Loose Leaf vs. Tea Bag
This has been a commonly asked question in my recent practice with loose leaf tea blends, so I care to dissect the discretion of Loose Leaf vs. Tea Bag.
Simply put, the main advantage of using a tea bag rather than loose leaf herbs is convenience; however, the convenience has stripped the integrity of the tea overall and here is why:
When you take the extra time (20-25 minutes) and additional, but minimal effort to steep loose leaf tea you are:
-Decocting whole leaf, buds, and stems, therefore extracting the most promising constituents the herbs have to offer
-Pulling a variety of flavors unique to each blend
-Consuming a fresher, longer lasting tea that allows potential for you to re-steep, resulting in less waste and limited plastic contaminations
When you choose convenience in steeping a tea bag 3-5 minutes you are:
-Decocting dust and fannings of broken leaves, buds, and stems; rewarded with only a pinch of their promising properties
-Confining to one, subtle and often bitter flavor
-Consuming a tea that turns stale quicker, has limited re-steep potential
-CONTRIBUTING TO ENVIRONMENTAL WASTE
Did you know, tea bags contain 25% plastic. Minuscule plastic particles known as microplastics and nanoplastics, which are then brewed in boiling water and then consumed by the drinker. This plastic is added to the tea bags by sealing up the bags so the fine powder does not escape into your cup. The paper used to make tea bags is bleached and are not 100% biodegradable, in fact they can be more harmful to your compost resulting in trash disposal. This segues into my last point that tea bags are known to be one of the largest avoidable food waste we find in our garbage, overflowing in landfills by thousands of square feet.
In order to steep loose leaf tea, you have plenty of options: an inexpensive, countlessly reusable Tea Infuser, a washable Muslin Bag, or a French Press for large batches, which can even be placed in the refrigerator overnight for next-day iced tea.
Key facts to remember:
-Boiling water is still a necessary step to make both tea options
-Loose leaf tea provides more promising herbal properties and flavor
-Tea bags are environmentally and health hazardous