Loose Leaf vs Tea bags

A lot of the time I prefer loose leaf, but I would never discount a tea just because it comes in bags. Some companies (like Bluebird over here in the UK) offer the exact same tea in both forms and teabags can be very convenient.

Thanks for the replies guys – very informative :)

Yeah I haven’t had a bagged tea in a reeally long time, it just doesn’t taste good. To me it kind of destroys the tea, at that point for convenience I’d rather just..drink water or juice or something. I don’t drink tea for its caffeine or health benefits or anything, only pleasure, so I don’t know.

It really depends.

There are some teas I find I prefer in bags over loose leaf. Some of the flavored ones have their formulas changed between the two and I have found the loose leaf might be missing an ingredient or have ingredients in different proportions.

For example, Stash Orange Spice has been a very long time favorite of mine in bags. About a year or so ago, I bought it in loose leaf. The loose leaf doesn’t include any cinnamon and makes up for it with additional clove (which I strongly dislike).

A coconut chai I adore bagged, but the loose leaf is bitter and strong as all heck and, as far as I can tell, barely seems to have any actual tea in it at all.

And I still like Twingins Darjeeling in bags.

While there has been a rise in higher quality tea bags (the kind that come in sachets with whole leaf tea and room to expand), I usually go for loose leaf. A lot of people mentioned ease of use while out of the house for reasons to go with tea bags, but for me I find it’s just as easy to brew a pot and bring it in with a thermos to work/school.