Is Loose Leaf Tea Better Than Tea Bags?

The Benefits of Loose Leaf Tea

As purveyors of loose leaf tea it's possible we are not entirely unbiased when it comes to the question: is loose leaf tea better than tea bags? But we hope you'll keep reading to learn all the reasons why we love loose leaf tea (and when we use tea bags instead).

The Debate

Loose Leaf Tea vs. Tea Bags

For a long time we've avoided weighing in on the loose leaf tea vs tea bag debate because, to be frank, we are fans of tea.

Period. Full stop.

All tea drinkers - and non tea drinkers! - are welcome here to explore our tea and honey and discover a new flavor they didn't know they loved. Milk first, then tea? Pull up a chair. Microwave your water? We'll pretend you didn't say that. Sheepishly tell us you drink Lipton and like it? Nostalgia is a delicious flavor. The point is, tea doesn't have to be complicated and the last thing we would ever want to do is make tea feel unapproachable or inaccessible. Yes, most of our staff prefer loose leaf tea because we have unfettered access to some of the best teas in the world, as well as many ways to steep them beautifully and efficiently. We can acknowledge, however, that tea bags are an accessible, affordable, easy way to explore different types of tea. We've even started a line of biodegradable tea sachets for this very reason!

All of this to say, we are a purveyor of fine loose leaf teas. Of course we prefer loose leaf tea and we have a lot of reasons to do so. But if you like the convenience of tea bags or you're not convinced the difference in flavor is worth the price or the effort on a day-to-day basis, we're not here to judge or tell you you're wrong because at the end of the day we're just delighted to share a love of tea with you. (But please keep reading while we try to convince you to switch to the loose leaf side.)

Why We Love Loose Leaf Tea

One

Loose Leaf Tea is More Sustainable

Loose leaf tea is more sustainable than tea bags for the simple reason that you can reuse your infuser over and over again, while tea bags are single use and often individually wrapped in plastic or paper. We're starting with this one because sustainability gets right to the heart of one of the biggest arguments for tea bags: convenience. It is more convenient to use the tea bag and throw it away than it is to rinse out an infuser or teapot. That being said, a wide-mouthed infuser like our Inox infuser is actually quite easy to clean out by knocking on the side of your compost or trash and is even dishwasher safe! Over time switching to loose leaf tea will cut down on waste and you can repurpose your spent leaves or compost them to fertilize your garden!

Shop Reusable Tea Infusers

Two

Loose Leaf Tea is More Economical

Loose leaf tea may appear more expensive up front, but full-leaf teas have a secret superpower: you can re-steep them, sometimes up to 6 or 8 times before they lose their flavor! In this way, a $20 bag of high mountain Ali Shan oolong from Taiwan might seem like it costs $1 per cup. But if each portion of tea can be steeped 5 times, it really only costs $0.20 a cup! As far as the practicalities of resteeping, you can dry out your leaves between steeps or keep them in the refrigerator if you're not going to enjoy all your steeps in one day.

Learn More About Brewing Tea

Three

Loose Leaf Tea is Healthier

Loose leaf tea has more antioxidants, polyphenols, and flavanoids than tea bags because tea bags are usually made from very broken tea or the tea dust left behind after loose leaf tea has been processed. Additionally, recent studies have found that some tea bags release up to 1.2 billion microplastics per milliliter of tea. To put this in perspective, there are approximately 354 milliliters in a standard 12oz mug. Don't get too alarmed, not all tea bags are made from polypropylene and many popular brands use paper for their tea bags. But even paper can be controversial depending on what chemicals were used in its preparation, what is used to seal the tea bags, and how the strings are coated. For these two reasons, we can't help but conclude that loose leaf tea is objectively healthier for you, even if tea bags aren't necessarily bad.,

Four

Loose Leaf is More Flavorful

Taste is subjective, of course, but loose leaf tea is widely regarded as more flavorful than bagged tea. This can be attributed to a few factors, but the main one is the composition of the leaf matter. Very small fine leaves or tea dust are going to extract more tannin than loose leaves, making the nuances of flavor more difficult to distinguish as tannin tends to be an overpowering flavor for most people. For many large companies this is a plus, as they want their tea bags to taste reliably the same from bag to bag, box to box, and harvest to harvest. In contrast, we spend a lot of time and effort tasting new harvests and looking for unique teas that express a sense of place and time. Some of our teas remain similar from harvest to harvest, while others are brought in as specials because they are examples of an exceptional harvest or post-production processing.

Five

Loose Leaf Tea Offers More Variety

Standing in the tea aisle at the grocery store and in front of our tea wall are two very different experiences. Many bagged teas from the grocery store are blends from different harvests, different estates, and even different cultivars. This allows the companies that produce these teas to ensure that their tea tastes the same from harvest to harvest. What it doesn't allow for, however, is much variety. Loose leaf tea, especially single origin teas like those we sell, offers a much wider variety of flavor profiles to choose from. When someone comes to our Tea Bar and orders a cup of green tea, it is so rewarding to follow up their order with the question: would you prefer a green tea that's more mild and slightly nutty or one that's bright and springy with a slight marine quality?

And the winner is?

So, Is Loose Leaf Tea Better Than Bagged Tea?

For us, the list of pros for loose leaf tea far outweighs the main pro of tea bags: convenience. We love that loose leaf tea is more sustainable, more economical, healthier, more flavorful, and available in more varieties than bagged tea. That said, this is our list of pros and cons and yours might be different. Tea is tea, and we're glad you're enjoying it!