Is loose tea really that much better then tea bags? I understand that there is more surface area with loose tea for infusion, but can't the same be accomplished by using perhaps a second tea bag and shortening the brewing time?
By me, the biggest difference is on quality of leaves. No one will produce the bag-tea with good quality leaves.
T.
I'm afraid you've got it backwards here. Chopping the leaves exposes
*more* surface area per leaf. That's why teabags infuse faster than loose tea, holding total weight of leaves constant.In general (and there are of course exceptions) there are two reasons why you get better results from loose tea, in my opinion:
- Chopping the leaf into tiny bits encourages oxidation and makes it immensely harder to maintain freshness.
- Manufacturers tend to reserve better leaf for loose tea.
/Lew
Yes.
The same what? What exactly is your goal?
For what purpose would you want to do this?
To improve flavor? No, because loose tea from a good vendor is fresher and of better quality.
To save money? No, because there are excellent loose teas that cost less per cup to brew than tea bags.
Because you like fiddling around with tea bags? No, because playing with loose tea is much more fun and the "agony of the leaves" is a visual entertainment that no tea bag can provide.
"Bluesea" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:
...
There are many times where we can't spare too much of our attention to visual entertainment (for example meetings, conferences, and business lunches) but would be glad of the chance to have a high-quality and/or custom blend cuppa to sip.
Perhaps the solution in these situations is loose tea stuffed into empty bags by the tea drinker beforehand. There is an online source of these bags:
Still it will solve the freshness and tea quality problems -- but you will have to infuse the tea for the same time as you would at home.
Unfortunately there appears to be some tiny tradeoff between overall quality and convenience...
Ozzy
TeaHome has teabags (sachets) with whole tea leaves.
you can buy Tsac product ... think about it
IMO, using a basket infuser is easier than stuffing bags and doesn't restrict the leaves from swimming about as much as do bags. If the OP gets one with a lid, it'll double as a drip tray. The whole DIY tea bag thing with loose tea is a PITA because of the cleaning or discarding issue, again, IMO, but to each his/her own personal preference.
If you're going to use a teabag use a larger pot. I've never encountered a single teabag and cup that I thought mated well. And the teabag material itself such as glue and bleach can contribute to the taste. Over the years I've had acceptable teabags that made a good pot. There are plenty of penny/gram loose teas which I think are a better bargain. In a way I think a pot and loose tea is more convenient than a teabag. The tea leaves get tossed on the lawn. You have to dispose of teabags. With loose tea there are more variables you can control.
Jim
- wrote:
"Bluesea" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:
I agree that using a basket is easier than preparing bags.
The point is that in a work environment, the less non-break time you spend preparing your refreshment, the better. I would also not tend to bother to clean bags that cost less than a dime apiece including shipping (in the Upton example), especially if I were using a tea that takes readily to multiple infusions.
Ozzy
There is a sub-Universe of corndogs, plastic Christmas decorations, car bras, inflatable female companions and WWF. Teabags fit there perfectly. Outside that world the monster is strictly verboten.
Sasha.
I sell loose tea, so I don't have a reason for promoting tea bags, but it's not true that loose tea is inherently better than tea bags.
First of all, no tea is really better than another. That's like saying foie gras is better than ordinary pate. To some people it may be laughable to suggest otherwise, but actually, they are just different. And one may be rarer, or more difficult to produce, or have a softer taste, but that's not quite the same as better. Tea is about subjective tastes - if you prefer first flush darjeeling in loose leaf, fine. If you prefer some Ceylon/Assam blend in tea bags, fine too. And these days it is more and more common to find a wide range of loose teas packed in fine muslin/mesh tea bags.You can get very fine Darjeeling tea in attractive tea bags, for example. Even Starbucks here in the UK uses Darjeeling tea bags, and I find their tea perfectly acceptable.
The main argument usually made in favour of loose tea vs tea bag tea is the way the leaves are free to move around etc - that's all very well, but again what matters is the end effect: as long as you like it, you don't need to worry about an imaginary objective version of "good tea". Then again, although the loose tea leaves can move around more, they have less surface area than broken tea and also are often packed in a way as to preserve the leaf oil that means they need to move around more to get the flavour out. This is in fact one argument for why loose leaf tea *may* be "better" than tea bag tea. Loose leaf tea often retains more of the original oils from the leaf, because the leaf has less surface area through which to lose the oils, and because loose leaf tea is often curled/twisted to retain those oils, and because it is often fresher (not by much, but still). So if you value those oils, you may wish to drink loose leaf tea.
I personally drink both - the reason I drink loose leaf tea is that it's difficult to find the range of teas I like, in tea bag form. And I like the aesthetics. But then (living in England) I drink a lot of what is affectionately referred to as "builder's tea", which can only come in tea bags and brewed for "too long" ;) .
Also don't confuse the fact that a loose leaf tea may be SFTGFOP1 and tea bag tea is "just" fannings. That grade only refers to the size/type of leaf, not to the taste quality of the tea. Even standard supermarket tea bag tea is often the best leaves from the tea plant of some decent plantations, just cut up small.
James ====www.tippyleaf.com
- wrote:
Dear reader!
All over the world in the meat markets they leave rabbit foot intact with its fur on the rabbit so the buyer knows that he/she is sure not to buy a skinned cat - which is almost undistinguishable from rabbit unless you are a zoologist. If all other arguments fail with you, my dear reader, do not buy the teabags because of this one.
In my previous post I used the example of inflatable companion. Allow me to explain. An argument can be made that an inflatable companion can be no worse and in some cases even better than a human one. For one - it won't give you AIDS. It won't kill you in a moment of jeolousy. It will not abandon you or dump you, neither will it cheat on you or report you to the immigration services. It won't eat the last piece of your favourite leftover food and you do not need to pay its health insurance. It will have sex with you any way you want, any place you want and any time you want. And the headache is out of the question. I guess many will find that irresistable. If that line of thinking appeals to you - teabag is your best tea companion. It even looks the same way as its inflatable relative when, after use, you take its soggy, wet, lukewarm corpse out of your drinking cup and drop its dripping remains somewhere as far as conditions allow. Watch closely the way people do it - watch both their faces and fingerwork and you will agree with me that there is only one other object that people instinctively handle the same way - a used condom.
Sasha.
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