Thread: Loose leaf tea or tea bags?

I have been sticking to japanese organic teas because of what has been going on in china lately.Considering all of the pollution and other things that have been happening it is scary. My favorite chinese tea is jasmine pearl. I love the way the pearls open up in the cup or infuser and the aroma of jasmine. I am on a major health kick so I have to try my best where I can so I have been drinking sencha,houjicha, and genmaicha.

I enjoy tea no matter what but I think that loose leaf is a better all around experience. I get my Teas fom Upton teas.com They have a huge selection and many of them are really stellar. Their African Honeybush Vanilla is good. The Roibos Pretoria is also very nice.

I also like Twinnings English Breakfast tea too so go figure. But on the whole, Loose leaf is best.

I only use loose tea and infuse green tea or white tea about three times.
Oolong or Pu-erh tea is usually good for about 8 infusions. YMMV and all of that...

I read somewhere that most of the nice parts of the tea manage to get into the water in the first ten seconds of brewing, and after that it slows down. For me a second brew is not as aromatic and certainly much more bitter than the first. As a result I stick to one brew.
Jasmine pearl is definately my favourite tea - I can't drink it exclusively though because I get used to it and then I don't appreciate how different it is from regular green tea.
I could probably make a preference list like this.
Jasmine - gunpowder - pu errh - oolong - silver tip - sencha - black teas - herbal blends - rooibos

Of course that is with many things missed out but these are the ones I like to buy more often.(with the exception of the last three which I put on the list because I really dislike them.)

Loose leaf Green tea over the bagged version strongly preferred (and brewed...).

Ah tea: a national pastime here in the UK. Our supermarkets have a whole isle in each dedicated to tea and coffee, and the older generations drink exorbitant amounts of the stuff – it’s the first thing you get offered when you visit people and the web will have you believe that the average Brit drinks 74,802 cups in his/her lifetime. That’s a lot of tea to brew from leaves every time! So I suppose you could argue that the standard cup of Yorkshire Tea , Tetley, PG tips or whatever teabag is the tea world’s answer to the disposable razor but those of us who appreciate the finer things in life will savor the opportunity to empty a teapot through a strainer into a bone china cup sat next to a jam and clotted cream-filled scone outside a country cottage from time to time, or with a few shortbread biscuits on a special occasion.

Although I do feel that it’s a wee bit naughty to brew a cup of Darjeeling or Earl Grey in your cup and through a bag it is certainly convenient but personally I prefer the leaves but use the bags out of convenience and don’t complain about it because bags today are a much more refined thing than once they were and pass very well for a good cuppa.

I grew up drinking a lot of iced tea, mainly black, orange pekoe I guess? I've tried different brands lately and found luzienne to be the best. It sounds like you guys have refined your taste a bit more than that, though. Does anybody have any recommendations as far as iced tea goes?

Something that caught my attention was that some people put milk in their tea? I overheard this a little while ago a thought I had lost my mind and was hearing things, but do people actually do that? Kind of like some people do it for coffee? It was in reference to earl gray, which I've never tried. Any recommendations on earl gray?

With hot tea yes. with milk is by far the most popular combo about these parts means you can drink it faster and it makes it kinda creamy and takes the bitter edge right off... oh cream tea is to DIE for too although it's not too good for the belt line

Being british in another country, the tea with milk thing is something I hear every day. I never take milk in tea so many people here are suprised that I don't fit their idea of a british stereotype.
In my opinion adding milk to tea is just a good way to hide a bad quality tea. I don't know anybody who adds milk to earl grey though - that would be strange.

Originally Posted by nickyspaghetti

I remember my grandmother talking about a tea factory in Sri Lanka and the loose tea was made normally, but the tea bags were floor sweepings(along with mouse droppings etc.)
. . . ..

And it still is . . . yummy!