to flow freely over the tea leaves. For the best tasting, freshest cup of tea, it is best if the hot water can move easily around the tea leaves to get the most out of them. That is why although we sell loose leaf, and I personally prefer to use a tea ball, or infuser for my own tea, we also sell tea bags separately, so that people who are used to tea bags, can still scoop in their tea and brew as usual. In this way, you can still have fresh tea, in a bag that allows the hot water to flow more freely inside it because of the size of the bag in comparison to the amount of tea you place in it.

From what I have found there are also more types and flavours to choose from when you choose loose leaf over bagged tea. You can get gourmet loose leaf teas that are not offered in tea bags. If you are creative, or you have a natural knack for what flavours go well together, then you can use loose leaf tea to make your own personal blends, which makes for a cup of tea, quite literally, like no other. I have done this with a few of our teas, like Vanilla Chai Dream. I originally made it for myself, and it was such a hit with my friends and family, that we decided to add it to the teas we offer on our site.

I think that the primary reason that people choose teabags over loose leaf tea is that they think that teabags are more convenient. They offer a ‘quick’ cup of tea… While this may be true, it really doesn’t take a lot of effort to brew loose leaf tea – and the extra 30 seconds or less that it *does* take is WELL worth the effort. There are a number of ways to brew loose leaf tea, from self sealing tea bags, tea balls, tea infusers… (some of which are built right into tea pots)… to the old fashioned brew and strain… The main thing to keep in mind, perhaps during the extra few seconds it takes for you to scoop a teaspoon of tea into a pot, is that brewing tea from loose leaves is the purest method of brewing, and it truly does make a difference in flavour, fragrance and quality. I used to be a ‘quick’ convenient tea maker, and I can honestly say that now that I’ve gone loose leaf, I’ll never go back.

(Just give it a try…You’ll know what I’m talking about.)