The world of loose leaf tea is full of sensory pleasures for tea fans who want to venture beyond the paper teabag. This tea is great to drink and wonderful to look at with many types ranging from rich black and oolong tea mixes to delicate green and white teas or herbal tisanes.
This article is a perfect way to start if you’re new to loose leaf tea. You’ll learn all there is to know about the many types of loose leaf tea, the difference between loose leaf tea vs tea bags, and why you should choose this tea.
What is loose leaf tea?
Loose leaf tea, in the broadest sense, is a tea that is not packed in teabags. Because it is not packed into a tea bag, loose leaf tea employs higher-quality tea leaves than standard tea bags. To drink, just place the tea leaves in a steeping ball, french press, or another infuser to steep the tea. When you taste a cup of tea from a teabag and a cup of loose leaf tea side by side you can really taste the difference.
Loose-leaf differs from full/whole leaf in that it can have complete or partial leaves as well as damaged leaves. The presence of dust or fanning grades in this tea is unusual. Tea blends are the sole exception. When you have more than one type of tea, such as white, green, black, or oolong, for example.
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The difference between loose leaf tea and tea bags
There is a lot of discussion in the tea community about which is the best sort of tea: loose-leaf or bagged.
Teabags are convenient since they simplify brewing and cleanup. Teabags, on the other hand, often contain dust, fannings, and ground-up tea leaves. That means the brewed tea may not have all of the beneficial components found in whole leaf tea.
Teabags also prevent the leaves from fully growing and absorbing flavor by restricting their movement. Loose teas develop flavors fully, resulting in a better-tasting tea.
When compared to teabags, experienced tea drinkers generally agree that loose teas generate the greatest tea flavors and deliver the highest quality health benefits. This is due to the fact that loose teas contain the full tea leaf. If you absolutely must use a teabag, look for a tea supplier that sells pyramid-shaped tea bags. There should be enough space in the bags for the tea leaves to expand.
Types of Loose Leaf Tea
Green Tea
Green tea is one of the most popular tea types and is widely regarded for its health benefits. Vietnamese tea must always be the first to be mentioned whenever one talks about this tea. Green tea is made from tea buds and leaves, which are then wilted, cracked, and dried in three steps. To avoid oxidation, the wilting process is completed quickly before moving on to the step of stir-frying or steaming. Green tea has a bittersweet flavor (especially in the aftertaste).
Black Tea
Black tea comes from the same tree as green tea, which is a fascinating fact. The oxidation process is what distinguishes black tea from green tea. If, as previously stated, green tea leaves do not undergo oxidation, black tea is made by oxidizing leaves to make it less grassy in flavor and darker in color. This oxidation stage would occur just before it is heated to dry it
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The tea leaves will be spread out on a flat surface and allowed to wilt into a curled form. When you brew a cup of black tea, the first sip will have an astringent and bitter taste to it.
Oolong Tea
Oolong tea is made from the same plant as black and green teas, but it is processed differently. All tea leaves must go through five key phases in order to produce the best oolong tea: withering, cooling, oxidizing, roasting, and drying.
Each step will have a significant impact on the quality of Oolong tea in different ways. The oxidization stage, for example, is one of the most important aspects in determining the flavor of Oolong tea. Depending on the extent of oxidation, it can be light to full-bodied, flowery to grassy, sweet to toasted. As a result, there are many different types of Oolong tea, each of which is manufactured by altering certain processing elements.
Why choose Loose Leaf Tea?
When tea is broken down, it affects both the taste and the nutritional value of the tea. This tea might taste bitter because more tannins are produced when steeped. In contrast, whole (and rolled) leaf tea stretches and unfurls as it steeps. This adds taste to the tea as well as a sense of freshness. The tea can expand further and produce a greater flavor when it is not contained in a teabag.
While some may claim that broken leaves provide more nourishment since they release more into the water, bagged tea has a number of drawbacks.
The first is the teabag itself; most kinds of tea sold at your local grocer or convenience store are packaged in plastic tea bags. The plastic strengthens the teabag in the production process, preventing tearing and allowing it to be handled at numerous stages. It does, however, make it possible for you to consume plastic molecules together with your tea.
Secondly, even if the teabag is free of plastic, it can absorb some of the beneficial catechins in tea, resulting in less nutritional value being transferred to you.
Thirdly, pre-bagged teas have typically stayed on the shelf longer and are therefore subjected to higher oxidation in their bagged state than loose leaf teas stored in airtight containers.