Tea. Loose or Tea Bags?

I'm nursing a cold and just put on the teapot so I could enjoy a cup of my favorite, Rishi Earl Grey. Are you a tea drinker, and if so, do you prefer tea bags or loose?

Them pyramid shape bags seem to do the job nicely. One tea bag per person in the pot and let it sit three minutes. Mix with milk and sugar - or no sugar if you prefer. My mum's likes saccharin in her tea, my dad and my sister like no sugar, and I like two teaspoons of the stuff.

My gran used to use loose tea-leaf but she likes her tea weak - only one tablespoonful of leaves per 6-cup pot. I don't know if she still does tea this way, she likes it when the tea has visited the water. So when she's around and the rest of us like it strong, we do her tea first and use plenty of milk - the rest of us wait 3 minutes for the tea to "brew" and then pour it out. But then she did experience rationing during WWII so some habits have ingrained themselves into her and I wouldn't take my gran any other way.

However since moving to the States I don't do tea regularly any more.

Mark.

I can get it here but I've got a nice stockpile that friends have brought back from GB for me.

If it's Kava or Yerba Mate, loose

Herbal teas and fancy flavored ones, I go with tea bags.

But if I'm making white or green or darjeeling, etc., I drink only loose leaf. Those teas are utter shit when they come in bags. God only knows how old any of them are.

Green Tea from Ippodo - http://www.ippodo-tea.co.jp/en/price/index.html
White and Spring and Winter tea from Taiwan, http://www.tenren.com
Darjeelings and other Indian and black teas from Teavana: http://www.teavana.com

...Ito En brand, from Japan via Hawaii (http://www.itoen.com/)

A 3.5 OZ foil bag costs around $16 but it's the best green tea I've had in my life. It says "Ichiban Tsumi Umami" on the back but I couldn't find it on the English language version of their Web Site. I keep an empty package in the glove compartment of my car in case I'm ever driving by and decide to stop in and get some. There's a 2 inch square English label on the back, everything else is in Japanese.

But, I've not tried Ito En, so I could be wrong.

But, since Ippodo is in Kyoto, and has been there for hundreds of years, I still put my money with them. :-)

For any Japanese food, if there is a Kyoto option, that's the one to go with.

The #1 Taste!

...because I used to rent tapes of the music show of the same name from the video rental store around the corner. I have a pretty large collection of JPOP and for a while stayed current with Music Station, Hey Hey Hey, and all the rest.

:toast:

do you use a tea ball or do you just dump it into the pot loose and strain it?

:7

No, I have filters that fit in my tea pots. I used tea balls for a while, but they're such a pain in the ass, so I bought some gold tea filters from Teavana and they've worked beautifully.

I've also tried the method of loose leaf in the pot and strain it, but that makes too much of a mess - too hard to clean the damn pot out. I think that makes a better tasting tea, though.

Heh... heh....

No shame in our game

...and then I thought, "No, no one's gonna pick up on teabagging in a thread that's obviously about tea."

I guess THAT will teach me.

:evilgrin:

I buy loose tea and tea bags of my own so I get the nice qualities of both. :)

Actually I mostly buy the tea bags to add spices in my homebrewing, but the ability to do homemade tea without leaving little bits of tea leaves floating in there is just an added bonus.

'nuff said

Tea Bags are the scrapings from the floor.

From Google - where else?:

Tea Brewing Table

Preferred Brewing Method (listed in order of preference)

Water Temperature

Quantity of Tea per 200ml/6.57oz Water
White Tea


Glass Cup

Ceramic Teapot


155°-175° F

70°-80° C


4-5 grams
Green Tea


Glass Cup

Ceramic Teapot


167°-185° F

75°-85° C


3-4 grams
Oolong Tea


Clay Teapot

Ceramic Teapot


212° F

100° C


7-9 grams
Black Tea


Clay Teapot

Ceramic Teapot


212° F

100° C


5-7 grams
Puerh Tea


Clay Teapot

Ceramic Teapot




212° F

100° C


5-7 grams

I always use leaf tea. At work (where using a tea-pot is impractical) I have a tea-ball, which holds the leaves together so it can be made in a mug; I also drink green-tea at work which means that there's no fuss with milk.

Brewed in a purple-clay Yixing teapot in the "gong fu" fashion.

What can I say? I'm a tea/coffee snob.

Coffee.

I use loose tea and bags at home, and bags at work. Why do you hate me Amerigo Vespucci?

:hide:

as I have a filthy sense of humor.